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Best Creamy Cajun Shrimp Sauce Recipe

Creamy Cajun shrimp sauce will make your taste buds sing with joy! There’s nothing quite like it, and it’s good on so many things besides shrimp!

This delicious creamy Cajun shrimp sauce is an easy way to add some flavor to your meals! With bold and spicy flavors, it adds a boatload of excitement to rice bowls, pasta, and even a dip for chips or other snacks. 

bowl of shrimp and rice with creamy cajun sauce

I highly recommend reading this entire post before you begin preparing the recipe. However, if all you want is the list of ingredients with full directions, please either click on the jump-to-recipe button above or scroll to the bottom of this post.

Easy Creamy Cajun Shrimp Sauce Recipe

This is so easy to make that once you try it you’ll probably want to make it often. Don’t limit yourself to using it on shrimp. Although that’s my favorite way to eat it, I like the basic sauce (without shrimp) with other dishes. 

It’s good with salmon cakes if you like spicy food. And if you’re serving your family or guests with a variety of tastes, offer it as one of the options. When you’re celebrating something extra special, cook some broiled lobster tails and add a little Cajun flavor with a side of this sauce alongside the melted butter.

I also enjoy it with this air fryer tilapia or any other fish you like. Cajun shrimp sauce adds a delightful zing to make spice lovers’ taste buds very happy.

Ingredients

Go ahead and measure out all of your ingredients together before you make the sauce. Here is what you’ll need:

raw shrimp
  • Peeled and deveined raw shrimp
  • Olive oil
  • Butter
  • Minced garlic
  • Garlic powder
  • Cajun seasoning (any Cajun spice or Creole seasoning is good)
  • Onion powder
  • Cayenne pepper
  • Black pepper
  • Chicken broth
  • Heavy cream
  • Worcestershire sauce
  • Hot sauce
  • Tomato paste
  • Salt to taste
  • Chopped green onions (optional)
  • Dried or fresh parsley (optional)

Other ingredients you might want to add:

  • Red pepper flakes (if you like it extra hot)
  • White pepper
  • Dash of cinnamon
  • Red or white wine
  • Green or red bell peppers
  • Sweet chili sauce
  • Parmesan cheese

How to Make Creamy Cajun Shrimp Sauce

This is very easy to make, and it doesn’t take long to cook. Place a large skillet on medium-high heat and let the skillet get hot. After the skillet heats up, turn the burner down to medium heat. Add the butter and olive oil.

butter and olive oil in a skillet

After the butter melts, add the garlic and sauté for a minute or two.

minced garlic in a skillet

Next, add garlic powder, onion powder, Cajun seasoning, and black pepper. Stir well.

additional seasonings in the skillet

Turn the heat down to low and let the mixture simmer for 3-4 minutes. Put the peeled, deveined shrimp in the skillet and cook until barely pink.

shrimp in skillet

Transfer the shrimp to a plate.

half-cooked shrimp on a plate

Now it’s time to add the chicken broth, cream, Worcestershire sauce, tomato paste, and hot sauce to the seasonings in the skillet. If you feel that it needs salt, add it now.

cream, tomato paste, chicken broth, and Worcestershire sauce added to skillet

Stir until well mixed. The tomato paste needs to be evenly incorporated into the mixture.

creamy cajun shrimp sauce mixed

Finally, put the shrimp back into the skillet and stir to coat them with the sauce. 

shrimp added to skillet with sauce

Cook for a couple of minutes, until the shrimp are completely done. Shrimp cook very quickly, so resist the urge to keep cooking them.

How to Serve Cajun Shrimp Sauce

Serve this delicious sauce over rice or your favorite pasta. White rice is better than any other rice because there’s already quite a bit of flavor in the sauce.

shrimp, cajun sauce, and rice

However, if you want more flavor, you might enjoy it over this dirty rice from Call Me PMc. Or if you’re watching your carbs, serve it over cauliflower rice. We also enjoy this Cajun shrimp sauce over penne pasta or some form of flat noodles. Regardless of what you put this sauce on, it’s such an easy weeknight meal, and it cooks very quickly.

bowl of rice and shrimp with creamy cajun sauce

It’s a great recipe for serving a lot of people because you can make it stretch with more rice or noodles. If someone arrives unexpectedly around dinnertime, no problem. Just pull up another chair and add a bit of rice to the cooker.

pouring sauce over rice in a bowl with shrimp

After you have the food on the plate, add some garnish. We like chopped green onions or parsley. You’ll impress everyone with this beautiful dish, and they’ll think it’s much more complicated than it actually is.

bowl of rice and shrimp with creamy cajun sauce

The result is a wonderful juxtaposition of spicy seasonings in a soothing, creamy sauce. It’s also wonderful as a dipping sauce for your favorite crackers, chips, or French fries.

What to Do with Leftover Cajun Sauce

If you have sauce left over after your delicious shrimp dinner, save the sauce. Don’t pour it down the drain because it’s liquid gold! What I do is pour the remaining sauce into a mason jar. Pop the lid on the jar and refrigerate it for up to a week.

jar of creamy cajun shrimp sauce

We enjoy it with these yummy chicken strips. You can either drizzle it over them or set it out as a dip.

It’s delicious for dipping these waffle fries. In fact, I prefer it over ketchup, which used to be my go-to dipping sauce.

I also enjoy it over this wonderful roasted turkey tenderloin. It adds a ton of flavor to whatever you put it on.

More Delicious Sauces

If you like sauce, then try some of these. They’re all easy to make, and I guarantee you’ll find at least one that you like.

Homemade Barbecue Sauce – Once you try this yummy sauce, I don’t think you’ll look at the bottled stuff the same way.

Zesty Dipping Sauce – This is totally a favorite sauce at our house. I like to offer it to anyone who craves more flavor.

Red Remoulade Sauce – After I found this at Julia’s Simply Southern, I can’t get enough. It is really good!

Copycat Baja Sauce – If you enjoy the flavor of the Taco Bell version, you’ll love this one. 

pan of creamy cajun sauce and bowl of shrimp, rice, and sauce

See this recipe shared at Full Plate Thursday and Weekend Potluck.

Easy Cajun Shrimp Sauce

We like this sauce as-is. However, if you want to increase or decrease any of the ingredients, feel free to do so. Only you know what your family likes.

Yield: 4 servings

Creamy Cajun Shrimp Sauce

bowl of cajun shrimp sauce

This creamy Cajun shrimp sauce delivers a lot of flavor to any meal with seafood or whatever meat you have on your plate. Also use it as a dip for fries and chips.

Prep Time 15 minutes
Cook Time 10 minutes
Total Time 25 minutes

Ingredients

  • 1 pound raw shrimp, peeled and deveined
  • 2 tablespoons olive oil
  • 1 tablespoon butter
  • 1 tablespoon minced garlic
  • 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
  • 1 teaspoon Cajun seasoning (any Cajun spice or Creole seasoning is good)
  • 1/2 teaspoon onion powder
  • 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
  • 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
  • 1/2 cup chicken broth
  • 1/2 cup heavy cream
  • 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
  • 1 teaspoon hot sauce
  • 2 tablespoons tomato paste
  • Salt to taste
  • Chopped green onions (optional)
  • Dried or fresh parsley (optional)

Instructions

  1. Heat a large skillet on medium-high heat. Once the skillet is hot, turn the heat down to medium.
  2. Put butter and olive oil in skillet. After the butter melts, add garlic and sauté for about a minute.
  3. Add garlic powder, Cajun seasoning, onion powder, and black pepper, Stir to mix.
  4. Turn the heat to low and simmer for 3 to 4 minutes.
  5. Add the shrimp and cook until they turn slightly pink. Transfer shrimp to a plate and set it aside.
  6. Pour the chicken broth, Worcestershire sauce, cream, tomato paste, and hot sauce into the skillet. Mix with the seasonings. Taste it and add salt if you think it needs it.
  7. Put shrimp back into the skillet and stir until they are coated with the sauce.
  8. Cook another 2-3 minutes, until the shrimp are done.
  9. Serve over rice, rice cauliflower, or your favorite pasta.

Notes

Shrimp cook quickly, so don’t overcook them.

Nutrition Information

Yield

4

Serving Size

1

Amount Per Serving Calories 288Total Fat 22gSaturated Fat 10gTrans Fat 1gUnsaturated Fat 10gCholesterol 185mgSodium 1254mgCarbohydrates 6gFiber 1gSugar 3gProtein 17g

The nutrition information is a product of online calculators. I try to provide true and accurate information, but these numbers are estimates.

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