Instant Pot Blend of the Bayou—creamy shrimp, mushrooms and rice with a bit of kick from Cajun seasoning and hot sauce. You’re going to love this dinner!
Instant Pot Blend of the Bayou
I found a recipe for “blend of the bayou” online and it immediately intrigued me. What is blend of the bayou? It’s a casserole from Louisiana that has rice, cream cheese, shrimp, crab meat, cream of mushroom soup and a cracker crumb topping. My version isn’t quite so extravagant. I skipped the crab and only used shrimp. I didn’t use cream of mushroom soup and skipped the cracker topping. My version was so creamy and delicious that I felt it was perfect the way it was. It was really rich and I didn’t think it needed anything else! I really can’t wait to eat the leftovers tonight! Greg is allergic to shrimp so there were actually leftovers this time!! Ha ha!
The Cajun Trinity: This recipe has the Cajun Trinity. This is simply three ingredients used in many Cajun dishes; bell pepper, onions, and celery. These give dishes a wonderful flavor and aroma. To give more Cajun flavor I used Cajun seasoning. I had some in my spice cabinet but did you know you can make your own Cajun seasoning?
Parboiled Rice: I went with parboiled rice for this Instant Pot blend of the bayou recipe. What is parboiled rice? Parboiled rice is also called converted rice. Don’t confuse parboiled rice with pre-cooked or minute rice. Parboiled rice has been processed in its husk by soaking, steaming, and drying. As a result, all the nutrients from the husk are absorbed into the grain before it’s removed. The starch content alters in the process, making cooked parboiled rice less sticky than regular white rice. The rice kernels aren’t clumpy and glued together instead they are more separated. I found a bag of parboiled rice at Walmart next to the normal long grain white rice. If you don’t want to use parboiled rice you can simply use long grain white rice, basmati or jasmine rice in the place of parboiled.
Shrimp: I bought a tray of peeled and deveined cooked shrimp when I saw it at the store before the Super Bowl. As the rice was cooking I simply pulled off the shrimp tails. I had thawed the shrimp in the fridge for a few hours. Some of the shrimp were a little icy still but the hot rice warmed the shrimp through quickly. I haven’t tried this recipe with uncooked shrimp. However, I would not pressure cook the shrimp even though they are uncooked. They’ll get overdone and rubbery. I would stir them in after the pressure cooking cycle is over, put the lid back on for 5 minutes on the keep warm setting. Check to see if the shrimp are cooked. If it is pinked it is cooked through. If not, you can turn the Instant Pot to the sauté setting and stir until the shrimp is cooked through.
More Cajun-esque Instant Pot Recipes…
Instant Pot Cajun Chicken Pasta–Jenny said, “Very good! Definitely makes a lot!”
Instant Pot Cajun Sausage And Shrimp Pasta–Gail said, “I made this tonight and it was a winner.”
Instant Pot Penne In Cajun Mustard Cream Sauce–Gina said, “My comment after first taste, “damn that’s good.”
Instant Pot Cajun Sausage, Potatoes And Green Beans–Brittany said, “This is one of the FAVORITES in our house. Even the kids love it.”
Easy Instant Pot Jambalaya–Brenda said, “This was very easy and delicious…..will be making again! Yum!!”
Instant Pot Chicken And Sausage Jambalaya–Kallie said, “Wow this was amazing, and sooooo easy! Seriously so much easier than making it on the stovetop. Everything turned out perfectly – tender rice and veggies, fork tender chicken that fell apart easily.”
Cajun Chicken Pasta 
Cajun Sausage and Shrimp Pasta 
Penne in Cajun Mustard Sauce 
Cajun Sausage, Potatoes and Green Beans 
Easy Jambalaya 
Chicken and Sausage Jambalaya
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Instant Pot Blend of the Bayou
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Cook Time: 5 minutes (plus 10 minute NPR)
- Total Time: 20 minutes
- Yield: 6 servings 1x
Ingredients
- 4 Tbsp butter
- 1 cup diced onion
- 1 cup diced celery
- 1 1/2 cups chicken broth
- 1 cup uncooked parboiled (converted) rice (see note)
- 8 oz sliced mushrooms
- 1 tsp garlic powder
- 1 tsp tabasco sauce
- 1 tsp cajun seasoning (plus more to taste)
- 1 green bell pepper, cored and diced
- 4 ounces of cream cheese (half a brick)
- 3/4 cup shredded cheddar or monterey jack cheese
- 1 pound cooked medium shrimp, peeled and deveined
Instructions
- Turn Instant Pot to sauté setting. When the display says HOT add in the butter and let it melt. Add in the onions and celery and sauté for 5 minutes. Pour in the broth and scrape bottom of the pot so that nothing is sticking. Turn off Instant Pot.
- Layer the rice, mushrooms, garlic powder, tabasco sauce cajun seasoning, green pepper and cream cheese in the Instant Pot. Don’t stir.
- Cover Instant Pot and secure the lid. Make sure valve is set to sealing. Set the manual/pressure cook button to 5 minutes. When time is up let the pot sit for 5-10 minutes and then move the valve to venting. Remove the lid.
- Turn off the Instant Pot and stir in the shrimp and cheese. Add more cajun seasoning and tabasco sauce to taste. Serve and enjoy.
Notes
Don’t confuse parboiled rice with pre-cooked or minute rice. I found a bag of parboiled rice at Walmart next to the normal long grain white rice. If you prefer, you can use long grain white rice instead of parboiled rice. Or you can use brown rice (change the pressure cooking time to 22 minutes and add the cream cheese after the pressure cooking time is up).
If you want to use uncooked shrimp or frozen cooked shrimp you can. After the pressure cooking time is up remove the lid and stir in the shrimp. Put the lid back on and let the hot rice cook the shrimp for 5 minutes. Keep the Instant Pot on the warm setting. The shrimp is cooked through when it is pink.
I used my 6 quart Instant Pot Duo 60 7 in 1*. Make in the 3 or 8 quart pot with no changes.
- Category: Seafood
- Method: Instant Pot
*Karen Petersen is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to amazon.com.
Very tasty, great recipe and SO quick!
★★★★★
Thanks Dave!
If I was going to add andouille sausage, would I increase the broth by .5 cup? Would that increase the cook time?
You can just add it in, no need to add more broth. Keep same cooking time.
How could I Subaru the rice for grits? Would love to make this into a spin on shrimp and grits
you could go off of this recipe: https://www.365daysofcrockpot.com/instant-pot-shrimp-and-grits/
Love your recipes & have saved a ton of them in a semi-organized fashion! Shared your site with my sister who also loves your site. Have to laugh though, in your description of how you made this recipe, you said that while the rice was cooking you just pulled the tails off the shrimp & threw them in….how funny to think you threw in the tails! Good for a laugh.
lol Carol!! I guess I need an editor!
I hoped you’d get a chuckle out of it, too 😊
This looks amazing! Is there anyway to cook it with chicken instead of seafood?
Yes. I would cut up bite size pieces of chicken (uncooked) and throw them in with the rice. They will cook in 5 minutes with the rice.
Wonderful! Thank you!!