Etouffee - say it with me - Eh-too-FAY.Etouffee is the famous Cajun and Creole stew, thickened with roux, simmered with stock, and used to coat shrimp. I use a pressure cooker to speed the recipe along, making the shrimp stock and simmering the etouffee broth. Instead of taking all afternoon, the recipe takes…um…OK, most of an evening. Making roux can’t be rushed. Please, pay attention while you’re making roux. Multitasking leads to to burnt roux.
Um…not that I know anything about burnt roux. I would never try to chop the onions while the roux was cooking, and scorch the flour in the pot.
Recipe: Pressure Cooker Shrimp Etouffee
Adapted from: Emeril Lagasse, Louisiana Real and Rustic
Equipment
- 6 quart or larger pressure cooker (I use an Instant Pot electric PC)
Pressure Cooker Shrimp Étouffée
- Total Time: 1 hour 15 minutes
- Yield: 6-8 1x
Description
Pressure Cooker Shrimp Étouffée recipe - shrimp and étouffée sauce, cajun style, from the pressure cooker.
Ingredients
Shrimp Stock
- Shells from 2 pounds of 26–30 shrimp
- 1 medium onion, peeled and chopped
- 1 medium carrot, peeled and chopped
- 1 stalk of celery, chopped
- 4 cloves garlic, crushed
- 1 bay leaf
- 1 sprig fresh thyme
- 1 quart water
Roux
- 6 tablespoons butter
- ½ cup flour
- 1 teaspoon Cajun spice rub
Aromatics
- 1 large onion, minced
- 1 stalk celery, minced
- 1 medium green bell pepper, minced
- 2 tablespoons minced garlic
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt
The rest of the étouffée broth
- 1 quart shrimp stock (from above)
- 1 (14 oz) can diced tomatoes
Shrimp, Seasonings and accompaniments
- 2 pounds of 26-30 shrimp, peeled
- 1 tablespoon Cajun spice rub
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- ¼ cup minced parsley
- Salt and pepper to taste
- White rice for serving
- Tabasco sauce for serving
Instructions
- Pressure Cook Shrimp Stock: Peel the shrimp, saving the shrimps and the shells. Put the shrimp in the refrigerator for later, and the shells in the pressure cooker pot. Add the rest of the shrimp stock ingredients to the pressure cooker pot. Lock the pressure cooker lid and cook at high pressure for 10 minutes, then let the pressure come down naturally, about 20 minutes. (If you’re in a hurry, pressure cook on high for 15 minutes, then quick release the pressure.) Open the lid carefully - the pot is full of hot steam. Strain the stock through a fine mesh strainer, and set it aside.
- Make the roux: Wipe out the pressure cooker pot. Melt the butter in the pressure cooker pot over medium-high heat. When the butter stops foaming, stir the flour and Cajun seasoning to the pot. Cook, stirring constantly, until the flour is the color of peanut butter, about five minutes.
- Sauté the aromatics: Add the onion, bell pepper, celery and garlic to the roux. Sprinkle with ½ teaspoon kosher salt and sauté until the aromatics soften, about five minutes.
- Pressure cook the étouffée broth: Stir in the shrimp stock, scraping the bottom of the pot to make sure the roux isn’t sticking. Pour the tomatoes on top of the broth, but don’t stir. Lock the pressure cooker lid and cook at high pressure for 10 minutes. Let the pressure release naturally for 15 minutes, then quick release any remaining pressure. (Again, if you're in a hurry, cook at high pressure for 15 minutes and quick release the pressure.)
- Cook the shrimp: Open the lid (carefully - the pot is full of hot steam). Turn the heat to low and bring the etouffe broth to a simmer. Toss the shrimp with 1 tablespoon Cajun spice rub and ½ teaspoon kosher salt, then add the shrimp to the simmering broth. Simmer the shrimp until they are cooked through, about 5 minutes.
- Season and serve the étouffée: Stir the parsley into the pot. Taste the broth, and add salt and pepper as needed. (If you use homemade stock, without any added salt, this will take more salt than you think. A tablespoon of Kosher salt usually works for me, but I start with a half tablespoon and keep adding and tasting.) To serve: put a scoop of white rice in a bowl, ladle the soup on top, then sprinkle with parsley. Pass the Tabasco sauce at the table for anyone who likes an extra kick with their dinner.
- Prep Time: 30 minutes
- Cook Time: 45 minutes
- Category: Pressure Cooker
- Cuisine: Cajun
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Notes
- I prefer to release the pressure naturally in the pot; from what I’ve read, flavor escapes the pot with the steam, so a sealed environment means more flavorful etouffee. But…when I’m in a hurry, quick pressure release it is. Five extra minutes under pressure equals the fifteen minutes or so of cooking that comes with a natural pressure release.
- If you’re really in a hurry, you can speed up the recipe by doing steps 2 and 3 (make the roux, saute the aromatics) in a separate pot while the shrimp stock is pressure cooking. After straining the stock, pour a cup or two into the pot with the roux and aromatics to loosen them up, then pour everything back into the pressure cooker and continue with step 4, pressure cook the etouffee broth.
- I love saying etouffee. It just rolls off the tongue. Etouffee!
- If you use store bought Cajun spice rub, check the label to figure out the salt content. If the first or second ingredient is “salt”, skip the teaspoon of kosher salt when tossing the shrimp with the rub. If salt is third on the ingredient list or later, go with the teaspoon of kosher salt in the recipe.
What do you think?
Questions? Other ideas? Leave them in the comments section below.
Related Posts
Pressure Cooker Chicken Gumbo
Saute Shrimp
Cajun Spice Rub
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Kristen says
Headed into Lenten season and I normally prepare my mother’s Shrimp Creole dish for one of the meatless-Fridays but I believe i will try my hand at this recipe. I love etouffee and agree with the fun in saying the word!! Wish me luck!!
Breanna & Matt says
my husband made this for me for dinner last night, it was FANTASTIC! Actually, we've tried several of your pressure cooker recipes and everyone has been dynamite! Thanks for the variety of recipes, we look forward to trying them all 🙂
Mike Vrobel says
You're welcome!
Yet another Mike says
Can't wait to try this one... I see 2tbsp minced garlic in the broth ingredients, but not mentioned in the directions - do you add that with the crushed garlic to the aromatics, use it for seasoning after cooking, or is it an oversight?
Mike V says
It's in step 3:Sauté the aromatics. "Add the onion, bell pepper, celery and garlic to the roux. Sprinkle with 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt and sauté until the aromatics soften, about five minutes."
Recipe updated to make that clearer.
Yet another Mike says
Thanks for the quick reply! Makes perfect sense - it was just a reading comprehension error on my part... 🙂 I was mixed up between the garlic for the stock vs.the aromatics.... But of course the crushed garlic gets used with "the rest of the shrimp stock ingredients" in step 1.
beth says
This was amazing!!!! I changed up the roux as I don't eat butter or flour. Mixed palm oil and coconut oil, almond flour and arrowroot. Omitted the salt at the end as my cajun seasoning had salt. We just came back from visiting NOLA. I ran the half marathon. HUGE hit from my husband, son and me!!! Thank you!!
Lisa says
Would I be able to use a tall screened mesh sieve that fits into the pot when making the shrimp stock? I'm thinking it would make draining the shrimp shells easier, but I trust your judgement and advice. Thanks! I can't rate this recipe yet, as I haven't tried it. I will come back and do that.
Mike V says
My instincts tell me there isn't enough water in the pot - you'll wind up with some of the shells and veg above the water if you start in the mesh sieve. But, give it a try - you can always dump the shells out of the strainer and into the water in the pressure cooker if it doesn't look right.
Beverly says
Can I use a grain free flour like coconut or almond flour?
Mike V says
I don't think so - flour releases starch, which acts as a thickener in the roux. I don't think you get the same effect with coconut or almond flour.
CorallineAlgae says
You can use rice flour with a teaspoon of potato flower, or Cup for Cup brand gluten free flour, to make roux. I'm Cajun and have done both substitutions a few times for other recipes.
Chandra says
Oh my WOW! Excellent flavors and the family devoured this.
Kyle says
Made it, yum was a total of about 1 stick of butter.
Eric A. says
Made this yesterday. Hands down the best meal I've EVER made!!! My family and I couldn't get enough of it. I've never made shrimp etouffee before, but stumbled across this recipe, so I thought I'd give it a try. I'm fairly new to cooking, but this recipe was easy to follow. I'll definitely make this again, and again.
Mike V says
Great! Glad it worked so well for you.
Lisa says
I forwarded this recipe to my daughter, age 25, to make for her boyfriend who grew up in New Orleans. They loved it! And they really loved the leftovers. One of her best efforts with her pressure cooker.
Mike V says
Excellent! I'm glad they enjoyed it.
Jen Tester says
Hi there, I just got a pressure cooker and am going to break it in with this recipe! About how many people does this recipe serve? And do you think it will fit/work in a 6 quart pressure cooker? Thanks!
Mike V @ DadCooksDinner says
Darn it, another mixup. Use 6 tablespoons of butter (or 1/4 cup of vegetable oil, as listed in the instructions - there's extra water in the butter, so we need more to get the fat content right.)
Fixed the recipe to show this. Sorry about that!
ssunaoka says
Hi Mike,
This recipe looks incredible! I'd like to try to make it for dinner tomorrow night! Can you tell me how much butter you're using to make the roux? I'm not totally familiar with making a roux and I don't want to make a mistake.
Thanks!
Mike V @ DadCooksDinner says
Thanks, Peter! Fixed both of those things. I wrote the recipe assuming 21-25 pound shrimp...and found US Gulf shrimp in 26-30 size on sale at the store. (And the add the shrimp, then toss with spices, then add the shrimp bit slipped past my editor. Which is me.)
I try to buy US shrimp - Gulf shrimp seems like a natural for a cajun or creole recipe. But, it's only occasionally available in my local grocery stores, so I usually go with the IQF, shell on, easy peel shrimp that they have in the freezer case.
If you're interested, check out the Monterrey Bay Seafood Watch recommendations for shrimp: http://www.seafoodwatch.org/cr/SeafoodWatch/web/sfw_factsheet.aspx?gid=58
PeterWimsey says
This sounds really good!
But a couple of things are not clear in the recipe - in the "Shrimp Stock" part of the ingredients list, you have shells from 2 lbs of 26-30 shrimp, but in the shrimp section, it's 2 lbs 21-25 shrimp. I hope we can just use one size!
And in Sec. 5 of the directions, it says to add the shrimp to the pot, bring it to a simmer, toss the shrimp with spice rub and salt, and add to the simmering broth. Do we just toss the shrimp with the spices and salt and add to the simmering broth (which I would assume to be the case), or do we simmer the shrimp, remove them, toss them with spices and salt, and return to the pot (which might be a cajun technique?).
Also, do you have any recommendations for the best brands of frozen shrimp?