Shrimp Étouffée is a southern dish packed with all the flavor of our favorite New Orleans cuisine!
In this dish, tender seasoned shrimp are smothered in a creamy sauce and jam-packed with flavor. The best Shrimp Etoufee is easy to make but it does take a bit of time and I can assure you that the time is definitely worth it!
What is Shrimp Étouffée?
This is a dish I learned to make in cooking classes in New Orleans. It’s so incredibly delicious, I knew I HAD to share it with you!
Roughly translated, Shrimp Étouffée means “smothered shrimp.” It’s picked up many variations along the way.
For this recipe, a creamy sauce made with a roux will mix with cajun-seasoned shrimp. We love the layers of flavor in this creamy sauce and of course the plump juicy shrimp.
Ingredients & Variations
SHELLFISH
Étouffée can be made with any kind of shellfish. Sub out the shrimp for crab, mussels, or even crayfish (or crawdads) if you can find them! Fresh shrimp is the best to use, but if frozen is all that’s available, no worries! Just make sure it’s well-drained, and don’t overcook.
SAUCE
The base of this dish is the sauce made from a roux. It’s possible to make different types of roux, from “blonde” to medium, to brown. The longer the roux cooks, the darker and nuttier it becomes, but it can definitely take some time. So our recipe strikes a happy medium, without sacrificing any of the flavors!
BROTH
If time is short, just go ahead and use chicken broth, or better yet, canned shrimp broth. But if time is no issue and you want to “get your chef on,” then go ahead and make homemade shrimp stock.
How to Make Shrimp Étouffée
This dish takes time but I can assure you it’s worth every second.
-
- Cook Shrimp
Season and cook shrimp just until pink (per recipe below). It will cook more later, do not overcook. - Make Roux
Combine flour and fat and cook until it becomes the color of peanut butter. Add onions/celery/peppers (this helps stop the cooking process).
- Cook Shrimp
- Simmer
Add diced fresh tomatoes, bay leaf, and Worcestershire and simmer. - Add flavors
Add shrimp, green onions, and a squeeze of lemon juice and heat through. Serve over rice.
Tips
- Once the roux has reached the color of peanut butter, add the celery/onion/green pepper (aka the holy trinity). This cools the roux to keep it from browning further.
- The best shrimp is cooked safely—but just until pink! For the first cooking, remove shrimp from heat just as soon as it turns pink on both sides, which takes just a couple of minutes! Once added back into the sauce, make sure it’s heated thoroughly but doesn’t boil. A very short simmer is fine, but that’s it. This will ensure the shrimp stays juicy and tender.
- Add green onion and parsley last, just before removing the dish from heat. This way the herbs retain their flavor and stay bright green.
- Make sure to time the cooking so that the rice is ready when the Étouffée is done. Hot, steaming, and slightly sticky rice tastes the best. Try making Instant Pot Rice or baked rice.
Classic Southern-Style Dishes!
- Hoppin’ John – loaded with fresh veggies
- Dirty Rice
- Fried Chicken and Waffles – comforting & delicious
- Southern Potato Salad – perfect for a backyard BBQ
- Collard Greens – fave side
- Cajun Chicken Pasta – ready in under 30 minutes
- Shrimp and Grits – cheesy & flavorful
Did you love this Shrimp Etouffee as much as we do? Be sure to leave a rating and a comment below!
Shrimp Etouffee
Ingredients
- 1 ½ pounds medium shrimp peeled and deveined
- 1 tablespoon cajun seasoning
- 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
- ⅓ cup butter
- ⅓ cup flour
- 1 small onion chopped
- ½ bell pepper chopped
- 2 ribs celery chopped
- ¼ teaspoon thyme
- 4 cloves garlic minced
- 3 cups shrimp stock or chicken broth
- 2 cups tomatoes fresh (not canned), diced
- 3 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
- 2 bay leaves
- salt & pepper to taste
- ¼ cup green onion
- ¼ cup parsley
- ½ lemon juiced
Instructions
- Toss shrimp with cajun seasoning. Heat oil over medium-high heat and add shrimp. Cook until shrimp just begins to turn pink, about 2 minutes. Remove from pan and set aside.
- Melt butter over medium heat in a large skillet. Stir in flour and cook until the flour becomes the color of peanut butter, about 6-8 minutes.
- Add onions, bell pepper, celery, thyme and garlic and cook until slightly softened. Stir in the broth/stock a bit at a time until smooth.
- Add tomatoes, Worcestershire and bay leaves and return to a boil. Reduce heat to low and simmer uncovered about 20 minutes. Add salt & pepper to taste.
- Stir in the green onions, parsley, lemon juice and shrimp with any juices. Cook just until shrimp is heated through, do not overcook.
- Serve over rice.
Notes
Nutrition Information
Nutrition information provided is an estimate and will vary based on cooking methods and brands of ingredients used.
Course Dinner, Entree, Main Course, Seafood
Cuisine American© SpendWithPennies.com. Content and photographs are copyright protected. Sharing of this recipe is both encouraged and appreciated. Copying and/or pasting full recipes to any social media is strictly prohibited. Please view my photo use policy here.
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This looks amazing!!! I can’t wait to make this however are the bay leaves and the thyme fresh or dried? If dried do you mind sharing the measurements? Thank you. Stephanie
We use dried thyme and bay leaves in this recipe. You will find the correct measurements in the recipe towards the bottom of the page! I hope that helps.
Needs a more palpable tomato presence.
Great recipe only thing I added was some gumbo file seasoning at end an of course a couple dash of Tabasco sauce once in my bowl. I approve an I live on gulf coast. Thank you
Great recipes
I am so glad you are enjoying the recipes!
Wonder if one could use clam juice?
I haven’t tried it but I think that should work just fine! If you try it I would love to hear how it turns out Diane!
OMG! So for those asking about subbing ingredients, I’m here to give you permission and go for it!
I subbed out the celery and used zucchini that needed to be used. I didn’t have scallions or thyme or parsley so I just omitted those ingredients and I only had diced canned tomatoes and this meal was still INCREDIBLE. Have fun with the recipes you find online. If you don’t have every single ingredient, try to mix it up! As long as the base of the dish remains the same, it should still yield a similar result. Not sure how it tastes 100% following the recipe but I’m here to say my rendition of this was phenomenal! BRB, going to get seconds
Go to recipe husband loves it
Delicious! I sautéed the vegetables separately instead of cooking them in the roux, so they would brown, and I used fresh thyme from my garden instead of parsley, but otherwise followed the recipe exactly. Used wild Argentinian prawns which were wonderful l.
3 tablespoons Worchestershire sauce is way too much, it overwhelms the taste of the dish. I would do 1 tablespoon next time.
This was ABSOLUTELY PHENOMENAL. I’ve never in my life had or made this dish, but after watching Mary’s episode on Queer Eye season 7 (IYKYK), I suddenly wanted to try. My husband and I couldn’t get over how incredible this meal was, and SO EASY! Thank you for this amazing recipe.
I read the recipe several times. I don’t see where you add the broth to the dish.
This is in step 3: Stir in the broth/stock a bit at a time until smooth. I hope this helps!
Can canned tomatoes be used instead? I know the recipe says not to use can. I thought maybe if the can is drained and only use the tomatoes and not the juice, it would be OK.
I have only tried this as written so I can’t say for sure. Let us know how it goes!
I’ve made it both ways and they were both delicious, but the fresh is better.
This recipe is amazing! It is easy to make and is not too spicy. This recipe is especially a favorite during lent at our house and has a great Cajun flavor. I have made it both ways with chicken stock and seafood stock. I feel the seafood stock gives more flavor, if you can find it and truly feels like you have just made something that came from a Cajun restaurant.
Absolutely delicious. Very easy to make. Followed the recipe exactly.
This was absolutely delicious! My whole entire family wanted seconds
This was absolutely delicious! My entire family wanted seconds
Excellent recipe, but just one tiny thing to note… unless you live very close to a location where freshly caught shrimp are brought in, there is no such thing as fresh shrimp. All shrimp you will find in a fish store, or Costco, or anywhere else for that matter, are previously frozen. In fact, that applies to most ‘fresh’ seafood or fish which tends to be flash frozen while at sea immediately after it is caught. So please do not put down frozen product, it will often taste better and have a better texture than any ‘fresh’ product that you buy at a fish store or the fish department of your favourite grocer.
I want to make this recipe for a club Mardi Gras masgarade party. It is possible to make the sauce ahead and then heat it up and finish with the final ingredients and shrimp?
I haven’t tried it so I can’t say for sure Jo Ann, but that should work just fine. If you try it I would love to hear how it turns out!
Can I substitute another seasoning for the cajun seasoning? I don’t like anything spicy at all, but I like everything else.
The cajun seasoning adds a lot of flavor to this dish and I haven’t tried swapping it out so I can’t say for sure Arland.