There are many perks of being from south Louisiana, one is having access to so many wonderful types of seafood. I have always loved going down the bayou and seeing the shrimp boats come in with their catches! Those are about the hardest working group of people I’ve known, and I love them for going out there and busting butt to get those goodies!
Jump to RecipeShrimp are one of the most versatile seafoods in my opinion. You’ll see that they tend to show up in a ‘few’ of my recipes, which makes sense since they are so delicious! The possibilities of those little swimmers are honestly, endless!
Just as with many cajun and creole dishes, I start with a roux! For this one, I use bacon grease as my oil. If you don’t have any, canola oil or vegetable oil will work fine. Add the flour, stir, and cook until you get a milk chocolate colored roux then add your onions before adding the other veggies. You want to let them start getting tender before adding the rest.
After the vegetables have cooked down a bit, you’ll add a can of tomato paste and stir. It’s important to brown the tomato paste so allow this mixture to cook for a few minutes before adding in the rest of the tomatoes. Remember though, brown not burn! Caramelized tomatoes are great, burnt tomatoes … not so much!
Before 
After
Once the paste has had a chance to brown, add in the rest of the ingredients except the shrimp. Those won’t get added in until about 20 minutes before serving. Bring the creole to a simmer and just let it cook. At this point, it just cooks itself. Getting that tomato paste browned is what will make it seem like you slaved over at hot pot for hours and hours but you only really need about an hour of simmering.
After simmering for about 40 minutes, add in your shrimp. Let them cook for 20 minutes and then taste. The shrimp are going to absorb some of the salt and seasoning so taste and adjust accordingly.
Shrimp Creole
Ingredients
- ¼ cup bacon grease or canola oil
- ¼ cup flour all purpose
- 1 ½ cups onions diced
- 1 cup celery diced
- 1 cup bell pepper diced
- 1 cup green onions chopped
- 3 cloves garlic minced
- 6 oz tomato paste
- 16 oz diced tomatoes
- 8 oz tomato sauce
- 1 cup water or seafood stock
- 3 tsp salt
- 1 tsp black pepper
- ½ tsp ground cayenne pepper
- 2 whole bay leaves
- 1 tsp sugar
- 1 tsp worcestershire sauce
- 1 tsp lemon juice
- ⅓ cup parsley chopped
- 2 lbs deveined shrimp
Instructions
- In a large dutch oven, heat grease over medium heat.
- Add flour and whisk until smooth. Continue to whisk until roux gets to a milk chocolate color.
- Stir in onions and allow to cook until onions become translucent.
- To onions and roux, add celery, bell pepper, and garlic. Continue to cook until veggies are tender. About 5 minutes.
- Add tomato paste, stir to combine and cook for approximately 5 minutes stirring constantly.
- Allow paste to brown then add remaining ingredients except shrimp and parsley.
- Bring to a simmer and cook for 40 minutes stirring occasionally.
- Add shrimp and parsley, stir and bring back to a low simmer.
- Cook on low heat for 15 minutes. Taste and adjust seasoning.
- Serve over cooked white rice.