Crawfish alfredo is a delightful alternative to the traditional alfredo dish. This Southern twist on the Italian dish uses the delectable little mudbugs to offer a unique flavor that seafood lovers will enjoy. Fortunately, making the dish isn’t that different than the more popular chicken alfredo!
The ability to make crawfish alfredo will depend on the ability to obtain crawfish. Live crawfish are typically available from January through June. However, you can find the crawfish tail meat, which is what we need for the dish, in many seafood department freezers.
Ingredients
- 1# crawfish tail meat
- heavy cream
- parmesan cheese
- garlic powder
- onion powder
- cajun seasoning
- fettuccine pasta
- parsley
Prep
Prepping crawfish alfredo will depend on the ingredients you buy. If you pick up frozen crawfish tail meat, prep is essentially just gathering ingredients.
However, you can buy live crawfish in season. If you go this route, you will need to cook your crawfish first. You can add a ton of flavor to the dish if you cook your own crawfish. Check out my Low Country Boil guide for more info on cooking crawfish.
If you are looking for a good turkey fryer for your seafood boils, I use the Loco Cooker and highly recommend it.
The parmesan cheese will need to be shredded if you buy a wedge, which I do recommend. You can use a traditional shredder, a micro zester, or whatever tools you have at your disposal.
I listed fettuccine pasta in the ingredients list, but this is just a suggestion. You can use your favorite pasta for this dish, whatever it is.
How To Make Crawfish Alfredo
Start by adding heavy cream to a pot or high-sided skillet on medium heat. Occasionally stir the bottom to make sure the cream doesn’t scorch or stick.
While the heavy cream is warming up, now is a good time to get your water boiling for your pasta. How much pasta is needed is completely dependent on how many people you are feeding. Cook the pasta according to the packet’s instructions. Make sure you salt the water just before adding the pasta.
Once the cream has warmed and begun to bubble, add in a half cup of shredded parmesan cheese. Season the sauce with a tablespoon of cajun seasoning and a teaspoon each of garlic and onion powder. Add salt and pepper to taste.
Stir the sauce to incorporate the seasonings. Give it a taste test to make sure it is to your liking.
Next, toss the crawfish in. Mix the crawfish into the sauce and lower the heat. Crawfish is a lot like shrimp in that it gets rubbery if cooked too long. In most cases, frozen crawfish tail meat will already be cooked, so you just need to warm it up. Let the crawfish alfredo cook for two or three minutes.
The final step is to strain the pasta when it’s done. Leave it in the pot and return to low heat. Spoon over some of the crawfish alfredo sauce on top of the noodles and toss for about a minute. Once the sauce has coated the noodles, the dish is complete.
To serve the dish, simply remove a serving size of the noodles onto a plate using a fork or tongs. I like to spoon over more of that delicious sauce on top and sprinkle on some more cajun seasoning and chopped parsley.
What Goes With Crawfish Alfredo
Any sides that go with traditional alfredo will go great with this crawfish alfredo. Toasted french bread with a little garlic is fantastic. Seasoned breadsticks are great as well.
Crawfish alfredo is also a seafood dish, so traditional seafood sides also go well with it. Hush puppies are an awesome addition, as they can be dipped into the extra sauce. French fries can serve the same purpose.
For a crisp contrast, you can always go with a simple side salad.
Crawfish isn’t for everybody. This recipe will also work with Shrimp! You can also check out my chicken alfredo recipe for a more traditional alternative.
