The Best Étouffée Recipe (with chicken, sausage, and shrimp)

The Best Étouffée recipe is the thing I would make for you if you were coming to my house for dinner. I’ve been making this EXACT dish for the better part of 15 years and it’s my favorite. It’s special and delicious, everyone always licks their bowls clean, they really do. 

The combo of chicken thighs and spicy andouille is undeniably delicious and the sauce made from aromatic veggies, lots of garlic, beer, and a deep, dark roux is lip-smacking good. I like to add some perfectly roasted shrimp on top, which adds to the special factor of it all quite nicely. But you can leave those off, if you like. Read on to learn more about this all-time favorite of mine, or you can simply jump ahead to the recipe itself. 

If you like the looks of this étouffée, you might also want to try our Best Ever Shrimp Creole or this Chicken Fricassee. Both are flavor bombs and absolutely should be a part of your weeknight cooking arsenal.

How is Étouffée different from Gumbo?

While these two classic Cajun-style dishes do have a lot of crossovers as far as their ingredients and main flavors go, they don’t really eat the same. Gumbo is more soup-leaning – it’s very much a stew. Étouffée, on the other hand, is more of a main course thing. What a very un-technical description I’ve just laid out for you, huh?

But the word “étouffée” means “smother.” So, in my Best Étouffée Recipe here, we’re essentially smothering the fatty, amazing proteins and also the grain of choice with this saucy, hugely flavorful mixture of aromatics, veggies, roux, and stock.

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What to serve with The Best Étouffée Recipe

If you’re making The Best Étouffée Recipe, it really should follow that you serve it atop a fluffy, grainy bed – something that will adequately sop up the insanely tasty sauce. It’s not a soup or a stew – étouffée eats much more like a substantial main course (almost like a curry, in that it’s best with rice and the like).

Here are my favorite things to serve UNDER this etouffee:

1. Mushroom ravioli. I know this is SO weird and not normal or authentic whatsoever. But guys? I did this the last time I made this recipe and we couldn’t get over how good it was. I’m just putting that here for your consideration, okay? 
2. Cheese grits. This is much more normal and usual and not at all strange. Just make a big pot of creamy, cheesy quick-cooking grits (cook them in stock though, not water) and pile this étouffée on top. 
3. White rice. Probably the most typical, popular option.

This salad is fresh and bright on the side, no matter the season. 

Garlic knots are great on the side, as well. 

For a healthful kick, a big bowl of these classic Southern Mustard Greens would be fantastic – their bitter flavor would stand right up to the flavorful pot of etouffee. Turnip greens, too, for that matter. 

What you’ll need to make The Best Étouffée Recipe

This list of ingredients is very typical – there are no surprises here. You can make it spicier if you like, and go with the whole jalapeno. Or, nix that spicy thang altogether. The shrimp isn’t necessary here, I just love adding them and think it makes for a very special dish.

INGREDIENTS

• 2 to 3 teaspoons olive oil, for cooking
• 4 links andouille smoked sausage, cut into bite-sized pieces
• 4 to 6 boneless skinless chicken thighs
• 4 tablespoons butter
• Salt and pepper, as needed and to taste
• 1 small sweet onion, diced
• 2 green bell peppers, diced
• 2 celery stalks, chopped
• ½ fresh jalapeno, seeded and chopped (optional)
• 4 garlic cloves
• ½ cup all-purpose flour
• 3 tablespoons paprika
• 6 ounces light-bodied beer (half a bottle; you can drink the other half!)
• 3 to 4 cups chicken stock

To serve: Hot cooked rice, cheesy quick-cooking grits, or mushroom ravioli – weird suggestion but we did this, and it was EPIC)

How to make The Best Étouffée Recipe

This all comes together brilliantly in one big happy pot. So many of the very best and most well-loved recipes on this site are built entirely in one pot, actually.

Or, for a quick grab, I can happily recommend my six-ingredient chicken marsala or the six-ingredient chicken marbella as well. This Chicken, Sausage and Wild Rice Soup is a pretty big-time fan favorite as well. Plus there’s always the popular Tuscan Garlic Butter Chicken and Tuscan Garlic Butter Shrimp and Salmon. 

This recipe involves classic steps that are essentially present in SO many Cajun-style recipes:

1. We’ll brown and sear the proteins, rendering the fat and utilizing that as both a flavor mechanism and a cooking medium as well. The drippings from both the sausage and chicken thighs will anchor the entire dish and are what make it so dang tasty.
2. ROUX! ROUX! ROUX! I’ll detail this in greater depth below, if you’re seeking a little more information about the world of rouxs. But the high-level takeaway there is this: rouxs are pasty mixes of flour and fat that add depth and body to sauces in cuisines all over the world. It is a classic cooking technique that is really very easy, and it is also (yet again) an essential aspect to many, many Cajun-Creole dishes. You’ll notice how I ask you to really give the roux time to develop a deep brown color. This is also key to nailing the deep, rich flavors of the final dish.
3. We will pulse together the TRINITY! Ah yes, the iconic trio of vegetables that comprise the base of tons of Cajun-Creole dishes. More on that later, though. We’ll sweat out a pulp of these vegetables in the roux, tenderizing them and knocking the rawness right off. 
4. Deglaze with beer. I suppose you could nix the booz here, and just use more stock, but the flavor of the beer is really delicious in this, and the alcohol will cook away entirely. Wine could also be used, and I think sherry would be delicious (I always think sherry would be delicious). Anyway, you needn’t use all of the beer, so you go right ahead and drink what’s left in the can/bottle. You’ve earned it!
5. Add the stock. Once the veg have all sweated down, releasing their juices and we’ve deglazed with the beer and picked up all of that brown FOND and whatnot, we’ll add the stock and then slip n’ slide the sausage and chicken back into the pot. Let it all cook for about 30 minutes to really develop the flavors.
6. Chop the chicken. This is the last thing I do, to ensure that pieces of chicken are woven throughout the whole pot, in every single bite.
7. Roast the shrimp! I know. I said this is a one-pot meal and it is, if you choose to forgo the shrimp. You can also cook the shrimp right in the pot, for about 2- 3 minutes before serving. But let me tell you – when I served this to my friends a couple of weeks ago (one of whom is a chef, and literally famous for her shrimp!) they both complimented me on how well the shrimp was cooked. This is entirely due to the roasting. It’s just the way, y’all. The very best way to cook shrimp. 

The Best Étouffée Recipe DIRECTIONS

• Add the oil to a large Dutch oven set over medium-high heat. When it’s hot, add the sausage and brown, stirring occasionally until very dark and almost crispy looking; about 6 to 8 minutes. Transfer to a plate or baking sheet for now (don’t clean the pot).
• Add the chicken thighs, season lightly with salt and pepper, and brown them on both sides; about 3 minutes per side. Transfer to the same pan as the sausage.
• Reduce the heat to medium and add the butter. When it has melted, add the flour and cok, stirring pretty often until the roux has developed the color of almond butter, a nice deep brown. 
• Meanwhile, add the onion, bell pepper, celery, jalapeno, and garlic to a food processor and process until it’s all a fine pulp. When your roux is almond buttery in color, add this veggie pulp to the pot, along with the paprika. Stir. Season lightly with salt and pepper (watch the salt – you can always add more in the end). Cook for two minutes or so, so it’s not raw anymore. 
• Add the beer and stir to pick up any browned bits. Add the stock and slip n’ slide the sausage and chicken back into the pot as well. Simmer, partially covered, for about 25 to 30 minutes, so the flavors can develop. 
• Transfer the chicken to a cutting board and chop. Put it back into the pot, and then taste and adjust for seasoning (salt is always a good idea). Serve the étouffée over hot cooked rice, cheesy grits, or my personal favorite – mushroom ravioli. Top with the roasted shrimp, if desired (see easy how-to in the notes).
• NOTES: For perfectly roasted shrimp: put 1 to 1.5 pounds large, raw, peeled and deveined shrimp on a sheet pan and season liberally with salt and pepper. Roast at 375 degrees for 7 minutes, or just until curled and pink. 

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