This one pot mushroom and spinach étouffée is the perfect cozy recipe on days where you need a bit of spice. For more mushroom recipes, try my kimchi mushroom stew.
What does étouffée mean?
The word “étouffée” actually means “smothered” in French. The technique to cook étouffée is called “smothering” which means to braise over low heat on the stove. Étouffées are a creole dish typically made with seafood and stewed in a mix of spices and served over rice. Creole dishes are packed with a blend of spices including thyme, oregano, basil, cayenne pepper, garlic powder, onion powder, paprika.
I first had étouffée when I went on a spring break trip to New Orleans. During this trip my friends and I had our fair share of crawfish, shrimp, and multiple trips to Cafe Du Monde for beignets. I refuse to admit how many times we went in a span of 3 days.
Make it vegan.
While étouffées are traditionally made with shrimp, this doesn’t mean we can’t make it with vegan ingredients! This vegan étouffée contains chopped mushrooms, spinach, and the usual fixings of diced onions and celery. My preference for mushrooms is baby bella because of its nice crunchy texture to bite into that also feels meat-y. Other types of mushrooms I also enjoy with this recipe are shitake and beech mushrooms.
This recipe is great to make in batches and eat as left-overs. Leave it overnight and the flavors get more intense as it marinates in the fridge.
Prefer to watch?
Mushroom and Spinach Etouffee
Pin this RecipeIngredients
Vegetables
- 1 green bell pepper
- 1 onion medium size
- 2 cloves garlic
- 2 stalks of celery medium size
- 1 cup baby spinach
- 8 oz mushroom baby bella or shitake
- ¼ cup fresh parsley
Staples
- 3 tbsp vegetable oil
- 3 tbsp all-purpose flour
- 14.5 oz diced tomatos 1 can
- 2.5 cups vegetable stock I prefer using vegetable bouillon + water
- 1 tsp tomato paste
Seasoning
- 1 tbsp creole seasoning
- 1 tbsp old bay seasoning
- ½ tsp chile powder (opt. for an extra smoky kick)
- ¼ tsp salt
- 1 bay leaf
Instructions
- Dice the celery, onion, green pepper, and garlic. Slice the mushrooms, my preference is stems on for baby bella.
- Create the roux: in a large pot over medium heat, add the vegetable oil and let it heat up. To test if the oil is ready, drop in a few sprinkles of the flour and wait for it to start sizzling. Pour in the rest of the flour and mix well, this is the roux. As the roux starts to cook the color will start to darken. Continue gently stirring until the roux gets to a light brown color (about the color of the mushrooms!). I like to stir every 15-30 seconds so it doesn't burn for about 3 minutes.
- Add in the onions, celery, green bell peppers, garlic, creole seasoning, old bay seasoning, chile powder, salt, and tomato paste. Mix well and let the vegetables cook another 3 minutes.
- Add in the canned diced tomatoes, vegetable stock, and bay leaf. Stir well. Bring the temperature up to allow the broth to start simmering and then adjust the temperature back down to low to maintain the simmer. Cover with a lid and allow the broth to simmer for 20 minutes.
- Add in the mushrooms and cover the lid again to allow the stew to cook for another 10 minutes. At this point the stew should have thickened because of the roux.
- Turn the heat off and fold in your spinach. The residual heat should be enough to cook the baby spinach immediately.
- Serve over a bed of white rice and garnish with parsley and your favorite hot sauce.
