Bring the heart of Louisiana right to your own kitchen with this easy Shrimp Creole recipe that takes just 30 minutes to make, all in one pot! It’s healthy and packed with flavor from the perfectly cooked shrimp in spicy creole sauce. 

If you’re not afraid of a little spice, and a lot of flavor, I’m betting this will be your new favorite shrimp recipe! Serve it alongside warm Buttermilk Cornbread or Flakey Homemade Biscuits!

Shrimp creole on a plate with white rice.

If you’ve ever visited New Orleans or Louisiana, you’ve likely noticed Shrimp Creole on a restaurant menu.  This popular creole dish is made with tomatoes, shrimp, and the cajun holy trinity of celery, bell pepper, and onion, which is the hallmark of cajun and creole cooking.  Celery, bell peppers, and onions are the base of most creole stews, soups, jambalayas, and many cajun main dishes.

If you love Jambalaya, Gumbo, or Shrimp Etouffee, you may be thinking this recipe looks a little familiar as it shares some of the wonderful qualities of each of those southern dishes. Shrimp Creole served with rice (like gumbo), but it’s a little thicker and less soupy (like jambalaya).  Shrimp etouffee is also served with rice and shrimp but it’s made with a more gravy-like sauce.

Purchasing Shrimp (Know Before You Go!):

The most authentic shrimp creole would be served with Gulf shrimp, but since most of us don’t have access to wild-caught, fresh shrimp from the Gulf Coast, we have to purchase ours at the grocery store.  While you can buy shrimp in all varieties (large, medium, small, shell on/off, tail on/off, fresh, frozen, etc.), we recommend buying large, tail-on, un-cooked shrimp for shrimp creole. Once thawed you can remove the shells before cooking in the creole sauce.

Fresh or frozen shrimp? 

I suggest frozen shrimp.

If you live in an area where you can purchase truly fresh shrimp, I’m insanely jealous of you and you should definitely do that.

As for the rest of us, we have the choice of frozen shrimp from the freezer section or thawed shrimp from the seafood counter. I say thawed shrimp because while it looks “fresh,” it was likely shipped to the store in frozen form and thawed for the display.  And, it’s likely been thawing for multiple days which makes the frozen stuff seem even more fresh.

That being said, purchase the highest quality frozen shrimp you can!  The better the shrimp, the yummier your shrimp creole will be!

To thaw frozen shrimp, place the bag in the refrigerator overnight or pour the shrimp into a bowl and cover it with ice cold water for about an hour. Drain the shrimp and use paper towels to soak up the water.

The ingredients needed for Shrimp Creole.

How to Make Shrimp Creole:

1. Sauté veggies.  Add butter to a large skillet over medium heat. Add onion, celery, bell pepper, and garlic and sauté  until veggies are lightly browned.

2. Add flour and spices.  In a small bowl whisk together the thyme, salt, pepper, cayenne and flour. Stir into onion mixture and cook for 2 minutes.

3. Deglaze the pan with wine (if using) and then add chicken stock, tomatoes, bay leaves and hot sauce. Reduce heat and simmer for 20-25 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Two process photos for making Shrimp Creole in a white cast iron pot.4. Add uncooked shrimp.  Remove bay leaves and add shrimp (peel the shrimp beforehand so that you’re adding raw, peeled shrimp with the tails still on). Cook for just a few minutes, until the shrimp turn pink.

Raw shrimp on top of creole sauce cooking in a pan.5. Serve over hot cooked rice and garnish with chopped green onion.

Add In’s and Variations:

  • Bacon
  • Sausage
  • Crawfish
  • Chicken creole- use chicken instead of shrimp.
  • Seafood creole- Add scallops and haddock.
  • Catfish creole- add catfish instead of shrimp.
  • To substitute rice- Serve over mashed potatoes or pasta, or serve without rice for a low carb option.

A pot of shrimp creole with a spoon in it for serving.

MAKE AHEAD and FREEZING INSTRUCTIONS:

To make ahead: The sauce is almost better made ahead of time to allow the flavors to blend. To make ahead, prepare the sauce as instructed but don’t add the shrimp.  Refrigerate for 1-2 days and return to pan to simmer before adding shrimp.

To freeze: make the sauce but don’t add the shrimp.  Freeze the sauce in a freezer safe container for 2-3 months.  To reheat, allow sauce to thaw, simmer in saucepan, and then add shrimp, cooking until pink.

More Shrimp Recipes:

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Recipe

Shrimp creole on a plate with white rice.
Prep 10 minutes
Cook 20 minutes
Total 30 minutes
Save Recipe

Ingredients
 
 

  • 4 Tablespoons butter
  • 1 large onion , diced
  • 1 rib celery , diced
  • 1 green bell pepper , diced
  • 2 cloves garlic , minced
  • ½ teaspoon salt
  • 1/2 teaspoon thyme
  • ½ teaspoon black pepper
  • ½ teaspoon cayenne pepper
  • 1 Tablespoon flour
  • 1/3 cup dry white wine (optional)
  • 1 15 oz can diced tomatoes , or about 1 ¼ cups peeled and diced fresh tomatoes
  • 1 cup chicken stock
  • 2 bay leaves
  • Hot pepper sauce, such as Tabasco , to taste
  • 2 lb large uncooked shrimp , (about 32)
  • 6-8 cups hot cooked rice , for serving
  • 2 green onions , chopped, for garnish

Instructions
 

  • Add butter to a large skillet over medium heat. Add onion, celery, bell pepper, and garlic and sauté until veggies are lightly browned.
  • In a small bowl whisk together the thyme, salt, pepper, cayenne and flour. Stir into onion mixture and cook for 2 minutes.
  • Deglaze the pan with wine (if using) and then add chicken stock, tomatoes, bay leaves and hot sauce. Reduce heat and simmer for 20-25 minutes, stirring occasionally.
  • Remove bay leaves. Add shrimp and cook until pink, just 3-4 minutes.
  • Serve over hot cooked rice and garnish with green onion.

Notes

Add In's and Variations:
  • Bacon
  • Sausage
  • Crawfish
  • Chicken creole- substitute chicken for shrimp
  • Seafood creole- Add scallops and haddock
  • Catfish creole- substitute catfish for shrimp
  • To substitute rice- Serve over mashed potatoes or pasta
Make-ahead Instructions: The sauce is almost better made ahead of time and allowing the flavors to settle.  To make ahead, prepare the sauce as instructed but don't add the shrimp.  Refrigerate for 1-2 days and return to pan to simmer before adding shrimp.  
Freezing Instructions: make the sauce but don't add the shrimp.  Freeze the sauce in a freezer safe bag or container for 2-3 months.  To reheat, allow sauce to thaw, simmer in saucepan, and add shrimp, cooking until pink. 
*nutrition info does not include rice

Nutrition

Calories: 316kcalCarbohydrates: 7gProtein: 39gFat: 12gSaturated Fat: 6gCholesterol: 483mgSodium: 1795mgPotassium: 294mgFiber: 1gSugar: 3gVitamin A: 499IUVitamin C: 29mgCalcium: 279mgIron: 4mg

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About The Author

Lauren Allen

Welcome! I’m Lauren, a mom of four and lover of good food. Here you’ll find easy recipes and weeknight meal ideas made with real ingredients, with step-by-step photos and videos.

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Comments

  1. 1 star
    I followed the recipe to the letter using fresh gulf shrimp. A complete dud. Very little flavor . My advice – find another recipe.

  2. Perfect Shrimp Creole! This is the way I have always made it, except never used White wine. Was a game changer! Thank you!

  3. Delicious! My husband licked his plate! Easy to make as long as you measure & cut everything 1st..then just add as called for! Fun to make… more fun to eat!

  4. This is very good. Used cornstarch to thicken as there is celiac in our family. Husband said it was the best ever.

  5. 4 stars
    I thoughts this was very good and simple to make. I thought the seasoning measurements left it somewhat bland, so I pretty much doubled everything except bay leaves. The combo of spices were spot on though. Next time I will add a tablespoon of tomato paste or use a bit more flour so the sauce would be a little thicker. I’d recommend this recipe as a great base though.

  6. 5 stars
    This was so delicious! I pretty much stuck to the recipe but seasoned all components with Slap Ya Mama Cajun seasoning, omitted the hot sauce, and added some beef jalapeño sausage rounds after sautéing them. It was the perfect level of spice and I loved the consistency of the sauce. I’ve been making creole for a few years now but I love the choice of chicken broth and white wine as the base of the sauce. Thank you thank you thank you!

  7. I halved the recipe for 1 pound of shrimp. I used fresh tomatoes from the garden, which were watery and the shrimp I used were watery as well, so the finished sauce was a bit thin. I added some more flour. I also cut down on the cayenne and eliminated the hot sauce. (We’re New Englanders) It was delicious! Sautéed some yellow squash as a side dish and that was a perfect compliment! I think I’ll add some andouille sausage next time.

  8. 5 stars
    Absolutely Amazing!! I made this for dinner last night and it was delicious! Husband ate 2 big helpings and kept talking about how good it is! Needless to say, it’s going into the rotation. I followed the recipe as written except I used only 1/4 tsp of cayenne, and I browned and added andouille sausage. I think the spiciness of the sausage made the heat just right. Also added about 1 Tbsp of tomato paste and about a Tbsp of brown sugar, to cut the acid from the tomatoes. It did not taste sweet though. My husband loves rice, so it surprised me when he wanted pasta instead of rice. I used Penne Rigate noodles. Everyone who said it is even better the next day, was right!! We had the leftovers for dinner again tonight. Very good! Next time I will make the sauce a day or 2 ahead, heat it back to a simmer and then add the shrimp, and serve over rice. Thank you SO much for posting this. I had never made creole before, although I had eaten it. My next recipe to try is gumbo. Do you or anyone else have a good recipe for that? Thanks!!

  9. Wonderful. I added some hot pepper flakes for my husband and a half can of tomato paste. It really reminds me of New Orleans.
    It cones together quickly.

  10. 5 stars
    Hubby requested a shrimp dish for Father’s Day dinner and this recipe hit the spot! I served this with a side of polenta instead of rice. So good!

  11. 5 stars
    This turned out so good! I followed the recipe exactly, but used medium shrimp instead of large and there was one in almost every bite! It was super easy too, with most of the ingredients being things I already had on hand. I’m adding this to the rotation and can see myself doubling the recipe to make for future gatherings.

  12. This is a very respectable shrimp creole recipe! I’m from da boot and had my executive chef friend of mine make it for me last night. She’s a native of Mamou, LA. Cher, lol. She made it almost the same way. She made a seafood stock though by using the shells and tails and steeping then in hot water for an hour or so. She also cooked it real slow on lower heat so the vegetables kept their fresh taste. Garnished with fresh green onions. 😍 one of my favorite dishes. I like to add tasso or Rabideauxs sausage. They ship!!

  13. 5 stars
    Best I’ve made yet! I added some celery salt instead of cayenne and it was excellent. Thanks for this simple, excellent recipe. Will make again for sure.

  14. 5 stars
    Lauren thank you! It turned out amazing! I served it with rice and garlic Naan. (Store bought Naan, butter and garlic powder in the oven for 10min) This will be a regular at our house.

  15. 5 stars
    I had a bag of frozen shrimp in the freezer and was looking for a quick easy receipe. Boy, I was not disappointed!! I skipped the white wine. I didn’t have thyme, but substituted Italian seasoning which worked well. I also cut the tangy taste from the tomatoes with a pinch of sugar, and added a dash of worcheshire sauce…just because. Absolutely loved this recipe!

  16. 5 stars
    WOW! This was delicious and super quick. I made half a recipe for our small family but used the entire can of tomatoes. Also added some fresh thyme along with the green onions. Will def make again!

  17. 5 stars
    Delish! I had some shrimp in the freezer and found this recipe. It was quick and easy. We ate all the shrimp but I have sauce and rice remaining. I’m going to sauté some scallops and add them to the leftovers and season accordingly.

  18. 5 stars
    I followed this to a T. Man, wonderful. The only thing I did a little different was letting the dish sit on the stove for about an hour and half after the 25 minute simmer. Came back, heated it up, added shrimp, and gawd, what a revelation. Thank you so much.

  19. I used just one pound of 21-25 count shrimp and deleted the chicken stock and hot sauce. As long as you use cayenne pepper you probably do not need to add hot sauce, maybe keep that on the table. It’s great the first night for dinner, but amazing leftover! 😉

  20. Delish! I made this for me and my wife, choosing to reduce the shrimp to on pound. We have almost enough for a second meal, but I think I’ll add a cooked, diced chicken breast to extend it a bit.

    Definitely a recipe I’ll fix again.

  21. 5 stars
    Excellent recipe! I used chicken broth extract, Herb ox, to lessen the liquids. It came out terrific!

  22. 5 stars
    This recipe was delicious! I used the wine which made the sauce a little thin. Added a table spoon of tomato paste to thicken it up. I also added a pinch of sugar to cut the acid taste of the tomatoes. Overall my family loved this and I will be making it again!

  23. I have made this recipe several times, its fast ,easy and delicious. My husband asks for it every week now

  24. 5 stars
    Incredibly good recipe—thank you for it! I didn’t have cayenne pepper, so I added about 1/4 teaspoon of red pepper flakes. (I actually think 1/2 teaspoon of cayenne would make it too spicy for most people, but that’s just my opinion.) The hot sauce I used was 1 teaspoon of Frank’s Red Hot sauce. I did also add about 1 cup of diced beef polish sausage and that was nice.

  25. 5 stars
    Simple and yummy. I saved time by using precut, frozen onions and peppers. It just couldn’t be easier.

  26. 5 stars
    Great recipe! Only thing I would change next time is reduce the cayenne and eliminate the hot sauce .
    Little too hot for me….but personal preference!!! Thanks for sharing!

  27. 5 stars
    Delicious!!! Only change I would would make would be to decrease the cayenne to 1/8 -1/4 tsp. A bit to toasty for our liking!

    Made with shrimp and andouille sausage 🙂

  28. 5 stars
    Just made this for my family tonight…they are still in there chowing down.
    .its almost gone
    Absolutely delicious!!!

  29. 5 stars
    The best recipe I’ve found that has the down home creole flavor. I added just a little tomato paste to the recipe and used the optional white wine. Easy and delicious!!!

  30. 5 stars
    This was very good! I changed 1 thing. I used shrimp stock from the shells. I simmered the stock while doing the veggies.

  31. 5 stars
    I lost the recipe from my mother… this is the best recipe I have found since then. She would give the recipe 5 stars as well!!!

  32. Easy to follow recipe
    Added bratwurst sausage
    Turned out terrific 5☆ + + +
    If I can follow it, anyone can

  33. I made this for dinner in hopes of having enough leftovers for lunch, but it was so good – it was gobbled up! I used chicken broth instead of stock and used gluten-free flour. So delicious!

  34. 5 stars
    It’s a great recipe super easy I did add some 3 tablespoons of tomato paste and I use some chili paste to make it spicier other than that it’s going to be one of my favorite recipes they did early in the day let it sit until we were ready for dinner warmed it up added to shrimp served it on rice next time I think I’m going to also add some andouille sausage to it

  35. 5 stars
    This was an excellent, easy recipe as it is for shrimp creole. It is also a wonderful palette for any manner of creole dishes. I would recommend using the wine as a flavor enhancer. Start with this, add sausage, substitute tomato juice for chicken stock, increase the garlic and so on to accommodate the audience or your mood.

  36. 5 stars
    Made it three times – delicious. But I increased garlic to 4-6 cloves (hard to have too much garlic) and reduced cayenne each time, (was way too spicy initially), finally omitting it entirely. Still well-seasoned. Found amount of shrimp is easily varied – the creole mix
    is excellent even without any! Makes this former New Orleanians’s mouth water!

  37. 5 stars
    Tried this recipe and it was delicious! Perfect for a quick and easy weeknight dinner using simple ingredients. I only used about a half pound of frozen shrimp because that’s all I had on hand and it was still pretty well proportioned. Thanks for this tasty recipe!

  38. 5 stars
    Excellent, I also added in a red and yellow pepper. To avoid throwing them out, they had to be used, before that happened. I doubled the recipe. Delish. So easy.

  39. 5 stars
    I’ve made this twice and both times it was fantastic. I did add more salt and thickened it with a cornstarch flurry after the shrimp cooked. I also don’t add the garlic until towards the end of sauté to avoid it from burning and getting bitter. This is really a good creole recipe. Thanks

  40. 5 stars
    This was fabulous, but I opted for more garlic and less spice, we’re Yoopers and a bit wimpy. My loving husband brought spoons to the table after dinner began then we enjoyed seconds. We ate every drop but he still was disappointed because that’s all we had because he wanted thirds!

  41. 5 stars
    We, very much, enjoyed this recipe! It was easy to make, quick to cook and so delicious. I made it exactly as it is written including the wine and minus the bell pepper as both my husband and I get heartburn from them. All the components go together beautifully….I especially like the flavor of butter and chicken broth and the spices are perfect to create that “creole” flavor. It tastes like I’ve been in the kitchen all day but it only took about 1 hour from pulling out ingredients, chopping veggies, simmering for 20 minutes and incorporating the shrimp for another 3- 5 minutes. Thank you so much for our delicious dinner tonight <3. I will print and keep this one!

  42. 5 stars
    Wow! There is so much that I like about this recipe! Let’s start with the chicken stock and the roo. What an easy fix to ensure that the sauce becomes thick enough. My mother used to use tomato paste and never used chicken stock. But I like the balance that the chicken broth provides to the tomatoes. She also always served it with bacon. In fact, she would fry up the bacon first and then sautee the veggies in the bacon fat. There was always plenty of bacon flavor in the sauce that way. But, that is not the healthiest way. I used 3 TBSP butter for the sautee but I still garnished it with fried bacon at the end. It was great! There was just enough bacon flavor to remind me of Mom. I also added in another celery stalk but I think in the future that I will use 3 stalks and maybe another bell pepper. I also added in a second can of diced tomatoes and I used just 1 pound of shrimp. That comes from my frugal mother. She really knew how to stretch a pound of meat — queen of the casseroles! Both my husband and I added more tobasco to our servings. Thank you for this wonderful recipe! I had not made shrimp creole in years! This was fun and yummy!

  43. 5 stars
    I made this recipe for the second time this evening. My husband definitely thinks this is the best shrimp creole I have ever made, and I would definitely agree with him. You can make it as spicy as you want, both with the cayenne pepper and the hot sauce. I love the sauce itself and could probably be just as satisfied eating that without the shrimp, but we also both love shrimp so it’s a win-win! Thank you for posting this!

  44. 5 stars
    Amazingly delicious! And I made it myself…unbelievable. I goofed up and didn’t shell the shrimp. Ha ha ha! It made for some fabulous finger licking! I think the shells probably contributed to the excellent flavor; so I am likely to repeat the “mistake.”

    Make it! You’ll be glad you did!

  45. 5 stars
    Full disclosure, I don’t have a lot of experience with shrimp creole to compare. But, this dish was fantastic! My whole family loved it. I took the advice and made the sauce a day in advance and added the shrimp the next day. Not a drop was left! It’s going into my rotation!

  46. 5 stars
    I was really impress First creole I had ever made and my husband had two helpings. It will now be added to our favorite recipes

  47. 5 stars
    I tripled the recipe so I would have some to freeze. This is a great basic to have on hand because it can be made many different ways. Add chicken, or scallops and it’s a different meal. Put it over pasta or mashed potatoes, different meal. I also have cooked frozen rice on hand. Fast dinner when ever you need one.

  48. 5 stars
    This was simple to make and so delicious! I doubled the garlic and used a liberal amount of Tabasco sauce. True New Orleans flavor! A keeper!

  49. 5 stars
    I liked the roo made with chicken stock and flour. It makes it a bit thicker and not so tomatoy. I make this all the time and use a little different recipe each time. This is very good! I did not use the liquid in the tomoatoes, but like to use whole tomatoes from can, broken up and use two cans not one. Then I add a bit of tomato sauce so doesn’t get too liquidy.

  50. 5 stars
    Made this yesterday for my husband and I. We both absolutely loved it. It is definitely a keeper. However, I do wish your videos went much slower. I really don’t watch them because they just go too fast….but the recipe….a winner!!

  51. 5 stars
    I changed it only slightly with a couple of additions of my own. I seem to always add, it’s a curse. I added Phillips seafood seasoning to taste, a dash of Kitchen Bouquet, and a dash of fish sauce. Otherwise I stuck to your great recipe. It was wonderful. I thought the 2lbs would be a bit much, but for these shrimp lovers it was exactly right. You need a good ratio of shrimp and you have it down to measure. Thank you for this speedy method of making a favorite I grew up loving.

  52. Two pounds seems like a lot of shrimp for five people. Can I use les, say a pound or a pound and a half without messing it up? We like celery, so I plan to put in two stalks chopped.

  53. Excellent recipe only addition I made was a little lemon zest and a little lemon juice which I added just before I put shrimp in.

  54. 5 stars
    I made this recipe on my birthday. When I was cooking, the whole house smelled wonderful. Just the right amount of heat, not over spicy. Had a glass of Picpoul de Pinet with it

  55. 5 stars
    I made this for a large group and they loved it. I have tried several recipes and this was most definitely the best tasting sauce I have ever made.