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 Helpful30 reviews
A little bland, not sure why. I usually double up on the spice - maybe I forgot this time? (weekend prep was very rushed.) A little better the next day. Also didn't have anymore rice, so maybe the rice caused the bland factor? Don't know. Decent meal, but probably won't make again.
0 HelpfulTasty but it needs something. It seemed like we needed more roux to the stock ratio (and I 💯 followed the recipe 🤷🏻♀️)
0 HelpfulWe felt like it needed a bit more flavor. Another tablespoon of Cajun seasoning and/or some andouille.
0 HelpfulThis was straightforward and pretty easy to make. I have spice/heat sensitive family members, so used a quarter of a jalapeño and little less than 1T of cajun seasoning. Also added extra garlic. Without the heat from the jalapeño I felt it was a bit under-seasoned/bland and next time I’ll tinker with the spicing a bit more. I think I would also add a can of fire-roasted tomatoes next time. Agree with that adding the zucchini before shrimp would work better - on a low simmer my shrimp cooked faster than the zucchini.
0 HelpfulLeft out the zucchini since in years of eating in the South I have never had etouffee with zucchini. Did a side salad for extra veggies. Super delicious
0 Helpful