Crawfish Etouffee

Get ready to fall in love with your new favorite Crawfish Etouffee Recipe. This bowl comes fully loaded with crawfish tails and bold, authentic Louisiana flavors.

As soon as crawfish season hits around here, we are ready to boil! This is a great recipe to use leftover crawfish tails, but it also works great with cooked, frozen crawfish tails if you love to enjoy dishes like etouffee and crawfish pie year-round. You can also sub in shrimp if you're having trouble getting your hands on crawfish.

We kick off this classic dish with the Cajun building blocks of flavor, the holy trinity (bell pepper, celery, and onion). Then, it's onto a simple roux and my foolproof hack for making the smoothest, creamiest etouffee base your tastebuds have ever experienced.

Why This Recipe Works

Louisiana has a lot of food to be proud of, but surely etouffee is one of their proudest foodie moments.

Ease | You can easily have this crawfish etouffee recipe on the table in less than 30 minutes. Our step-by-step photos and video will help you perfect this warm, comforting dish on your very first try. If you are intimidated by a roux, don't worry--our method for adding in the chicken broth slowly and stirring after each addition will make that process seamless. We use the same method in our Cajun shrimp and chicken alfredo pasta, and it keeps every type of sauce smooth and creamy every single time without fail.

Consistency | Etouffee means "to smother," and this New Orleans-style rendition does exactly that--smothers those crawfish tails in all the right ways. It boasts a smooth, buttery texture that lies somewhere between a stew and a bisque.

Flavor | Its flavor is rich and distinctly Louisiana-inspired thanks to the holy trinity of vegetables, Creole seasonings, Worcestershire, and hot sauce.

Crawfish Etouffee Ingredients

Crawfish | Crawfish season typically runs from February through May, sometimes stretching into early summer. If you have leftover crawfish from a boil, peel it, and refrigerate it stored in an airtight container. You can use the day of or the next day in this etouffee recipe. Since we only host crawfish boils a few times a year (and rarely end up with leftovers), we mostly use store-bought, frozen crawfish tails. We thaw them in the refrigerator overnight to get them ready to go. Note that this recipe calls for cooked crawfish tails.

Butter | The first part of the roux and the veggies cook in unsalted butter for full control over sodium levels.

Veggies | Crawfish etouffee is loaded with flavor and does not skimp on the ingredients. It features the holy trinity--diced yellow onion, bell pepper, and celery--but don't forget the garlic! Our recipe also calls for freshly chopped tomato to be added at the end, which adds balance to such a savory powerhouse dish and a welcomed burst of acidity to every bite.

Flour | The second ingredient to make up a roux is all-purpose flour to be used as the thickening agent. This gets your etouffee to the perfect consistency.

Broth | The liquid portion of etouffee can be made up of either chicken broth or seafood broth. Use low sodium or unsalted so your crawfish etouffee doesn't end up too salty.

Flavor + Seasoning | This crawfish etouffee is packed with flavor thanks to ingredients like tomato paste, Worcestershire sauce, hot sauce, Creole seasoning, and bay leaf.

How to Make Crawfish Etouffee

The great thing about this recipe is that once you get going, it wastes no time at all moving along. With that said, if you plan on serving crawfish etouffee with white rice, I recommend starting that rice recipe when you begin your etouffee. That way, once your etouffee is ready to serve, your rice is already for you.

Add Butter + Veggies | Before you add butter to a hot pan, make sure you've got the ingredients that follow already prepped and ready to go in. Butter melts fast, and it burns even faster. Onion, bell pepper, and celery go in first and are cooked until softened. Next, add the garlic and cook one minute more.

Butter + Flour = Roux | Sprinkle the flour over the vegetables and stir for about one minute, giving that flour just enough time to cook on the stovetop.

Add Tomato Paste + Broth | Stir in the tomato paste and then begin adding your broth or seafood broth one big splash at a time (no more than a ¼ cup), stirring well after each addition. This is a foolproof way to make sure that your sauce turns out perfectly smooth and silky in texture.

Season | Next, you'll add in the Worcestershire sauce, the hot sauce, all of those glorious spices and the chopped tomatoes. The chopped tomatoes are added toward the end, so they maintain their texture and their flavor stays pronounced.

Simmer | The simmer allows the etouffee to thicken and gives all those flavors time to marry. At this point, stir occasionally to ensure nothing sticks or burns to the bottom of your pan.

Add the Crawfish Last | The cooked crawfish are the last thing to go into your etouffee as the tails are tiny and won't take long to heat up. If you add toward the beginning, you can be certain those delicate little tails will be overcooked.

Plate | Add a ladleful or two of etouffee into your bowl and add a scoop of white rice on top. Add a garnish of sliced green onions and chopped parsley for an extra pop of color and flavor, if desired.

What to Serve with Crawfish Etouffee

Crawfish etouffee is hearty enough to be eaten on its lonesome with a scoop of white rice on top. If you're feeling spunky, you could certainly try a spoonful of Cajun rice instead.

With Sides | In NOLA, you're sure to get a toasty hunk of French bread or a hearty slice of garlic bread on the side of etouffee, but you wouldn't be hard pressed to find classic Southern sides like fried okra, red beans and rice, and dirty rice on the menu as well.

As a Side | Etouffee an also be served in smaller portions on the side of hearty Louisiana sandwiches like shrimp po'boys and roast beef po'boys, or as an accompaniment to a lighter dinnertime protein like blackened chicken.

How to Store Crawfish Etouffee

Store | According to FDA guidelines, crawfish etouffee can be kept safely in the refrigerator for up to two days, so eat it up quickly! However, you can extend the shelf life by freezing it.

Freeze | Transfer it to a freezer-safe, gallon-sized zip-top bag and seal tightly. I like to lay the bag flat on a sheet pan (or something of the sort) to make the thawing process go by much faster later on down the road. Etouffee from the freezer is best eaten within a three-month time span.

5 More Cajun-Inspired Recipes You'll Love

• Shrimp and Grits
• Sausage and Rice
• BBQ Shrimp
• Jambalaya Pasta
• Blackened Shrimp