Elevate any dish with a rich, creamy sauce. Crawfish Butter Sauce is built around Crawfish (Compound) Butter and andouille sausage. This crawfish sauce brings the authentic flavors of South Louisana to fried or broiled seafood, chicken, or pork and is perfect over rice or pasta.
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Here’s What You Need
Here are some of the key ingredients for this recipe:
Note on the crawfish tails: Use only Louisiana crawfish tails. Leftover boiled crawfish are fine for this recipe and will add to the flavor profile in a special way.
Note on the Crawfish (Compound) Butter: Crawfish Butter is a compound butter made with crawfish tails and typical South Louisiana seasonings. It's the basis for this sauce, but if you don’t have it, check out the Hints and Tips (FAQs) Section below for more options.
Note on the andouille sausage: Andouille Sausage is a highly seasoned smoked pork sausage. It is commonly used in Cajun and Creole cuisines. Although highly seasoned, andouille sausage is not necessarily spicy, although some brands may have lots of pepper. Check out the Hints and Tips (FAQs) Section below for possible substitutes.
Note on the stock: Crawfish stock is great for this recipe, but if you don't have any, Chicken Stock is a good substitute.
Note on the Dry Sherry: Dry Sherry provides a crisp, slightly tangy, earthy flavor and is slightly acidic with a familiar aftertaste. Dry vermouth and dry white wine are good substitutes, as are dry Marsala or Madeira wine. Stay away from “cooking” wines because they usually have a very high salt content. You can also leave the sherry out altogether if you prefer, substituting a little more stock and lemon juice. I do encourage you to try the recipe with the sherry as it really adds a special mellowness to the flavor profile.
Equipment
Here is some of the equipment I used in making this recipe:
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Here’s What You Do
First…you have a beer. Want to have some fun cooking this recipe? Prepare yourself and prepare the ingredients before you start cooking. Get started by sitting down with a beer and reading the recipe all the way through. Learn what you need and what you will do with each ingredient and piece of equipment. Then perform your mise en place and you will be ready.
Mise en place
- Prepare a recipe for Crawfish Butter or use some you've already prepared for another recipe.
- Chop the andouille sausage, shallots, and parsley very fine.
- Measure the remaining ingredients and place them in prep bowls.
Start with a light roux
What happens in this step? This crawfish sauce starts by creating a very flavorful base from rendered andouille fat, Crawfish Butter, and shallots all tied together in a light roux.
Add the chopped andouille to a cold saute pan and place it over medium heat. Saute for about 5 minutes until the fat has started to render.
Pro Tip: I like to render the fat from sausages, bacon, or other meats over medium heat, starting in a cold pan. The idea is to first melt the fat before the outside of the protein is charred. It may take a few minutes longer, but you’ll get a nice sear on the outside and the fat will be rendered. If the pan is too hot to start, you’ll get a nice sear, but with unrendered fat.
Into the pan goes the Crawfish Butter. (Okay, it's not the best picture, but that's the Crawfish Butter, I promise.)
When the butter has melted, add the shallots and saute it for about 3 minutes.
Add the AP flour and stir constantly to make a light roux, about 3 minutes.
Pro Tip: Cook the roux for at least 3 minutes. This will cook out the flour taste but not make the roux too dark.
Make a Savory Cream Base
What happens in this step? Now on the deep flavor base we have just built, aromatics, lemon juice, sherry and heavy will round out the unique flavor profile we seek.
At this point, increase the heat to medium-high. Add the Creole seasoning, lemon juice, dry sherry, and the stock. Stir to combine all the ingredients thoroughly. Bring the mixture to a heavy simmer, then lower the heat and simmer until the liquids have reduced by about half. This should take about 5 minutes.
Next, add the heavy cream. Mix well and return the mixture to a simmer. Simmer for about 5 minutes while the mixture thickens.
Once the cream has been stirred into the other ingredients, add the thyme, and white pepper
Finish with the Crawfish Tails
What happens in this step? Crawfish Tails round out the flavor profile of this delicious sauce.
Once the mixture thickens slightly, add the crawfish tails and parsley. Bring the pan back to a simmer and continue for about 3 minutes to warm the crawfish tails all the way through.
Pro Tip: The crawfish tails will already be cooked before you use them. Tails from a crawfish boil will be fully cooked while frozen tails will at least be parboiled if not fully cooked. We don’t really want to cook them anymore, but we need them to warm through. If you cook them too long the tails may get a little rubbery.
Serving Suggestion: This sauce is very versatile, but it is unbelievably delicious on Sweet Daddy D's Cajun Chicken Kiev!
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Hints and Tips (FAQs)
Leftover sauce can be kept in the fridge for 3 to 5 days in an airtight container. Reheat on the stovetop. If the sauce separates, whisk or stir vigorously until it comes together. I don’t recommend freezing leftover sauce.
Use only Louisiana crawfish tails. Frozen tail meat is perfect for this recipe. You can use leftover crawfish boil tails, but remember the flavors of the boil will influence the flavor profile of the sauce, and this is probably a good thing.
It’s very easy to make Crawfish Butter. Here’s the recipe for this compound butter. If you don't have Crawfish Butter and don't want to make some, use regular butter and add about 2 teaspoons of minced garlic and about double the Herb and Spice Blend.
Andouille sausage is a smoked pork sausage with Cajun and Creole seasonings. It is highly seasoned, but not usually hot. Substitute any smoked pork sausage, such as kielbasa. If you substitute, increase the Creole seasoning after tasting the sauce. Finely diced smoked ham could also be substituted for andouille. Tasso is an option in place of the andouille but may be highly seasoned and overwhelm the other ingredients.
Dry sherry provides a distinctive, earthy element to the flavor profile. If you want to substitute, try dry vermouth, dry white wine, dry marsala, or dry Madeira. Non-alcoholic substitutes include more stock, lemon juice, red wine vinegar, or cane vinegar.
Here are some other Sauce Recipes from Sweet Daddy D!
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Yeah You Right!
Crawfish Butter Sauce
Here's What You Need
- ¼ cup Andouille Sausage Finely Chopped
- 4 Tablespoons Crawfish Butter See Notes
- 3 Tablespoons Shallots Finely Chopped
- 2 Tablespoons AP Flour
- ¼ cup Dry Sherry
- 2 Tablespoons Lemon juice
- 1 cup Stock See Notes
- 1 cup Heavy Cream
- ½ cup Crawfish Tails See Notes
- 1 teaspoon parsley Finely Chopped
- 1 teaspoon Creole Seasoning
- ¼ teaspoon Thyme
- ¼ teaspoon White pepper
Here's What You Do
- Add the chopped andouille to a saute pan over medium heat. Saute for about 5 minutes until the fat has started to render.
- Add the Crawfish Butter to the pan.
- When the butter has melted, add the shallots and saute for about 3 minutes
- Next, add the AP flour. Stir constantly to make a light roux, about 3 minutes.
- Increase the heat to medium-high, Add the Creole seasoning, lemon juice, dry sherry, and stock. Mix to combine thoroughly and bring to a heavy simmer.
- Lower the heat and simmer until the liquids have reduced by about half.
- Stir in the heavy cream. Return the mixture to a simmer.
- Add the white pepper and thyme and simmer for about 5 minutes while the mixture thickens.
- Add the crawfish tails and parsley. Return to a simmer for about 3 minutes to warm the crawfish tails all the way through.
- Serve over your favorite protein.
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