Louisiana Crawfish Étouffée

Make Louisiana-style crawfish étouffée in the comfort of your own home with this top-rated recipe.

How to Make Crawfish Étouffée

You'll find a detailed ingredient list and step-by-step instructions in the recipe below, but let's go over the basics:

Crawfish Étouffée Ingredients

These are the ingredients you'll need to make perfect crawfish étouffée recipe:

• Rice: This crawfish étouffée recipe starts with long grain white rice.
• Water: You'll need seven cups of water (six for the rice, one for the étouffée).
• Butter: Cook the garlic and onion in butter.
• Vegetables: For this crawfish étouffée, you'll need an onion and green onions.
• Garlic: Fresh garlic adds tons of flavor.
• Flour: All-purpose flour thickens the étouffée.
• Tomato sauce: Canned tomato sauce lends even more depth of flavor.
• Crawfish tails: You'll need about a pound of crawfish tails for six servings.
• Seasonings: This flavorful crawfish étouffée is seasoned with salt, pepper, and Cajun seasoning.

Crawfish Étouffée Tips

"It's easy, it can feed a lot of people, it doesn't cost a lot of money, and a little bit of crawfish can go a long way," culinary producer Nicole McLaughlin (a.k.a. NicoleMcMom) says of this top-rated crawfish étouffée recipe. Here are a few of her favorite tips and tricks:

• Avoid over stirring your rice while it's cooking. If you only stir it once or twice, you'll end up with perfectly fluffy rice every time.
• "If you're lucky enough to live in the land of crawfish, you can get your own crawfish tails fresh out of the tails," according to Nicole. If you don't have access to fresh crawfish, though, you can find frozen ones in most grocery stores. You can also use shrimp, if you prefer.
• Don't overcook the crawfish! You want them tender, not tough.

What to Serve With Crawfish Étouffée

This crawfish étouffée is quite hearty, so there's really no need to pair it with any side dishes. But, if you want to take your meal to the next level, you might want to pair it with a crusty homemade bread to soak up all those delicious juices. Plus, you can explore our collection of 9 Best Cajun Side Dishes. Here are a few of the irresistible recipes you'll find:

• Cajun Corn and Bacon Maque Choux
• Fried Okra
• Southern-Style Crowder Peas

How to Store Crawfish Étouffée

You can store your leftover crawfish étouffée in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to three days. Reheat thoroughly on the stove or in the microwave. If you want to keep the étouffée for longer, you can freeze it for up to three months.

Allrecipes Community Tips and Praise

"Perfect taste," raves LeahNOLA. "Exactly what I was looking for and it was easy to make. I halved the recipe. One slight change that I made was to use a dollop of spaghetti sauce I had in the freezer instead of opening a can of tomato sauce for just a tablespoon."

"Used tomato paste instead of tomato sauce and it was delicious," says Cheryl MacHauer.

"I took some of the recommendations from the comment section and made this wonderful dish," according to one Allrecipes community member. "I like spicy food so I added jalapeños."

Editorial contributions by Corey Williams