Hi Everyone,
I am so excited about today’s recipe. The last couple of summers I went to Baton Rouge, Louisiana for foodie events and I fell in love with Southern foods. I have never tasted food with such flavor and flair. I guess that’s because hot sauce originated in Louisiana? A place after my own heart, I think I may have a little Southern girl in me? This past weekend it was cool and windy out and I was craving some good old southern comfort food, so I thought I would try making Shrimp Etouffee, pronounced ay/too/fay. Oh my gosh, amazing! This is my favorite southern recipe I have made so far, next to my Southern Biscuits.
This shrimp dish is thick, hearty, slightly spicy and flavors of onions, garlic, tomatoes and Cajun seasoning. It is a classic New Orleans dish. For the recipe I used my homemade Cajun Seasonings and to add a touch of heat I added a few dashes of Louisiana Hot Sauce. This dish takes about an hour to make, but it’s very simple.
I served the recipe with brown rice that I cooked in chicken broth. The rice really picks up all the juices in the recipe and I highly recommend rice or even quinoa. To make the rice like in the photo’s, I just packed it into a 1/2 cup measuring cup and then took a butter knife around the edges. It popped right into my dish. I think it’s pretty cool looking. That was the first time I have ever done that.
Here is a photo of my step by step of the recipe. I thought I would take the photos with my phone so you can see the colors and the stages of cooking. Sorry if they are a little blurry.
- ¼ cup butter
- ¼ cup all-purpose flour
- 1 cup chopped onion
- ½ cup sliced celery
- ½ cup chopped green peppers
- 2 tbsp minced garlic
- 2 tbsp. fresh thyme
- 2 cup chicken broth, low sodium
- 1 ( 14.5 ounce) can diced tomatoes, drained
- 1 tbsp. cajun seasoning
- 1 tbsp. worcestershire sauce
- 2 pound shrimp, peeled and deveined
- 2 tsp. hot sauce
- Salt and pepper to taste
- 1 tbsp. butter
- 2 tsp. fresh lemon juice
- ¼ cup chopped scallions (green onions)
- 2 tbsp. fresh parsley
- Rice:
- 2 cups chicken broth, low sodium
- 2½ cups brown rice (I used instant)
- Season shrimp with about a tablespoon of Cajun seasoning. Mix well and refrigerate until ready to use.
- Melt the butter in a large sauce pan over medium heat, cook until melted; add the flour, whisking constantly until dark brown (color of peanut butter), 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, Cajun seasoning and Worcestershire sauce and simmer for 20 minutes.
- Add the shrimp and cook until cooked, about 5 minutes.
- Season with hot sauce, salt and pepper to taste.
- Mix in the butter, lemon juice, green onion and parsley.
- To make rice:
- Bring 2 cups chicken broth to a boil. Stir in rice, bring to a bowl, lower heat to low and simmer for 5 minutes. Fluff with a fork. (I started the rice when the Shrimp Etouffee was simmering for 20 minutes)
- Evenly divide rice and Shrimp Etouffee between 6 bowls.
Yummy! This recipe makes 6 nice hearty size servings and believe me it’s very filling too. I had leftovers for lunch the next day and the flavors come to better even better. I of course added a little more hot sauce to it, because I pretty much add hot sauce to almost everything. lol
I hope you enjoy this dish as much as I have. I’m pretty proud to make a classic, traditional New Orleans style recipe. So if your craving shrimp and spice, you should give this recipe a try.
Have a wonderful day!
Toodles,
Jennifer
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I cannot eat anything too spicy for health reasons. I understand everyones idea of spicy is different but what would you compare this too on a spicy level?
Hi, I didn’t find this too spicy. It all depends on the Cajun seasoning you use. You can use a creole seasoning too. Just Look for seasoning that does not contain cayenne pepper. On my Monday post I made homemade Cajun seasoning, check that recipe out and just omit the csyenne pepper. I hope this helps. If you have any other questions, just let me know. Have a great day!
Not spicy. Don’t add the hot sauce. It’s a delicious recipe…but if you have problems with heat, foego the hot sauce!
This looks delicious!! I think it may go on my menu this weekend. 🙂 Quick question – does the nutritional information include the rice? (I’m assuming it does, but wanted to double check). Thanks for a great looking recipe!
This looks amazing….I can’t wait to try it. Thank you for the step by step photos.
Yum what a delicious way to serve shrimp! And I love that it’s got a kick 😉
2 tbsp garlic? That seems like a lot??
It’s minced garlic, I would use two cloves of garlic in the dish. If your not a garlic fan go for less. You can taste it and maybe add a little bit of garlic powder at the end. Hope you like it as much as we do.
And the Cajun seasoning – it says to toss 1 Tbsp with the shrimp but then later it says to add Cajun seasoning with the Worcestershire sauce. Is that another tablespoon? So there’s 2 tbsp total? Just making sure 🙂
You know what, you are correct. It is two tablespoons. I need to modify the recipe. Thank you for pointing it out. Hope you enjoy!
I made it and it was great!! A little too spicy though, my lips were hurting. I threw in a splash of sriracha, I’ll leave that out next time and maybe only do an extra 1/2 tbsp of Cajun seasoning instead of 1 with the Worcestershire. I usually love spicy – I think my Cajun was spicy! Also, I buy the minced kind of garlic in the jar, and it says 1/2 tsp is a clove so I only did 1 tsp instead of 2 Tbsp. It was really good, thanks!
This was really good…the only thing I would change is not putting the seasoning on the shrimp..makes it a little to salty. I will make this again
I’m glad you liked it. Yeah, sometimes Cajun seasoning can be salty. You have to use you preference of what you like. Thank you for letting me know.
Can leftovers be frozen?
Hi Becky, I don’t see why not. If I had leftovers, I would freeze it. Just slowly warm it on the stove top. I hope you enjoyed the Shrimp Etouffee.
Incredible. One of the best dishes I’ve ever tasted.
Thank you so much! I am so glad you enjoyed it. It’s one of my favorites.
A bit too much heat but next time I will only add one tablespoon of Cajun spice. Glad I did not add the hot sauce. Great flavours.
Hi Liz, I tend to like the heat. When it comes to spice, it is all personal preference. Thank you for sharing with me.
I made this dish and it’s delcious. I substituted the chicken broth with Knorr vegetable bouillon (1 cube per 2 cups of water) and I used about a 1/3 cup of tomato sauce instead of tomatoes. I followed everything else just as written. Highly recommend this dish, Thank you!
I am so glad you liked it. It’s one of my favorites. I don’t make it to often, but it should. Love your changes to the recipe.
Perfect! Wouldn’t change a thing. Everyone loved it
I tried your recipe and it was delicious. This is definitely a keepsake. My college son said it was good too—so that meant it was great.
5his is comfort food I grew up on . I love this dish
I made this dish two days after a trip to New Orleans! This is even better than that I had at Pat O’Briens! I made it exactly as directed. Fabulous!! I added a few drops of tobacco which was perfect!