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This Dump-and-Bake Shrimp Etouffee is the ultimate Southern comfort food! The raw veggies, uncooked shrimp, and uncooked rice all bake together in one dish for an easy dinner that’s ready with only 10 minutes of prep. It’s family-friendly Cajun food — just in time for Mardi Gras!
I’ll be honest and say that we don’t do a ton of Mardi Gras celebrating here in Virginia, but this time of year always reminds me of my favorite Creole dishes. Whether it’s gumbo, King Cake, or this Shrimp Etouffee, I find myself returning to the classics year after year.
A Family Friendly Meal!
I’ve been making a version of this dish for as long as I can remember. And before you run off and assume that your child won’t like a spicy Cajun dish, hear me out! This is one of the first seafood dinners that I served to each of my boys when they were toddlers.
Without fail, they have all LOVED it. The ingredients are tender and easy to chew (key for the little ones), the sauce gets creamy and smooth as the starches from the rice bake in the dish, and you can adjust the seasoning to keep it mild for more sensitive palates (see my notes in the recipe below).
What Is An Etouffee?
I know that Shrimp Etouffee sounds fancy (or difficult), but this is definitely not! It’s a traditional cajun dish usually served with shrimp and rice although can found with other seafood.
A traditional shrimp etouffee requires a roux, a homemade shrimp stock, and plenty of time to simmer on the stovetop. But Mamma ain’t got time for that!
Instead, I borrowed the same flavors and ingredients from the original dish and adapted them for my favorite dump-and-bake method of cooking. Loaded with bell peppers, onions, celery, tomatoes, garlic, shrimp, and rice, it’s a complete one pan meal that will transport you to New Orleans…in about 10 minutes!
I hope that you’ll take some inspiration from the season and introduce your little ones to a taste of the South with this family-friendly, easy, dump-and-bake version of the classic Shrimp Etouffee. It’s a crowd-pleaser that will make any weeknight dinner feel like a Mardi Gras celebration!
Extra Tips For Making Shrimp Etouffee With Rice
Cooking for Two? You can cut all of the ingredients in half and use a 12-ounce bag of shrimp and an 8-ounce can of tomato sauce, baking the meal in an 8- or 9-inch square dish. Alternatively, you can prepare a full recipe, but divide the ingredients between two square baking dishes. Bake one casserole for dinner, and wrap the other dish tightly and store it in the freezer for a later meal.
Want to Prep Ahead? This dinner can be prepared in advance and kept in the refrigerator until you’re ready to bake it. It’s also freezer-friendly! Just prepare the casserole but do not bake it; wrap tightly with foil, and store the freezer for up to 3 months. When you’re ready to cook the frozen casserole, allow it to thaw in the refrigerator overnight.
More Shrimp Recipes You Might Like;
- Grilled Honey Lime Shrimp
- Dump and Bake Creamy Shrimp Pasta
- Baked Italian Shrimp
- Honey Garlic Shrimp with Rice and Green Beans
Dump-and-Bake Shrimp Etouffee with Rice
Ingredients
- 3 tablespoons butter diced into small cubes
- 1 ½ pounds raw peeled and deveined shrimp*
- 2 cups uncooked long-grain white rice
- 1 can condensed Cream of Celery soup NOT diluted (I used Campbell’s Healthy Request)
- 1 15 ounce can tomato sauce
- 1 can petite diced tomatoes do not drain
- 1 sweet onion diced
- ½ red bell pepper diced
- ½ green bell pepper diced
- ½ cup diced celery
- 1 teaspoon minced garlic
- 1 tablespoon Creole seasoning you can reduce it to 1 teaspoon if you are serving the dish to children and you want it to be mild
- 1 teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon pepper
- Hot sauce and sliced green onions for serving
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350F (180C).
- Spray a 13-inch x 9-inch casserole or baking dish with cooking spray. Spread diced butter around the bottom of the pan.
- In a large bowl, stir together shrimp, uncooked rice, condensed soup, tomato sauce, diced tomatoes, onion, bell peppers, celery, garlic, Cajun seasoning, salt and pepper.
- Pour shrimp mixture over butter into prepared baking dish. Cover tightly with aluminum foil and bake for 30 minutes.
- Stir well, cover tightly again, and bake for an additional 35-40 minutes, or until rice is fluffy and liquid has been absorbed.
- Serve with hot sauce and sliced green onions, if desired.
We don’t really celebrate Mardi Gras either, but certain dishes do remind me of it! I love how easy this shrimp bake is, Blair! And you really won me over by throwing all of the raw/uncooked ingredients into the dish and then baking it. The less prep time, the better! 🙂 Love the flavors in here!
Thank you, Gayle! It’s doesn’t get much easier than this. 🙂
I actually think kids deal with spice better than adults. This is my kind of meal lady!
Thanks, Megan! I agree — it’s funny how adults make assumptions about what kids “should” or “should not” like, and then kids always surprise us!
He he he! Dump and bake 😉 I am immature. However, it looks delicious!
I know…lovely, right?! Hah hah! But it gets the message across! 🙂
This looks amazing! Being married to a Southerner means I’m often experimenting with Southern style dishes – and this one looks like one my whole family would love!
That’s right! And you’re getting to experience some of America’s best cuisine! 🙂
How would you feel about not putting the shrimp in until the first time you atir? This would also help keep the ahrimp from overcooking.
Yep, you can definitely do it that way, CJ! That’s a perfect solution if you’re using smaller shrimp, too. 🙂
Do you use instant rice in this recipe or regular? Also, do you thaw the shrimp first?
Thanks!!
Hi, Pam! Regular rice, and I thaw the shrimp first. 🙂
I made this tonight only thing different was using pre-cooked shrimp (I already had them in the freezer). I added them at the second baking interval so they wouldn’t be completely rubbery. I found though that after the full cooking time, my rice was still quite crunchy. I added 10 more minutes but then had to serve it because my family was starving. They ate it all up, but I’m wondering what went wrong with the rice??
My rice was crunchy also. I added almost 30 minutes to mine and we ended up throwing it out because some of the rice was still crunchy. Maybe there’s not enough liquid to cook the rice all the way thru. Next time I’m going to use instant rice and see if that makes a difference.
Darn, that’s so weird! I have made this so many times without any trouble from the rice. I’m so sorry that it didn’t work, Pam! Instant rice would definitely work too, you just might need to play with the amount of liquid.
No problem, I’m going to try making it again this weekend using the instant rice and see how it turns out. Thanks for the feedback. Have a great day!! 🙂
Thanks so much, Pam! Same to you!
I honestly don’t know, Kate! That’s such a bummer! Was the shrimp frozen when you added them to the rice? That would bring the temperature of the dish down, which would mean that the rice would take longer to cook. And was the dish covered tightly? That could affect the cooking time too if it wasn’t. Other than that, the only other factor that I could imagine would be the oven temperature, and just making sure that the oven is calibrated to the correct temp. Sorry I’m not more helpful! 🙂
Thanks for the feedback, the shrimp was thawed, the dish was covered…idk about the oven but everything usually cooks well in there. I added some extra sauce and some water to the leftovers…hoping that will allow them to fluff up a bit upon re-heating.
I will say, despite the crunchiness, this was an AMAZING MEAL and my husband even went back for seconds, which rarely happens with this many vegetables involved! I will def try again and tweak as needed.
Okay, Kate! Well I’m glad that at least your husband could get past the raw rice!????
This looks so easy and good but my question is the amount of carbs really 50.7?
I guess so…maybe from the rice? I’m not a nutrition expert, so I can’t guarantee anything. I just enter the ingredients into a calculator and it spits out the nutrition panel for me. 🙂
I made this after reading the great reviews and it was awful. I wasted 1 1/2 lbs of gulf shrimp on this! The rice cooked unevenly with some mushy and some undercooked to beng crunchy despite following directions exactly. I tried to salvage it but no luck. It was soundly rejected by 12 undergraduate students
I am a Louisiana gal so know how to make etouffee but wanted to try something new- never again
I’m not a huge fan of celery, and putting 2 celery ingredients in this recipe is a deal breaker for me. Is there something I can substitute for 1 of them, or omit completely???
Hi, Veronica! You can just omit the diced celery entirely, and then swap out the Cream of Celery soup for another soup such as condensed Cream of Mushroom soup. Enjoy!
This meal was a huge hit! Easy, delicious, and the perfect meal to celebrate Mardi Gras! I could only find small shrimp so I just added them at the half way stir while in the oven and the entire dish was baked perfectly. Definitely will be making this again!
I’m so glad to hear that, Renee. Thank you!