Chicken Étouffée
Chicken Étouffée is just like your favorite shrimp version but with chicken! This recipe features diced chicken and veggies in a flavorful, homemade Creole seasoned sauce!
A FLAVORFUL CHICKEN DINNER DISH
Chicken Étouffée is a version of Shrimp Étouffée (a cajun dish). It is diced chicken simmered in a super flavorful sauce. This tasty comfort food is guaranteed to warm you up and fill your belly! It’s all about that roux that you start with, it brings so much flavor! This is a meal that the whole family will love and you can have it on the table in 45 minutes!
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS:
Étouffée is a Louisiana-style dish, kind of like a stew that will be simmered down to a sauce and served with protein, like chicken or shrimp. The sauce is flavorful and rich and made with tomatoes, bell peppers, onion, garlic and spices. It’s usually served over rice.
A roux (pronounce ‘roo’) is a mixture of fat (often butter) and flour cooked together and used as a thickening agent for sauces, gravies, soups, and stews. Roux is usually made by melting the fat in a pan and stirring in an equal amount of flour. This mixture is then cooked until it reaches the desired color and you’ve cooked out that flour flavor. The longer you cook it, the darker the roux will become. Darker roux has a deeper flavor but can also change the color of your dish; lighter roux, on the other hand, won’t add quite as much flavor but will help to thicken your sauce without changing its color (this works best for creamy, milk gravy).
Étouffée is served with rice traditionally, however, it is good on its own or with something that will soak up all that sauce like mashed potatoes, orzo pasta, polenta, quinoa, etc.
Keep your leftovers in the fridge for up to 3 days, Additionally, you can freeze leftovers for up to 3 months in a freezer safe container.
INGREDIENTS NEEDED: (SEE RECIPE CARD BELOW FOR THE FULL RECIPE)
- boneless skinless chicken breast – you can use boneless skinless chicken thighs in place of chicken breast.
- salted butter – you can use oil or shortening in place of the butter if desired. If you are trying to cut back on salt, you can use unsalted.
- celery, green pepper, onion and garlic – these are traditional ingredients for étouffée but feel free to change it up with what you like, If you don’t like green pepper you can switch it out for another pepper or leave it out. Fresh garlic (not jarred) is recommended here as it adds such great flavor!
- chicken stock – you can use a low or no sodium chicken stock if you need to cut down on sodium.
- petite diced tomatoes – just get the regular petite diced tomatoes. Pay attention to the cans because some are seasoned with Italian seasonings like basil and oregano and it will mess up the seasoning in this dish.
- Worcestershire sauce – this does not add a strong flavor. It adds a wonderful background flavor that just adds to the other flavors that are happening. Étouffée is really all about layering the flavors.
- bay leaf – I know bay leaves don’t seem like they are adding a lot to a dish but I promise it is adding flavor. It’s just not super strong.
- creole seasoning – I use Tony Chachere’s. It can be found in nearly all grocery stores these days with the other seasonings. See my ingredient image below to see what it looks like.
- smoked paprika – if you don’t like a smoky flavor, just use regular paprika.
- green onions – This adds not only color but another layer of light onion flavor.
- hot sauce – most folks like to add a few shakes of hot sauce but if you don’t want that extra heat, it is optional.
HOW TO MAKE CHICKEN ÉTOUFFÉE
Season the chicken with the salt and pepper. In a large pot or Dutch oven, add the oil over medium heat. Sear the chicken off in batches until lightly golden brown. Place chicken on a plate and set aside.
No need to wipe out the pot, melt the butter, leaving the heat over medium. Try to scrape off any brown bits off the bottom of the pan as you can. Whisk in the flour and continue to cook, whisking often until it forms a peanut butter color, about 10 minutes. Add the celery, bell pepper, and onion, and stir to combine. Cook until softened, 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.
Add in the garlic and stir in until fragrant, 30 seconds. Slowly stream in the chicken stock while stirring constantly so no lumps are formed. Again, try to scrape off any browned bits on the bottom of the pan.
Add the tomatoes, Worcestershire, bay leaf, creole seasoning, paprika, salt, and pepper, and stir to combine. Bring to a boil, once at a boil, stir in the seared chicken, cover, place heat on low, and simmer for 15 minutes. Stir occasionally so nothing sticks to the bottom of the pot.
Remove bay leaf. Stir in the green onions and hot sauce to taste. Serve immediately.
CRAVING MORE RECIPES?
Chicken Étouffée
Ingredients
For the chicken:
- 2 pounds boneless skinless chicken breast (1-inch diced)
- ¼ teaspoon kosher salt
- ¼ teaspoon black pepper
- 2 Tablespoons vegetable oil
For the etouffee:
- ¼ cup salted butter
- ¼ cup all-purpose flour
- 2 ribs celery, small diced
- 1 green bell pepper, small diced
- 1 small sweet onion, small diced
- 4 cloves garlic, minced
- 2 cups chicken stock
- 14.5 ounce can petite diced tomatoes
- 1 Tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
- 1 bay leaf
- 2 teaspoons creole seasoning
- 2 teaspoons smoked paprika
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt
- ½ teaspoon black pepper
- 4 green onions, thinly sliced
- hot sauce, to taste
Instructions
- Season the chicken with the salt and pepper.
- In a large pot or Dutch oven, add the oil over medium heat.
- Sear the chicken off in batches until lightly golden brown. Place chicken on a plate and set aside.
- No need to wipe out the pot, melt the butter, leaving the heat over medium. Try to scrape off any brown bits off the bottom of the pan as you can.
- Whisk in the flour and continue to cook, whisking often until it forms a peanut butter color, about 10 minutes.
- Add the celery, bell pepper, and onion, and stir to combine. Cook until softened, 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.
- Add in the garlic and stir in until fragrant, 30 seconds.
- Slowly stream in the chicken stock while stirring constantly so no lumps are formed. Again, try to scrape off any browned bits on the bottom of the pan.
- Add the tomatoes, Worcestershire, bay leaf, creole seasoning, paprika, salt, and pepper, and stir to combine.
- Bring to a boil, once at a boil, stir in the seared chicken, cover, place heat on low, and simmer for 15 minutes. Stir occasionally so nothing sticks to the bottom of the pot.
- Remove bay leaf. Stir in the green onions and hot sauce to taste.
- Serve immediately over rice.
Notes
- Please refer to my FAQ’s (Frequently Asked Questions) and ingredient list above for other substitutions or for the answers to the most common questions.
Nutrition
Nutritional Disclaimer
“The Country Cook” is not a dietician or nutritionist, and any nutritional information shared is an estimate. If calorie count and other nutritional values are important to you, we recommend running the ingredients through whichever online nutritional calculator you prefer. Calories and other nutritional values can vary quite a bit depending on which brands were used.
AMAZING recipe!!!! Thanks so much for sharing!!!
So happy you loved it – thank you Lisa!
Ver, very good! Made it exactly to the recipe and wouldn’t change a single thing! This bayou girl gives it 5 stars!
I have a picky family member who will only eat breaded shrimp. I may try this recipe with both chicken and shrimp together to try to please everyone. I’ll just add the shrimp at the very end, so it doesn’t overcook. The recipe sounds good! Enjoy your blog!!
Your recipe sounds delicious, but thought you would want to know that roux is pronounced roo not too.
It’s a typo 🙂