Name: Easy Shrimp Étouffée
Prep time: 15 min
Cook time: 5 h
Total time: 5 h 15 min
Yield: 8
Cuisine: American
Ingredients: 2 tablespoons butter; 1 large onion, chopped; 1 large bell pepper, chopped; 1 stalk celery, chopped finely; 1 10.5 oz can cream of shrimp soup; 1 10.5 oz can cream of mushroom soup; 1 10.5 oz can cream of celery soup; 2 14.5 oz cans tomatoes with green chiles like Rotel (go milder and make one of the cans regular tomatoes if you prefer); ¼ teaspoon red pepper; ½ teaspoon minced garlic; ½ t. onion powder; 2 pounds shrimp, peeled w/o tails; Salt and pepper to taste; 2 tablespoons minced parsley

Granted, this Easy Shrimp Étouffée recipe isn’t authentic, but it’s easy to appreciate this seafood dish on its own merit. Not only do the cream soups and Rotel make it creamy and spicy, but it can be prepared ahead of time.

Mock Shrimp Étouffée is loaded with scrumptious shrimp, tomatoes, and plenty of spicy heat from the Rotel. If you need a super easy dish to serve for a party (it makes a lot), and you don’t mind opening a few cans, this could be your new favorite dinner recipe.

Ingredients and substitutions

Shrimp:

Fresh or frozen shrimp is appropriate. Substitute with crawfish.

Onions, bell peppers, and celery:

It won’t be real without these three veggies. But wait. We’ve already gone off the rails with cream soups so I guess you do what you like. I keep all three of these veggies chopped and frozen in my freezer for convenience.

Condensed cream soups:

Speaking of cream soups, if you live close to me in the DFW metroplex area, the only place I have found the condensed cream of shrimp soup is at Walmart or online. The sister who gave me this recipe buys hers at Publix, a supermarket prevalent in the South.

You could substitute condensed cream of mushroom soup or condensed cream of celery soup, if necessary. The above links will take you to recipes for making the soup at home if desired.

Rotel:

Rotel tomatoes add a delicious tomato flavor with a real punch. If you don’t like spicy foods, use regular diced tomatoes instead. I use one can of each for the perfect spiciness.

What to serve with Easy Shrimp Étouffée

We recently enjoyed Easy French Étouffée with rice, a green salad, and a loaf of homemade French bread with some friends who were here for a 9-day visit.

I mentioned earlier that this recipe is spicy hot. Rice is the perfect foil and helps to tame the heat. Jasmine is the preferred rice at my house.

However, I prefer to eat Easy Shrimp Étouffée poured over mashed cauliflower, like gravy, to reduce the carbs. Comparatively speaking, it’s like drinking diet coke with a candy bar since there are plenty of carbs in the cream soups. Oh, well.

Can I make this recipe ahead of time?

This recipe would be good to make in a slow cooker. However, I would not add the shrimp until the last 30 minutes. Overcooking shrimp will make it tough and chewy.

Did you enjoy this recipe? You can help others (and me) by leaving a rating on the recipe card itself underneath the picture. No comment required. Thank you.

Hope to see you again soon!
Paula

p.s. Questions? Email me: paula at saladinajar.com.

Yield: 8-10 servings