Prep Time15 minutes
Total Time2 hours 25 minutes
Servings6 Servings
Cajun Shrimp Stew is a quick weeknight dinner that is packed with potatoes, shrimp, garlic, and spices. Ladle over steamed rice and serve with a hunk of crusty bread for a hearty and flavorful dinner.
This recipe for Cajun Shrimp Stew is warm and hearty, and a really great stick to your ribs dinner idea. This recipe comes from Emeril Lagasse’s cookbook Sizzling Skillets and Other One-Pot Wonders. Being a part of Emeril’s 3 week-long blogger party, I have been given 3 recipes to share with you and today is your lucky day, as this is one of them! This recipe is one you will need to plan ahead for. It’s not a quick toss it together, but it is SO WORTH IT. Delish! Should we get to the pictorial???? Oh alright, let’s do it.
Ingredients in Cajun Shrimp Stew
Like any good farmgirl, I started this recipe by heading to the garden and digging up some veggies.
- Deveined Shrimp
- All-purpose flour
- Onion
- Minced garlic
- Shrimp Stock or Chicken Stock
- Bay leaves
- Spices: black pepper, cayenne,
- Fresh thyme leaves
- Kosher salt
- Russet potatoes
- Green onions
- Fresh parsley
- Steamed long-grain white rice, for serving
How to make Shrimp Stew
We’re starting with Rich Shrimp Stock. So add some olive oil to a large stock pot and add a pound of shrimp shells (and heads if you have them) and saute for 4 to 6 minutes. Add 2 rough chopped carrots, 1 large onion rough chopped, 1 stalk of celery (you guessed it) rough chopped and 2 garlic cloves, smashed. Pour in 12 cups of water to the pot. 2 bay leaves, 1 tsp salt, 2 tsp of peppercorns, 3 sprigs of Thyme and 2 large sprigs of Italian parsley. Give it a stir and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to medium-low and simmer for 45-60 minutes. Strain the stock into a bowl and wipe out the pot.
How to make a roux
Heat up 1 cup of vegetable oil in the stock pot over medium-high heat. Whisk in 1 1/2 cups of flour and whisk constantly until the roux begins to brown. You’re going for peanut butter color here and it should take about 10 minutes. If it’s browning to fast, turn down the heat.
Add 2 1/2 cups of chopped onion and 12 cloves of minced garlic and cook until the onions get soft (about 4 minutes). Start adding the Shrimp stock slowly and whisk to combine until smooth. Add 2 bay leaves, 1 1/4 tsp black pepper, 3/4 cayenne, 3 tsp fresh thyme and 4 tsp kosher salt. Reduce the heat to medium low and simmer for 30-45 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add 3 diced russet potatoes and simmer for another 30-40 minutes, or until the potatoes are tender and the sauce is thick. Add 2 lbs of Shrimp (that have been tossed with 1/2 tsp salt), 1/4 cup of chopped green onions and 2 tbsp chopped Italian parsley. As soon as the shrimp are pink, it’s time to serve over steamed white rice.
More Soup, Stew, and Chili Recipes
Chorizo Sweet Potato & Black Bean Chili
Chilled Pea Soup with Goat Cheese Croutons
Turkey Chili with Yams & Black Beans
Cajun Shrimp Stew
Ingredients
- 1 cup vegetable oil
- 1 ½ cups all purpose flour
- 2 ½ cups yellow onion, finely chopped
- ¼ cup minced garlic, about 12 cloves
- 10 cups Rich Shrimp Stock, recipe follows
- 2 bay leaves
- 1 ¼ tsp black pepper, freshly ground
- ¾ tsp cayenne pepper
- 2 tsp fresh thyme, chopped
- 1 ½ tbsp kosher salt
- 3 large russet potatoes, 2 ½ to 3 pounds, peeled and cut into 2-inch pieces
- 2 lbs raw shrimp, medium, peeled and deveined
- ¼ cup green onion, chopped, green part only
- 2 tbsp fresh parsley, chopped
- steamed white rice, for serving
Rich Shrimp Stock
- 1 ½ lbs shrimp shells and heads
- 1 tbsp vegetable oil, or olive oil
- 14 cups water
- 1 large yellow onion, unpeeled and roughly chopped
- ½ cup celery, roughly chopped
- 2 small carrots, roughly chopped
- 2 garlic cloves, peeled and smashed
- 2 bay leaves
- 1 tsp kosher salt
- 2 tsp black peppercorns, whole
- 3 sprigs fresh thyme
- 2 sprigs fresh parsley
Instructions
- Heat the oil in a heavy-bottomed Dutch oven over medium-high heat and, when hot, add the flour. Whisk to combine and continue to cook, stirring constantly, until a medium roux is formed (it should look a bit darker than peanut butter), about 10 minutes. (If the roux begins to brown too quickly, reduce the heat to medium or medium-low and take your time – it is important that the roux not be burned at all of the stew will have a bitter taste.) As soon as the roux is the right color, add the chopped onion and cook until soft, stirring occasionally, 4 to 6 minutes. Add the garlic and cook for 2 minutes. Stir in the stock, little by little, and bring the sauce to a gentle boil. Add the bay leaves, black pepper, cayenne, thyme, and 4 teaspoons of the salt and reduce the heat so that the sauce just simmers. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the floury taste is gone, 30 to 45 minutes.
- Add the potatoes and continue to cook, uncovered and stirring occasionally, until the potatoes are very tender and the sauce is thick and flavorful, 30 to 40 minutes longer. (Add a bit of water or chicken broth to thin the gravy should the stew get too thick during the cook time. The sauce is meant to be thick and rich but not pasty.)
- Toss the shrimp with the remaining ½ teaspoon salt. Stir the shrimp, green onion, and parsley into the stew and continue to cook until the shrimp are just cooked through, 3 to 4 minutes. Taste and adjust the seasoning if necessary. Remove the bay leaves. Serve the stew in shallow bowls over hot white rice.
Rich Shrimp Stock
- Rinse the shrimp shells and heads in a large colander under cold running water and allow to drain.
- In a large stockpot, heat the oil over medium-high heat. When hot, add the shrimp shells and cook, stirring occasionally, until the shells are pink and toasty-fragrant, 4 to 6 minutes. Add the water and all the remaining ingredients and bring to a boil over high heat, skimming an foam that comes to the surface. Reduce the heat to medium-low and continue to cook at a slow simmer until the stock is flavorful, 45-60 minutes.
- Strain the stock through a fine-mesh sieve into a large heat-proof bowl and allow to cool completely (if not using immediately)
Save this Recipe!
Easily save this recipe to your own recipe collection box and come back to it anytime you want!
Nutrition
*Nutritional information is not guaranteed to be accurate.
Did you try this recipe?
Please Leave a Review & Star Rating!
Hi! I’m Heather
I’m Heather, a recipe developer and content creator based in Vancouver, Washington. I started Farmgirl Gourmet in 2006 because I believed weeknight dinners shouldn’t be boring and gourmet shouldn’t mean complicated. I’m also the co-founder of Spiceology, so safe to say I think about food for a living. Stick around for recipes that actually make it into your regular rotation.
A simple recipe I hope you’ll love
Gorgeous! I made this one earlier in the week and it was a huge hit here as well – great comfort food 🙂
Great photos! Good-looking home-grown veggies too.
Oh man, this is my kind of stew!! Love the photos and that you taught me how to make the stock! Looks delicious!
I am salivating just reading about this stew. How wonderful that you have all of those veggies to use in your cooking.
I am adding this to my to do list!!! anything with shrimp is calling my name!! looks yummy!!!
Nice!
Looks like this turned out great! Love all the photos!
Great job Heather, it looks so fantastic!! I love the photos, especially the vegetables out of the garden.
Oh you’re looks delicious and the fact that you can get those veggies from the garden/farm!? Even better!
Oh, so yummy…I can smell it over here! I would definitely make this.
Looks great! I’m looking forward to making this one soon!