What an interesting dish do we have here! Brace yourself because this shrimp creole recipe is a Creole dish! So what exactly goes in it?
A bunch of tasty cooked shrimp in a chunky sauce of fresh tomatoes, onion, garlic, celery, bell pepper… and cayenne pepper.
Yum!
Best Shrimp Creole Recipe From Scratch
I think that this is the first time I cook a Louisiana style dish actually.
Oh wait, I also made another Creole dish before! Check out my dirty rice with shrimp! Fried rice and shrimp in a creamy liver sauce! I love it.
So yeah, this is the very first time that I prepare shrimp creole recipe at home. So before I start cooking, I like to do my homework and see how other chefs and bloggers prepare it.
Creole Seasoning
Lots of shrimp creole recipes ask for Creole seasoning.
I don’t have that seasoning mix in my spice rack because here it is impossible to find. So I just used fresh garlic and onion, cayenne pepper, salt, spicy paprika powder and dried thyme and oregano for my shrimp creole recipe below.
If you want to know more about Creole seasoning, here is a very interesting article from Alyssa over at The Recipe Critic!
Fresh Prawn Broth
Why is this shrimp creole recipe so flavorful?
Because I make a fresh prawn broth with the fresh heads and scales of the peeled shrimp that you would normally throw away. but just look what a gorgeous broth you can make with it! Natural flavors.
Try it, this homemade fresh broth really makes a difference here.
Serve these Creole shrimp over (traditional) grits or boiled rice. I wonder whether I could serve them with polenta as well? I can’t find grits here and polenta I think is the closest thing that resembles grits.
Still on my list to try out: jambalaya and gumbo…
I will keep you posted.
Enjoy!
For The Homemade Shrimp Broth
- 20 raw prawns unpeeled
- 1 cup water (240 ml)
- salt
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Peel the raw shrimp first. Remove the shrimp heads, scales and tails. Don’t discard all this! Add the heads, scales and tails to a large saucepan together with a pinch of salt and the water.
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Place the saucepan with the shrimp heads, scales and tails over high heat until boiling. Then turn the heat low again and simmer it all for 30 minutes until the broth has reduced by half. Then pour the broth with the cooked shrimp heads, scales and tails through a fine sieve. Catch the shrimp broth in a small bowl. Put it aside until needed lated on.
Best Shrimp Creole Recipe
This shrimp creole recipe is a Creole dish that contains cooked shrimp in a sauce of fresh tomatoes, onion, garlic, celery, bell pepper and cayenne pepper! Yum!
- 1 small onion chopped
- 1 stalk fresh celery finely diced
- 2 medium garlic cloves chopped
- 1 small red bell pepper finely diced
- 1 tbsp worcester sauce
- 7 oz canned chopped tomatoes (200 g)
- 1 tbsp tomato paste
- 1 bay leaf
- 2 tbsp unsalted butter
- 1 tsp dried thyme
- 1 tsp dried oregano
- ½ tsp ground cayenne pepper
- 1 tsp paprika powder
- salt
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Melt the butter in a large non-stick pan over medium-high heat. Then add the chopped onion, garlic and celery.
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Stir fry the vegetables for about 2 minutes. Then add the diced bell pepper as well. Season the vegetables with cayenne pepper and a pinch of salt.
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Stir the vegetables. Fry them for 5 minutes until a little soft. Then add the canned chopped tomatoes, tomato paste, bay leaf and worcester sauce to the pan.
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Stir all the ingredients. Season with spicy paprika powder and dried thyme and oregano.
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Stir well and add the shrimp broth to the creole tomato sauce.
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Bring the sauce to a light simmer again for 3 minutes under a lid. Stir regularly. Then add the peeled raw shrimp to the sauce.
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Stir the sauce and shrimp well and cover the pan again. Cook the shrimp for another 5 to 6 minutes until they are cooked through. Stir regularly. Add extra water to the sauce if necessary. In the end check the seasoning of the sauce and add extra cayenne pepper or salt to taste if necessary. Then scoop the shrimp and creole sauce onto deep plates and serve with grits or boiled rice.