Boudin Cajun sausage is a southern delicacy made of pork, rice, onions, green peppers, Cajun spices and a mix of whatever the sausage maker has in mind that particular day. Boudin can be stuffed into casings or made into balls. It can be smoked, grilled or deep fried. A versatile concoction that will surely make your southern comfort food favorites list.
After some negative feedback we got from trying our hand at Gumbo, I would like to clarify that we are not Cajun and neither were our grandmothers.
Boudin can be made in multiple ways and we are not here to disparage anyone's Boudin or how their grandma would make it. We just like trying new things and this version turned out delicious enough to share.
Just take me to the recipe! You can scroll to the very bottom for the printable recipe card. Otherwise read on for step by step photos and instructions.
Our shrimp guy who picks up shrimp from Louisiana right off of the boat brought us some boudin to try. We grilled it up with some steaks and we loved it. We knew we needed to figure out how to make it ourselves.
The wonderful thing about boudin is it works with whatever you have on hand. Start with pork and add shrimp, crawfish, crabs or pretty much any wild game. It's a great way to use liver if you have it on hand.
If you are squeamish about liver - you can totally skip it. I swear if you can get by the thought of it though, you won't realize it's there. We intentionally had our butcher include the beef liver the last time we butchered a beef just for making sausages.
I've never been one to eat liver but I'm a huge fan of smoked sausage and salami. I just tell myself I'm eating way more liver than I ever realize and never minded a bit.
How to Make Boudin:
- We started with pork shoulder ground up with bacon ends and pieces to add in a little extra fat. Some ground venison from our son's fall deer hunt on the ranch and a bit of beef liver.
- Add in Blackened Seasoning, black pepper, kosher salt and red pepper flakes and combine.
- Cook diced onion, jalapeños, celery and bell peppers in olive oil.
- Cook, stirring often until onions start to brown. Set aside.
- Cook ground pork mixture in a large skillet, stirring often until browned.
- Stir in cooked vegetables.
- Mix with cooked rice.
- Spread on a rimmed baking sheet and chill.
- Soak hog casings and rinse well.
Place hog casings on a sausage stuffer and add cooled sausage and rice mixture.
- Tie ends and twist into links.
- Place stuffed sausages onto a rimmed baking sheet and refrigerate overnight or up to 24 hours.
- Prepare grill or smoker to 300° using pecan, hickory or oak for smoke flavor.
- Place sausages on grill and cook for 1 hour or until desired smoke level is reached.
- Serve immediately.
Store leftovers in zip top bags for 2 days or freeze in a single layer in a zip top freezer bag up to 2 months.
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How to Make Boudin Balls:
Follow the same method but instead of stuffing into casings, boudin can be made into balls and smoked or deep fried.
It seems like the mixture will not hold together but it does.
Form Boudin into balls using a ¼ cup measure. Press mixture firmly between your palms to form a ball shape.
To Grill or Smoke: Place boudin balls on a grill pan. Grill or smoke at 300° for 45 minutes to 1 hour.
To Deep Fry: Roll boudin balls into all purpose flour, then into two beaten eggs and then into 2 cups bread crumbs, we like Panko.
Deep Fry in 4 cups vegetable oil at 350° for about 2 minutes or until breading is lightly browned. Drain on a paper towel lined rack.
We much preferred the smoked boudin balls to the deep fried. Shocking, right? Stuffed in casings was my ultimate favorite boudin.
You might also like our homemade Andouille Sausage and Jambalaya recipes.
For this recipe, we did not use any curing salt for our boudin since we were smoking it quickly at a higher temperature.
I hear that the Cajun's will just peel down the casing and eat it like a popsicle. It's also great for a main dish, on a charcuterie board or as a game day appetizer.
We also added some sliced boudin to a pot of purple hull peas and it was amazingly delicious. If you are looking for more comfort food favorites, this Crawfish Pie is a down home favorite.
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Boudin
Boudin Cajun sausage is a southern delicacy made of pork, rice, onions, green peppers, Cajun spices and a mix of whatever the sausage maker has in mind that particular day. Boudin can be stuffed into casings or made into balls. It can be smoked, grilled or deep fried. A versatile concoction that will surely make your southern comfort food favorites list.
Ingredients
- 3 pounds pork shoulder
- 1 pound bacon ends and pieces
- 1 ¼ pounds ground venison
- ¾ pound beef liver
- ¼ cup olive oil
- 1 large onion, diced
- 2 celery stalks, diced
- 2 cloves minced garlic
- 2 jalapeños, minced
- ½ cup Blackened Seasoning
- 2 tablespoons black pepper
- 4 teaspoons kosher salt
- ¼ teaspoon red pepper flakes
- 2 cups cooked rice
- hog casings
Instructions
- Cook diced onion, celery, garlic and jalapeños in olive oil over medium heat until onions just start to brown. Set aside.
- Grind pork shoulder with bacon ends and pieces through the large grinder plate.
- Add ground pork, venison and liver and mix together. Grind with large grinder plate.
- In a small bowl, combine blackened seasonings, black pepper, salt, and red pepper flakes together.
- Mix into ground mixture.
- Cook ground mixture in a large skillet over medium- high heat, stirring often until well browned. Stir in cooked vegetables and cooked rice.
- Place on a sheet pan and refrigerate until cool.
- Soak hog casings and rinse thoroughly.
- Place hog casings on sausage stuffer and add meat and rice mixture, filling casings.
- Tie ends and twist casings to make links.
- Place on a baking sheet and refrigerate overnight.
- Heat grill or smoker to 300.
- Smoke sausages for 1 hour. Remove from heat and serve immediately.
Notes
Store leftovers in a zip top bag for up to 2 days in refrigerator. Can be frozen in a single layer in a zip top freezer bag for up to 2 months.
Nutrition Information:
Yield:
12Serving Size:
1Amount Per Serving: Calories: 739Total Fat: 48gSaturated Fat: 17gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 27gCholesterol: 298mgSodium: 4524mgCarbohydrates: 13gFiber: 1gSugar: 1gProtein: 61g
Nutritional calculations are estimated and may not be accurate.
Thomas Coble
Your boudin recipe sounds pretty good. I've never seen someone pull down the casing like a popsicle, but I'm sure someone does it
. I don't think you should have too many negatives comments on this one because while gumbo is usually a family recipe handed down generation to generation and is a point of great debate as to what is and isn't allowed in it, boudin is usually purchased at your favorite butcher (I prefer Cormier's) or gas station and enjoyed on the run or as a quick meal.
Milisa
Thanks Thomas, appreciate your feedback.
~ Milisa
David vanatta
Have you ever tried deep frying the links
Milisa
Hi David,
We have only deep fried the boudin balls. I am not sure how the links would hold up deep frying. We much prefer the grilled version though. Let me know how it turns out if you try it.
~ Milisa