The Best Crawfish Pie Recipe
on Jul 30, 2021
This post may contain affiliate links. Please read my disclosure policy.
Crawfish Pie is the ultimate comfort food in Louisiana! This famous Cajun dish is a delicious, flaky crawfish pot pie loaded with succulent crawfish tail meat and fresh veggies. It takes just a few ingredients to make a batch at home!
For those who love chicken pot pie, the crawfish pie is a close cousin. Crawfish is a staple ingredient in Southern cuisine, found in everything from gumbo to jambalaya. My favorite crawfish recipes include Crawfish Boil, Crawfish Tails, and this crispy and flaky crawfish pie.
What is Crawfish?
Crawfish are small shellfish from the crustacean family. You can tell from their appearance that they’re a close relative of shrimp and lobster. They inhabit freshwaters and most of the crawfish consumed in the United States are harvested in Louisiana. They’re similar in flavor to lobsters, with a much lower price point.
The Best Crust for Crawfish Pie
You can’t go wrong with a fresh, homemade pie crust made with simple ingredients like flour and butter. But there’s nothing wrong with getting a pre-made pie crust from the baking aisle. It’s completely up to you!
Ingredients for Crawfish Pot Pie
- Crawfish Tails
- Unsalted Butter
- Vegetables: Such as onions, carrots, frozen peas, and celery
- Garlic
- All-purpose flour
- Fresh Thyme
- Fresh Parsley
- Salt & Pepper
- Chicken Broth
- Heavy Cream
- Pie Crust
- Egg
- Optional Cajun Seasoning
How to Make Crawfish Pie Recipe
- Cook vegetables
Melt butter in a large skillet. then add onions, carrots, celery, and garlic. Cook for a few minutes or until tender.
- Add flour and seasonings
Add in the flour, salt, pepper, thyme, parsley, chicken broth, and heavy cream. Whisk until there’re no lumps. Simmer for about 5 minutes.
- Add the crawfish & frozen peas
Add the crawfish tails and frozen peas. Cook for 2-3 minutes.
- Assemble the pie
Place one pie crust in the pan. Then spoon the crawfish pie filling. Cover with the second crust. Trim the extra overhang off the sides. Use the back of a fork to press down the edges firmly and crimp the top and bottom crusts together.
- Bake the pie
Use a sharp paring knife to cut several small slits in the top crust to allow steam to escape. Brush the crust with egg wash. Bake at 400 F degree for about 30-40 minutes or until the crust turns golden brown.
Tips for Making Homemade Crawfish Pie
- Avoid overcooking the crawfish. Cook the crawfish meat until just opaque. If your crawfish tails are pre-cooked, you’ll just need to mix them with the vegetable mixture.
- To save time, use store-bought pie for a quick meal. You can also make homemade pie crust from scratch if you like.
- Crawfish pot pie freezes very well. You can store the leftover pie in the freezer and reheat leftovers for busy weeknights or lunch.
- You can use shrimp or lobster instead of crawfish in this recipe.
Can I Make Crawfish Pie Ahead of Time?
You can definitely make your crawfish pot pie ahead of time and freeze them for later. This may prove to be more convenient for you.
Variations
- Mini Crawfish Pies: If you prefer, use smaller pie crusts to make single-serving crawfish pies.
- Crawfish Pie with Rice: If you want, you can bulk up your pie filling by adding rice. A Jambalaya crawfish pie is the ultimate Southern meal!
- New Orleans Crawfish Pie: You’ll love New Orleans style crawfish pie! This is an overstuffed version of the classic pie without the flaky topping.
Frequently Asked Questions
Crawfish pies are a tasty, complete meal on their own, but we love having them with classic southern sides like collard greens, green bean casserole, or mac and cheese.
You want your pie to bake evenly without any browning too much. An easy way to do this is simply to pat down the edges of the pie to prevent them from rising above the center. Try using a pie shield made from a large sheet of foil. Place the shield loosely over the pie to help prevent browning.
If you prefer, you can use other seafood ingredients such as shrimp or fish fillet for your pie filling. Not feeling seafood? You can also stuff your pie with sliced sausage or chicken.
It’s easier than you think to make a homemade pie crust. Simply add flour, sugar, and salt into a food processor and pulse slowly until combined. Add cold butter and ice water and combine. Use your hands to shape the mixture into a smooth dough. Divide the dough into halves and flatten each half into a disk. Cover the disks with plastic wrap and refrigerate for an hour before baking.
If you’ve made too many crawfish pies, it’s easy to store the leftovers for later. Wrap the pie in saran wrap, then place in a freezer-safe container and store in the freezer for up to three months. When you’re ready to eat, thaw the pies and reheat in the oven.
Check the frozen seafood section of your grocery store for crawfish tails. If you prefer to buy fresh, visit a fish market and check out the catch of the day.
If You Like This Recipe Try These Out
I hope you like this recipe. If you try it, please comment below and let me know how your Crawfish Pie turns out!
Easy Crawfish Pie Recipe
Equipment
Ingredients
For the Crawfish Pie Filling
- 1 pound crawfish tails, thawed, peeled and deveined
- 1/4 cup unsalted butter
- 1/3 cup diced onion
- 1 cup diced carrots
- 1/2 cup sliced celery
- 2 teaspoon minced garlic
- 1/3 cup all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon minced fresh thyme
- 1 tablespoon minced fresh parsley
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- 1 ½ cup chicken broth, or 1 ¾ cup
- 1/2 cup heavy cream
- 1 teaspoon optional cajun seasoning
- 1 cup frozen peas
For the Pie Crust
- 2 disks homemade or store-bought pie crust, (see notes for how to make homemade pie crust)
- 1 large egg, beaten, for the egg wash
Instructions
- In a large skillet over medium-high heat, add butter.
- Once melt, add onions, carrots, celery, and garlic. Cook for about 5-7 minutes or until tender.
- Add in flour, salt, pepper, thyme, parsley, chicken broth, heavy cream, and optional cajun seasoning. Whisk until there are no lumps.
- Turn the heat to medium-low and simmer for 5 minutes.
- Add crawfish tails, mix with the vegetables. Cover and simmer for another 3-5 minutes or until the crawfish meat just turns opaque. (If you use pre-cooked crawfish tails, you can simply add the crawfish tails together with the frozen peas).
- Stir in frozen peas. Mix well. Remove from heat and set aside.
- Preheat oven to 400°F.
- Remove the pie dough from the refrigerator. On a clean surface dusted with flour, roll each dough disk into a 12-inch circle.
- Place one crust into a 9-inch pie pan. Trim the overhang of dough with a knife and discard.
- Spoon the crawfish pie filling on top of the bottom crust.
- Cover the filling with the second crust. Trim the extra overhang off the sides.
- Seal the edges by crimping the pie crusts together.
- Use a sharp pairing knife to cut several small slits in the top crust to allow steam to escape.
- Brush the top of the curst with egg wash.
- Bake for 30-40 minutes or until the crust turns golden brown.
- Allow it to cool for 10-15 minutes before cutting into slices. Serve and enjoy!
Notes
- Homemade Pie Crust Ingredients:
- 2 ½ cups all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting
- 1/2 tablespoons granulated sugar
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 2 sticks unsalted butter, make sure it’s cold, and cut into cubes
- 7-8 tablespoons cold water
- How to Make Homemade Pie Crust:
- Add flour, sugar, and salt into the bowl of a food processor. Pulse several times to combine.
- Add the cold cubed butter and pulse until coarse crumbs form.
- Add ice water and pulse until moist clumps form.
- Transfer the dough to a clean surface. Gather the dough together into a ball. Do not knead the dough.
- Divide the dough into two halves and flatten each into disks.
- Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate 1 hour before cooking.
Nutrition
Nutrition information provided is an estimate only and will vary based on ingredient brands and cooking methods used.
