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Crawfish Etouffee
A rich Cajun stew of crawfish tails smothered in a dark roux gravy with the holy trinity of onion, celery, and bell pepper. Ladled over rice, it is Louisiana in a bowl.
The whole recipe in 60 seconds
Crawfish Etouffee, in 5 ideas
- Do not rush the roux, a pale roux gives pale flavor. Peanut butter color is the target.
- The onion, celery, and bell pepper are the Cajun holy trinity, never skip them.
- Add the stock gradually so the gravy stays smooth instead of lumpy.
- Crawfish tails are already cooked, so add them last and heat gently to keep them tender.
- Etouffee means smothered, the crawfish should swim in gravy, not sit in a thick paste.
What you need
Ingredients
- 900g cooked crawfish tails, peeled
- 80g unsalted butter
- 60g plain flour
- 1 large onion, 2 celery stalks, 1 green bell pepper, all diced
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- 500ml seafood or chicken stock
- 1 tbsp Cajun seasoning, 1 tsp paprika, 1/2 tsp dried thyme, 2 bay leaves
- 4 spring onions, sliced
- 2 tbsp chopped fresh parsley
- 600g cooked long-grain rice, to serve
How to make it
Directions
- Melt the butter in a heavy pot over medium heat. Whisk in the flour and cook, stirring constantly, 20 to 25 minutes until the roux turns the color of peanut butter.
- Add the onion, celery, and bell pepper to the roux. Cook 8 minutes, stirring often, until the vegetables soften.
- Stir in the garlic, Cajun seasoning, paprika, and thyme. Cook 1 minute until fragrant.
- Pour in the stock slowly, whisking to keep it smooth. Add the bay leaves and simmer 15 minutes until the gravy thickens enough to coat a spoon.
- Fold in the crawfish tails and simmer 8 to 10 minutes more, just until heated through.
- Remove the bay leaves. Stir in the spring onions and parsley.
- Spoon generously over hot cooked rice and serve.
Frozen crawfish tails from the seafood freezer aisle are much cheaper than fresh and work perfectly in a stew like this.