Paleo Crawfish Étouffée

Is there anything better in this world than a big bowl of Cajun food? I think not. I grew up mostly in the South where gumbo, étouffée, jambalaya, mac and cheese, and barbecue reign supreme as the ultimate comfort foods. And for a good reason: they are just so damn delicious!

Crawfish étouffée is always made with a roux for thickening and flavor, but that’s usually made from vegetable oil and regular flour. Still delicious, but not all that healthy. I’ve completely switched up the game and made the entire recipe gluten free, paleo, Whole30 approved, and low carb! Yes, all of those things!!

If you love Southern food, make sure to check out my all of my other killer Southern recipes:

• World’s Best Paleo Gumbo
• Simple Creole Jambalaya
• Instant Pot Jambalaya
• Paleo Blackened Shrimp and Bacon Bowls (OMGGGG)
• Creamy Cajun Shrimp and Zoodles
• Paleo Fried Shrimp with Cajun Dipping Sauce
• Crawfish Risotto
• Easy Paleo Fried Fish
• Boiled Shrimp with the Best Cocktail Sauce EVER

Dang, that’s quite the collection of Southern deliciousness! I see some mac and cheese being added in the near future 😏. And some barbecue. What recipes would you like to see soon? Let me know in the comments section! As always, I’d love to hear from you!

Join My Community!

Want to get my new recipes delivered straight to your inbox?
Sign up for my weekly newsletter and never miss a new recipe!

Subscribe

Paleo Crawfish Étouffée

• Gluten-Free
• Dairy-Free
• Paleo
• Low Carb
• Keto
• Whole30
• Pescatarian

4.50 from 2 votes

Print

Cajun crawfish étouffée made gluten free, paleo, Whole30, and low carb! Y'all this recipe is where it's at. Perfect for a dinner party or special weekend meal with your family. 

Prep Time: 20 minutes mins

Cook Time: 55 minutes mins

Servings: 5 -6 servings

Ingredients 

Kit's Salt-Free Creole Seasoning

• 1/2 Tbsp paprika
• 1/2 Tbsp onion powder
• 1/2 Tbsp garlic powder
• 1/2 Tbsp dried oregano
• 3/4 tsp dried thyme
• 3/4 tsp freshly ground black pepper
• 1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
• 1/4 tsp smoked paprika

Crawfish Étouffée

• 6 cups prepared cauliflower rice white rice, or black rice, keep warm
• 1.5 lb 680g Louisiana crawfish tails
• 2 cups organic salt-free chicken stock can also use crawfish, shrimp, or fish stock
• 5 Tbsp 70g grass-fed butter, ghee, or avocado oil
• 1/4 cup 32g arrowroot powder (plus 1 Tbsp for step 10)
• 1 large yellow onion diced
• 3 stalks celery diced
• 1/2 red bell pepper diced
• 1/2 green bell pepper diced
• 6 large cloves garlic pressed or minced
• 6 green onions thinly sliced, separate white and green portions
• 2 tsp Kit's Salt-Free Creole Seasoning
• 2 bay leaves
• 1 tsp sea salt
• 1/4 cup chopped parsley plus more for garnish
• 1 tsp freshly squeezed lemon juice
• Cayenne pepper optional

Instructions

Kit's Salt-Free Creole Seasoning

• Mix all ingredients together in a small bowl.
• This makes about 3 Tbsp of seasoning. You will only use 2 tsp for the étoufféé recipe, so feel free to halve the recipe if you don't think you'll use the extra seasoning in another dish. You can also double or even quadruple this seasoning mix to use in my other recipes like my delicious Instant Pot Jambalaya!! So good! And if you don't have an Instant Pot, I've got ya covered, check out my Simple Creole Jambalaya. 

Crawfish Étouffée

• Mise en place. Make sure to prep all of the ingredients ahead of time. It's really important in this recipe.
• Soak crawfish*. Pour your crawfish tails (with fat) into a medium-sized bowl. Use the chicken stock to "rinse" the bags and allow it to drain off into the same bowl. Allow the crawfish to soak in the stock while you make the roux (continue on to step 3). You can also use crawfish or shrimp stock here. 
• Make the roux. Melt butter in a large heavy-bottomed pot over medium-low heat. I like to make this recipe in a Dutch oven. Once melted, add arrowroot powder and stir with a flat headed spoon (wood is best for this). Stir constantly, scraping the bottom as you go, for about 15 minutes or until your roux is a medium-brown color (similar to peanut butter). Keep stirring to prevent the flour from burning.
• Cook veggies. Add in your Holy Trinity (onions, celery, bell pepper), stir, and allow to cook for 8 minutes or until they are nice and soft, but not browned, stirring occasionally.
• Drain crawfish tails. While the veggies are cooking and your crawfish have soaked for about 30 minutes, remove crawfish tails from the stock using a slotted spoon and place them in a small bowl. Pop the crawfish tails back in the refrigerator for now and set aside the stock for use in step 7.
• Add garlic and green onions. Add the garlic and the whites of the green onions to the pot, stir, and allow to cook for 2 minutes, stirring occasionally and scraping the bottom. 
• Add stock and seasonings. Add stock, creole seasoning, bay leaves, and sea salt. Stir well and bring to a simmer over medium-high heat.
• Cover and allow to simmer. Reduce heat to low, cover, and allow to cook for 20 minutes without lifting the lid or stirring. 
• Add crawfish tails, stir, bring to a simmer over medium heat. Reduce heat and allow to simmer for 5 minutes without lid.
• Add parsley and lemon juice. Turn off heat and stir in parsley and lemon juice. If you want it a little thicker, sprinkle in 1 Tbsp arrowroot powder and mix well. 
• Season to taste with sea salt and cayenne pepper, if desired. I usually add a bit more sea salt to mine. 
• Spoon over or alongside rice. For Whole30, paleo, and low carb, use prepared cauliflower rice. For a non-paleo higher carb option, try it over white or black rice.
• Garnish with green portion of green onions and more parsley.

Did you love the recipe? I would love it if you left me a 5-star review below!

Notes

*Soaking the crawfish - WHAT THE HECK?? Okay, so the idea here is to allow the fat and flavors from the crawfish to meld into the chicken stock because since the crawfish tails are already cooked you won't be adding them until the very end. And you want to get that delicious crawfish flavor and fat into the recipe from the beginning to allow it to develop.

I do not add tomatoes or tomato paste to my étouffée because I prefer a Cajun-style étouffée. If you prefer to add tomatoes, that would be a Creole-style étouffée. Also delicious, but not my preference. But if you like a Creole étouffée better, just add two diced roma tomatoes (seeds removed) and 1 Tbsp tomato paste to the mix and that should do the trick! 

Category:

• American
• Comfort Foods
• Dairy-Free
• Date Night
• Dinner
• Fall
• Family Friendly
• Game Day
• Gluten-Free
• Keto
• Low Carb
• Main Dish
• Paleo
• Party Food
• Pescatarian
• Shellfish / Mollusks / Bivalves
• Whole30
• Winter

Author: Kit

Did you make this recipe?

Tag @itskitskitchen on Instagram and hashtag it #kitskitchen

Did you enjoy the recipe? If so make sure to leave a review and let me know in the comments section below! xx Kit