Dave and I like — well, no, love — Cajun food. I probably make gumbo or jambalaya at least once a week. But this past weekend, we had some truly great crawfish etoufee. The blend of spices was just perfect, better than any mix I’ve ever made or bought.
And the best part is that our friend who made it, Drew Daugherty, enthusiastically gave me the recipe for his Cajun seasoning and told me to share it here on The Boat Galley!
That’s Drew in the photo, having just won the Y-Flyer National Championship. He’s also an excellent keelboat sailor.
In our cruising, we found that we virtually never found pre-mixed Cajun seasoning outside the US, but we could almost always find the ingredients. And Drew’s mix is a lot better than the one I used to make!
- 1 part red pepper (cayenne)
- 1 part black pepper
- 1 part white pepper
- 2 parts ground thyme
- 4 parts oregano
- 1 part garlic powder
- 1 part salt
- Make this Cajun seasoning blend in any quantity you want — each “part” can be a teaspoon, tablespoon, 1/4 cup or more.
- Put it all in a large shaker, put the lid on and shake to mix.
- You can also mix it in a plastic bag or even a cup.
- Store it in an airtight container.
To liven up things like rice, hash browns, or fried eggs, just sprinkle some over the top like you would salt or pepper. It’s also good on vegetables, in soups and on burgers (you might want more than just a sprinkle on burgers).
As written, Drew’s Cajun seasoning has 9% of the sodium in an equivalent amount of salt. If you use Lite Salt instead, it’s less than 5%. You can even leave the salt out completely; it’s still a good blend and you’re down to zero sodium. My preference is the Lite Salt option — I have to watch my sodium but that doesn’t mean that I can’t have any. (Read my longer article on ways I prepare flavorful food with low sodium.)
Lots of times cruising, it’s hard or impossible to find your favorite spice blends wherever you are. We included “recipes” for making a number of them yourself in The Boat Galley Cookbook‘s Substitutions chapter.
Want more boat-friendly recipes? Check out The Boat Galley Cookbook with over 800 recipes or get a free PDF sample of it with 30 recipes (no email required):
Jan says
Yum — we’ve been fortunate enough to share Drew’s cajun seasonings for various meals throughout the years and we can emphatically recommend them. I’m glad to see he shared his “secret” blend!
Rebecca Moffatt says
This is a great recipe that I’ll be trying soon! I’m from Texas, but currently traveling in Croatia, and I’ve been missing my favorite cajun seasoning. This is a great site with tons of good content. Thank you 🙂
Florian says
This Cajun seasoning mix is great, even when used at home – yummy. I ground the spices in a mortar to a powdery consistency and added more pizzaz by doubling the quantities of cayenne pepper and garlic, and it tastes even better (for me, as I am a “hottie” when it come to cayenne and chilli). The storage jar contains a little drying sachet too, so everything flows and sprinkles nicely in our tropical climate. This mix is also superb with grilled fish or octopus, gives it a Cajun / Creole-style flavor. Add rice and green pawpaw salad and you’re in heaven !