Crawfish Mac and Cheese | Louisana-style Mac & Cheese
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Crawfish Mac and Cheese is rich, cheesy, and spicy Louisiana-style mac n cheese. Crawfish adds a lovely surprise to this favorite comfort food recipe. For a taste of the Big Easy, make a big batch today!
For a delicious and comforting twist on two classic Southern dishes, try Crawfish Mac and Cheese! This rich and creamy dish features succulent crawfish, a blend of creamy cheeses, and a golden, crunchy topping for a creamy, cheesy, and flavorful dish that is sure to please.
What are crawfish?
Crawfish, or Crayfish, are freshwater crustaceans. They belong to the same family of species as lobster. However, they are not baby or small lobsters or a type of shrimp, although they resemble both. Depending on where you’re from you may know them as ‘crawfish’, ‘crayfish’, ‘crawdads’, or ‘mudbugs’.
Crawfish are native to Louisiana. In the southern U.S., crawfish boils are like shrimp boils. Crawfish are also a staple in jambalaya, gumbo, and etouffee.
As of 2018, 93% of crawfish farms in the US were located in Louisiana and 70% of crawfish farmed were consumed in Louisiana.
What does crawfish taste like?
Crawfish has a flavor similar to shrimp, crab, and lobster but slightly sweeter. It pairs well with spices like cayenne, garlic, oregano, paprika, or typical spices used to cook crab and lobster. If you like lobster mac and cheese, you’ll enjoy this recipe too!
Southern Comfort Food
‘Mud bugs’, as crawfish are called sometimes, take a little work to peel. However, they’re well worth the trouble. These little nuggets are similar in taste and texture to lobster.
Additionally, crawfish pairs perfectly with the smoky bacon, nutty cheddar cheese, zesty Cajun seasoning, and elbow macaroni pasta. You’re going to love this super-indulgent seafood pasta recipe.
I’m sure outside the South, there aren’t many people that eat crawfish. Maybe, they don’t even know what they are! They’re in season during the spring, but you can buy frozen crawfish all year.
Shrimp, especially Royal Red Shrimp, is a good substitution if you can’t get crawfish for this recipe.
Creamy Crawfish Mac and Cheese
Mac and cheese is classic comfort food. Adding crawfish takes this seafood pasta recipe to an all-time high.
Use fresh or frozen crawfish. I find the peeled crawfish tails in the freezer section of my local grocer.
First, I made a traditional roux using the grease from the bacon. Next, I added cajun spices to give it a Southern flavor. I then gave the recipe a flavor punch with Monterrey Jack and sharp cheddar cheese. Finally, I topped it with buttery breadcrumbs for a little crunch and texture.
Other Gourmet Mac and Cheese Recipes
Gnocchi Mac & Cheese
Muenster Mac
Quinoa Mac & Cheese
Recommendations
I highly recommend you grab this flat whisk. It’s the best whisk for making bechamel or any sauce or gravy in a pan.
More crawfish recipes to try:
New Orleans Sausage Shrimp Crawfish Pasta
Low Carb Hot Crawfish Cheese Dip
Decadent Crawfish Mac and Cheese
Ingredients
- 8 ounces pasta
- 4 slices bacon
- 2 green onions sliced
- 1 Tablespoon butter
- 2 Tablespoons self-rising flour
- 1 cup half and half
- 1 teaspoon Cajun seasoning
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 quart water
- 2 cups crawfish cooked and shelled, fresh or frozen
- 1 and ½ cup cheddar cheese shredded
- 1 and ½ cup Monterey Jack cheese shredded
- ¼ cup bread crumbs
- 1 tablespoon butter
Instructions
- Add 1 teaspoon salt to 1 quart water in a medium size pot.
- Bring to a boil, add pasta and cook according to the package directions to the al dente stage. Drain and set aside.
- Meanwhile, cook bacon. Crumble Set aside.
- In the skillet that bacon was cooked, melt butter on medium heat.
- Add onions and cook 2 minutes.
- Add 2 Tablespoon flour and cook 1 minute.
- Add half and half and whisk to prevent clumps.
- Add Cajun seasoning and crawfish tails and stir 2 to 3 minutes or until crawfish are heated through.
- Add cheeses and stir until melted.
- Fold pasta and half of the bacon into cheese sauce, careful not to break pasta.
- I transfered to smaller serving dishes, but you could leave in one large skillet. Top with remaining bacon and bread crumbs. With oven on broil, place in oven and toast, watching carefully, until breadcrumbs are golden.
- Remove garnish with green onions slices. Allow to cool 5 minutes before serving.
Nutrition
Nutritional information given is an automatic calculation and can vary based on the exact products you use and changes you make to the recipe. If these numbers are important to you, I recommend calculating them yourself.
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I tried this and it definitely didn’t come out looking as good as yours!
Northerner here! Just wanted to let ya’ll know we have crawfish up in Michigan. Not just frozen tails, but they’re a native species.
I honestly didn’t know that! Thank you so much for commenting!
After reading all these reviews I feel blessed because down here in south Louisiana crawfish and shrimp are very plentiful and I never realized how scarce they are in other places. This recipe is pretty close to being authentic Louisiana cuisine except some would replace the bacon with tasso or chopped andouille sausage. One may also prepare this recipe using shrimp.
For added kick you can chop some jalapenos for spice.
This recipe was simple and easy. Substituted half and half with almond milk. I use elbow noodles. Maybe a little too much. I recommend using 1 & 1/2 cup of dry elbow noodles. Used turkey bacon. Came out great. I poured this over a smoked turkey leg. Delicious!
Only buy frozen crawfish from Louisiana. Chinese crawfish are not what you want going in your body!