Crawfish in a creamy Velveeta cheese sauce served with fettuccine.
Crawfish Velveeta Fettuccine
Here's another delicious recipe that is a popular dish down south in Louisiana and along the Gulf Coast overall. If you aren't a fan of crawfish, shrimp is an excellent substitute here.
And yes y'all... this one uses Velveeta.
Now... if you don't want to use that product to make this, feel free to make your own homemade cheese sauce! Just leave the rest of us to our Velveeta.
And speaking of which... here comes the soapbox "hissy fit" folks - y'all know I gotta do it!
Whenever possible, try to purchase Certified Cajun Louisiana bred crawfish or Wild American shrimp. Period.
It's miles better tasting than the imported stuff and there really is a huge difference in the quality. Imported seafood just cannot match our domestic American.
During crawfish season here along the Gulf Coast, there are dozens of places you can pick up 5-to-10-pound bags of freshly boiled, good and spicy crawfish, and those are the absolute best for any crawfish dish. There is simply no comparison to the frozen variety even for Certified Cajun.
But, I also know that many of you don't have that kind of access to fresh seafood, and frankly, it's lots more convenient to buy crawfish tails already cleaned and ready. Even we do that more often down here, because honestly, you have to peel a LOT of crawfish to get a pound of tails!
Superstores in this country are notorious for carrying mostly all foreign sources of fish, shrimp and crawfish - and in truth, most folks don't even realize that they are eating imported seafood.
Flip your frozen tilapia package over, look at the very bottom of the back of the package and it will tell you the country of origin.
Look closely at the labels and ask for Wild American Shrimp and frozen Louisiana crawfish tails at your grocery store. It may cost a bit more, but you'll be supporting our country, and with the cheaper foreign product, quality, and taste really cannot match up.
And watch out for products that have Louisiana sounding names too! Yep, there's a bit of deceptive advertising going on with our foods.
If enough people stop buying the foreign stuff, the prices for fresher American seafood will come down! {tucking away the soapbox again}
Okay... on to the recipe!
Here's what you'll need to make my Crawfish Velveeta Fettuccine:
- 1 pound fettuccine noodles
- 1/4 cup (1/2 stick) unsalted butter
- 1 cup diced onion
- 1/4 cup diced celery
- 1/2 cup diced green bell pepper
- 3 tablespoons flour
- 1 tablespoon minced garlic, or to taste
- 1 to 2 level tablespoons dried parsley flakes
- 1/2 teaspoon Creole or Cajun seasoning, or to taste, optional
- 1 pound package peeled crawfish tails, drained but not rinsed
- 3/4 cup half and half
- 1 pound Velveeta Mexican style cheese, cubed
- 2 tablespoons Parmesan cheese
Cook the fettuccine according to the package direction for al dente. Drain, rinse well and set aside to fully drain. Chop up the trinity.
Melt the 1/2 stick of butter.
Toss in the onion, celery and bell pepper.
And cook until softened.
Stir in 3 tablespoons of flour and cook for about 3 minutes.
Add the garlic and cook another couple minutes.
Add in a small palmful of dried parsley and Cajun seasoning, if using.
And the crawfish. This recipe uses one pound but when crawfish is in season and plentiful, double up! I like to set my crawfish in a colander to let some of the excess juice drains off but you want the fat so don't rinse it!
Stir together well and simmer on low for about 30 minutes.
Add 3/4 cup of half and half.
... and the cubed Velveeta ... Velveeta is traditional y'all and I happen to like the Mexican style the most.
... cooking over low until cheese has melted.
Add in the cooked and drained fettuccine.
And stir together to mix well. It's ready to serve right here if you prefer, and a lot of folks eat it straight out of the skillet, but...
Many also like to give it a quick oven bake, a process that enhances flavor and improves texture. Preheat the oven early on and transfer the pasta and crawfish dish to a baking dish that has been buttered or sprayed with non-stick cooking spray.
Sprinkle a bit of Parmesan cheese on top.
And bake, uncovered at 350 degrees for 20 to 30 minutes, or until bubbly.
For more of my favorite crawfish recipes check out the collection on my Pinterest page!
If you make this or any of my recipes, I'd love to see your results! Just snap a photo and hashtag it #DeepSouthDish on social media or tag me @deepsouthdish on Instagram!
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