I can thank my mom for my interest in cooking. Whether we were living in Colorado, Alabama, or finally home sweet home Louisiana, she always found a way to incorporate some Cajun flair into our meals. I watched her make dinner for us every night, and little did I realize, I was building a mental Rolodex of recipe cards and techniques to carry into my adulthood. A staple in Mom’s meal rotation was Shrimp Creole. Always perfectly spiced and quickly whipped together, this meal did not disappoint.
First things first, let’s go ahead and address the fact that cauliflower rice is not rice. I’ll never lie and tell you it tastes the same! It is, however, the best substitute available for us keto-ers. It adds the texture you’re missing in typical rice dishes without the hefty carbs. Shrimp Creole is commonly served over a bed of white rice. For this recipe, you use 1/2 cup of cauliflower rice per serving, which accounts for 2 grams of the total net carbs per serving in this dish. To put that into perspective, 1/2 cup of white rice is 26 grams of net carbs. Cauli rice isn’t so bad now, is it?!
Ingredients (makes 6 generous servings):
2 lbs shrimp
1/4 cup butter
4 cups of Trinity (that’s chopped bell peppers, onion, and celery; I buy it pre-chopped in the frozen vegetable aisle. Remember, we work smarter, not harder around here!)
3 tsp minced garlic
1 cup water
15 oz tomato sauce
2 tsp Tony Chachere’s
2 bay leaves
2- 10 oz. bags of frozen riced cauliflower
1. Peel shrimp, rinse, and set aside in the refrigerator until later. We like to buy fresh Gulf shrimp in bulk from a local fisherman, and my angel of a husband peels them all in one sitting and bags them up to freeze. Get you a man who does the same, or buy frozen Gulf shrimp that’s already peeled and de-veined. Either will work, and either will save you time when it’s time for you to start cooking.
2. Heat butter in a 3 quart pan on medium heat. Once butter has melted, toss in the Trinity. Cook it down until onions are translucent. Add garlic, and cook together for a couple of minutes.
3. Add water, tomato sauce, Tony Chachere’s, and bay leaves. Heat to a boil, then reduce to a simmer. Allow mixture to simmer for about ten minutes.
4. While mixture is simmering, heat cauliflower rice in the microwave according to package instructions.
5. After simmering for ten minutes, add shrimp. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat to a heavy simmer and cover for five minutes. Stir occasionally. Shrimp should be firm and fully cooked.
6. Remove bay leaves and serve.
Net carbs: 9.6g
As with most tomato sauce dishes, I find that this tastes even better the next day! Something about that magic that happens in the fridge when all of your ingredients dance together just makes this a really delicious leftover. Lucky for this lazy keto mama, I can whip this up on a Sunday evening and have leftovers for us for the next couple of days. And that, my friends, is a win.
Lazy NOLA Keto 