Celebrate Mardi Gras like you’re in New Orleans with these Cajun and Creole specialties including beignets, gumbo, shrimp and grits, jambalaya, candied pecans, flambéed bananas, and more.

Cajun Fried Chicken
: Chris Granger 1/19 Bathed in buttermilk and spiced ever so slightly, this Cajun fried hen is memorably moist, superlatively crisp, and gosh darn perfect through and through.
Recipe Cajun Spice Mix
: Chris Granger 2/19 Cayenne. Paprika. Pepper. Chili powder. Remarkable how something so simple can taste so complex.
Recipe Sweet Tea Cocktail
: Brian Woodcock 3/19 Sweet tea. Whiskey. Lemon juice. That's all it takes to make a sassy summertime cocktail you'll want to sip all afternoon long.
Recipe Cajun Chicken and Sausage Gumbo
: Leigh Beisch 4/19 "Your family will think you are AMAZING." "A straightforward, real deal Cajun gumbo that everyone loved." "Easy and affordable." "A keeper!" That's what we're hearing about this.
Recipe Homemade Hot Sauce
: Rinne Allen 5/19 Hot peppers. Salt. Vinegar. And patience. That's all you need to earn bragging rights as the maker of the best hot sauce ever. Well, that with this handy recipe from chef Hugh Acheson.
Recipe Seafood Gumbo
: Chris Granger 6/19 Seafood gumbo loaded with shrimp, such as this classic Cajun recipe, screams for a cold beer and a lazy weekend afternoon dedicated to nothing but cooking.
Recipe Barbecue Pimento Cheese
: Jennifer Davick 7/19 Not all pimento cheese recipes are created equal. This one, with a touch of barbecue, definitely has an unfair advantage.
Recipe Southern Shrimp and Grits
: Steven Freeman 8/19 Our most requested recipe, this ridiculously rich dish takes its heat from andouille, its creamy comfort from grits smothered in cheese.
Recipe Moonshine Onion Rings
: Simon Wheeler 9/19 A hefty shot of booze makes for a batter that's thin, crackly, and clings to the onions such that it's barely there.
Recipe Crawfish Boil
: Ditte Isager 10/19 Call some friends, set a pot of water to boil, and chill some beer. There's mudbugs to be had.
Recipe Pecan Pie Bread Pudding
: Evan Sung 11/19 When you've got leftover bread, sure, you could make bread crumbs. Or you could make this Southern melding of pie and pudding that's obscenely indulgent. Tough decision, eh?
Recipe Bayou Fried Shrimp
: Southern Living 12/19 Say the word "bayou," and we conjure romantic notions of swampy marshlands and, natch, Cajun fried shrimp.
Recipe Pan-Fried Bananas with Brandy
: Emma Lee 13/19 Boozy bananas are lavished with a cheater's caramel sauce made with butter, brandy, and brown sugar in this outrageously simple riff on a Southern classic. No flames required.
Recipe Cajun Chicken and Sausage Jambalaya
: Chris Granger 14/19 Jambalaya just doesn't get any more authentic than this deeply flavored, deeply revered rendition from Cajun country.
Recipe Beignets
: Francesca Yorke 15/19 Airy and yet dough at the same time, these iconic, anytime-of-day New Orleans pastries come buried beneath mounds of sweet, sweet confectioners' sugar. All we have to say is, don't wear black.
Recipe Candied Pecans
: Hilary McMullen 16/19 "Irresistible." "The perfect combination of sweet, salt, spice, and crunch." "We. Can. NOT. Stop. Eating. Them." "Absolutely perfect." That's what we're hearing about these candied pecans.
Recipe Spiced Maple Pecan Pie with Star Anise
: Andrew Scrivani 17/19 Here's a nifty little trick. Reduce maple syrup until sticky, infuse it with spice, and rely on it to impart its ridiculously intense essence to pecan pie.
Recipe Lemon-Herbsaint Poppers
: Ellen Silverman 18/19 Leave it to New Orleans to create a liquor to replace absinthe. These boozy jellied shots are redolent of their namesake citrus and anise-flavored absinthe alternative.
Recipe Lemon Doberge Cake
: Ellen Silverman 19/19 Doberge cake is the birthday cake of New Orleans. The most popular is a Doberge with a lemon-iced cake on one side and a chocolate-iced cake on the other.
Recipe © 2021 Leite's Culinaria. All rights reserved. All materials used with permission.