After a trip to Louisiana, do you find yourself asking ‘how to cook boudin for breakfast?’ If so, this article is for you! Today, we’ll be exploring all the different ways you can cook boudin and walking you through the method for each. Additionally, I’ll be answering a question or two about boudin. So, lets begin!
Common Questions About Boudin
Is Boudin Already Cooked?
Boudin is typically already cooked, the only exception being if you buy it raw at a retailer from somewhere like Seattle. It may also be made raw if made by a home cook, and is never dry-cured.
Regardless, most of the time the meat, rice, and veg in boudin is already cooked before being stuffed into the sausage.
Still, this doesn’t mean you can eat boudin raw – sausage casing may be made using raw pork, and so your boudin needs to be reheated/cooked thoroughly. Even if the sausage casing is vegetable based, I’d imagine it wouldn’t be very pleasant to eat ’raw’ boudin!
How Long Do You Cook Raw Boudin?
Raw boudin links should be boiled for at least 5-7 minutes before eating. I’d recommend frying them afterwards to get a nice sear on your sausage.
If you’re using the more common pre-cooked variety, you can cook them using almost any other method. They typically only need to be cooked for around 4-5 minutes, or until heated all the way through.
Can You Fry Boudin Links?
You can absolutely fry boudin links!
If they are 100% raw though, it’s best to boil them first. In any other case, boudin links are wonderful fried – their skin turns crispy and brown and gives the sausage an amazing texture.
If you plan to fry your boudin, I’d recommend leaving the heat on medium-low and adding a few drops of water to the pan while covering it with a lid. This will make the sausage heat up faster by steaming it. Do this and flip the sausage every now and then, repeating as the water evaporates until done.
Can You Grill Boudin Sausage?
You can grill boudin sausages, both in an oven or over flame. Doing so will leave your boudin with that same crispy skin I was talking about earlier.
Cook them for around 5 minutes, or 7-10 minutes for a raw sausage.
How To Cook Boudin Without It Exploding – What Does It Mean To Poach A Sausage?
The absolute best way to keep sausages from exploding is to poach them before frying.
While this does seem like an unneeded extra effort – no one wants extra washing up – it’s the only way to guarantee an explosion-free sausage.
To poach your sausages, boil some water in a pot big enough to fit them, then turn off the heat. After that, put your sausages in the water and cover the pan with a lid. Leave the sausages there for 10-12 minutes, then remove and cook in your preferred method.
Pan-frying, oven-baking, and air-frying are best as they’ll leave your sausage with crispy skins.
How To Cook Boudin Balls
Boudin balls are a delicious spin on the classic Cajun staple, boudin.
To make boudin balls from scratch, simply remove the sausages from their casings, roll it into balls (add some wet bread to get them to stick if needed), then bread them.
After breading, the best course of action is to deep fry them for a perfectly crispy ball. Alternatively, you can deep fry them then let them cool and freeze
This is a great method for when you want to save some for later, as all you have to do is reheat them in the oven.
The Different Ways To Cook Boudin – Walkthrough For Each
How Do You Cook Boudin On A Stove Top?
How to cook boudin sausage on stove top is easier than you may think! In my opinion, this and oven-baking are the simplest methods to use when cooking sausages.
To cook, poach your sausages like explained above, then pan fry for 5 minutes until the skin is crispy all round. If your pan is excessively sticky, drizzle a little oil in there.
Make sure to flip the sausages while cooking in order to get both sides.
How Do You Cook Boudin In A Cast Iron Skillet?
To cook boudin in a cast iron skillet, you can pretty much do the same as you would in any other pan!
Just make sure that your cast iron is well-cleaned, seasoned, and otherwise ready to go! Let it heat up before adding the sausages, then just cook them like described above.
How Long Do You Cook Boudin In A Skillet?
When cooking boudin on the stove, regardless of whether or not it’s in a skillet, you only want to get it till the sides are caramelized and brown and the skin is crispy.
In most cases, this takes around 5 minutes.
How To Cook Boudin On Grill
To grill your boudin, you don’t necessarily have to poach them. However, most chefs do poach them beforehand to guarantee even-cooked sausages.
If you decide not to poach, all you need to do is preheat your grill to medium heat (around 400-425F). Then, lightly grease the grill (don’t burn yourself!) with a little butter.
Place your boudin links onto the grill, making sure they’re evenly spread. Then close the lid and cook for around five minutes, flipping halfway through.
This method is great if you don’t like too much fat in your sausages, as it will drip off and away from the boudin whilst cooking.
How To Cook Boudin In The Oven
To cook boudin in the oven, just follow the same method as used on the grill!
You can either grease a baking tray and cook your sausages directly on the bottom, or put a grill above it and cook them there.
Again, make sure to flip them halfway through the cooking process.
Alternative Methods For Cooking Boudin
How To Cook Boudin In The Air Fryer
To cook boudin in the air fryer, optionally poach them first then place down as many as you can fit in your fryer basket. They should only be a single layer – avoid overlaying your sausages. Roughly six boudin links can fit, but this depends on the size of the sausages and of your air fryer.
Cook raw boudin for 9-12 minutes, and regular boudin for around 5 minutes – both a 400 °F. Halfway through cooking, open your air fryer and give the basket a shake so the sausages are evenly cooked.
Cooking kielbasa in the air fryer is also similar to this process.
How To Cook Boudin In Rice Cooker
While steam cooking is an excellent way to cook sausages, it’s not the best for giving you a crispy sausage. Steaming or boiling sausages as the end-game cooking method can leave the casings chewy and give them an unpleasant texture. This is why I’d recommend pan frying your boudin after cooking in a rice cooker.
If cooking your boudin in a rice cooker, there’s no need to poach them. To cook, place the links in your rice cooker, with just enough water to cover the bottom. Heat them for 3-5 minutes on the ’cook’ cycle. After this, change the settings to ’warm’ and leave them warming for 10-12 minutes before eating.
How To Cook Boudin In Microwave
Strange as it may sound, I’ve actually already covered how to cook sausage in the microwave. Still, it doesn’t hurt to refresh my memory!
To cook boudin in the microwave, place your link(s) onto a microwavable plate and into the microwave. Cover the plate with a microwave plate cover if possible to avoid splatter
. Then, depending on the strength of your microwave, heat them for 2-3 minutes. After heated, turn them over then heat for another 2 minutes.
Oh, and you’re absolutely going to want to poach these beforehand, otherwise you run a real risk of having a sausage-splattered microwave.
While it is possible to cook raw boudin in the microwave, I would not recommend it as it can be hard to gauge how long it needs to be cooked. Additionally, microwaves were not made for cooking raw meat so I don’t think it’s a good idea to test that limit.
How To Make Boudin From Scratch
Serve: Multiple people
| Prep Time: | Cook Time: |
| 2 – 3 hr + overnight | Approx. 3 hr & 45 min |
The recipe I’ve transcribed here was made and posted by YouTube channel BBQ by Biggs. This video demonstrates a great way to make a LOT of boudin that’ll last you a while. The recipe is an authentic Cajun recipe and thoroughly walks us through all the steps of Boudin sausage making.
Boudin Ingredients:
| – 4 medium yellow onions |
| – 4 green bell peppers |
| – 1 head of celery |
| – 4 bundles of spring onions |
| – 4 bundles of parsley |
| – 1 whole pork butt |
| – 2 tbsp of minced garlic |
| – 4g each of black pepper, cayenne, and kosher salt |
| – Enough Uncle Steve’s Gator Shake to lightly cover the pork butt |
| – 1 ¼ lbs chicken livers |
| – 6 quarts of water |
| – 6 cups uncooked rice |
| – 2 extra tbsp cayenne pepper, kosher salt, and 1 tbsp black pepper |
| – Pork casing |
Method:
1) Preparation And Cooking
- Begin by roughly chopping your onions, bell peppers and celery. Then, chop the spring onions – make sure to keep every part (yes, even the white) and only throw out the roots. Separate the green from the white as these are used in different parts of the process. Then, mince your garlic until you have around 2 tablespoons full and finely cut your parsley.
- Either using an outdoor gas supply or multiple hobs on your stove, put the flame on high heat. Then, place a very large cooking pan (the kind for huge stews or soups) and let it heat up. Once heated, add your pork butt to the pan fat side down. This is important as the fat will render and serve to grease your pan.
- After letting the fat melt for a minute or two, add in your onions, pepper and celery and let them sweat a little with the pork, occasionally mixing them and folding them under and over the pork. Make sure to turn the pork on it’s side during this process so as not to overly burn the bottom.
- After sweating the veggies for a minute or two, add in your white spring onion bottoms and garlic. Now, add SOME of the seasonings – 4 grams of black pepper, 4 grams of cayenne and 4 grams of salt. Then, stir and add in the Uncle Steve’s Gator Shake (or Cajun seasoning of your choice). After adding the seasonings, throw in the chicken livers along with 6 quarts of water.
- Bring the water to a boil and mix to help the seasonings dissolve into the water. Once it’s at a rolling boil, bring the heat down until the water is at a steady simmer. Cover the pot completely with the lid and leave it simmering for approximately 2-3 hours. It’s ready when the meat falls off the bone completely. Use the meantime to set up your meat grinder and prepare the rice.
2) Grinding And Stuffing Preparation
- To prepare the rice, follow the instructions labelled on the pack of rice you brought. Use the stock water to cook it for that extra flavor.
- Turn the heat off the pan once the meat is ready and use a sieve, strainer, or deep-frying tool to pull the pork/veggie mix from the water. Make sure to save the stock for later. Then, while the pork mix is still hot, turn your grinder to the ’coarse’ setting. Take the sausage mix and press it through the grinder, following the instructions in the video and according to the manufacturer of your grinder. Make sure to set a large baking tray beneath the nozzle to catch the mix. Whilst grinding, add in half of the prepared parsley along with half of the green spring onion tops. Then, take the prepared rice and add it to the mix.
- Once the rice is added, put on some heat resistant gloves and fluff it/break it up. Once completely fluffed, you can begin to add in the rest of the seasoning. This is 2 tbsp cayenne, 2 tbsp kosher salt, and 1 tbsp pepper, as well as the remaining green tops and parsley. Then, thoroughly mix the seasoning, rice, and sausage mix until everything is evenly and completely combined. Once mixed, taste and adjust the seasoning to your liking. Feel free to add in any favorite pre-mixed Cajun seasoning if necessary!
- To get the sausage to the right consistency, add in little bits of the remaining saved stock at a time. Do this while mixing the mixture – don’t be afraid to press it together. Once you can form a ball in your hand that doesn’t fall apart, its ready and doesn’t need any more water. Usually, this will take about 4 cups of stock.
3) Stuffing The Sausages
- To stuff the sausages, wet the horn of your sausage stuffer and soak your casings. Then, carefully slide the casing onto the horn, making sure not to rip it and pulling it all the way back onto the horn. Before tying the end of the casing, pack your sausage stuffer. This is important as this process pushes out any excess air.
- When loading up the stuffer, make sure to press the sausage mix down as much as possible. Do this at intervals until you fill the stuffer all the way up. Then, slowly start to press your stuffing out – you want it at the point where its right at the end of the horn. Then, pull the end of the casing off the horn and tie a firm knot. After doing this, pull the tied casing back up to the base of the nozzle, making sure its flush against the stuffing.
- Once everything is ready to go, put a little pressure on the horn casing while beginning to stuff the sausage. Make sure the casing is full, but not over-stuffed. Do this until your casing is completely full, tie off the end, and repeat until all your sausage mix has been stuffed.
- To create the links, take the stuffed casing in your hands and skip seven inches from the end. Hold at the seven inch interval, and do the same so that your other hand is seven inches away from the first marking. Then simply pinch at those spots and roll the middle link over a few times. If your sausage casing has too much air, do this as much as possible. If it’s over-stuffed or full, you don’t need to fold it over itself as many times. Do the same until all of your Casings have been linked.
- To prepare for consumption, keep the sausages refrigerated overnight. They’re ready to cook the next day! Use any one of the methods highlighted in this article to cook your boudin. They’ll likely need much longer to cook due to the casing being made of pork, so keep this in mind when making home-made boudin. They only keep for a few days in the fridge, so be sure to save ’em by freezing on some big baking pans! After initial freezing, you can move them to plastic ziplock and keep them in the freezer.
FAQs
What is Boudin?
Boudin is a Cajun sausage usually made with meat, rice, and veg.
What’s The Best Way To Cook Boudin?
It’s recommended to fry, air-fry, or oven-bake boudin for best results!
Wrapping Up: What’s The Best Way To Cook Boudin?
Boudin is unique in sausages in that it can be cooked many different ways, and it can be cooked in those ways quickly. However, there are some discrepancies on the best cooking methods.
For example, if you boil or steam you boudin, you’re likely to end up with an unappetizing, chewy-skinned sausage. That’s why its best to fry, air-fry, or oven-bake boudin – so make sure to keep that in mind next time you’re making this iconic sausage!
