Shrimp Etouffee with Zucchini
and rice
There are many Cajun-inspired dishes in our archives, but somehow we've never made Etouffee until now! This one pan dish cooks with quite a bit of flavorful liquid which means it turns into a saucy stew when served over rice. You'll need a spoon for this one.
Smarts #1: As with any Cajun dish, feel free to add more Cajun seasoning for extra spicy kick.
Smarts #2: If you're feeling ambitious, try buying whole shrimp (including peels) and making homemade shrimp stock to add even more authentic seafood flavor to the dish.
Ingredients
- Rice, uncooked white or brown - 3/4 cup
- Shrimp, peeled and deveined - 1 lb
- Onions, medium - 1, diced
- Bell peppers, green - 1, diced
- Jalapenos - 1, diced
- Garlic - 3 cloves, chopped
- Zucchini - 1 lb, cubed
- Green onions - 2 stalks, chopped, green and white parts combined
- Oil, cooking - 2 Tbsp
- Butter - 2 Tbsp
- All-purpose flour - 3 Tbsp
- Cajun seasoning - 1 Tbsp (more or less to taste)
- Paprika - 2 tsp
- Stock, any type - 2 cups
- Lemon juice - 2 tsp
Nutrition Facts
Prep
- Shrimp - Defrost shrimp. Rinse and pat dry. Season with some salt and pepper.
- Rice - (Double if making Thursday’s meal.) For white rice, rinse until clear. Fill a saucepan or Dutch oven (or rice cooker) with rice, water (use 2:1 ratio for water to rice), and some salt. Cover with lid and bring to a boil. Once water boils, stir, lower heat to a low-medium, and cover. Check white rice after ~20 min; brown at ~45 min. Rice is done when it's absorbed all the water. If it's not done, leave the cover on until all water has been absorbed. Take cover off to release steam and fluff with a wooden spoon after 5 minutes. (Can be done up to 5 days ahead)
- Onions / Bell Peppers / Jalapenos / Garlic / Zucchini - Prep as directed. Combine onions, bell peppers, jalapenos, and garlic in one container. Store zucchini separately. (Can be done up to 5 days ahead)
- Green onions - Chop green onions.
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Make
- Heat a Dutch oven with oil and butter over medium heat. When butter is melted, whisk in flour. Cook flour, stirring frequently, until the mixture turns dark brown, 5 to 6 minutes. (This is the roux.)
- To the roux add onions, bell peppers, jalapenos, and garlic. Cook until onions are very tender, 4 to 6 minutes.
- Stir in Cajun seasoning and paprika and cook for 2 minutes to fully combine.
- Slowly pour in stock while whisking. Bring to a simmer. When stock is simmering, add in shrimp and zucchini and reduce heat to low. Cover with a lid and simmer until shrimp is cooked through, 6 to 10 minutes (depending on size).
- Stir in green onions and lemon juice. Taste and season with some salt and pepper or more lemon juice.
- If rice was made ahead, reheat in the microwave (reserve half if doubled).
- Serve etouffee over rice. Enjoy!
Nutrition Facts
Reviews
Ratings
Most Helpful
Another winner! I added some additional stock while it simmered because it seemed too thick but it later thinned out and I realized I probably didn't need to do that. Nonetheless, it was delish.
1 Helpful23 reviews
Made with celery and corn instead of zucchini as that’s what I had in the fridge. Omitted the jalapeño for the kids and the adults added hot sauce. Delicious and healthy meal
0 HelpfulWe loved this and will make it again! We're already discussing what we'll add - white fish, okra, bay scallops. Very good! I'd be curious to taste it with a little additional cajun seasoning, too. We like things spicy around here!
0 HelpfulAdded just a bit more Cajun seasoning and the frozen fire-roasted corn from TJ's. This was sooooo delicious. One of my favorites so far.
0 HelpfulI didn't necessarily make this dish. I replaced zucchini with frozen butternut squash and I used some white fish fillet I still had. I was just improvising because I didn't have time to go grocery shopping and needed to use this stuff up. It was delicious though! Maybe not my all time favourite, but definitely nice
0 HelpfulNot bad but we prefer a tomato based dish like shrimp creole. You could really taste the wheat-y, brown butter base which was a bit too strong for us. I'd definitely go for light golden on the roux if I did it again. I also cooked the zucchini about 4 minutes before tossing in the shrimp for another 4.
0 HelpfulOur household is split on this (one was 3, one of 5) but one of us likes Cajun cuisine a lot more, so that's probably why. Some Okra would've been good in this too!
0 Helpful