Cajun Crawfish Étouffée
Crawfish étouffée is a classic south Louisiana dish that is popular in Creole and Cajun cuisine. This stew-like dish is made with a light brown roux, the cajun holy trinity, and crawfish tails served over rice.
For more classic cajun dishes, check out chicken and sausage gumbo and red beans and rice. If you need leftover crawfish recipes, try crawfish Monica, fried crawfish tails, or crawfish cream sauce.
What is Étouffée?
Ètouffée is a French word meaning “smothered”. Smothering is a technique popular in cajun and creole cooking that usually involves browning meat, sautéing vegetables, then cooking it all down together in a liquid until a thicker stew-like consistency forms. Dishes like smothered chicken and smothered green beans are popular in Louisiana cooking.
Some recipes for étouffée use a roux, and some don’t. The cajun version of étouffée does not include tomatoes, but the creole version often does.
Lagniappe
Lagniappe: LAN-yap – a little something extra
Crawfish Étouffée is a dish that blends the cultural influences of Cajun and Creole cooking. It started in the bayou regions of South Louisiana where crawfish were plentiful. Originally a home cooked meal, this dish started popping up on restaurant menus and exploded in popularity. Today, you’ll find it on the menu of most cajun country and New Orleans restaurants.
Étouffée vs Gumbo
While étouffée and gumbo are both classic cajun dishes, they are different. Gumbo and étouffée are both served over white rice, but étouffée is thicker. Both can be made with a roux, but gumbo is made with a dark brown roux with a deep rich flavor. Étouffée is sometimes made with a peanut butter colored roux, but some recipes don’t use a roux at all.
They both use the cajun holy trinity (onions, bell peppers, and celery) for flavoring. Étouffée is usually made with shrimp, crawfish, or sometimes chicken. Gumbo can be made with chicken and sausage, okra, or seafood.
Ingredients & Substitutions
- Butter – Étouffée is a butter based dish. If you’re making a dark roux for gumbo, its best to use a neutral oil. But if you’re making a peanut butter roux (which is lighter), use butter for the best flavor.
- Trinity – The cajun trinity consists of yellow onion, green bell pepper, and celery. It’s the foundation of many cajun dishes like this one.
- Stock – You can make this with chicken stock, but if you have some seafood or shrimp stock that would make it even better.
- Crawfish tails – Save your leftover crawfish boil tails or use frozen tails.
- Cajun or Creole seasoning – Use your favorite or make your own homemade cajun seasoning.
- White rice – Étouffée is traditionally served over fluffy white rice.
- Liquid crab boil – This is optional, but if using frozen crawfish tails from the grocery store, the crab boil will give it that tasty crawfish boil flavor. You can find liquid crab boil on the seasoning aisle or online.
See the recipe card below for the complete list of ingredients and measurements.
How to Make Crawfish Étouffée
- Melt butter and whisk in flour. Cook while stirring constantly until you get a peanut butter roux.
- Add in onion, bell pepper, celery, and green onions. Sauté until softened then add garlic.
- Whisk in warmed stock to stir out the lumps, then simmer.
- Add crawfish, crab boil, parsley, and cajun seasoning. Simmer until thickened.
- Serve hot over rice and top with more fresh green onions.
Lauren’s Tips
- Keep stirring the roux constantly, scraping down the sides, so it doesn’t burn. For a full roux tutorial, see how to make a gumbo roux.
- Warm the broth before whisking it into the roux to avoid breaking it.
- Liquid crab boil is optional, but if you’re using frozen crawfish, a few drops of this can help them get that crawfish boil flavor.
- Use real Louisiana crawfish, as they will have the best flavor! Be sure to read the package.
- To make a creole version with tomatoes: reduce the stock to 1 ½ cups add a 14.5 oz can of diced tomatoes right after adding the warmed stock.
Equipment Needed
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Buy Now → Storage & Make Ahead
- Store leftovers in the fridge for up to 3 days.
- Freeze without rice for up to 3 months.
- Make ahead: You can chop the vegetables a day in advance.
More Crawfish Recipes
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Authentic Cajun Crawfish Étouffée
Ingredients
- 6 tablespoons unsalted butter
- ⅓ cup all purpose flour
- 1 large onion
- 1 bell pepper (can do half red, half green)
- 1 stalk celery
- 5 green onions
- 5 cloves garlic
- 2 ½ cups chicken or seafood stock (warmed)
- 1 pound crawfish tails
- 2-3 teaspoons cajun seasoning
- 1 tablespoon finely chopped parsley
- ⅛ teaspoon crab boil (optional)
- Cooked white rice for serving
Instructions
- PREP: Finely chop onion, bell peppers, celery, green onions, and parsley. Mince garlic. Measure out other ingredients.1 large onion, 1 bell pepper, 1 stalk celery, 5 green onions, 5 cloves garlic, 1 tablespoon finely chopped parsley
- ROUX: Heat a large skillet over medium heat then melt butter. Whisk flour into the butter. It will be foamy at first. Cook while stirring constantly for about 5-10 minutes, or until the roux turns to a peanut butter color.* It should smell toasted and nutty.6 tablespoons unsalted butter, ⅓ cup all purpose flour
- SAUTÉ: Add in onions, bell peppers, celery, half the green onions, and a pinch of salt to the roux. Mix together and sauté for about 10 minutes until vegetables are softening. Stir and scrape the bottom frequently so nothing sticks. Add in garlic and cook for about 1 minute while stirring.
- SIMMER: Slowly whisk in warmed* broth until it is all incorporated and there are no remaining lumps of flour. Bring up to a simmer then cook for about 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.2 ½ cups chicken or seafood stock
- FINISH: Next add crawfish with the juices, crab boil (if using), parsley, and cajun seasoning. Simmer for another 10 minutes, stirring occasionally, or until the sauce has thickened to desired consistency. Taste and adjust seasoning as needed.1 pound crawfish tails, 2-3 teaspoons cajun seasoning, ⅛ teaspoon crab boil
- SERVE: Serve over rice and top with remaining green onions.
Notes
- *Keep stirring the roux constantly, being sure to scrape down the sides and bottom of the pan to keep all the flour moving so it doesn’t burn. You may see some darker specks turning brown – this is the milk solids browning. This is fine as long as they are not turning black. Black spots means a burnt roux and you have to start over.
- *Its important to heat the broth before adding it in. Cold broth can cause a hot roux to break.
- Add tomatoes – If you want tomatoes, reduce the stock to 1 ½ cups and add a 14.5 oz can of diced tomatoes right after adding the warmed stock.
- Make your own seafood stock and cajun seasoning for the best flavor.
- See this tutorial on perfectly cooked white rice.
- Store in the fridge for 3 days and the freezer for 3 months.
Equipment
- Large skillet
Nutrition
Meet Lauren
I’m the blogger, recipe developer, food photographer, and otherwise food obsessed gal behind Lauren From Scratch. I was born and raised in New Orleans and lived in South Louisiana most of my life. Growing up around Cajun country has instilled a love of food that runs deep in my bones. I am passionate about food and teaching you how to make mouth-watering Louisiana inspired dishes in your own kitchen!
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This was my first time making Crawfish Étouffée from scratch and it came out perfect with this recipe.
Love to hear that David! Thanks so much for taking the time to leave a comment.