One-pot Cajun shrimp and rice
Smoky, a little spicy and cooked in a single pot, it’s a big, cozy bowl that tastes like it simmered all day.
- 50 min total
- 20 min hands-on
- Follow-a-recipe easy
- Serves 4
- About $4.04 a serving
- 470 calories
- Good the next day
- Gluten-free
- Dairy-free
Dolly says: Make the full amount. It’s just as good for lunch the next day.
Ingredients
For 4 servings.
- 1 yellow onion, diced
- 1 green bell pepper, diced
- 2 stalks celery, diced
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- 1½ cups long-grain white rice, rinsed
- 1 can diced tomatoes, 14.5 oz, with their juice
- 2 cups vegetable broth
- 1 lb raw shrimp, peeled and deveined, thawed if frozen
- 3 green onions, thinly sliced (optional)
From your pantry
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 2 tsp smoked paprika
- 1 tsp dried oregano
- 1 tsp dried thyme
- ¼ tsp cayenne pepper
- 1¼ tsp salt, divided
- ¼ tsp black pepper
Each serving has about 470 calories, 30 g protein, 69 g carbs and 8 g fat, and costs about $4.04 at typical US grocery prices. Both are estimates from what the recipe uses.
Missing something?
- No yellow onions? White onions or red onions work.
- No green bell peppers? Red bell peppers or yellow bell peppers work.
- No long-grain white rice? Jasmine rice or basmati rice works.
- No diced tomatoes? Crushed tomatoes work.
- No vegetable broth? Chicken broth works.
- No raw shrimp? Frozen raw shrimp works.
- No green onions? Chives work.
Steps
Tap an underlined word for a quick explanation.
the onion, bell pepper and celery and the garlic before you turn on the stove.
Dice. Dicing means cutting food into small, even cubes, usually a quarter to half an inch across. Pieces the same size cook at the same speed, so nothing burns while the rest catches up.
How you’ll know: Your pieces are little cubes about the size of a chickpea, and they all look close to the same.
Mince. Mincing means chopping something into the tiniest pieces you can, smaller than a grain of rice. Tiny pieces melt into the dish, so you get the flavor without biting into a chunk of garlic.
How you’ll know: Every piece is tiny and about the same size, and the pile starts to look almost like a paste.
Heat the oil in a large pot over medium heat. Add the onion, pepper and celery and cook, now and then, for 6 to 7 minutes until .
Stir. Stirring means moving food around with a spoon or spatula so it cooks evenly and doesn’t stick. Unless the recipe says constantly, every so often is plenty, and it gives food time to brown.
How you’ll know: When you drag the spoon across the bottom, nothing is sticking or scorching.
Softened. For vegetables it means cooked until they bend and lose their crunch; for butter, left out until it dents easily. Soft onions taste sweet, and soft butter mixes in smoothly.
How you’ll know: Onions squash easily against the pan with your spoon, and butter dents under a finger without looking greasy.
Medium heatTimer: 6 min 30 sec
Add the garlic, smoked paprika, oregano, thyme and cayenne and for 30 seconds, .
Stir. Stirring means moving food around with a spoon or spatula so it cooks evenly and doesn’t stick. Unless the recipe says constantly, every so often is plenty, and it gives food time to brown.
How you’ll know: When you drag the spoon across the bottom, nothing is sticking or scorching.
Fragrant. Fragrant means cooking until you can clearly smell it, usually garlic or spices, often in about 30 seconds. That’s the moment the flavor is ready, just before it can burn.
How you’ll know: You can smell it from a step back, and garlic is pale gold, not brown.
Medium heatTimer: 30 sec
in the rice, the tomatoes with their juice, the broth and 1 teaspoon of salt, and .
Stir. Stirring means moving food around with a spoon or spatula so it cooks evenly and doesn’t stick. Unless the recipe says constantly, every so often is plenty, and it gives food time to brown.
How you’ll know: When you drag the spoon across the bottom, nothing is sticking or scorching.
Bring to a boil. It means heating a liquid on high until it’s fully boiling before you move on. A lid on the pot gets it there faster, which makes it a good moment to chop something.
How you’ll know: Big bubbles break all over the surface, and they keep coming when you lift the lid.
High heat
Cover, to low and cook for 18 minutes without lifting the lid.
Reduce the heat. It means turning the burner down, usually to medium-low or low, so food cooks gently instead of hard. Electric burners cool slowly, so lift the pan off for a moment if it’s bubbling hard.
How you’ll know: Within a minute the bubbling calms to a gentle simmer, or the sizzle turns quiet.
Low heatTimer: 18 min
Dolly’s tip: Resist peeking. The rice cooks in the trapped steam, and lifting the lid lets it escape.the shrimp with the rest of the salt and the pepper while the rice cooks.
Season. Seasoning means adding salt, pepper or spices to bring out a food’s flavor. A little at a few stages tastes better than a lot all at the end.
How you’ll know: When you taste it, it tastes bright and like itself, not flat and not salty.
Scatter the shrimp over the rice, cover again and cook for 5 to 6 minutes, until the shrimp are pink and opaque and the rice is tender.
Low heatTimer: 5 min 30 sec
Dolly’s tip: If the rice is still a little firm, add a splash of water, cover and give it 3 more minutes.Food safety: Shrimp are done when they turn pink and opaque all the way through and curl into a loose C. A tight O means overcooked, not unsafe.
Turn off the heat and let it sit, covered, for 5 minutes. Then fluff with a fork, the shrimp through.
Stir. Stirring means moving food around with a spoon or spatula so it cooks evenly and doesn’t stick. Unless the recipe says constantly, every so often is plenty, and it gives food time to brown.
How you’ll know: When you drag the spoon across the bottom, nothing is sticking or scorching.
Timer: 5 min
Serve with green onions scattered over the top.
Plan this in Dollop, and get the grocery list
Dollop puts this dinner on a night that suits your week, lists only what you still need to buy, and walks you through each step while you cook.
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