Instant Pot Cajun Shrimp
Quick, spicy Cajun shrimp cooked in the Instant Pot — ready in minutes and great served over rice.
Equipment
- Instant Pot
Ingredients
Ingredients
- ?1 tablespoonvegetable oilor avocado sunflower, corn oil…
- ?1 smallyellow oniondiced
- ?2 clovesgarlicminced
- ?1 pound 450 gramsraw shrimp
- ?2 tablespoonscajun seasoning
- ?1/4 teaspoonchili flakesoptional
- ?3/4 teaspoonsalt
- ?3 smallbell peppersdiced yellow, green, and red
- ?1/4 cupvegetable stockor chicken stock
- ?chopped fresh parsleyor cilantro
Instructions
Instructions
- Press SAUTE on the Instant Pot and wait until the display indicates HOT (about 1 minute). Add 1 tablespoon vegetable oil.
- Add the 1 small diced yellow onion and cook, stirring occasionally, until soft and translucent (about 3–4 minutes).
- Add the 2 cloves minced garlic and cook about 30 seconds, until fragrant.
- Press CANCEL to stop SAUTE. Pour in 1/4 cup vegetable stock and scrape the bottom of the pot with a wooden spoon to deglaze and lift any browned bits.
- Add the 3 diced small bell peppers, 1 pound raw shrimp, 2 tablespoons Cajun seasoning, 1/4 teaspoon chili flakes (optional), and 3/4 teaspoon salt. Stir gently to combine.
- Secure the lid and set the vent to SEALING. Select PRESSURE COOK/MANUAL on HIGH pressure and set the time to 0 minutes.
- When the cooking program finishes, perform a quick release by carefully turning the vent to VENTING. Wait until the steam is fully released and the float valve drops.
- Open the lid away from your face, stir once, garnish with chopped fresh parsley or cilantro, and serve warm (for example, over rice).
Notes
It is important that you pressure cook on LOW pressure rather than high pressure not to overcook the shrimp. To choose LOW pressure, press on “pressure cook” a couple of times until the low-pressure setting is set.
If you use frozen shrimp, the pressure cooker will take longer to come to pressure as the shrimp defrost and that means that the peppers will be cooked for longer and can result in mushy peppers. I strongly recommend using fresh shrimp or thawing the shrimp before cooking.
If cooking for children, you might want to use a different seasoning as cajun can be too spicy for them. Use smoked paprika, cumin, oregano, salt, and pepper.
If you use frozen shrimp, the pressure cooker will take longer to come to pressure as the shrimp defrost and that means that the peppers will be cooked for longer and can result in mushy peppers. I strongly recommend using fresh shrimp or thawing the shrimp before cooking.
If cooking for children, you might want to use a different seasoning as cajun can be too spicy for them. Use smoked paprika, cumin, oregano, salt, and pepper.