Easy Cajun Crawfish Etouffee
A quick and easy "blond" crawfish etouffee that's full of Louisiana flavors and tender crawfish! Serve over steaming hot rice for a family-pleasing dinner. Don't forget the French bread to soak up every last bit of etouffee on your plate!
Servings 4
Calories 266kcal
Equipment
- 5 qt heavy pot or Dutch oven
- measuring cup(s)
- measuring spoons
Ingredients
- ½ cup butter 1 stick
- 1 cup finely chopped yellow onion
- ½ cup finely chopped green bell pepper
- ½ cup finely chopped celery
- 2 tablespoon all purpose flour
- 2 cups chicken broth beef broth works really well, too
- 1 tablespoon minced garlic (jarred version)
- ½ tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
- 1 teaspoon Cajun or Creole seasoning I used Tony's because that's what I had
- ½ teaspoon hot sauce I used Louisiana hot sauce
- ¼ teaspoon black pepper
- 1 lb cooked crawfish tail meat
- ¼ cup sliced green onions
- hot cooked rice
Slurry for Thickening Final Etouffee (optional but recommended)
- 2 tablespoon water
- 1 tablespoon all purpose flour
Instructions
- Melt the butter in a heavy, 5-qt pot. Add onion, bell pepper, and celery. Slow simmer until the vegetables are soft, being careful the butter doesn't burn.
- Add the flour and stir to combine. Slow simmer for 10 minutes stirring frequently.
- Add the broth, minced garlic, worcestershire sauce, Cajun or Creole seasoning, hot sauce, and pepper.
- Add the crawfish tails and simmer (not boil) 10 minutes. Taste test for flavor and adjust if needed. Stir in the green onions.
- If you want your etouffee to be thicker, make a flour-water slurry of 2 tablespoon cool tap water and 1 tablespoon flour. Stir until smooth. Stir in 1-2 tablespoon of the slurry to the etouffee and let it simmer for 1 minute. Adjust seasonings if needed.
- Serve over rice. Serve with buttered, toasted French bread to soak up the sauce!
Notes
Nutrition data does not include the rice or the additional tablespoon of flour-water slurry.
The amount of seasonings I used should be adjusted to your liking. Always taste test and add more so that you like the flavor!
Recipe Tips
- Use Louisiana crawfish tail meat. The flavor is sweeter, and there is more fat than the imported ones. IF the imported is all you can find, then go ahead and use it!
- Don’t overcook the crawfish tail meat. They're already cooked—no need to let them boil for a long period of time.
- Add broth slowly while stirring to avoid lumps in the roux.
- Sauce consistency is key. It should be thick enough to spoon over rice but not as thick as gumbo.
- Crawfish swaps: the next best thing? Peeled and deveined shrimp! After that, try diced and sauteed chicken thighs.
- Onion, bell pepper, and celery: to save time, you can use the pre-chopped trinity in a container in the produce section. You can also use the frozen kind in the bag. Just be aware that frozen vegetables will release some moisture into the etoufee so you may need to go slow adding the broth to get the right consistency.
- Instead of chicken broth: you can use vegetable broth or seafood stock.
- Use cayenne pepper: instead of Cajun/Creole seasoning blend.
- Other than rice: you can serve etoufee over a baked potato or cooked grits.
Nutrition
Calories: 266kcal | Carbohydrates: 10g | Protein: 5g | Fat: 24g | Saturated Fat: 15g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g | Monounsaturated Fat: 6g | Trans Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 82mg | Sodium: 686mg | Potassium: 244mg | Fiber: 2g | Sugar: 3g | Vitamin A: 1157IU | Vitamin C: 21mg | Calcium: 47mg | Iron: 1mg
