You may know them as crawfish, crayfish, or crawdads.
My question to you is how can you easily enjoy these mysterious and tasty, fresh-water crustaceans?
My answer, crawfish dip.
If you don’t know this, small yet tasty acquatic species, yet, it’s time to take your tastebuds on a culinary adventure.
What’s a Crawfish?
Louisiana is the epicenter of crawfish production and provides 90% of the domestic crawfish, either farmed or wild-caught.
Crawfish thrive in aquatic environments like rivers, streams, lakes, and ponds and range in size from 2-6 inches in length.
In Louisiana they are often farmed as a rotating crop with rice.
Also known as mudbugs, these delicious creatures play a crucial role in maintaining clean water. Crawfish are also an important food source for other fish, birds, and mammals.
As a kid, I remember seeing these mysterious critters in the creeks close to my house where I played. With no knowledge of their culinary delights, I mostly stayed away after eyeing their powerful pinchers.
Crawfish are a big deal in the South where they have turned the crawfish into a culinary art form, called a crawfish boil which is a lot of work.
But there’s a simpler way to enjoy crawfish without the mess and fuss – crawfish dip.
Cooking Up Fun with Crawfish Dip
Crawfish dip is a creamy, dreamy delight; it’s a celebration in a bowl.
Picture this: succulent crawfish meat, a kick of Cajun spices, green bell pepper, a bit of garlic, in an easy to make sauce.
It comes together super fast.
And here’s the key to making it lightning quick: buy a bag of crawfish meat straight from your grocery store’s freezer. They’ve done the hard part for you; the meat has been peeled, and deveined.
And you can enjoy it year round. There’s no need to wait for official crawfish season which typically runs from November to July, depending on the region they’re being harvested from.
The Simplicity of Crawfish Dip
So there’s no excuse for not making this adventurous dip.
The meat is readily available and the process for making this dip is just as simple.
Begin by sautéing the crawfish tails with some butter and Cajun seasonings.
Separately sauté green onions, green bell pepper, garlic, Cajun seasoning, and melt in a block of cream cheese.
Add in the crawfish tails, smooth out the sauce with a bit of half & half, season and finish on a bright note with lemon juice. And voila, you have crawfish dip. Serve it with crostini or crackers for a crunch as an appetizer or on a brunch buffet.
Invite your friends and family over, crank up some New Orleans jazz, and let the good times roll.
PrintCrawfish Dip
This delicious crawfish dish is quick and easy using frozen crawfish meat, so no peeling and no mess in the kitchen.
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Cook Time: 10 minutes
- Total Time: 25 minutes
- Yield: 3 cups 1x
Ingredients
- 1–1lb package of peeled and deveined crawfish tails, thawed and drained
- 9 tablespoons unsalted butter, divided
- 3 teaspoons Chef Sandra’s Cajun seasoning, divided
- 1 bunch of green onions (about 3 oz), sliced
- 1 green bell pepper, diced
- 1 tablespoon garlic, minced
- 1–8oz package cream cheese, softened
- 1/2 cup half & half
- 1 lemon
Instructions
- Melt 4 tablespoons of the unsalted butter in a 10-inch skillet over low heat.
- Once the butter has melted and begins to foam, add the crawfish tails and 1 teaspoon of the Cajun seasoning.
- Sauté until the crawfish tails are cooked through. Set aside.
- In a larger skillet, melt the remaining 5 tablespoons of unsalted butter in a skillet.
- Add the bell pepper and sauté until tender.
- Add the garlic; sauté until fragrant.
- Add 2 teaspoons of the Cajun seasoning, stir and sauté for just a minute more.
- Add the green onion; stir to combine.
- Add the cream cheese; stir until the cream cheese is melted.
- Add in the sautéed crawfish tails.
- Add the half & half; stir until the sauce smoothes out.
- Taste and adjust the seasoning.
- Finish with a squeeze of fresh lemon juice; add as much lemon juice as needed to give it a bright flavor.
Notes
- Beware of the salt content on most Cajun seasonings. The lead ingredient on the label is typically salt. Look for a seasoning that doesn’t lead with this ingredient. You should be in control of the salt content of your food, not your seasoning. Purchase my Cajun Seasoning here.
- Mix it up by substituting crab or lobster for the crawfish in this recipe.
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