Just think of it: Fresh Louisiana crawfish tail meat swimming in a lightly thickened butter sauce infused with spices and aromatics over a mound of white rice. This is the purest expression of Cajun cooking I know and love. It’s that time of year, and in case you missed it, here is my recipe.
Crawfish Étouffée in a rich stock is a classic Cajun recipe. (All photos credit: George Graham)
But the time-honored recipe for crawfish étouffée is under assault. There is a most disturbing trend in South Louisiana cooking these days that is gaining acceptability among traditionalists–cream of mushroom soup in crawfish étouffée. This is nothing short of sacrilege, and it must be stopped at all cost.
Don’t get me wrong. I love to experiment. I enjoy an occasional contemporary twist on a classic. A grits and grillades with gator meat recipe is a prime example of how far I am willing to expand the boundaries of Louisiana classics. But this can opener-enabled madness borders on the ruination of the entire culinary heritage of Cajun and Creole culture.
It is not the first time classic Crawfish Étouffée has come under attack. I recall the tomato paste assault some years ago that had to be rebuffed by the true bayou traditionalists. And now, the time-saving, tin-can cheapsters are pouring on the soupy extenders that rob flavor and render a pound of tail meat utterly inedible.
Stop it.
Crawfish Étouffée should always be a centerpiece dish to showcase the unique flavor and texture of Louisiana crawfish. Treated lightly, this buttery mixture envelopes the tail meat with a rich, flavor-filled coating of golden goodness.
From time to time, depending on the availability I do use frozen cooked Louisiana crawfish tails, but in season, there is no substitute for fresh-picked tail meat. When eating boiled crawfish at a restaurant I always save the shells and take home another 3-pound order. The next day, I remove and reserve the tail meat and wash all the heads and shells of excess spice. These shell pieces are simmered in a large pot of water to reduce down into an intense crawfish stock that is a key to the perfect étouffée.
Soup? No thanks. Not in my Crawfish Étouffée.
Pinch the tail. Suck the heads. Boiled crawfish time.
- 1 pound (4 sticks) unsalted butter
- 2 cups diced yellow onion
- 1 cup diced green bell pepper
- 1 cup diced celery
- 1 tablespoon minced garlic
- 1 teaspoon cayenne pepper
- 2 pounds Louisiana crawfish tail meat
- ¼ cup all-purpose flour
- 1½ cups crawfish stock or seafood stock
- Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
- Dash of hot sauce
- ¼ cup chopped flat-leaf parsley
- 1 cup diced green onion tops
- 6 cups cooked Louisiana long-grain white rice, such as Supreme
- In a large skillet over medium heat, melt the butter and add the onions, bell pepper, and celery. Sauté until tender and add the garlic. Lower the heat to simmer and stir to combine. Season the mixture with cayenne and add the crawfish tail meat stirring to combine.
- Sprinkle the flour over the mixture and stir to incorporate and begin cooking the flour. Add some of the stock and continuing stirring until it begins to thicken. Add more stock until you get a stew-like thickness.
- Season to taste with salt, pepper, and hot sauce. Serve over a mound of white rice garnished with chopped parsley and green onion tops.
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Thanks Odis!
Hey Ann-
Some folks don’t even thicken their etouffee, so you can go in that direction. But if you want it thickened, try using a packet of unflavored gelatin dissolved in cold water as a thickening agent. It is tasteless and should do the trick. All the best.
Ricky – You bring up a good, but debatable, point. In many rural households, medium grain is the rice-of-choice, but these days, long grain is by far the biggest seller. Either way, a properly made etouffee will be delicious.
Hey Cecilia-
The key is the corresponding difference (1/4 cup vs 2 tablespoons) in the amount of flour to thicken the sauce. Both recipes should deliver a similar consistency for the bread-soppin’ sauce that defines a good Crawfish Étouffée.
All the best.
Hey Travis- You just described the best method for making this dish. Fresh tails, scratch stock, and butter. Perfectly simple.
Hey Tami – Thanks for the glowing review. All the best.
Best Etouffee I’ve ever had. Thanks for the delicious yet easy recipe.
Hi Mr. Graham,
I’ve tried a number of your recipes with universally wonderful results. If not too much trouble, how would this recipe be adapted for shrimp rather than crawfish? Also, any harm in using roux, and if not, how much Rox’s Roux would you suggest?
Thanks so much, and Happy Independence Day!
John – Yes! Small raw shrimp can be added for a shrimp étouffée. The addition of dark Cajun roux like Rox’s Roux is a common dish in South Louisiana, but it is not called an étouffée. It is a classic Crawfish Stew or Shrimp Stew and you often see hard-boiled eggs added. They provide extra protein and soak up the dark gravy for an explosion of flavor. All the best.
ETOUFEE HAS NO ROUX!!!!!
THE WAY HE DOES IT HERE IS THE CORRECT, TRUE WAY TO MAKE ETOUFEE.
Cajunmamaintheozarks
Born & raised in the bayou. Cooking 55 years so far.
Thank you for your quick reply and tutorial. I made your seafood gumbo tonight for my wife, having been inspired by a week in Grand Coteau near Lafayette. It was superb. We both really enjoyed it, and cooking together. Y’all really know how to live well in Acadiana!
Thanks John!
Love the recipe and good to know to use shells and heads for stock.
Cornstarch is a good tasteless thickener…
Can’t wait to try this!
George
I agree with you. Some things should be left alone. Another example of this is Boudin and sausage. They make it out of everything these days. But in my opinion you can’t beat good old pork sausage and pork boudin.
So this is late, but I had a friend whose family was allergic to flour, and made this and gumbo with almond flour. It wasn’t cheap or easy but tasted the same.
How do you feel about adding smoked sausage? My grandmother was Cajun but has long since passed and I can’t remember her recipe.
Hey Anne – I usually profess “everything is better with smoked sausage,” but not in a traditional crawfish étouffée. Made correctly, this is a simple dish where the flavors of crawfish mingle with butter and aromatics. I recommend you stay with the recipe. All the best.
Thank you! I made this last night and it was very tasty but my sauce broke. Do you think it is a temperature issue? I can’t figure out what I did wrong. Any advice you have would be much appreciated.
Anne-
Sauces usually break because of inconsistent stirring. Next time, keep an eye on the mixture and stir until completed. All the best.
I adore etouffee and followed your recipe (halved, that is), but I just ended up with a thickened butter sauce. What have I done wrong?
Seems to me the butter and flour would be cooked first to a dark brown then add the chopped vegetables. No?
Brian-
No…a classic Crawfish Étouffée is all about the flavors of crawfish and butter wrapped in a lightly thickened sauce. This is not your typical dark roux stew or gumbo-type dish; the flour is used only to create a blonde roux which serves to thicken the liquid. Once you’ve tasted a well-made Crawfish Étouffée, you will clearly understand. All the best.
What are your thoughts on cooking etouffee ahead? I think gumbo and jambalaya always taste better the next day after the flavors have had time to meld. Does this carry over to etouffee too or is it best right when cooked?
Tom – Good question. I agree with your point on “flavors melding,” but you are risking that the crawfish will overcook and toughen up. Think about it: Crawfish tails are already cooked (boiled) and then you are cooking them again in the etouffee, and if you then reheat them once more on the next day, they will not be at their best. I suggest you make the etouffee base the day before and then add your crawfish tails before serving. All the best.
George, do you have any suggestions for dairy free replacements? I am very allergic to dairy ingredients. Thanks.
Ronny – We live in an age where dairy-free products abound. Just take a trip to a local health food store or do a Google search online and options are there for milk, cheeses and butter substitutes. All the best.
Thanks George. Unfortunately where I live the grocery stores aren’t very up to date on this trend with the exception of milk. I really appreciate your idea about health food stores which I never thought of. Love the blog!
Oh my!! One of the best étouffées I have ever eaten! I never knew how to cook one like the generations before me had. I didn’t understand how it came out thick without cream of mushroom soup! Haha! Now I will never have to use that stuff again!! Thanks so much for the authentic Cajun recipe!
TF – So happy you found your way back to the classic recipe for this time-honored Cajun dish. Please pass it on to your friends and family and spread the love. All the best.
I do it the Cajun grandma way: a blonde roux, Spanish onion and green onions at nearly the end of the cooking process. Yeah a lot of butter; it’s French by the way. Also receiving quality Louisiana crawfish tails from my local Walmart. Thanks for your website!
Forgot the fresh garlic
I know the cream of mushroom soup nastiness. My very first internet flame war was with a man who touted his hunting camp sausage and chicken gumbo as the best there ever was. Cream of mushroom and cream of chicken soup and no okra. Don’t know what he was cooking or where he was serving it but it sure wasn’t gumbo.
The only crawfish I can get is tailmeat or whole, both cooked and frozen. Only recently has W****** started carrying domestic from LA. Before that it was all from China. I have always made a blonde roux and added the the cooked tails last, just long enough to warm them up. Why is it better to make the roux with everything else already in the pot? I would worry about overcooking the tails. All this talk is sending to the store for some crawfish tails.
Jeff- When it comes to crawfish tail meat, frozen is okay, but please DO NOT buy Chinese products. Not only is it an inferior product, but it is an assault on the reputation of our Louisiana food culture and a threat to the working farm families who make a living bringing our crawfish to market. As for the roux in the etouffee, it is used to thicken the butter and seasoning mixture and cooked just long enough to cook out the raw taste of the flour. If you want to make the blonde roux ahead, that’s okay. All the best and thanks for the comment.
And a pinch of dried thyme
Cream of mushroom soup or tomato paste? Quelle horreure!
Hi,
Could almond flour be substituted for the flour to keep it keto friendly?
And, if I wanted to use a prepared roux, how much should I use. I like etouffee that has a brown gravy!
Thanks so much
Jen-
I’ve made muffins with almond flour, but I would be concerned that the flavors would not mix well. If you give it a try, let us know how it turns out. All the best.
Etoufee doesn’t and can’t have a brown gravy. What you are describing is a crawfish stew, which is delicious in itself but the two dishes are totally different from one another.
This is exactly how I make my etouffee. Never fails, comes out great, if I do say so.
Looking forward to trying this recipe. Sounds delicious.
I’m anxious to try the crawfish etouffee recipe.
I’m from Slidell, Louisiana. My mom moved me to South Carolina when I wad 12 in 1978. She didn’t cook much Cajun food once we moved, and I feel like I’ve been robbed of my heritage. I’ve been trying to find recipes to add the Cajun cuisines such as gumbo and all the great staples. I’m certainly going to try this one when I get back from my visit to Slidell visiting my sick Uncle. I plan on buying a few coolers full of crawfish for my kids and grand kids to enjoy. Thank you !!!
I tried this recipe tonight and I loved the finished product. I did have to use shrimp as I’ve never seen crawfish in Vancouver British Columbia, Canada but l love real crawfish and will definitely be on the lookout for it! Made stock from the shells and used it in the roux! Most excellent. Keep these wonderful recipes coming!