The term “boudin” is a French term that denotes specific types of sausage, depending on where you are. When you get to Louisiana, where I am, it refers to cooked rice, pork, and seasonings all run through a meat grinder and stuffed into sausage casings and steamed or smoked. Or, they can be rolled into balls and fried (See: Above).
No two boudin recipes are the same. I tried to copy a couple from various sources, but ultimately it’s when I just decided to try it my own way and it turned out pretty good. There are still a few tweaks to make (at some point, assuming the economy decides to cut out this foolishness, I need a better sausage stuffer), but overall I was very pleased with how it turned out.
The recipe isn’t so much the issue. It’s the process. Here are a couple of videos that I referred to quite a bit.
Now, these are well-produced videos. You can find any number of Extremely Cajun People on YouTube you can go and see making boudin from start to finish, but these are relatively short and easy to understand and a good introduction to the subject of making boudin.
When you’ve ground the meat, vegetables, and seasonings together and then mixed in your cooked rice, you can either stuff the mixture into casings or make boudin balls (or boudin pistolettes or boudin egg rolls or… really anything). Whatever you do with it is up to you. But to make the boudin taste just right, you need to make sure you have a good liquid content and great seasonings - cayenne is your friend.
So, here’s my recipe which, again, is more of a suggestion. It’s all about you developing your process.
Recipe: Boudin Mixture
1 4-pound pork shoulder
1 pound chicken livers
1 celery, finely chopped
1 bell pepper, finely chopped
1 yellow onion, finely chopped
3-5 cloves garlic, minced
3 tbsp. (or more) cayenne pepper
4 cups chicken stock or water
2 cups medium grain rice
Salt and black pepper, to taste
Optional: Jalapeno, diced
Pre-heat your oven to 375. Put your pork shoulder in a large pot or roasting tray and roast for one hour, flipping halfway through. Remove from the oven and set aside.
Over medium heat, add a tablespoon of oil to a skillet. Add your trinity (celery, onion, bell pepper) and cook, stirring frequently, until the onions are translucent. Add the garlic and cook for another minute.
Add the chicken livers and cook for about 3-5 minutes.
Reduce your oven to 250 degrees. Stir cayenne, black pepper, and salt into your vegetables and livers, then add them to the pot/tray with the roast. Add the stock and place the pot in the oven. Braise for 2.5 to 3 hours.
Strain the meat and vegetables out and set them in a large bowl (removing any bones that might have been in the roast). Bring two cups of the reserved liquid to a boil and add two cups of rice, then lower to a simmer. Cook until most of the liquid is absorbed.
Run your meat and vegetables together through a meat grinder into a large bowl. Lay a couple of towels down if you don’t want to make too much of a mess because there is a lot of liquid.
Dump your rice into the meat mixture and stir to combine. Add the reserve stock a little bit at a time. You don’t want the mixture dry, but you don’t want it too wet.
Smoked Boudin Links
Boudin mixture
Six feet of sausage casings (hog or sheep)
Let the boudin mixture come to room temperature.
Soak your casings for 10-15 minutes and feed them onto your stuffer’s nozzle. Add the boudin mixture and stuff into the casings, tying/twisting them off every 6 inches.
Let the links dry for at least an hour. If smoking immediately, you can now set your smoker to 200 degrees. Soak your wood chips (if using). If smoking later, you can refrigerate overnight or freeze until you’re ready to smoke them.
Hang the boudin in the smoker and feed your wood chips or wood chunks onto the hot coals. Smoke until the links reach an internal temperature of 125 degrees. Spray or brush the links with olive oil to help the casings crisp up.
Remove from the smoker and place into an ice bath to halt the cooking. Serve or freeze.
Boudin Balls
Boudin mixture
2-3 cups flour
2-3 cups bread crumbs
4-5 eggs
Place the room temperature boudin mixture in the freezer for 15-20 minutes. You don’t want it frozen solid, but it needs to be a bit more solid than it is at room temperature.
Using an ice cream scoop (or however big you want your boudin balls), form the balls of the meat mixture and roll in flour, then eggs, then bread crumbs. Place them in the fridge or freezer until you’re ready to cook.
If using oil, heat to 350 degrees and cook in batches. Do not mess with them too much. Just let them cook. Once they’re nice and golden brown, about 5-7 minutes, pull them out and set them on a rack to drain and cool slightly.
If using an air fryer, pre-heat to 380 degrees. Cook in batches for 8-10 minutes, stopping halfway to spray or brush with olive oil.