Shrimp Étouffée is a Classic Louisiana seafood Stew made with tender, seasoned shrimp smothered in a Cajun sauce packed with the flavors of New Orleans.
You can’t make Shrimp Étouffée without the Holy Trinity (onion, celery, and green peppers) and a simple dark roux to thicken it up. This easy recipe will have you enjoying the taste of New Orleans in your home tonight.
After one taste, I’m sure you’ll agree that this is the best Shrimp Etouffe you’ve ever made. Truthfully, it does take a bit of time to make, but the process is easy, and after one taste, you’ll agree it was time well spent.
What is Étouffée?
If you look up Etouffee in the dictionary, you’ll find the literal translation to be smothered.
Etouffee uses smothering, a popular cooking method in the Cajun areas of southwest Louisiana and the coastal counties of Mississippi.
What’s in an Étouffée Sauce?
Étouffée is a type of stew, if you want to get technical. It’s made with a roux, onion, celery, and bell pepper (the holy trinity), tomato, garlic, hot sauce, and either shrimp, crawfish, or chicken.
Cajun Étouffée does not contain tomatoes. The addition of tomatoes is the Creole way of preparing étouffée.
There are many variations of this classic shrimp dish, some Cajun and others Creole. While the styles are very similar, each has its own unique seasonings and flavors typical of the region and families from which the recipe came.
Many people confuse Étouffée with Jambalaya, which is a completely different type of recipe.
Étouffée is typically made with shellfish, with crawfish being the original star of the dish. But as we all know, when it comes to cooking, it’s all about what we like to eat and what’s readily available, which is why I love making shrimp etouffee.
While traditionalists may argue that the only Etouffée is Crawfish Étouffée, I’ll have to disagree. Crawfish may make the traditional dish, but it’s easier to find shrimp, and shrimp make one delicious etouffee!
Recipe FAQ’s
Etouffee means “smothered” in French. It typically consists of a dark roux, the Holy Trinity (onion, celery, and bell pepper), tomatoes, garlic, and hot sauce. It can be made with shrimp, crawfish, or chicken.
Gumbo is made with the same ingredients, but with the addition of file powder and okra (the word “gumbo” even comes from a West African word for okra.
Gumbo is usually made with a mixture of different meats and seafood. Meanwhile, étouffée is traditionally made with shrimp or crawfish.
True Cajun Étouffée does not contain tomatoes, but the creole version does. I prefer the flavor that the tomatoes add to the dish, but they can be left out.
No, you don’t. Shrimp Étouffée is becoming more popular, and it’s easier to get Shrimp from US waters than it is to get crawfish.
More Shrimp Recipes You’ll Love!
Cajun Shrimp Étouffée Recipe
Ingredients
Broth
- shrimp shells
- ½ lemon sliced
- scraps from cutting onion and celery
- 2 cups chicken broth
Etouffee Sauce
- 4 tablespoons butter
- 4 tablespoons flour
- 1 cup onion small dice
- ½ cup celery small dice
- ½ cup bell pepper small dice
- 4 cloves garlic chopped
- 1 teaspoon fresh thyme chopped
- 14 ounce can diced tomato
- 1 tablespoon Creole or Cajun seasoning your favorite blend and adjust to your tastes
- hot sauce to taste optional
Shrimp
- 14 jumbo shrimp 16-20 count shrimp, tail off shelled and deveined (about ¾ of a pound )
- ½ teaspoon Cajun seasoning
- ½ teaspoon Italian parsley finely chopped
Assembly
- 2 cups cooked rice
- sea salt to taste
- ¼ cup green onions sliced for garnish
- tablespoon Italian parsley chopped for garnish
Instructions
Broth
- Add the shrimp shells and scraps of onion and celery to a small saucepot with a little olive oil to saute and cook for a few minutes
- then add the sliced lemon and chicken broth. Bring to a boil, reduce the heat to a low simmer for 20 minutes. Add more water if necessary to keep the stock close to 1 ½ cups
- Strain the solids from the broth and set aside.
Etouffee Sauce
- Melt the butter in a large saucepan over medium heat, cook until it starts to brown sprinkle in the flour while mixing and reduce the heat to simmer. Continue to simmer until the roux turns dark brown, about 10 minutes.
- Add the onion, celery, and peppers to the roux and cook until tender, about 8-10 minutes.
- Add the garlic and thyme and cook for a minute.
- Whisk in the broth
- Add the tomatoes and seasoning, reduce heat to low and simmer for 20 minutes.
- Season with hot sauce and sea salt to taste.
Shrimp
- Dry the peeled shrimp with paper towels
- Mix some of your seasoning (or paprika if you don't want heat) and chopped parsley with your towel-dried shrimp. Toss the shrimp with the seasoning.
- Heat another saute pan over medium-high heat. Add a little oil to the pan and add the seasoned shrimp
- Saute the shrimp quickly and cook until just done so they stay moist and tender. You want to get color into the shrimp so it's okay if they seasoning burns a little.
Assembly
- Place white rice in center of bowl, add Etouffee Sauce around rice, place cooked shrimp on top
- Garnish with parsley and green onions
Christina Jones says
I made this dish and it turned out amazing! I followed this recipe to the T. I really wish I could share my pic but it’s at my FB page Christina’s Kitchen Corner. Chefs kiss 🤌
Chef Dennis Littley says
I’m happy to hear you enjoyed my Étouffée recipe! Thanks for the great review
Tom says
Adding the raw veggies to the roux didn’t allow the veggies to sweat/ cook properly, so they didn’t loose their crunch. I had to use an immersion blender. Next time I make this, I’ll sauté the veggies separately then add that to the broth and add both to the roux.
Kem says
You really have to let them cook down. There should be some texture to sauce which you might lose by blending. I cooked mine in roux for about 15 min. They were lovely.
Shona Nicol says
Made this recipe for dinner this evening. It was a big hit. Made it with the seafood broth. Doubled the recipe, without any changes. Hubby loved it. Will make it again and again. Thank you for such amazing, delicious recipe.
Andrea says
Loved this dish! Excellent flavors— very easy also!
Linda from Perth says
What a delicious recipe. I did double the vegetables, and served it with shrimp the first night. The next night I combined it with the rice, reheated it, and topped it with roasted cauliflower. Equally delicious!
Ranae says
I made this tonight and it was absolutely delicious! The shrimp broth made all the difference! I have some frozen lobster shells I think I will add next time and maybe double the sauce just so I can keep eating off the spoon! Highly recommend!
Robert deGruiter says
I am Dutch, but has lived in New Orleans since the Sixties and love the local cuisine. It has been the last 10 years or so when I started cooking more and going back to cook the dishes which my Mom cooked and we thoroughly enjoyed. I saw the recipe for Étouffée and tried it and love the results. Thank you for sharing this great traditional Louisiana dish. I now live in Mississippi and am retired. Life is good…
Lauren says
My first time making etouffee and it was delicious! Cooking for one I’m always looking for recipes that reheat well and I can get multiple meals out of without getting sick of them. This recipe was really easy to follow and be able to modify the spice level to my tolerance; I made my own Cajun seasoning mix to tweak the amount of cayenne. Agree with the others that the shrimp stock makes it. I added a touch of coconut oil to finish my rice and some chopped cilantro to the parsley, which won’t be to everyone’s taste but if like me you’ve taken a liking to Gulf Viet-Cajun cuisine give it a try.
Sharon says
I have made this recipe! Fabulous!
J-Rock says
Making the broth is always the thing I least want to do when cooking dishes like this, but the broth recipe for this is the best for etouffee I’ve found, makes the whole process more fun and less wasteful feeling. The whole dish was great.
Christina says
This recipe is amazing. It really does create such a deep flavor!! So so so good!!! Making the shrimp broth really does make it INCREDIBLE!
Ceal Craig says
Thanks for good recipe, especially the explanation for why tomatoes–yes or no– depending on Creole or Cajun (respectively). We tried it without tomatoes. Made my own seasoning with Santa Fe Chile pepper and Smokey Paprika from a local Bay Area spice shop. I did not get a dark brown roux; because I think I missed the key phrase about browning the butter first! I just mixed them and then simmered, after boiling. Made shrimp stock with shells (and roe) that came with spot prawns from our Wild Alaska seafood box (I’ll post a link to your site in the community FB page!). Delicious taste! Very tasty. Thanks!
Loretta says
How many servings does this Shrimp Etouffee recipe make?
Chef Dennis Littley says
2, you can always find that information on the recipe card
Shay says
I made tonight it was so good n flavorful. I cooked the shrimp about 2 mins each side n then once the etouffee was finished I put the shrimp in the pot to soak up the juice n flavor n finish cooking, so good thank u for this recipe
Laurie says
Absolutely delicious! The homemade shrimp stock is what makes this dish stand out and sets it far and above standard home cooking. Don’t skip that step, it’s how you build all the flavor! Great recipe, adding it into the hand-written family cookbook.
Chef Dennis Littley says
Thanks for the comment and great review Laurie! I’m happy to hear you enjoyed the ettouffe!
Sidney Allen Fein says
Use cayenne instead of jalepenos. Solid recipe though.
Allison Babb says
Made this for my family of six. Everyone d it! It has been added to our rotation of recipes we know we’ll make again. The leftovers were great too. I’m so happy with this recipe.