Delicious Cajun Shrimp and Sausage Dinner

This Cajun Shrimp and Sausage dinner is a creamy, high protein skillet dinner. Your family will love the flavorful skillet meal that builds as it cooks, allowing everything to blend and intensify as a one pot meal. This is a delicious low carb dinner when made as written, but you can also dress it up and enjoy it alongside a variety of sides as part of a larger dinner.

This dish layers flavors that are well loved down south. Wild caught shrimp, smoked sausage, veggies, cajun seasonings and fresh parmesan cheese all in a butter garlic cream sauce. It’s a hearty meal that we know you will love.

Enjoy it with a warm slice of our crusty jalapeno cheddar sourdough bread and make yourself a bayou rum punch cocktail made famous by Steamboat Bills restaurant in Lake Charles, Louisiana. Serve up some candied pecans and fried peaches with homemade vanilla ice cream as a scrumptious dessert and you have yourself a true southern style dinner.

This cajun shrimp and sausage dinner is also known as a shrimp and sausage stir fry. It follows the same process and principals of a skillet stir fry dinner and is one of the reasons we love it so much. Stir fry dinners allow flavors to marry and develop; and you will be able to appreciate that depth and richness while enjoying this dish.

What goes well with sausage for dinner?

Sausage links are an incredibly versatile meat and pair well with so many foods such as eggs, potatoes, beans, veggies, and of course, shrimp. Sausage links are easy to prepare as they come pre-cooked, simply slice them up, add to your skillet and heat through.

Sausage is a popular ingredient in cajun cooking, and this shrimp and sausage dinner allows the sausage flavors to stand out. Simply choose your favorite flavor of sausage and add it to the meal.

How to do you make shrimp and sausage dinner?

Shrimp and sausage dinner is a simple skillet meal that leaves a lot of room for your own personal preferences when preparing. The most common way to prepare this dish is shrimp, smoked sausage, peppers and zucchini, riced cauliflower, heavy cream and topped with fresh parmesan and parsley.

You can also add veggies like mushrooms, butternut squash, asparagus, or shallots

Don’t be afraid to change up the veggies to suite your preferences.

What do you use to season shrimp?

Shrimp is very easy to season, simply coat your shrimp is a light dusting of sea salt, fresh ground black pepper, paprika, and if you want some added heat, red pepper flakes. After that you will bring the Cajun flavor to the dish by adding your favorite southern Creole seasoning blend. We used Tony’s Creole seasonings for this recipe.

Shrimp as a sheet pan dinner is another great option

If you are looking for a meal that is lighter and lower in fats, check out our shrimp and sausage vegetable sheet pan dinner. This dinner brings in Mediterranean flavors and allows the veggies and shrimp to stand center stage with tasty flavors and satisfying textures.

Is shrimp okay on a Keto diet?

Shrimp is very low on the carb index and a great source of protein. If you are following a low carb or Keto diet, it is a great food to include and will fit nicely into your macros. When made as directed, this shrimp and sausage dinner is keto approved and very satisfying.

Wild caught is always best whenever you have the option. Wild shrimp have a much more diverse, organic diet and will have fewer contaminates such as possible pesticides and antibiotics that farmed shrimp often come in contact with.

Is sausage Keto compliant?

The Keto diet focuses on high protein and high fat foods, this includes meats, cheeses, nuts and diary. Sausage does qualify as a Keto friendly food as it is high in protein and fat, but you do need to be careful in selecting which sausages you consume. Some sausage, such as Andouille, contain lower quality fillers and added ingredients like high fructose syrup, sodium nitrates and dextrose.

They can still be eaten on a Keto diet, but would be qualified as “dirty Keto” or “lazy Keto”. These terms apply when a person is not strict in their Keto diet and eat lower quality fats with added fillers and less healthy additives.

Is cauliflower a good option when on a low carb diet?

Cauliflower is a well known low carb vegetable with a mild flavor profile making it easy to use as a substitute for high carb foods like potatoes, rice, noodles and other starches. In this recipe we are using riced cauliflower in place of rice, which is a popular base for classic stir fry dinners.

Cajun Shrimp and Sausage Dinner Recipe

• Use peeled and deveined raw shrimp. It can be fresh or frozen and any size that you prefer. You may need to adjust the cooking time according to the shrimp size.
• The smoked sausage can be any you love. Do use a good rope smoked sausage for best results. It works best in this skillet dinner. A bulk sausage will also work but the texture of your meal will be quite different.
• The seasoning we used is Tony’s Creole seasoning. A popular favorite with southern cooks.

Cajun shrimp and sausage vegetable dinner tips

• We used butter rather than oil to cook the shrimp garlic and onions. If you choose to use an oil instead, we highly recommend a good quality avocado oil or coconut oil.
• You need to completely thaw your shrimp before putting it in the skillet. Fresh or thawed will do nicely.
• You don’t want to over cook your shrimp. Remove it from the pan as soon as the shrimp is cooked. You will know they are done when they turn pink. Typically they will cook in just a few minutes.
• Prep the veggies in advance for the most efficient process. If you don’t, remove the skillet from heat until you are ready to add the chopped vegetables and sliced sausage.
• The sauce amounts can be played with. If you are KETO you might want to increase the cream amount. The recipe will be saucier but very rich.
• If you are Keto mind your vegetable choices. Some veggies we used are higher carb since we don’t follow Keto. If you are following strict Keto choose low carb veggies such as asparagus, broccoli, brussel sprouts or even green beans.

Check out these other delicious single skillet dinners as well!

• Chicken Burrata Skillet Dinner
• Keto Bacon Ranch Skillet Dinner
• Hamburger Pie Skillet Dinner
• Mexican Rice and Chicken Skillet Dinner
• Garlic Butter Chicken Skillet Meal
• Cheesy Doritos Taco Pie Skillet Dinner
• Crustless Spinach Quiche Dinner

Adapted from this Recipe at PaleoNewbie.com