Chef John's Shrimp Etouffee

This is awesome! In the video he talks about "the holy trinity" ~celery, onions and green peppers but in the written directions it says "green chile peppers". Next time I will use green peppers. I think he used canned tomatoes in the video but I used fresh and it was fine. Next time I will also cut down on the cayenne. It was fine for hubby and I who love spice but may be too much for the non-spice lover. That said, with or without the cayenne I think it could use double the spice blend. I have 2 big eaters and myself. This recipe was enough with a small amount of leftovers. Thanks Chef John, can't beat this recipe!

Easy and very good! I tried this tonight to test for a Soul Food Luncheon I am in charge of for 70 seniors who have asked for Soul Food. I've never tried this cuisine before but this dish was easy and yummy. Thanks Chef John!!P.S. I also used chicken breasts and Andouille sausage along with the shrimp.

Amazing! Made this for an early Father's Day Lunch and was told it was outstanding. With the exception of using seafood stock, I made it as listed. I was however surprised at how spicy it was. I literally put two drops of hot sauce in it. After reviewing the recipe on Chef John's blog, I found that this site lists green chili peppers and his site lists sweet (bell) peppers. Next time I'll use a green bell pepper. I personally like the heat but when cooking for others, I try to tame it down. Thanks Chef John!

Not bad but not nearly enough of the holy trinity. Also it misses having a browned roux, but is easier without that step. For that amount of shrimp you want at least a cup of onion and 1/2 cup of celery and bell pepper. Also I think adding a bay leaf is essential for flavor, but otherwise I followed this recipe and it came out pretty good.

Perfect dish. Follow the instructions & you'll produce a meal to rival any restaurant. After making this 3 times for different 'audiences', or became clear it's worthy of a top-spot in my cooking repertoire. Plus it makes you look like a Kitchen Cook Superstar! Thanks a million Chef John!

Excellent as written. Fresh shrimp tastes even better. If you want more shrimp stock, you can take the tail shells from the frozen shrimp, or all the shells and heads from the fresh shrimp and depending on the amount of shells you have, gently boil them in a cup or half cup of water until the shells begin to turn orange in color. Then strain the water from the shells.

Delicious! Easy to make, spicy! :) served it over chef john's classic pilaf rice :) thanks!

Another extraordinary recipe from Chef John. Thank you!! Shrimp Étouffée is one of my very favorite dishes, and this is the first time I've made it, thanks to your easy instructions. It was VERY filling, so it was okay that we only had a pound and a half shrimp. That easily feeds 6 or more. I actually had good-quality shrimp (which was a surprise) rather than water-logged, which meant I should not have drained and patted them dry. There was hardly any shrimp broth at the bottom to add back in, so I would have liked to know how to make stock with the shells instead of throwing them away (will research for next time). This was YUMMY! And my family loved it! Thank you!!

Made as is with no substitutions except increasing to 6 servings. Everyone enjoyed this...especially my husband who is from Louisiana. Just the right amount of spice, good gravy. Will make again.

Excellent recipe -- rich sauce that works perfectly with the shrimp. I doubled the non-hot spices and loved the result. I also used fresh garlic and onion (I don't have powder). I used canned diced Hatch chiles. But fresh tomatoes. And I didn't have celery. (Will add it next time, but it was great without it.) Next time, I am going to try chicken -- or a chicken, shrimp, sausage mix. In other words, this is a robust recipe that holds up well to lots of fiddling. And the timings on the steps seemed just about perfect. Easy to follow with a great result!

It is a fantastic dish especially on a cold day. Be careful not to adjust the oregano. ..made it taste a bit too woodsy. I have cooked this several times and its a real crowd pleaser!

Excellent; my wife and I loved it. I intended to make half of this recipe for my wife and me, but forgot and made the entire sauce recipe for only one pound of shrimp; that seemed to be enough shrimp for the full amount of sauce. The shrimp we bought (already P&D) was higher quality than Chef John inferred in the video.

This food taste soo good ! I will cook this for my friends :) this is so simple to do. I also used fresh tomatoes and it turned out great, so I think fresh food is better than canned tomatoes. I also love adding green onions bc it makes the taste more complete :)

My husband is the master or creole cooking so you can imagine my stress level cooking this for him. He LOVED it and so did our kids. It was lip smacking good. I did use green peppers instead of the chile peppers. Served over white rice with a green salad and corn bread. Definitely a keeper!! Thank you!!!!

The huge list of ingredients is a little scary, but this actually comes together pretty quickly and the steps aren't too involved. The combination of herbs and spices makes for a very well seasoned broth. I don't like green bell peppers, so I used a poblano (as is suggested in the video). Why didn't I think of that before??? I couldn't bring myself to use pre-cooked shrimp, so I substituted raw easy peel. So much better! Very good recipe that scratches the Cajun itch without the huge production a gumbo is. Thanks.

Excellent! Good enough to serve to dinner guests and easy to make. I will be making this again and again!

A teriffic dish! I just about doubled the sauce ingredients though, added 1 tsp of Old Bay seasoning and omitted the chili pepper, using green pepper instead. Chef John's directions are easy to follow. Thank you for a great meal idea :)

I made this for my husband for his birthday. He thought it was delicious. I thought so too. Here's what I would do differently though.I would mince some garlic for extra flavor and not sear the shrimp prior. The shrimp were over cooked for me. I would make the etouffe and add the raw shrimp afterward and simmer. Very good recipe though.

I made my broth with the shrimp skins and and about a tbs of chicken broth base. It was amazing! I only used 1lb of shrimp because that's all I had. If I did use 2lbs then I would double everything else so there were be enough sauce to enjoy for a second plate. I also increased the cayenne pepper because we like things spicy!

This was fantastic! Really spicy but not sure why with only 1/4 tsp cayenne. I used 3 TB of flour to thicken to my liking. A must have for Mardi Gras! Real keeper, thank you!

I made this almost exactly as written, I only left out the dash of hot sauce because my hubby doesn't like really spicy food. It was only moderately spicy without it. Perfect for us! Thanks for another great recipe Chef John!!

Made just like recipe said except used 1 lb shrimp and 1 lb chorizo sausage (store was out of andouille). Fantastic!!!

This recipe came out so well and it was so easy!!! It was spicy but not to hot, flavorful, and I dont think the picture does this meal justice. Chef John you have outdone yourself once again.Also a time saver with all the chopping that would have needed to be done I had a bag of flavor mix that can be purchased frozen and pre-chopped and it seemed to do just as well as purchasing the onions, bell peppers and green onions individually and chopping them myself. Just a time saver.

Maded this dish and now it's one of my family's favorites!

Not impressed. There weren't enough vegetables for the amount of shrimp, and no developed roux, so the dish lacked depth of flavor. I'll stick to my go-to recipe for etoufee.

Absolutely amazing and easy. The flavors are perfect as is. At the end I added small amounts of turkey kielbasa and chicken thigh because I HAD to use them or lose them but tasted it before hand and couldn't wait to sit down with it. Make this! :)

This is great! I added a qt of oysters (drained, at the same time as the tomatoes), 8 oz of crabmeat, a habanero pepper (minced with the seeds), black pepper, tripled the Worcestershire, and a lot of cayenne and tobasco. I made a stock out of shrimp, crab & lobsters shells. I used some of the stock to make brown rice. For the etouffe I used 1/2 cup of the oyster liquor, the juices from the shrimp, and topped it off with my stock. I did find 2tbsp of flour was not enough to thicken, however the oysters may have had a lot to do with that. Easy fix though. I will definitely be making this again! Thanks!

This was absolutely awful....

Since I am allergic to shrimp, I omitted it and instead added browned chicken at the very end. Excellent!! You'll never be disappointed with a recipe from Chef John.

Nice flavor. I halved the recipe I was more then enough for 3 people. I will make this with chicken next time. This was great way to use up the rest of my frozen shrimp. I also very much appreciate the tip on how to make frozen shrimp editable. I will be using that trick from here on out when I can't get fresh. I thought the spice was perfect!

I was so pleased with this dish and the way that it turned out, I could've eaten half of it all by myself. I made it with all the spices suggested in the recipe and found that the result was very tasty with a heat that was present but not overwhelming. I only had 1lb of shrimp and so I added 2 boneless skinless chicken breasts to compensate. For extra flavour I heated the chicken stock in the microwave with the shrimp tails in the liquid before adding it to the pan. Loved this dish! Thank-you Chef John for providing a recipe that is truly easy to reproduce.

Delicious recipe! This took much longer to prep that it states...as most recipes do. Would definetly make this again.

I cooked bacon before i added the shrimp and it made a huge difference. I added the cooked bacon after I put the shrimp in the sauce. I also added creole seasoning. It was AMAZING. so silky and smooth.

Very flavorful and spicy! My family complained that it was too spicy, but it was perfect. Reduce cayenne pepper if you don't like too much heat.

Next time I make this I will not "pre-cook" the shrimp though. I will put it in with the sauce. Other then that it was awesome!

Turned out to be very delicious. Also, I think perhaps the author meant green bell peppers and not green chili peppers? It seems like bell peppers from the video and what he's saying about the 'holy trifecta'..

Used easy peel raw shrimp. I may try adding smoked sausage next time. Also used Tony Chachere's Creole seasoning. Absolutely delicious.

only made one change and that was the tomatoes.....I used a can of Rotel original tomatoes and drain the liquid....otherwise no other changes......save the liquid from the tomatoes and add it for anyone needing some additional heat

This is my new company dish! My husband does not love seafood, but thoroughly enjoyed this dish. Didn't change a thing.

This recipe was delicious and easy to make. I will make it again. I substituted cajun spice mix for Chef John's homemade mix because I had it on hand. It was still delicious. Thanks for another great recipe.

I love this recipe. Everyone loved it! It has a little spice to it but nothing a baby can't handle.

used a whole can of chopped green chili's, came out with the perfect amount of bite

Wow! Absolutely delicious. But as another reviewer mentioned, I think you're supposed to use green bell peppers and the recipe says green chile peppers, and that can definitely change the heat. I used mild green chile peppers and I thought it was great, but I like spicy. Also, I used seafood stock, instead of chicken and I thought it worked. This recipe is perfect! Great find!

Only change is I used smoked paprika, and I think it is better that way. It really is critical to drain the shrimp adequately and cook them well (but not too much). Otherwise you just end up with pink gelatinous lumps in a spicy broth.

Actually I've made it twice. No changes first time. Second time I added a pound of thinly sliced andouille. This is really outstanding recipe.

Excellent Etouffee, not too spicy, just a hint of heat. The only criticism is that there wasn't much gravy. Next time I will double the gravy ingredients.

Family loved this meal. I did cut back on the red pepper because we do not care for hot pepper. You need to prep all ingredients before you start because this dish will keep you hopping once you start. I used easy peel deveined tail on shrimp and shelled them after cooking them in the hot oil. I think this adds favor worth the extra effort. We will make this dish again.

Loved this! Lowered the heat a bit so that my 3 year old twin boys could eat it - cut the cayenne in 1/2 and didn't add the hot sauce (my husband added both to his individual plate). Will definitely make this again. YUM!

Great recipe that doesn't call for terrible store bought Cajun seasoning. We got married in New Orleans and I make my husband etouffee for our anniversary every year. This might be my favorite etouffee recipe...even beating out the one where I made my own fish stock.

I never made Etouffee before and it turned out great! Chef John has the most favorable receipts on Allrecipes.com. My wife hates onions so I was not able to complete the "holy trinity". I used (1) large Green Pepper (2) stalks of celery and (1) large green chili pepper plus (4) diced tomatoes and the recipes was able to accommodate all the extra veggies.

This was okay, nothing wrong with it. It seemed to lack something that I can't quite put my finger on. This style of cooking usually has a lot of depth of flavour that this recipe didn't quite live up to. My family said "we'd eat it again if you cooked it" which is not a ringing endorsement for spending so much time in front of the stove. Some other reviewers suggested it maybe needed a browned roux or more veggies, maybe that would make a difference? I'm going to see if I can find another recipe as I really wanted to like this - it had potential. I'm also a bit confused as other reviewers reference shrimp stock and green chilie peppers - neither of which I can see in this recipe (there's chicken stock and green bell peppers), so I'm not sure if this one has been changed over the years or if they're talking about another recipe

Great....great....great recipe. I tweaked it a little and added some chicken. Awesome.... The recipe is very easy to follow.

This recipe was delicious! I made it as written to surprise my husband (I rarely have time to cook these days) and it made his night. I used the bell pepper version and it was the perfect amount of spice for all...A nice kick that didn't overpower the flavor of the étouffée. We used the 2-pound bag of frozen shrimp from Costco and followed the tricks in the video. It was super easy. I will definitely make again. Only thing I would change next time is adjust the ingredients so there is more of the sauce for the rice. Thank you Chef John!

Made with just a few taste tweaks. I think it comes pretty close to my Cajun father-in-law's recipe. I walked away satisfied from this meal and see it as a good base to start with.

A little spicy for the kids. Just right for me + I add hot sauce only to my own plate.

So this was an "ok" recipe -- not bad, but not good enough for me to want to invest the time and expense making it again. Why bother, when there are other etouffe recipes that are as easy or much easier to make, with better flavor? Again, this dish is not bad, but because it doesn't include a true roux, it lacks that deep flavor and authentic cajun taste.

I made exactly as written and it was wonderful! It's a little involved but I figure it's just a learning curve sorta thing. It's so good that I will definitely make again and again.

Amazing recipe. As usual, I made some changes based on seasoning preferences. I added a bit more thyme, oregano, cayenne, and a tiny little bit of smoked paprika in addition to the paprika already present. I used a whole can of tomatoes and two chunked up fresh tomatoes. I also added mushrooms (for flavour and body), as well as a cup of cilantro. As for the heat, I used a mix of tobasco and Frank's Red Hot Sauce. Great recipe and not as heavy as other etoufee's I've encountered. Will make again.

I decreased the "hot" spices by about 1/2 and it was still plenty spicy for us. I did not have shrimp stock and so I used chicken stock. I used a little more chicken stock because it was a bit thick. I made this for company who do like spicy food and they were very impressed.

My husband loved this so much he said it four times! He said it was his favourite shrimp dish and wouldn’t change a thing. I’m a big fan too!

Made this almost exactly as written and it was scrumptious. The "almost" is that I used a half pound of peeled/deveined frozen shrimp and a pound of headless frozen shrimp that needed cleaning. When I cleaned them, I saved the shells and boiled them for stock. Then I used that and the juices from the shrimp (as in the recipe) and enough chicken stock to make 2 cups ( it came out about 1/2 and 1/2). This is my favorite way to make shrimp. Thanks Chef John for the great post!

Excellent! Just the right balance of heat. Added Andouille sausage and used fresh shrimp. Everyone loved it. Will make again...often

This was the bomb! It was fun and easy to make and was packed with flavors. I'm actually eating for breakfast as I type this. I followed the recipe to a T but only used 12oz of shrimp but left everything else the same. I don't know if this would of been as flavorful using 2 pounds of shrimp.

It was a little too salty for me! But other than that it was good!

Fun to cook and to eat, this is a keeper. Wonderful flavor. Served over jasmine rice. I only added 1/8 tsp of cayenne and it was the right amount of spicy for my family. Thank you Chef John!

Spicy and comforting full flavored! Great recipe if you arent into heat I suggest lowering the amount of cayenne or chilli peppers. Love this meal its a good change up on the dinner menu for the week

I like it very muck can't wait to try it with chicken

I don't know if this was an "easy" recipe or I just did a really good job but this was by far the best shrimp etouffee I ever made. It was truly divine. I love Chef John's recipes!

I was good, but I think it would have been better with fresh shrimp.

It came together quickly and easily. Very flavorful although I made almost double the spice mixture. It had moderate heat...wasn't too spicy as my 6 yr old ate it w/o complaining that smoke was coming out of his ears. Will definitely make it again.

This got rave reviews from everyone. Will definitely make again.

Wow, this was heaven!! It was very light, but filling! Perfect blend of spices and veggies! To keep the heat moderate I just added 1/8 of cayenne pepper. I ran out of flour, so I substituted with cornstarch and it was still amazing! I did not modify anything else on recipe. Served with some grand southern biscuits. Can't wait to make again!! Yummy!

This was so delicious that by the time I remembered to take a picture...it was all gone!! The only adjustment I made was that I added a whole 15 oz can of diced tomatoes (and that was just based on my preference). But, I think it would have been super tasty either way. Excellent and definitely worth making!!

This is sooooooo good! I make only half a recipe (1 lb. of shrimp) for 4 people, with rice, fried okra, and salad. No leftovers, ever.

I have never been to New Orleans so I really have nothing to compare this to but I loved it. I decreased the cayenne pepper to 1/8tsp for the kids used fresh tomatoes and only 1 pound of shrimp instead of 2. I served the shrimp and the sauce over plain white rice aside of a salad. We all really enjoyed this! Perfect for our Mardi gras dinner at home:)

I accidentally forgot some of the first spices on the list, but the family still liked it. Only slightly/moderately spicy as written, which was fine with my bunch.

I will definitely make this again! It was awesome! I switched the Green Bell Pepper for Yellow and Red Bell peppers. I also doubled the spices, vegetables, stock & flour in order to get more sauce to use over the rice. It was wonderful over Wild Rice

Just made this for me and my two picky kids, total hit! Omitted the Chyanne for the kids but this was absolutely fantastic! Follow the recipe to a T.

So eay to make and is incredibly delicious

Wonderful flavor. I admit my husband does not eat peppers, but I had frozen shrimp and just had to use it. Followed the recipe except substituted other vegetables for the peppers. The gravy was fantastic. I will definitely keep this one around.

I made it as is (green peppers were on my recipe). It was fantastic and a big hit. I did use 40 oz. of shrimp.

Two word.. yuuum meeee! I made 8 servings and had to kick up to 10 mid stream, so I did throw in some "Creole" seasoning to fill in the gap. Don't touch this recipe! It is perfect!

Turned out great! I did make a couple of changes. Not a big fan of green peppers, so used some red and orange peppers instead, used canned diced tomatoes, and siracha sauce for a kick. Very tasty, will probably make again using chicken breast chunks.

Some time ago, I lived in New Orleans for a number of years. I made this to bring to a graduation celebration full of Louisiana-born families. So I was a bit nervous if it would pass muster. My "expert" there said it was 'very good' and there was barely any left (but I think he still likes his version better!) The recipe was clear to understand. I doubled the recipe without problems and used 2 lbs raw frozen PEELED and DEVEINED shrimp and 24 oz (2 12 oz packages) of cooked frozen peeled crawfish tails. As another reviewer said, you could get by with less per serving. I had to thaw them in cold water and did that while I chopped the vegetables. From start to finish, it was a little over 1-1/2 hours due to the prep time for the shrimp, and it took a bit longer to thicken at the end. If I had to peel and devein the shrimp, I would have added significant time. Easy to take to the party in a crockpot to keep warm and a rice cooker with the rice. A good recipe!

Awesome!! Absolutely loved it so did the family.

Perfect ????

Delicious. The first time I made it, it was wonderful but I wanted more sauce with it. The second time I increased all of the ingredients for the spices and the tomatoes and stock. It was perfect. Plenty of sauce for the rice and the shrimp are always perfectly tender. Easy to make if you prepare all of your ingredients ready ahead of time.

Wow! This is delicious!!!!

Awesome!!!

This was really good! I was a bit afraid that it might have too much heat from the cayenne and hot sauce, but it was just right. I used almost double the amount of onion, celery and green pepper called for - just a personal preference - and it was great. Another winner, Chef John!

I followed the recipe exactly. It was very good. The proportion of shrimp to veggies seemed a little off. Next time I will increase the amounts to provide more Etouffee to shrimp.

I will make this again. The directions were perfect and my family loved it :)

This is a wonderful Cajun recipe. My husband thought it was a bit too spicy, but my 9 year old ate everything and said it was delicious. I've made it 3 times, and it's a family favorite. Go Chef John!

This was an incredibly easy recipe for such a delicious dish.

Delicious recipe, reminded me of the dish I used to get at a restaurant. I used a cup of onions, bell pepper, and celery instead of 1/4. Tasted great, not too spicy. It was very easy to make. Thank you.

Excellent recipe! So easy to make. I did not have fresh green chile so I used canned and also canned diced tomatoes still turned out great

Other than making a mistake and having to compensate for that, this was made exactly as recipe directs. It was awesome. My error was to add too much chicken broth (1/4 c extra). That caused me to have to add a little more flour. It was delicious!

Loved the flavours! Excellent dish, we added an extra teaspoon of our homemade crushed red pepper and habanero flakes from our garden.

I will definitely make this again! My family loved it