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. If you are traveling through Louisiana or southeast Texas, you are likely to find it served in the deli of most gas stations and convenience stores.
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, Cajun culture 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 use the jump to recipe button at the top or 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 our own boudin.
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.
Ingredients for Boudin Recipe
- pork shoulder or any pork meat
- bacon ends and pieces
- ground venison – ground beef works too
- beef liver, chicken livers or pork liver
- olive oil
- onion – yellow onions or green onions
- celery
- garlic
- jalapeños
- Blackened Seasoning or Cajun Seasoning – our versions are mild, add in an extra teaspoon cayenne if preferred.
- black pepper
- kosher salt
- red pepper flakes
- cooked rice
- natural hog casings
How to Make Boudin Sausage
- We started with pork shoulder that we ground up with bacon ends and pieces in our meat grinder 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.
- In a large skillet or large saucepan, cook diced onion, jalapeños, celery and bell peppers in olive oil.
- Cook, stirring often until onions start to brown. Set aside.
- In the large skillet, add the ground mixture of meat and cook 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 a natural hog casing 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 cooking wood for smoke flavor.
- Place sausages on grill and cook for 1 hour or until desired smoke level is reached.
- Remove from grill and serve immediately.
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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 1/4 cup measure. Press mixture firmly between your palms to form a ball shape.
- Grill or Smoke Boudin Balls: Place boudin balls on a grill pan. Grill or smoke at 300° for 45 minutes to 1 hour.
- Deep Fry Boudin: Roll boudin balls into all purpose flour, then into two beaten eggs and then into 2 cups bread crumbs, we like Panko. Heat 4 cups vegetable oil to 350°. Fry boudin balls in small batches for about 2 minutes or until breading is lightly browned. Drain on a paper towel lining a baking rack.
Recipe Notes for Homemade Boudin
- Store leftover cooked sausage in zip top bags for 2 days or freeze in a single layer in a zip top freezer bag up to 2 months.
- For this recipe, we did not use any curing salt for our boudin since we were smoking it quickly at a higher temperature.
We much preferred the smoked boudin balls to the deep fried. Shocking, right? The boudin stuffed in a sausage casing was our ultimate favorite.
If you enjoy making homemade sausage, you might also like our homemade Andouille Sausage and Jambalaya recipes.
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 have 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.
If you find yourself a long way from Louisiana or southeast Texas, you don’t have to miss out on this southern delicacy. You can make boudin at home! We took inspiration and tips for making sausage from Hank Shaw’s Cajun Boudin Sausage recipe on Honest Food.
If you love this Recipe as much as I do, please leave a comment and a five star review, and be sure to help me share on Pinterest!
Boudin
Ingredients
- 3 pounds pork shoulder
- 1 pound bacon ends and pieces
- 1 1/4 pounds ground venison
- 3/4 pound beef liver
- 1/4 cup olive oil
- 1 large onion diced
- 2 celery stalks diced
- 2 cloves minced garlic
- 2 jalapeños minced
- 1/2 cup Blackened Seasoning
- 2 tablespoons black pepper
- 4 teaspoons kosher salt
- 1/4 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
For 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 1/4 cup measure. Press mixture firmly between your palms to form a ball shape.
- Grill or Smoke Boudin Balls: Place boudin balls on a grill pan. Grill or smoke at 300° for 45 minutes to 1 hour.
- Deep Fry Boudin: 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 paper towels lining a baking rack.
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.
Thanks Thomas, appreciate your feedback.
~ Milisa
Have you ever tried deep frying the links
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