Homemade Crawfish Étouffée is full of tender seafood, smothered in a spicy Cajun tomato-based sauce, and served over rice. It is Southern comfort food at its best!
This New Orleans classic can easily be made at home with this quick and easy recipe. I love to make a big batch and freeze it for when I crave spicy Cajun food!
Crawfish Étouffée satisfies all of my cravings.
The flavor is intense and the combination of the succulent crawfish tail meat paired with the creamy tomato-based sauce is heaven to my taste buds. My recipe has just the right amount of spice too.
Why I love this recipe
- Classic Louisiana dish - If you're looking for a special recipe to celebrate Mardi Gras and need a Cajun classic to feed your family, a good etouffee will do the trick!
- Works with shrimp or langostino - If you live in South Louisiana, heaps of fresh crawfish tails are abundant. Elsewhere, they can be hard to find. Shrimp Étouffée or Étouffée of langoustine is very similar to this Cajun crawfish etouffee recipe and they only differ slightly in taste and texture.
- Cooks fast - This thick stew only takes minutes to make, so it's a great option for busy weeknights.
Ingredients needed
Exact quantities can be found in the recipe card below, but here is a summary for your shopping list.
- unsalted butter
- yellow onion, green bell pepper, and celery (the Holy Trinity of vegetables)
- Cajun or creole seasoning
- all-purpose flour
- diced tomatoes
- chicken stock
- Worcestershire sauce
- hot sauce
- cooked crawfish or Langostino
How to make Crawfish Étouffée
- Sauté vegetables: Melt butter in a large skillet or Dutch oven over medium-high heat until it begins to slightly brown around the edges. Sauté the onion, celery, and green peppers in the hot butter until softened, about 5 minutes. Stir only to prevent burning. Add the Cajun seasoning and stir to combine.
- Make the roux: Sprinkle the flour onto the vegetable mixture, stir to coat, and cook for 3 to 4 minutes. This is considered a blonde roux since it doesn't require a long period of time like the roux in gumbo.
- Add sauce ingredients: Stir in the tomatoes; cook until tomato juice begins to brown on the bottom of the pan, about 3 minutes. Whisk chicken broth into the vegetable mixture, stirring with a flat-bottomed wooden spoon until smooth. At this time, add the bay leaf. Bring to a simmer and cook until slightly thickened and reduced to a gravy consistency, 3 to 5 minutes. Stir in the Worcestershire sauce and hot sauce.
- Warm seafood: Stir crawfish (or langostino) into etouffee sauce. Since the seafood is already cooked, cook it in the sauce over low heat just until it is heated through. Remove the pan from heat and taste. Season with salt, to taste.
Serve over white rice and garnish with green onions or fresh parsley.
Recipe variations
- Instead of chicken broth, try using seafood stock or crawfish stock made from crawfish shells for a richer flavor.
- In lieu of hot sauce, cayenne pepper will give a nice spicy kick.
- The acid from a squeeze of lemon balances nicely with the salt and the Cajun spice blend. Lemon juice isn't part of the recipe but always tastes great with seafood.
Storage and reheating
Store leftovers in an airtight container in the refrigerator. Try to consume within 3-5 days. This recipe freezes well and should be thawed in the refrigerator before reheating.
Because of the seafood, etouffee must be heated gently; low and slow. Either simmer on the stove over very low heat or heat in the microwave on 50% power in one minute increments.
Étouffée FAQs
Shrimp étouffée is made the exact same way as my crawfish étouffée recipe here, except you use shrimp instead of crawfish.
If you're starting with cooked shrimp, you only need to heat them in the sauce until they are heated through. If you're starting with raw shrimp, you're going to want to cook them in the sauce until they are pink and fully cooked through. This should only take a few minutes.
Simply put, etouffee is a dish found in both Cajun and Creole cuisine, where shellfish cooked in a flavorful sauce is served smothered over rice. As you might imagine, etouffee is popular in the New Orleans and surrounding areas.
The sauce generally starts with a light roux of flour and butter along with the "holy trinity" of Cajun vegetables which are onion, celery, and green pepper. You'll find this flavor combination in tons of Cajun dishes.
Sometimes tomatoes are added, which is exactly what I did for this recipe.
The word étouffée is influenced by the word étouffer which means to smother. Also, the French word estuver translates to the word stew.
Etouffée is basically defined as a Cajun stew that smothers rice.
Similarities: All three are considered to be main dishes in Cajun cuisine. They all use the holy trinity of vegetables: onion, celery, and bell pepper.
Differences: Jambalaya is a dish that consists of meat, vegetables, and rice. It's all cooked together to form one cohesive dish. Gumbo is a mixture of meat and/or shellfish with vegetables in a thickened stock that's served alongside rice. Gumbo, however, more closely resembles soup than gravy. Etouffée is one type of shellfish that is mixed with a sauce that closely resembles a gravy and that mixture smothers rice.
Creole vs. Cajun food
Étouffée vs gumbo vs jambalaya
Similarities: All three are considered to be main dishes in Cajun cuisine. They all use the holy trinity of vegetables: onion, celery, and bell pepper.
Differences: Jambalaya is a dish that consists of meat, vegetables, and rice. It's all cooked together to form one cohesive dish. Gumbo is a mixture of meat and/or shellfish with vegetables in a thickened stock that's served alongside rice. Gumbo, however, more closely resembles soup than gravy. Etouffée is one type of shellfish that is mixed with a sauce that closely resembles a gravy and that mixture smothers rice.
Creole vs. Cajun food
According to Louisiana Travel, Creole cuisine uses tomatoes and proper Cajun food does not.
Cajun and Creole are two distinct cultures, and while over the years they continue to blend, there is still a vast distinction in Louisiana, and both have their own unique stories. A vastly simplified way to describe the two cuisines is to deem Creole cuisine as “city food” while Cajun cuisine is often referred to as “country food.”
If you’ve made this or any other recipe on my site, let me know in the comment section how it turned out. I love hearing from my readers!
You can also follow along on PINTEREST, FACEBOOK and INSTAGRAM to see more amazing recipes to satisfy any foodie craving!
Crawfish Étouffée
CLICK TO PLAY RECIPE VIDEO
Ingredients
- 3 tablespoons butter
- 1 cup diced onion
- ½ cup diced green bell pepper
- ½ cup chopped celery
- 1 tablespoon Cajun Spice Seasoning
- 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
- ½ cup diced tomatoes (diced or canned)
- 2 cups chicken stock
- 1 bay leaf
- ½ teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
- 1 dash hot sauce (Tobasco)
- 12 ounces cooked crawfish (or substitute with langostino)
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ¼ cup sliced green onions
- cooked medium or long grain white rice (for serving)
Instructions
- Sauté vegetables: Melt the butter in a large skillet over medium-high heat until it begins to slightly brown around the edges. Sauté the onion, celery, and green pepper in the hot butter until softened, about 5 minutes. Stir only to prevent burning. Add the Cajun seasoning and stir to combine.
- Make the roux: Sprinkle the flour onto the vegetable mixture, stir to coat, and cook for 3 to 4 minutes.
- Add sauce ingredients: Stir in the tomatoes; cook until tomato juice begins to brown on the bottom of the pan, about 3 minutes. Whisk chicken broth into the vegetable mixture, stirring until smooth. Add the bay leaf. Bring to a simmer and cook until slightly thickened and reduced to a gravy consistency, 3 to 5 minutes. Stir in the Worcestershire sauce and hot sauce.
- Warm seafood: Stir crawfish (or langostino) into etouffee sauce. Since the seafood is already cooked, cook it in the sauce just until it is heated through. Remove the pan from heat and taste. Season with salt, to taste. Remove bay leaf before serving.
- Serve over white rice and garnish with green onions.
Notes
NUTRITION INFORMATION
This recipe was originally published in February 2018 and has been updated with helpful information, ingredient and process photos, as well as recipe tips. Don't worry - the recipe hasn't changed!
Dee
Really enjoyed this recipe, I added a little more flour to thicken it a bit more. Definitely adding to the rotation!
Haitian Cuisine
CRAWFISH ÉTOUFFÉE is one of my favorite!!! I will surely try it.
Dawnine
I made this tonight, it came out awesome. Thanks for sharing
Jennifer Bockelman
You call for a bay leaf in your ingredients list but I don’t see where you include it in your recipe. When is it added in?
Krissy
Oh my gosh! You're the first person to find that mistake. I'm so sorry!!! I think my intention was to use a bay leaf but when it cooked up so quickly, I never did but I forgot to take it out of the ingredient list. Will remove now. Thank you for letting me know!
Kourtney zhuchenya
First time making this. Not going to lie from pictures I was skeptical. But fear not! It’s THE BOMB!!!!!
Camille
I’ve made this twice and it’s fabulous! I used shrimp because it’s hard to find crawfish here on the Oregon coast. I just bumped up the spice with more Cajun seasoning, hot sauce and red pepper flakes. Thanks for the great recipe.
Ljohns
Fantastic! Super authentic and delish. Really easy, thanks so much for a great recipe.
Leeann
We're trying your recipe tonight for company. He's from Louisiana, my grandmother was from Louisiana and I'm still learning. Sounds delish, thanks to everyone's suggestions and comments ... they really help! We'll let you know how it turns out!
Heather
Just a quick question: is the 174 calories with the rice or just the crawfish sauce? Really want to try this recipe!
Krissy
Just the crawfish sauce. Krissy
Terri Jackson
This recipe is so good. Even my picky grandchildren ate 2 bowls and asked for the recipe. A keeper for sure!!!
Vicki
I added some granulated garlic and a pinch of thyme and it was perfect.
Lisa
Any particular kind of diced tomatoes (caned) could I use paste or tomatoes sauce?
Krissy
Diced tomatoes are definitely different from both sauce and paste. You can use whole canned tomatoes and crush them yourself, or buy a can of diced tomatoes.
Emily
Hi Krissy, I actually live in Louisiana, was born and raised here. And I admit, though your blog is amazing, when I saw crawfish etoufee (from Oregon isn't it?) I was skeptical. But your dish and recipe look and sound authentic!! And your research on Cajun vs Creole was well done also! I couldn't have said it better myself.
Also Creole tends to be from the Spanish line morphed with some other cultures (makes sense being in the city right?) while Cajun is from the French settlers (the trappers, swampers and farmers who stayed to themselves more)
My mouth is watering right now and I don't have any crawfish on hand.
Krissy
Thank you so much, Emily? I'm always worried when I try to create a recipe from a certain region that I've never been. I feel super validated right now! Thank you!
Who Noms the World
LOVE that you don't skimp out on the crawfish - the way an etouffee should be 😉
SGT Fon
you need to start off making the Roux first, a good lovingly made dark roux should take about 20 mins. also if you can boil the crawfish shells along with some veggies then reduce crawfish stock is always better then chicken in this dish. if you have trouble finding crawdads, you can substitute shrimp for them.just shell about 5 lbs and use them for the stock.also needs a clove or two of garlic...
Krissy
I wanna have dinner at your house! Sounds amazing!
Katie Campbell
SGT fan, you've got it right. I've never heard of making a roux with vegetables already in the pot. You can't properly, evenly brown a roux that way. The roux comes FIRST.
Also, as a Cajun cook who learned from MAMAs and PAPAs, I saw them use onion, bell pepper and green onions or onion tops always. Celery was the veggie that you could leave out if you didn't have it. Most always used all four. I can't even imagine a gumbo without 2 bunches of green onions. And it's not like you're adding onions on top of onions - onion tops are a whole different thing, and they add some prettiness to boot!
Yes, please go to Louisiana soon! Go to Lafayette and Vermilion parishes for an authentic Cajun experience and food, and New Orleans for Creole. And go for the culture and the people anywhere in South Louisiana. You'll feel you've traveled to a different country. There's no place on earth like it.