During our visit to Lafayette Louisiana, we knew we needed to make trying Cajun cuisine the cornerstone of our visit. Born from French Acadian settlers in the 1700s, Cajun food is a unique blend of rustic French, Native American, and African flavors. Following their exile from Canada and finding refuge in present-day Louisiana, the Acadians adapted to local ingredients like crawfish, rice, and alligator, creating bold, hearty dishes. Here’s a taste of Cajun staples we loved from our time in Lafayette, Louisiana, and we highly recommend including at least some of these in your next visit!
cajun food staples
• 🦞 Crawfish: Boiled or fried; locally raised; a major staple in Cajun cuisine.
• 🍚 Red Beans and Rice: A blend of creamy beans, sausage, & rice; Creole origins.
• 🔥 Jambalaya: Rice, meat, veggies, spices; Spanish paella-inspired, one-pot dish, drier than gumbo.
• 🥘 Gumbo: Hearty stew, seafood or other meat, roux-based; soupier than jambalaya.
• 🦐 Étouffée: Smothered seafood, rich roux sauce, rice; thicker than gumbo, creamier than jambalaya.
• 🌭 Boudin & Boudin Balls: Blend of rice, pork, spices either in sausage or fried balls.
• 🥪 Po’ Boys: Sandwich typically with shrimp; popularized during the 1920s New Orleans streetcar strike.
• 🐊 Alligator Bites: Fried, tender gator tail; Cajun swamp tradition. Really does taste like chicken.
• 👑 King Cake: Sweet, colorful pastry; French Catholic Mardis Gras staple.
• 🥓 Cracklins: Crunchy fried pork skin – similar to Latin Americana chicharrones but thicker.
• ☕ Beignets: Powdered sugar-dusted fried dough; quintessential French Creole dessert.
Cajun food tour
An absolutely great way to experience a lot of these all at once is with a Cajun Food Tour in Lafayette. The guides are full of both history and humor and offer a great way to meet new people and most importantly to try new foods. The tour is highly rated on TripAdvisor and enjoyed by locals and visitors alike. I’m not going to give away the restaurants that they frequent, but please know that we loved them so much that we returned another day to some of the locations because the food was just that good. One of our favorite things we’ve done in a long time!
What did you think of our list? What essential Cajun foods are we missing?
