This Cajun Shrimp and Sausage Vegetable Skillet is a simple, one-pan meal that comes together quickly. It's a perfect weeknight meal your whole family will love that's ready in 30 minutes.
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Cajun Shrimp and Sausage Skillet Recipe
Believe me when I say I know how tough weeknight dinners can be. Even for a food blogger, dinnertime can be tough for me as well.
This easy skillet recipe is great for busy weeknights with minimal effort and a single pan.
It’s full of cajun spices, protein and veggies. It’s perfect for those nights when you don’t have a lot of time but are craving a healthy and hearty meal.
What’s even better is that it’s made in one pan, so you’ll be cutting down time doing dishes too!
Why You’ll Love This Recipe
This recipe is one I know you’ll fall in love with again and again.
- It’s so quick and easy to make. You can have an easy weeknight dinner on the table in under 30 minutes.
- It's a crowd pleaser. The veggies take on the cajun flavor. Perfect for picky eaters!
- It’s a healthful meal with a hint of spice (but not too much!) that has all the heartiness you crave for a perfect meal.
Ingredients
Here’s what you’ll need to make this Cajun shrimp and sausage skillet:
- avocado oil - I love cooking with avocado oil because of its high smoke point, but olive oil or your favorite cooking oil will work just fine.
- shrimp - You’ll want peeled and deveined raw shrimp for this. Stick with large shrimp so they don't get lost in the dish. I actually really like buying the jumbo shrimp for this. Diced chicken is also a great option if you’d prefer a recipe without seafood.
- cajun seasoning - You can buy cajun seasoning at the grocery store or make your own homemade cajun spice mix. It’s made with a mixture of paprika, cayenne pepper, salt, pepper, garlic powder, onion powder, and dried herbs. In a pinch, you could use taco seasoning if needed!
- onion - You can use any kind of chopped onion here, such as white, sweet, or red onion. You can also use a shallot instead.
- zucchini - Chopped zucchini practically melts in your mouth in this recipe, but yellow squash or spaghetti squash would be good as well.
- mini peppers - Chopped mini sweet bell peppers are full of flavor so I love them in this recipe, but feel free to use any full size bell peppers. I like red bell pepper the best, but yellow and orange are delicious as well.
- salt & pepper - Coarse kosher salt, sea salt and freshly cracked black pepper are my go-tos in the kitchen.
- smoked turkey sausage - Sliced turkey sausage is so full of protein, but feel free to sub in andouille sausage, beef, or pork smoked sausage instead.
- garlic - Don’t skimp on the garlic! You can use fresh garlic minced with a garlic press or use the kind that comes pre-minced (one of my favorite cooking shortcuts).
- broth - Chicken or vegetable broth will work well. If you don’t keep broth on hand, bouillon cubes are super handy and great for small pantries.
What to serve with this easy cajun shrimp recipe
This cajun dish makes a perfect low carb meal on its own, but I like serving it along side a few things.
This skillet is so good over white rice or rice pilaf. Other grains like quinoa or farro would work well too. It could even be served over grits for a shrimp and grits inspired meal.
Another idea is to turn it into a pasta dish. Serve it over your favorite pasta like bowtie pasta or penne pasta, or even spaghetti! Orzo would also be fantastic mixed in.
For an extra veggie, you could serve it over zucchini noodles, cauliflower rice, or spaghetti squash.
And if you’d like to add some more veggies into the mix, I love to add okra and stewed tomatoes.
On the side, you might want to make some cornbread to round out the meal.
How to Make a Shrimp & Sausage Skillet
This Cajun recipe with shrimp and sausage is so easy to put together. Here’s what you’ll need to do:
- First, prep all your ingredients. Dice the onion and chop the zucchini. De-seed the peppers, then dice them. Mince the garlic. Cut the sausage into slices.
- Add the avocado oil to a heavy-bottomed large skillet over medium heat. (This is my favorite skillet.)
- Add the shrimp to the skillet in a single layer and season with the cajun seasoning blend. Cook for about 2-3 minutes per side, and be sure not to overcook the fresh shrimp. You want plump shrimp that it's tough or overcooked. Cook in batches if needed.
- Remove them from the skillet and set aside.
- Add onion, zucchini, and mini peppers to the skillet. Season with salt and pepper. Saute for about 5 minutes, just until they begin to soften.
- Add the smoked sausage to the skillet with the garlic and sprinkle with additional Cajun seasoning.
- Once everything has cooked through and softened, add a splash of broth to the skillet to deglaze the pan and get up all the browned bits.
- Add the shrimp back in and it's ready to serve.
Tips & Tricks
Make sure the shrimp is fully thawed and dry before adding it to the skillet. You want them to be able to sear in the oil without water being released.
Cajun seasoning is a delicious spice blend based on New Orleans cuisine. It’s so good in this Creamy Cajun Shrimp Pasta Alfredo!
One thing to know about this kind of seasoning is that it’s best to season your food throughout the cooking process for the best flavor.
If you only season at the beginning of cooking, your finished dish will be a bit lacking in the flavor department!
If you want a creamy version of this dish, you could mix in some heavy cream or even cream cheese at the end.
Can I use pre-cooked shrimp?
You can! You will want to season it and warm it up quickly at the beginning, then set it aside as the recipe calls for. You’ll add it back in at the last step.
Do I need to peel the sausage before cooking?
For slices of sausage, it helps to keep the casing on because it holds the shape better. The casing is natural and totally edible.
However, you can remove the casing if you like, which will give you more of a ground meat texture in your skillet. Here’s a helpful tutorial about decasing sausage.
How to store leftover cajun shrimp and sausage
Allow the dish to cool completely and then place it in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 3 days.
Cabbage, shrimp, and sausage
This skillet meal would also be really great with cabbage. For this, simply swap out the vegetable for chopped cabbage and proceed with the recipe as written.
I'd recommend using a head of green cabbage, but you could also use purple or a mix of both.
For a shortcut, they sell shredded cabbage in the bagged salad section of most grocery stores.
products used to make shrimp and sausage skillet
Staub Enameled Cast Iron Traditional Deep Skillet, 11-Inch
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More One-Pan Recipes
Looking for more easy dinner recipes that don’t involve a ton of dishes? Try one of these!
- Southwest Chicken Rice Skillet
- Chipotle Chicken and Vegetable Skillet
- Sheet Pan Beef Teriyaki
- Ground Turkey & Sweet Potato Skillet
- One Pot Lasagna Soup
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Cajun Shrimp and Sausage Vegetable Skillet
Equipment
- 1 Cast Iron Skillet
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon avocado oil
- 1 lb shrimp peeled and deveined
- 1 tablespoon cajun seasoning
- ½ onion chopped
- 1 zucchini chopped
- 5 mini peppers chopped
- Salt & pepper
- 13 oz smoked turkey sausage sliced
- 3 cloves garlic minced
- Splash of broth
Instructions
- Add the avocado oil to a heavy-bottomed skillet over medium heat.
- Add the shrimp to the skillet and season with cajun seasoning. Cook for about 2 minutes per side, be sure not to overcook. Cook in batches if needed.
- Remove them from the skillet and set aside.
- Add onion, zucchini, mini peppers, and salt and pepper to the skillet. Saute for about 5 minutes, just until they begin to soften.
- Add the smoked sausage to the skillet with the garlic and sprinkle with additional cajun seasoning.
- Once everything has cooked through and softened, add a splash of broth to the skillet to deglaze the pan and get up all the browned bits.
- Add the shrimp back in and it's ready to serve.
Notes
- Seasoning throughout cooking rather than only at the beginning will give you the most flavor
- Great served over rice, rice pilaf, and pasta
- Good add-ins: okra, stewed tomatoes
Nutrition
Nutritional information is provided as a courtesy. It should only be used for estimation purposes and is not a guarantee of any kind. Nutritional information varies widely between brands and types of ingredients used. It is recommended that you calculate the nutritional information based on your own ingredients and brands used. Sweetly Splendid, LLC makes no guarantees as to the exact nutrition information.
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