Boudin

Boudin is the Cajun sausage that Louisiana gas stations and meat markets are famous for, and making it at home is more straightforward than you’d think. Pork and pork liver get simmered until falling apart, then ground with onion, green onions, and parsley. Mixed with cooked rice and enough of the reserved cooking broth to make it moist, the whole thing gets stuffed into sausage casings.

The liver isn’t optional. It gives boudin its distinctive, slightly mineral depth that separates it from every other rice-and-meat sausage. A pound and a half to two pounds of pork means the liver flavor is present but not overwhelming. If you’ve only had boudin without liver, you haven’t had the real thing.

Using the pork cooking broth to moisten the rice dressing is what keeps boudin juicy inside the casing. Too dry and it crumbles when you squeeze it out. The right consistency is like a moist stuffing that holds together but isn’t wet.

Pro Tips

• Cook the pork and liver until the meat literally falls apart. Under-cooked meat doesn’t grind smoothly and leaves tough chunks.
• Use pork with about 30% fat. Lean pork makes dry, crumbly boudin.
• Steam to reheat, never microwave or fry. Microwaving bursts the casings, and frying shrinks and splits them.
• Reserve more broth than you think you’ll need. You can always add more, but you can’t fix dry boudin after stuffing.

Variations

• Add a teaspoon of cayenne pepper to the ground meat mixture for a spicier boudin.
• Mix in a tablespoon of Cajun seasoning for a more complex spice profile.
• Skip the casings and form the mixture into patties. Pan-fry them for boudin balls without the stuffing step.