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Delicious Cajun Shrimp and Sausage Dinner

This Cajun Shrimp and Sausage dinner is a creamy, high protein skillet dinner. Your family will love the flavorful skillet meal that builds as it cooks, allowing everything to blend and intensify as a one pot meal. This is a delicious low carb dinner when made as written, but you can also dress it up and enjoy it alongside a variety of sides as part of a larger dinner.

This dish layers flavors that are well loved down south. Wild caught shrimp, smoked sausage, veggies, cajun seasonings and fresh parmesan cheese all in a butter garlic cream sauce. It’s a hearty meal that we know you will love.

Enjoy it with a warm slice of our crusty jalapeno cheddar sourdough bread and make yourself a bayou rum punch cocktail made famous by Steamboat Bills restaurant in Lake Charles, Louisiana. Serve up some candied pecans and fried peaches with homemade vanilla ice cream as a scrumptious dessert and you have yourself a true southern style dinner.

Serving Louisiana Shrimp Dinner From The Skillet
Cajun Shrimp and Sausage Dinner

This cajun shrimp and sausage dinner is also known as a shrimp and sausage stir fry. It follows the same process and principals of a skillet stir fry dinner and is one of the reasons we love it so much. Stir fry dinners allow flavors to marry and develop; and you will be able to appreciate that depth and richness while enjoying this dish.

What goes well with sausage for dinner?

Sausage links are an incredibly versatile meat and pair well with so many foods such as eggs, potatoes, beans, veggies, and of course, shrimp. Sausage links are easy to prepare as they come pre-cooked, simply slice them up, add to your skillet and heat through.

Sausage is a popular ingredient in cajun cooking, and this shrimp and sausage dinner allows the sausage flavors to stand out. Simply choose your favorite flavor of sausage and add it to the meal.

How to do you make shrimp and sausage dinner?

Shrimp and sausage dinner is a simple skillet meal that leaves a lot of room for your own personal preferences when preparing. The most common way to prepare this dish is shrimp, smoked sausage, peppers and zucchini, riced cauliflower, heavy cream and topped with fresh parmesan and parsley.

You can also add veggies like mushrooms, butternut squash, asparagus, or shallots

Don’t be afraid to change up the veggies to suite your preferences.

Shrimp Dinner With Cajun Seasonings
Top with parmesan and parsley

What do you use to season shrimp?

Shrimp is very easy to season, simply coat your shrimp is a light dusting of sea salt, fresh ground black pepper, paprika, and if you want some added heat, red pepper flakes. After that you will bring the Cajun flavor to the dish by adding your favorite southern Creole seasoning blend. We used Tony’s Creole seasonings for this recipe.

Shrimp as a sheet pan dinner is another great option

If you are looking for a meal that is lighter and lower in fats, check out our shrimp and sausage vegetable sheet pan dinner. This dinner brings in Mediterranean flavors and allows the veggies and shrimp to stand center stage with tasty flavors and satisfying textures.

Is shrimp okay on a Keto diet?

Shrimp is very low on the carb index and a great source of protein. If you are following a low carb or Keto diet, it is a great food to include and will fit nicely into your macros. When made as directed, this shrimp and sausage dinner is keto approved and very satisfying.

Wild caught is always best whenever you have the option. Wild shrimp have a much more diverse, organic diet and will have fewer contaminates such as possible pesticides and antibiotics that farmed shrimp often come in contact with.

Serving Louisiana Shrimp Dinner From The Skillet
This is a casual shrimp and sausage dinner is best served straight from the skillet

Is sausage Keto compliant?

The Keto diet focuses on high protein and high fat foods, this includes meats, cheeses, nuts and diary. Sausage does qualify as a Keto friendly food as it is high in protein and fat, but you do need to be careful in selecting which sausages you consume. Some sausage, such as Andouille, contain lower quality fillers and added ingredients like high fructose syrup, sodium nitrates and dextrose.

They can still be eaten on a Keto diet, but would be qualified as “dirty Keto” or “lazy Keto”. These terms apply when a person is not strict in their Keto diet and eat lower quality fats with added fillers and less healthy additives.

Is cauliflower a good option when on a low carb diet?

Cauliflower is a well known low carb vegetable with a mild flavor profile making it easy to use as a substitute for high carb foods like potatoes, rice, noodles and other starches. In this recipe we are using riced cauliflower in place of rice, which is a popular base for classic stir fry dinners.

Ingredients For Louisiana Shrimp Dinner
Cajun shrimp and sausage skillet ingredients

Cajun Shrimp and Sausage Dinner Recipe

  • Use peeled and deveined raw shrimp. It can be fresh or frozen and any size that you prefer. You may need to adjust the cooking time according to the shrimp size.
  • The smoked sausage can be any you love. Do use a good rope smoked sausage for best results. It works best in this skillet dinner. A bulk sausage will also work but the texture of your meal will be quite different.
  • The seasoning we used is Tony’s Creole seasoning. A popular favorite with southern cooks.
Louisiana Shrimp Dinner

Cajun shrimp and sausage vegetable dinner tips

  • We used butter rather than oil to cook the shrimp garlic and onions. If you choose to use an oil instead, we highly recommend a good quality avocado oil or coconut oil.
  • You need to completely thaw your shrimp before putting it in the skillet. Fresh or thawed will do nicely.
  • You don’t want to over cook your shrimp. Remove it from the pan as soon as the shrimp is cooked. You will know they are done when they turn pink. Typically they will cook in just a few minutes.
  • Prep the veggies in advance for the most efficient process. If you don’t, remove the skillet from heat until you are ready to add the chopped vegetables and sliced sausage.
  • The sauce amounts can be played with. If you are KETO you might want to increase the cream amount. The recipe will be saucier but very rich.
  • If you are Keto mind your vegetable choices. Some veggies we used are higher carb since we don’t follow Keto. If you are following strict Keto choose low carb veggies such as asparagus, broccoli, brussel sprouts or even green beans.
Shrimp Dinner With Cajun Seasonings
Yield: 6 servings

Louisiana Shrimp Dinner with Smoked Sausage

Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: 20 minutes
Total Time: 30 minutes

Louisiana Shrimp Dinner with Sausage is seasoned with cajun and full of delicious and healthy vegetables in a creamy broth. Top this easy weeknight dinner with cheese and parsley.

Ingredients

  • 1 lb. Gulf Shrimp peeled and deveined
  • 12 oz. smoked sausage (your favorite is fine)
  • 1/2 Cup heavy cream
  • 1/2 Cup Chicken broth
  • 1 1/2 Cups bell pepper (any color)
  • 2 tsp. Cajun Seasonings (we used Tony's creole seasonings)
  • 2 Cups Zucchini (one small zucchini)
  • 1 Cup crimini Mushrooms
  • 1/2 cup Onion
  • 2 cloves of garlic- minced
  • 1 tsp. salt
  • 1 tsp. pepper
  • 2 Tablespoons butter
  • 2 Cups riced cauliflower

Instructions

  1. Melt butter in a large skillet over medium heat.
  2. Add minced garlic and onion. Cook until the onion is translucent.
  3. Season shrimp with salt, pepper, and cajun seasonings.
  4. Add the seasoned shrimp to the skillet and cook covered for 3 to 5 minutes until done.
  5. Remove the shrimp from the skillet and set aside.
  6. Pour the sausage and vegetables into the skillet and cook over medium low heat until the vegetables are soft.
  7. Add in the cream and broth and a few minutes more until the flavors meld.
  8. Add the shrimp back in.
  9. Top with parmesan and parsley.
  10. serve right from the skillet.

Notes

This is a soupy sauce but very flavorful. Feel free to thicken your sauce if you desire:

Here's How to thicken your sauce:

  1. Mix 2 Tablespoons cornstarch in a 1/4 Cup of water.
  2. Add to your dinner before the cheese and parsley go on.
  3. Boil and stir about two minutes to get you sauce really thick. You can also double the cream and broth for a larger quantity of sauce.

TIPS:

  • We used butter rather than oil to cook the shrimp garlic and onions. You can replace the butter with any vegetable oil. We highly recommend avocado oil or coconut oil, peanut oil or sesame oil for a healthier choice. Butter does add richness and flavor though.
  • You need to completely thaw your shrimp before putting it in the skillet. Frozen shrimp will not cook well. Fresh or thawed are both fine.
  • You can use any size gulf shrimp you find in the store. I used a medium size but Amanda favors the large gulf shrimp in her area.
  • You don't want to over cook your shrimp. Remove it from the pan as soon as the shrimp is cooked. Room temperature shrimp only need about 1 to 2 minutes a side. They will get rubbery and dry if overcooked.
  • Prep the veggies in advance for the most efficient process. If you don't, remove the skillet from heat until you are ready to add the chopped vegetables and sliced sausage.
  • The sauce amounts can be played with. If you are KETO you might want to increase the cream amount. The recipe will be saucier but very rich.
  • If you are Keto mind your vegetable choices. Some veggies we used are high carb since we don't follow KETO. Choose low carb veggies for KETO.

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Nutrition Information

Yield

5

Serving Size

1

Amount Per Serving Calories 493Total Fat 35gSaturated Fat 15gTrans Fat 1gUnsaturated Fat 15gCholesterol 273mgSodium 2042mgCarbohydrates 14gFiber 3gSugar 6gProtein 33g

The nutrition in this recipe will change if you adjust the ingredients or amounts.

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Adapted from this Recipe at PaleoNewbie.com

Creamy Shrimp And Sausage Dinner-Pin Image
Easy cooking is the word with this one skillet Keto dinner. Savory sausage, shrimp and cauliflower in a rich parmesan cream sauce and it’s all Keto friendly.

Fitoru Keto

Sunday 17th of May 2020

Yummy! I wish I could try this soon! I so love recipes like this one! Thank you so much for sharing!

Katherine Fitzgerald

Friday 16th of August 2019

Hi, I really want to print and make this dish but the photo's are causing this to be 6 pages! I don't see an option to print without the photos. Please advise.

Diane

Friday 16th of August 2019

Hi Katherine, Yikes! You are correct.I will remove the pice from the recipe card. I thought they would not print in the recipe card. Looks like there is no option for choosing the recipe only.Thanks so much for pointing this out. Ridiculous to print out seven pages. Fixing this right now :)

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