If you are looking for the perfect Mardis Gras inspiration, Creamy Shrimp Creole Soup with Bacon-Cornmeal Dumplings could not be a more perfect choice to round out your celebration.
The gorgeous color is the first giveaway to the over the top flavor. By using all the right ingredients, salt and pepper aren’t even necessary…it tastes fantastic as is, and by the way, it is spicy.
We always have a few Mardis Gras dishes this time of year but don’t nearly indulge in all the flavors of the South often enough. They really awaken your taste buds.
Don’t worry if you’ve never made dumplings before, they are so easy to throw together, a couple imperfect rolls and they are good to go.
The dumplings take on the color of the soup and have a nice smoky flavor with the addition of bacon.
I hope you’ll give it a try!
Here is a bite-sized piece of the dumplings, the perfect addition to this soup.
Creamy Shrimp Creole Soup with Bacon-Cornmeal Dumplings
Ingredients
For the soup:
- 3/4 pound raw large shrimp, deveined and tails removed
- 4 slices thick cut bacon, diced
- 1-1/2 cups celery, diced
- 1 cup yellow onion, diced
- 1 Tablespoon garlic, minced
- 1/3 cup all-purpose flour
- 3-1/4 cups chicken stock
- 3/4 cup V-8 juice, original flavor
- 1 can (14.5 ounces) diced tomatoes
- 2 Tablespoons lemon juice
- 2 Tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
- 2 Tablespoons Tabasco
- 1 teaspoon dried thyme
- 1 teaspoon sugar
- 1/2 teaspoon cayenne
- 1 bay leaf
- 1/2 cup heavy cream
- 1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley
- 1/4 cup scallions, minced
For the dumplings:
- 3.4 ounces (about 3/4 cup) all-purpose flour
- 1/3 cup finely chopped green onions
- 1/4 cup yellow cornmeal
- 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
- 2 Tablespoons chilled butter, cut into pieces
- 1/2 cup buttermilk
Directions
- Cook chopped bacon in a Dutch oven over medium heat until crisp. Remove half the cooked bacon from the pan and 1 Tablespoon drippings (keep separate), reserve this for the dumplings.
- Add celery and onion to the remaining bacon and drippings and cook until softened, about 5 minutes. Add garlic and saute for 30 seconds more. Whisk in flour and cook until incorporated, about 1 minute.
- Stir in stock, V-8, tomatoes, lemon juice, Worcestershire, Tabasco, thyme, sugar, cayenne and a bay leaf. Bring to a boil, cover and turn down to a simmer for 15 minutes while it thickens. Add heavy cream after the soup has simmered its 15 minutes.
- Meanwhile, for the dumplings, combine flour, green onions, cornmeal and baking soda; whisk together. Cut butter into flour mixture with a pastry blender or 2 knives until mixture resembles coarse meal. Add bacon, reserved 1 Tablespoon of drippings and buttermilk; stir until a moist dough forms. Gently divide mixture into 12 equal portions.
- After soup has simmered for 15 minutes, drop dumplings, 1 at a time into pot. Cover and cook 8 minutes, carefully turning them halfway through the 8 minutes. Add shrimp and cook for three more minutes or until shrimp are opaque in color.
- Garnish each bowl with parsley and scallions.
- ~If you think this might be too spicy for you, only add 1/2 of the Tabasco and cayenne at first. Taste to determine if you want to add more.
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pam says
Did someone say bacon?
Dave says
Wow! That looks amazing. I love spicy shrimp and dumplings, so this recipe is going on the short list of dishes I need to make soon. Thanks for sharing!
Erica says
Sounds delish. I think I only need thaw some shrimp and pick up some green onions at the grocery store in order to have everything to make this.
Tracey says
oh goodness, I just used my shrimp up last night … if my husband knew this was going to be coming on the blog he would have wanted this! Looks like I’ll be getting some more shrimp!
Jade Helm says
I made this recipe tonight. It came together so easily and was the perfect thing for a cold night in February. Especially the Saturday before Fat Tuesday!!!! We did not find it too spicy at all. Shrimp on sale at Fresh Market every Saturday this month so we might have it again next weekend. Was also beautiful in the bowl. Too hungry to take a picture. We paired it with Tasting Pour’s version of the Sazerac and it was perfection. http://www.tastingpour.blogspot.com/2013/02/let-good-times-roll.html
Carol says
I just made this for dinner for my family!! I served it over brown rice because I was not sure that I would have enough. I was worried that the rice might take away from the dish. BOY WAS I WRONG!! My family could not get enough of it!!! I’m so glad that I made this dish!!! SO GOOD!!
Kate says
This looks fabulous! The dumplings are intriguing…I must give this a try. Thank you!
Deb says
The dumplings almost scared me off. I am glad I made it. Excellent flavor and stick to your ribs perfect for winter soup. I reduced the Tabasco by half and it was just right for us
Sarah Park says
No matter how picky my partner is when it comes to food, I am very certain that he will love this.
The Teacher Cooks says
This really sounds good! I’ve never had the cornmeal dumplings. I bet they were delicious. Hope that you had a great trip!
Pat says
We had this last night for Mardi Gras, and it was awesome. I used a cookie scoop to drop the dumpling batter directly into the pot, which worked great. I only had about 1/3 lb of shrimp, but the sauce was so good it didn’t matter. Thanks for a wonderful recipe!
Kim in MD says
This looks delicious!
Stephanie says
I made this tonight, and it was fantastic. Things almost went awry when I only had half the Worcestershire, but I made up the difference with a tbsp of HP, and simply left out the extra sugar. Other than that, the only changes I made were to use fresh herbs (a combo of thyme and marjoram), and to blend the soup with an immersion blender prior to adding the dumplings and shrimp, which gave the soup a smoother texture. I also added a pinch of salt to the dumplings, because I was using unsalted butter.
Everything was scrumptious – thanks for the recipe!
Kathy says
Outstanding!!! Followed the recipe exactly and it couldn’t have been better. Recipe made more dumplings than necessary since my husband won’t eat dumplings, but next time I will only do half as many; I loved the dumplings! This is definitely going to be one of my regular fall/winter regulars. Usually have everything on hand and fresh shrimp is easy to come by in the Carolinas. Will be making it again soon.
Anna says
I had this recipe saved in a folder and just came across it again, so I finally made it. Oh my goodness, I can’t believe I’ve been missing out for all these months! It was AMAZING! It had a great Creole flavor and I loved the kick. The dumplings were to die for! I made it a little lighter by only using 1 and a half pieces of thick bacon for the dumplings/veggie cooking grease and using light buttermilk. Then at the end I microwaved two pieces of precooked bacon and crumbled those up in the soup. It was so filling that I couldn’t even finish one bowl. I’m so excited to have this new recipe, thank you!
Melinda Rhodes says
This sounds terrific – a must try.
Wanda shannon says
Made this tonight. EXCELLENT. Could be served at COMMANDERS PALACE and every one would love it. So glad I’ve got this recipe. The sauce is to die for. It’s just excellent. And as stated, NO NEED to add salt or pepper, which is highly unusual. This would be the perfect dish to serve guest. The dumplings are soo soft and delicious. I did however only add 1T. Of Tabasco sauce and less onions….
Linde says
I concur with the other reviewers. This is an excellent soup!! So very savory. You could make it without the shrimp and it would still be delicious. I made it according to the recipe and after tasting, added more hot sauce. I served it for company and of course there was chatting and wine so forgot to add the butter to the dumplings mixture. Don’t see that it would make any difference. Dumplings puffed up then firmed up a bit in the soup. So tasty! And a beautiful, appetizing dish! Thanks for a wonderful recipe! I’m going to be making this often!
Cathy says
Glad you enjoyed it!
Raina says
There is not one dish that I have tried of yours that my family has not loved and proclaimed their new favorite! Making this on Saturday, can’t wait!
Cathy says
That’s quite the endorsement…thanks!
Debi says
Amazing! I doubled this and used crushed tomatoes instead of tomato juice. Everyone raved and said it was one of the best soups they’d ever had. How could you go wrong with a shrimp, bacon and dumpling combo like this!! Also had some jasmine rice made and we all ended up putting a scoop of it in the soup balancing out the spice a bit. Thanks for posting.
J says
Totally Delish! Followed the recipe exactly but only used 1 tablespoon of Tabasco. It was spicy enough for us!
Karyl Henry says
I am loving this soup! I’ve never tried making dumplings before, but with your recipe it looks pretty easy. I’ll definitely be trying this. Thank you
KDub says
Wow this was good! Loved the spicy yet creaminess and the dumplings were outstanding. Got rave reviews and requests to make it again- thank you
Cathy says
One of our favorites too!
Cara Paul says
I made this soup earlier this week and it was the BOMB! A real keeper and going into heavy rotation when we have guests for sure. Make a double batch in case your 19 year old son raids the frig in the middle of the night!
Cathy says
Glad to hear it.