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The Spruce / Bahareh Niati
More than just a day, Mardi Gras is a season that runs from January 6—which marks the Twelfth Night—to Fat Tuesday (AKA Mardi Gras Day). In countries of Catholic heritage, carnivals always take place during these days, as people party, drink, and eat all of what shouldn't be drank or eaten during Lent.
Celebration through food is part of these carnival traditions, as fatty, rich, sugary, and meat-loaded dishes populate the celebratory tables. In New Orleans, glorious gumbos and jambalayas, dirty rice, po' boy sandwiches, crawfish etouffee, oysters Rockefeller, red beans and rice, bananas foster, pain perdu, and Creole sauce on top of everything are just a few examples of what's served on and before Mardi Gras.
Whether you're planning a Mardi Gras celebration with friends and family or just want to sample some of the nation's most famous food traditions, you're likely to find something on this list that will satisfy your cravings. As they say in New Orleans, "Laissez les bons temps rouler," or "Let the good times roll".
Sazerac Cocktail
The Spruce Eats / Julia Hartbeck
Mix yourself a classic cocktail while you start prepping and cooking for Mardi Gras celebrations. The Sazerac is a New Orleans cocktail made with rye whiskey and absinthe, created by Antoine Peychaud, the same apothecary who invented the key ingredient in this cocktail: Peychaud's bitters.
Use this recipe and tips to make an authentic Sazerac. Get some ice cubes, an old-fashioned glass, and mix this cocktail in 3 minutes.
New Orleans Fizz
The Spruce / Julia Hartbeck
Also known as a Ramos gin fizz, the New Orleans fizz was created in the late 1800s by Henry C. Ramos in New Orleans. It gets its lift from egg whites and a topping of club soda. It is among the Big Easy's most famous drinks. By the 1915 Mardi Gras celebration the cocktail had become so popular that Ramos' 35 "shaker boys" could barely keep up with demand.
Bananas Foster French Toast Casserole
The Spruce / Diana Chistruga
Celebratory bananas foster is transformed here into a breakfast or brunch casserole that you can prep at night and bake in the morning. Although the use of rum is optional, you're still getting all the flavors from the original dish even if you go without.
A base of caramel is topped with sliced bananas, cubed bread, and a sweet egg mixture that makes this Foster French Toast Casserole a wholesome dish, packed with protein. Serve with slices of fruit. Prep and serve in 85 minutes.
Continue to 5 of 21 belowClassic Shrimp Étouffée
The Spruce / Diana Chistruga
This classic étouffée combines a brown roux with shrimp, tomatoes, and the "Holy Trinity" of Creole cooking—onion, celery, and bell pepper. A thick and rich sauce smothers the shrimp and makes for a simple dish that is easily prepared for a weeknight dinner.
Its complex flavors, stemming from the addition of clam juice and creole seasoning, make a wonderful moist dish that goes wonderfully with rice or bread. Prep and serve in 75 minutes.
Chicken Etouffee
The Spruce / Diana Chistruga
Our chicken étouffée is a rich preparation with a butter-based dark roux, vegetables, broth, creole seasoning, and small shrimp. Although roux is usually cooked separately and then other ingredients are added into it, in our étoufée the roux is cooked alongside the chicken and veggies to save time.
A quick simmer brings to life this flavorful meal, which you can serve with rice or crusty bread. Prep and serve in 1 hour.
Gluten-Free Chicken and Sausage Gumbo
The Spruce Eats / Ashlae Warner
This delicious gluten-free gumbo uses rice flour to thicken the sauce, making it fitting for people with celiac disease or any wheat sensitivities. Chicken, spicy sausage, sliced okra, chopped vegetables, and tomatoes give a nice and thick texture to the gumbo, while generous amounts of oil give the sauce a rich and smooth finish. Serve with rice or fresh bread. Prep and serve in 75 minutes.
Dirty Rice
The Spruce / Diana Chistruga
Dirty rice is a classic Cajun dish that gets its name from the way it is typically made-- with chicken livers or gizzards and ground meat. The variety of meats and spices give the rice its signature "dirty" look. It's a flavorful dish that needs little accompaniment. And while you may have seen this particular kind of meal in a box, there's nothing like making dirty rice from scratch.
Continue to 9 of 21 belowInstant Pot Jambalaya
Diana Rattray The Instant Pot makes preparation a cinch in this Creole-style jambalaya. Andouille sausage, chicken, and vegetables are sauteed, and then the seasonings, stock, canned tomatoes, and rice are added and pressure cooked. The shrimp go in at the end along with some green onions making a delicious and filling dish.
Classic Sausage and Shrimp Gumbo
The Spruce / Karen Hibbard
Our slow-cooked shrimp gumbo brings a variety of flavors thanks to spicy andouille sausage, tomatoes, vegetables, broth, and seasonings. As tradition mandates, if the gumbo has tomatoes it most likely has okra, so while adding it is entirely up to your taste, it does make the gumbo more traditional.
Ladle the gumbo over a mound of cooked rice and serve it with crusty New Orleans French bread. Prep and serve in 2 hours.
Chicken With Dirty Rice Stuffing
The Spruce Eats / Christine Ma
Cajun dirty rice is a classic dish that can take many forms, but that takes its name from the dark color that the preparation takes on after the ingredients have been cooked. Our version has chicken livers, vegetables, stock, pine nuts, and seasonings that go inside of fatty chicken breasts or thighs, and then are baked to a golden brown.
Alternatively, if pressed for time, make the rice and grill the chicken breast to serve on the side. Prep and serve in 70 minutes.
Low-Calorie Jambalaya
The Spruce Eats / Eric Kleinberg
This lower-in-calories version of jambalaya is still rich and tasty, but has less added fat and uses skinless chicken thighs that provide a lot of flavor without the excess calories. Shrimp, spicy chicken sausage, and tomatoes make up the medley of colors and flavors we've come to expect from Cajun and Creole food. Brown rice adds fiber and is an easy switch-up. Skip the traditional crusty bread and serve with a green salad. Prep and serve in 53 minutes.
Continue to 13 of 21 belowMuffuletta Sandwich
The Spruce
The muffuletta is a classic New Orleans sandwich made with layers of meat, cheese, and olive salad. The sandwich was created in 1906 by Salvatore Lupo, owner of Central Grocery Co. on Decatur Street. They're monstrous in size, but the deli still sells the famous sandwich – in half and quartered-size portions, as eating two pounds of charcuterie and cheese, alone when weighed without the bread, seems like a task few can undertake.
Ham, mortadella, salami, Provolone, mozzarella, and salad mix are the ingredients fit to feed a family of 4. Prep and serve in 10 minutes.
Creole Mustard
The Spruce / Nita West
If you have trouble finding Creole mustard, make your own to use in po' boys, sauces, salad dressings, and dips. Mix white wine, garlic, spices, mustard seeds (or Dijon), and vinegar to make this tangy and savory addition to your BBQ table. Prep and serve in 35 minutes.
Po Boy Sandwich
The Spruce Eats / Diana Chistruga
A staple of New Orleans cuisine, the po' boy sandwich harkens back to 1920s and was supposedly named for the men who were on strike from the railroad companies—the "poor boys." The sandwich features some sort of meat, though the type ranges from roast beef to fried seafood to sausage, that's served on French bread, usually a crusty baguette with a soft center. Our recipe features plump fried shrimp.
Fried Oysters
The Spruce / Julia Hartbeck
Our recipe with a cornmeal coating makes these fried oysters super crispy. Served with remoulade sauce for dipping and loads of hot sauce, or piled into a baguette for an oyster variation on the po'boy sandwich, these are sure to please. Ask your fish monger to shuck the oysters for you to save time.
Continue to 17 of 21 belowCajun Barbecue Sauce
The Spruce Eats / Julia Estrada
Slather some Cajun barbecue sauce on ribs, chops, or chicken and get a taste of Louisiana. As Lent approaches, many Catholics eat as much red meat as they can, and this sauce makes the task all that much tastier. Complex in flavor due to its long list of ingredients, this sauce is worth having at hand. Stock, spices, onion, garlic, Tabasco, butter, citrus, and even roasted pecans go into this flavorful preparation. Prep and serve in 50 minutes.
Sautéed Chayote Squash
The Spruce / Stephanie Goldfinger
Chayote squash is a vegetable native to Mexico and popular in Creole and Cajun cuisine. It has a firmer texture than other summer squash, making it ideal for sautéing with garlic. Serve along with rich seafood dishes for a complimentary side dish. Prep and serve in 27 minutes.
Bread Pudding With Whiskey Sauce
The Spruce Eats / Ana Zelic
This classic New Orleans bread pudding is finished with a rich and creamy whiskey sauce. Day-old French bread is soaked in a sweet eggy mixture and seasoned with vanilla, cinnamon, and nutmeg. Soak for up to one hour before baking the dish for an additional hour.
Serve with a whiskey or bourbon sauce, made with butter, milk, and eggs. Prep and serve in 90 minutes.
Classic Pralines
The Spruce / Stephanie Goldfinger
Pecan pralines are a highlight of any New Orleans visit and always present during Mardi Gras celebrations.Get a candy thermometer for best results and be mindful of not having kids or pets around the kitchen when working with hot caramel.
Prep and serve in 35 minutes, but do wait until they're completely cool before offering them to kids.
Continue to 21 of 21 belowMardi Gras King Cake
The Spruce / Bahareh Niati
Our Mardi Gras King Cake is easy to make, delicious, and fun to decorate. Crescent roll dough triangles are arranged in a circle to create a crust that is filled with sweetened silky cream cheese. Decorate with colorful sprinkles or icing to provide the signature three-color topping.
This quick version is an excellent choice if you're short on time or don't have prior experience with making brioche dough. Prep and serve in 55 minutes.