Louisiana Shrimp Etouffee (or Étouffée) is a classic dish that you have to try at least once. A tasty stew full of the Holy Trinity (onions, bell pepper and celery), butter and seasoning it's actually quite simple considering the ingredients but tastes far more than that. What you would expect from Cajun cuisine!
It's a New Orleans favorite, you'll find shrimp Étouffée on most menus. Étouffée is a French word which means To Smother, or smothering, which is literally what you do in this recipe.
This was inspired by my other etouffee sauce recipe, Crawfish Etouffee. The exact same dish, swapping out the shrimp for crawfish. These recipes are popular during Mardi Gras!
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🧅 Ingredients
- Fresh Shrimp
- Creole Seasoning
- Butter
- Yellow Onions
- Green Bell Pepper
- Celery
- Garlic
- Dried Thyme
- Chicken Stock (or chicken broth)
- All Purpose Flour
- Green Onions
See recipe card for quantities.
🥣 Instructions
- Step 1: Peel and devein the shrimp (if you have to). Wash and pat dry using paper towels. Sprinkle with the Creole Seasoning. Set aside to marinate.
- Step 2: Add the butter to a large heavy bottomed pot - I like a large Dutch Oven for this recipe as it cooks nice and evenly.
- Step 3: Add the diced green pepper, onions and celery to the butter and turn to low-medium heat. Smother for about 30 minutes.
- Step 4: Add the succulent shrimp and the minced garlic to the pot and turn heat to medium-high. Cook until the shrimp turn pink (a few minutes each side).
Step 5: Sprinkle half of the flour over the shrimp and veggies and stir to combine.
Step 6: Sprinkle the remaining half again over the shrimp and veggies, stir and cook until the mixture starts to darken.
Step 7: Add the thyme and stir to combine.
Step 8: Pour the chicken stock into the pot slowly, while stirring continuously. Bring to a boil, then turn down the heat to low-medium. Simmer for 10 minutes.
- Step 9: Serve over white rice and top with chopped green onions.
Hint: The 2 Tablespoons of Creole Seasoning will already give a little kick to the shrimp etouffee. If you like it hotter, feel free to add more Creole Seasoning or add some hot sauce to your plate.
Substitutions and Variations
- Chopped Tomatoes - adding tomatoes would actually make this a more Creole dish - the Creole version of any dish usually as the addition of tomatoes. Mine is a classic Cajun dish and so does not use tomatoes.
- Crawfish Tails - instead of shrimp if you prefer and have access, use crawfish.
- Cajun Seasoning - virtually the same as Creole Seasoning. If you don't have either, use salt and black pepper and add some garlic powder and cayenne pepper.
- Seafood Stock - if you have shrimp shells from the peelings from the shrimp, use the off-cuts from the veggies and whip up your own shrimp broth by boiling with 4 cups of water for 1 hour. Or you could use store-bought seafood stock.
- Bay Leaves - Add a bay leaf or two for additional flavor.
- Brown Rice - If you prefer, feel free to use brown rice in place of the white rice.
- Andouille Sausage - Try adding some andouille sausage for some extra depth of flavor.
🦐 Other Shrimp Recipes
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See this Creole Shrimp and Grits Recipe or this Seafood Gumbo Recipe! Two classic Louisiana dishes that should be in your family's meal rotation!
🔌 Equipment
I like to use my Dutch Oven (see link in the recipe card below) to cook anything that requires smothering. Due to the thickness of the cast iron it gives a nice even cooking experience. A Cast Iron Pot will do the same too. In fact, using your cast iron pot will also imbue some flavors.
Storage
I can't imagine you having any leftovers, however, if you have, store in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 3 days.
It does freeze well. Store in a freezer safe container for up to 3 months.
💡 Top tip
If you are not happy with the darkness of your shrimp etouffee, use Kitchen Bouquet (a browning and seasoning sauce) to add a little darkness. Easy though, it is salty.
If you’ve tried this Shrimp Etouffee Recipe or any other great recipe on my site, let me know in the comment section below, how it turned out, we love hearing from our readers! You can also follow me on PINTEREST, FACEBOOK and INSTAGRAM to see more amazing recipes!
Shrimp Etouffee
Shrimp Etouffee is a delicious Louisiana classic - a type of stew, it's made from a roux, the Holy Trinity of Onion, bell pepper and celery and tasty Gulf shrimp.
Ingredients
- 2lb Shrimp, peeled and deveined
- 2 Tablespoons Creole Seasoning
- 1 Cup Butter, unsalted
- 2 Large Onions, diced
- 1 Green Bell Pepper, diced
- 3 Stalks Celery, diced
- 6 Cloves Garlic, minced
- ½ Cup All Purpose Flour
- 1 Teaspoon Dried Thyme
- 4 Cups Chicken Stock
- 6 Green Onions, chopped
Instructions
- Wash the shrimp and lay out on paper towel and pat dry. Season with the Creole Seasoning. Set aside.
- Add the butter to a Dutch Oven (or other heavy bottomed pan) and melt over medium heat.
- Add the diced onions, bell pepper and celery and sweat down for about 30 minutes.
- Add the seasoned shrimp and garlic and sauté until pink.
- Sprinkle half of the flour over the shrimp then stir into the mixture.
- Repeat again with the rest of the flour.
- Cook over medium-low heat until it starts to brown somewhat, or starts to stick to the bottom.
- Add the thyme, stir to combine.
- Pour the chicken stock, stirring to combine.
- Bring to a boil, then low the heat to a simmer, for 10 minutes, it should thicken up.
- Serve with white rice and sprinkle chopped green onions over the top.
Notes
If you like, use a little browning - it can help with the color - don't add too much as it is quite salty.
If you had whole shrimp with the shells, make a homemade shrimp stock by boiling the shrimp shells with offcuts from the veggies.
Some people cook a dark roux at the start before smothering the veggies.
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Nutrition Information
Yield 6 Serving Size 1Amount Per Serving Calories 588Total Fat 36gSaturated Fat 20gTrans Fat 0gUnsaturated Fat 13gCholesterol 405mgSodium 2770mgCarbohydrates 25gFiber 2gSugar 6gProtein 41g
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