Crawfish Étouffée is an easy-to-make, smothered crawfish dish that is over-the-top delicious. The creamy sauce, tender crawfish tails, and perfect amount of Creole seasoning make this a knockout dinner.
Crawfish Étouffée is a classic New Orleans dish where crawfish tails are cooked in a deliciously seasoned cream sauce. The name, “etouffée,” translated into English, actually comes from the French word “étouffer,” which means to smother – and that couldn’t be more appropriate for what happens to these crawfish.
Crawfish Étouffée is traditionally made with butter and the Cajun holy trinity as the base. Some people use a roux, some people add tomato paste, and some people go totally off the rails and add sausage as well.
This recipe is our family’s version of the classic Louisiana dish that we have been making for years – you won’t be able to resist dunking some crusty French bread in the flavorful sauce.
Louisiana cooking is so great because every family often has their own way of doing things and their own recipes – things that their family loves. (Just read any Facebook comment section about putting tomatoes in gumbo.) This saucy stew is a prime example of that – I hope you enjoy our version!
Table of Contents
🥘 Ingredients Needed
- Salted Butter
- Diced Bacon – I like to use thick-cut bacon for this recipe – the fat really adds a lot of flavor as crawfish are pretty lean on their own.
- Diced Celery
- Diced Onion – I like to use a yellow onion for this recipe.
- Diced Green Bell Pepper
- Minced Garlic
- Tony Chachere’s Creole Seasoning – If you don’t have Tony’s, you can make your own Creole Seasoning.
- Flour (I used All-Purpose Flour to make this post, but I have made it Gluten-Free using Arrowroot Powder or Tapioca Starch in the past)
- Chicken Broth or Stock (or Seafood Stock)
- Tomatoes – We like to use diced, fresh tomatoes but you can use canned tomatoes, tomato paste, or tomato sauce. (Tomatoes are a common ingredient in Creole cuisine – Cajun food will often not use tomatoes.)
- Kosher Salt
- Dried Thyme
- Dried Parsley
- Worcestershire Sauce
- Heavy Cream
- Louisiana Crawfish Tails – Try to find crawfish tails from Louisiana – it will say where it is from on the front of the package. (A lot of crawfish tails are actually brought in from China, and Chinese crawfish just aren’t the real deal.) You can also use leftover crawfish tail meat from a crawfish boil.
For Serving
- Hot Cooked Rice – We like to use Green Onion Rice or plain cooked white rice.
- Sliced Green Onions or Fresh Parsley
- Toasted French Bread
🍽 Equipment Needed
- A Large Pot, Dutch Oven, or Heavy-Bottomed Saucepan
- A Rubber Spatula or Wooden Spoon
- A Sharp Knife and Cutting Board
- Measuring Spoons/Measuring Cups
🥣 How to Make It
Crawfish Season is one of the best times of the year in Louisiana, but with the ability to buy frozen crawfish tails, you can enjoy crawfish dishes all year round. Crawfish Étouffée is such an easy recipe to make, yet it tastes like such an impressive dish.
Begin by heating a large pot or Dutch oven over medium heat. If you have not already done so, dice up your vegetables and bacon. (Picture 1)
Add diced bacon and butter to the pot and melt the butter as the bacon crisps up. (Pictures 2 – 4)
Next, do your best to scrape the bits of bacon off of the bottom of the pot, then add the onions, celery, and green pepper to the melted butter and bacon. (Picture 5)
Cook for 2 – 3 minutes, then add minced garlic and cook until the onions are translucent and soft. The garlic should also become fragrant. (Picture 6)
Now, add the Creole seasoning and let that cook for about a minute. It will smell so good! (Picture 7)
Then sprinkle the flour over the vegetable & Creole seasoning mixture and stir it until it thickens almost into a paste. Continue stirring while this cooks so the flour doesn’t burn to the bottom of the pot – it should take about one minute. (Picture 8 – 9)
Now gradually add the stock to this mixture. I start with about a third of the stock, then let it start to simmer a little before adding the remainder of it. (Picture 10)
Bring this to a gentle boil/simmer (Picture 11), then add tomatoes, parsley, thyme, kosher salt, and Worcestershire sauce. (Pictures 12 – 13) Return to a simmer, then stir in cream. (Picture 14)
Simmer uncovered over low heat for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally. (Picture 15)
Finally, add the crawfish tails to the cream mixture.
Mix to combine, then quickly return the étouffée to a simmer (maybe 2 – 3 minutes just to heat the crawfish all the way through), then remove it from the heat. The crawfish tails are already cooked, so they will get rubbery if cooked too long.
Serve immediately with green onion rice (or plain white rice) and a sprinkle of green onions on top.
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Share with friends🍳 What to Serve with Crawfish Étouffée
We love to serve Crawfish Étouffée with Green Onion Rice or over some fried catfish fillets to make Catfish Atchafalaya – a huge plate of fried catfish smothered in Crawfish Étouffée with a heaping scoop of Green Onion Rice. It is, hands down, one of my favorite dinners of all time. We also love to serve this saucy stew with crunchy french bread.
🥫How to Store Leftover Crawfish Étouffée
Crawfish Étouffée leftovers can be stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator for 2 – 3 days. It can be reheated over low heat, but again, do not overcook it, as the crawfish will get tough.
If you are not going to eat all of the étouffée within 2 – 3 days, you can freeze it for several months. Let it defrost in the refrigerator, then reheat on the stove over low heat.
You can also make étouffée sauce and keep it in the freezer for easy weeknight meals – when you are craving étouffée, all you need to do is defrost and heat up the sauce, then add crawfish or shrimp to it.
✏️ Helpful Tips
- Do not overcook the crawfish – crawfish tails are already cooked, so they can get very chewy if they get cooked for too long. The crawfish tails just need a few minutes to warm up in the sauce.
- You can use any kind of tomatoes that you like – cherry tomatoes, creole tomatoes, diced tomatoes in a can, or diced Roma tomatoes – this is such a versatile recipe. Because of the use of chopped tomatoes, this étouffée recipe is more of a Creole étouffée – but don’t let the tomatoes stop you from trying it!
- If you don’t have crawfish, you can use shrimp and make Shrimp Étouffée instead. If you’re using shrimp, they can be seared for a few minutes on each side BEFORE making the sauce, then remove them from the pan and set them off to the side. Follow the recipe as written, then simmer shrimp in the étouffée sauce until they are no longer pink and serve.
🙋♀️ Frequently Asked Questions
Both Cajun and Creole cuisines have their own variations of crawfish etouffee. The Creole version has a lighter sauce with tomatoes in it, and the Cajun version is made with a darker brown roux.
Etouffee sauce is creamy, a little spicy, and has a rich seafood flavor. It is absolutely delicious.
🌶️ Other Great Cajun & Creole Recipes
- Shrimp Creole
- Red Beans and Rice
- Chicken and Sausage Gumbo
- Raising Cane’s Sauce
- Green Onion Rice
- Creole Jambalaya
Have You Tried This Recipe?
Please rate it and leave a comment below. I would love to hear what you think!
Crawfish Étouffée
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon butter
- 2 – 3 ounces smoked bacon, diced I use 3 – 4 strips depending on how thick it is.
- ½ cup white or yellow onion finely diced
- ½ cup green bell pepper finely diced
- ¼ cup celery finely diced
- ½ tablespoon garlic minced
- 1 tablespoon Tony Chachere's Creole Seasoning
- ⅛ cup all-purpose flour
- 2 cups chicken broth
- ½ cup tomatoes chopped, I quartered fresh cherry tomatoes from our garden.
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt
- ½ teaspoon dried thyme
- ½ teaspoon dried parsley
- ½ teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
- ¼ cup heavy cream
- 1 pound peeled Crawfish tails
For Serving
- cooked rice we like green onion rice
- green onions, chopped
Instructions
- Begin by heating a large pot or dutch oven over medium heat. If you have not already done so, dice up your vegetables and bacon.
- Add diced bacon and butter and let the butter melt as the bacon crisps up.1 tablespoon butter, 2 – 3 ounces smoked bacon, diced
- When the bacon is crispy, do your best to scrape the bits of bacon off of the bottom of the pot.
- Now add the onions, celery, and green pepper to the melted butter and bacon. Cook for 2 – 3 minutes.½ cup white or yellow onion, ½ cup green bell pepper, ¼ cup celery
- Next, add minced garlic.½ tablespoon garlic
- Continue cooking until the onions are translucent and soft. The garlic should also become fragrant.
- Now, add the Creole seasoning and let that cook for about a minute. It will smell so good!1 tablespoon Tony Chachere's Creole Seasoning
- Then sprinkle the flour over the vegetable and Creole seasoning mixture and stir it until it thickens almost into a paste.⅛ cup all-purpose flour
- Continue stirring while this cooks so the flour doesn't burn to the bottom of the pot – it should take about one minute.
- Now gradually add the stock to this mixture. I start with about a third of the stock, then let it start to simmer a little before adding the remainder of it.2 cups chicken broth
- Bring this to a gentle boil/simmer.
- Next, add tomatoes, parsley, thyme, kosher salt, and Worcestershire sauce.½ cup tomatoes, ½ teaspoon kosher salt, ½ teaspoon dried thyme, ½ teaspoon dried parsley, ½ teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
- Return to a simmer, then stir in cream.¼ cup heavy cream
- Simmer uncovered over low heat for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.
- Finally, add the crawfish tails. Mix to combine then return the étouffée to a simmer (about 2 – 3 minutes) and remove from heat. The crawfish tails are already cooked, so they will get rubbery if cooked too long.1 pound peeled Crawfish tails
- Serve immediately with green onion rice (or plain white rice) and a sprinkle of green onions on top.cooked rice, green onions, chopped
Notes
How to Store Leftover Crawfish Étouffée
Crawfish Étouffée leftovers can be stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator for 2 – 3 days. It can be reheated over low heat, but again, do not overcook it as the crawfish will get tough. If you are not going to eat all of the étouffée within 2 – 3 days, you can freeze it for several months. Let it defrost in the refrigerator, then reheat on the stove over low heat. You can also make étouffée sauce and keep it in the freezer for easy weeknight meals – when you are craving étouffée, all you need to do is defrost and heat up the sauce, then add crawfish or shrimp to it.Recipe Tips
- Do not overcook the crawfish – crawfish tails are already cooked, so they can get very chewy if they get cooked for too long. The crawfish tails just need a few minutes to warm up in the sauce.
- You can use any kind of tomatoes that you like – cherry tomatoes, creole tomatoes, diced tomatoes in a can, or diced Roma tomatoes – this is such a versatile recipe. Because of the use of chopped tomatoes, this étouffée recipe is more of a Creole étouffée – but don’t let the tomatoes stop you from trying it!
- If you don’t have crawfish, you can use shrimp and make Shrimp Étouffée instead. If you’re using shrimp, they can be seared for a few minutes on each side BEFORE making the sauce, then remove them from the pan and set them off to the side. Follow the recipe as written, then simmer shrimp in the étouffée sauce until they are no longer pink and serve.
Special Equipment Needeed
- a 5 quart dutch oven or a large pot
- measuring spoons
- measuring cups
Nutrition
Nutrition information is approximate and is automatically calculated, so should only be used as a guide.
Other Delicious Crawfish Recipes
- Catfish Atchafalaya
- Crawfish Pie
- Crawfish Monica
Looking for more recipes?
Seafood Recipes
Delicious and Easy Blackened Shrimp Recipe
Side Dishes
Buttery Yellow Squash and Onions
Main Courses
Instant Pot Jambalaya Recipe
Breakfast
