étouffée

American  

[ey-too-fey] / ˌeɪ tuˈfeɪ /

noun

plural

étouffées

1. New Orleans Cooking. a stew of crayfish, vegetables, and seasonings, served over white rice.

---

Etymology

Origin of étouffée

< Louisiana French; French (à l')étouffée cooked in a closed vessel with little liquid, braised; noun use of feminine past participle of étouffer literally, to smother, suffocate, Old French estofer, apparently identical with estofer to stuff

Example Sentences

They held regular dinner parties for friends, colleagues and students, and Morgan was renowned for her cooking, with a repertoire that included jambalaya, French beef stew, fried chicken and shrimp étouffée.

From The Wall Street Journal • Oct. 31, 2025

So growing up we had a lot of shrimp in our house — shrimp and grits, shrimp étouffée, shrimp gumbo, grilled shrimp, shrimp tacos, you name it.

From Seattle Times • Jun. 28, 2022

Reese recommends getting the gumbo, the signature dish, or sampling any number of Creole or Southern classics, such as crawfish étouffée, shrimp Creole and fried chicken.

From Washington Post • Feb. 24, 2022

My family’s from Louisiana so I’ll battle anyone on my gumbo or my shrimp étouffée.

From Los Angeles Times • Nov. 10, 2021

He said one of the senator’s favorite drinks was sambuca, the Italian anise-flavored liqueur; Mr. McCain would often order ribs or étouffée, the Cajun dish served with shellfish over rice.

From New York Times • Aug. 27, 2018