Cajun Style Stuffing with Shrimp and Andouille Sausage

Hello friends!

Before I dive into this fabulous stuffing recipe, I need to address a quick housekeeping item for the blog. If you are checking out recipes on older posts and happen to notice some wacky formatting, I apologize. Ziplist, the company who runs the plugin I use for recipe formatting, is going out of business and I needed to quickly move all the recipes over to a new plugin.

Please bear with me while I go through and make all the formatting adjustments needed for this transition. I promise I will work as speedily through it as I can.

Phew. Now that that’s addressed….

YOU GUYS I MADE A CAJUN STYLE STUFFING AND YOU NEED IT IN YOUR LIVES IMMEDIATELY!

I know that Thanksgiving is all about traditions, but if you have the urge to mix it up just a wee bit this year around, make this Cajun Stuffing and serve it straight from the biggest cast iron skillet you own. To be fair, it cooks just as nicely in a traditional casserole dish, but there’s just something so homey and comforting about serving food from a cast-iron skillet.

I’ve stuffed this stuffing (heehee) full of classic Cajun ingredients: red bell peppers, Andouille sausage, fresh shrimp, Old Bay, and crusty French bread. It’s savory and slightly spicy and you will be hearing calls for second helpings, even thirds, in no time.

The French bread is definitely the star of this recipe: its crunchy exterior remains firm during cooking while its softer interior absorbs all the wonderful spicy flavors of the rest of the dish. It’s moist without being mushy.

I absolutely loathe mushy stuffing. I understand that the bread should be moist, but I should be able to tell it’s still bread when I eat it. The same goes for the rest of the mix-ins; I want to be able to enjoy all of their differing flavors and textures.

This Cajun Stuffing does not disappoint! If you have any spicy food lovers in your family, they will be head over heels in love with this Thanksgiving side dish.

I’m not even a huge fan of spicy food and I devoured this stuffing as soon as it came out of the oven! Old Bay is one of those well-rounded spice blends that can bring heat without melting off my taste buds.

I’ll be back on Monday with another slow cooker side-dish recipe, so be sure to check back after the weekend!

Happy Baking!

Cajun Style Stuffing with Shrimp and Andouille Sausage

Cajun style stuffing, made with fresh shrimp, Andouille sausage, and crunchy French Bread, is just what you need to spice things up this Thanksgiving!

8 cups cubed (or ripped for a more rustic look) crunchy French bread
¾ lb Andouille sausage, sliced
3 tbsp butter
1 cup diced onion
⅓ cup diced celery
⅔ cup diced red bell pepper
1 tbsp Old Bay Seasoning
½ tsp salt
¼ tsp pepper
1 lb peeled and de-veined shrimp
1½ cups chicken broth
1 egg, beaten

Preheat oven to 300 degrees. Spread bread cubes onto 1 or 2 large cookie sheets in flat layers.
Bake bread cubes until dried out, approximately 10 minutes.Remove cubes from the oven, set aside, and raise the heat to 375.
In a large pot or cast iron skillet, brown the Andouille sausage on both sides in 1 tbsp of the butter. Remove the sausage with a slotted spoon to a plate.
Add the rest of the butter to the pot, along with the diced onion, celery, peppers, Old Bay, salt and pepper. Cook until vegetables have softened, about 7-9 minutes. Add shrimp and cook until just cooked, approximately 1-2 minutes.
Return sausage to the pot, along with the chicken broth. Turn off heat.
Quickly toss bread cubes with beaten egg in a bowl large enough to hold all the stuffing. Add sausage/broth mixture to the bread mixture and again toss/stir quickly to coat.
Pour stuffing mixture back into the large cast-iron skillet or a large casserole dish. Bake at 375 degrees for 30-45 minutes or until golden brown.