Recipes and cooking ideas

Louisiana recipes to try

• Chicken and Andouille Gumbo

  Cajun · 13 ingredients

  Cook the oil and flour over medium heat, stirring, until the roux is the color of a copper penny. Add the onion, bell pepper and celery and cook until soft. Stir in the garlic, sausage and chicken. Add the stock, bay leaves and seasoning. Simmer about 1 hour until the chicken is tender. Taste for salt. Serve over rice and top with green onions.

• Seafood Gumbo

  Creole · 13 ingredients

  Make a dark roux with the oil and flour. Cook the onion, pepper and celery in the roux. Stir in garlic and tomato paste. Add stock and okra and simmer 40 minutes. Add shrimp and crab in the last 8 minutes. Take the pot off the heat, sprinkle with file and serve over rice.

• Creole Jambalaya

  Creole · 10 ingredients

  Brown the sausage and chicken. Add the onion, pepper and celery and cook until soft. Stir in rice, tomatoes, stock and seasoning. Cover and simmer 25 minutes. Fold in the shrimp and cook 5 more minutes until the rice is tender and the shrimp are pink.

• Cajun Jambalaya

  Cajun · 9 ingredients

  Brown the sausage and chicken until the fond is deep. Cook the onion, pepper, celery and garlic in the drippings. Stir in the rice and toast it. Add stock and seasoning, cover and simmer 25 minutes without stirring. Rest 10 minutes, then fluff.

• Crawfish Étouffée

  Cajun · 11 ingredients

  Melt the butter and stir in the flour to make a blond roux. Cook the onion, pepper and celery until soft. Add garlic, stock and seasoning and simmer until thick. Fold in the crawfish and cook 8 minutes. Serve over rice with green onions.

• Shrimp Étouffée

  Creole · 11 ingredients

  Make a butter-flour roux. Cook the onion, pepper and celery. Add garlic, tomato, stock and seasoning. Simmer until the sauce coats a spoon. Add the shrimp and cook until pink, about 5 minutes. Serve over rice.

• Red Beans and Rice

  Creole · 10 ingredients

  Soak the beans overnight. Cook the onion, pepper, celery, garlic and sausage. Add the beans, ham hock, bay leaves, seasoning and water to cover. Simmer 2 hours until the beans are creamy. Serve over rice.

• Dirty Rice

  Cajun · 9 ingredients

  Brown the pork and finely chopped livers. Add the onion, pepper, celery and garlic and cook until soft. Stir in rice, stock and seasoning. Cover and simmer 20 minutes. Rest, then fluff.

• Shrimp and Grits

  Creole · 8 ingredients

  Simmer the grits in milk and water until thick. Stir in cheese. Brown the sausage, then cook the shrimp with garlic and seasoning until pink. Spoon the shrimp and sausage over the grits and finish with green onions.

• Shrimp Po-boy

  Creole · 8 ingredients

  Season the shrimp and dredge in cornmeal. Fry until golden. Split the bread, spread with mayonnaise and pile on shrimp, lettuce and tomato. Dash with hot sauce.

• Beignets

  Creole · 8 ingredients

  Mix the yeast, warm milk and a pinch of sugar. Add the egg, butter, flour and remaining sugar and knead into a soft dough. Rise 1 hour. Roll, cut into squares and fry until puffed and golden. Dust heavily with powdered sugar.

• Crawfish Pie

  Cajun · 9 ingredients

  Cook the onion, pepper, celery and garlic in butter. Stir in crawfish, cream and seasoning until thick. Fill a pie crust, top with the second crust and bake at 375°F until golden, about 35 minutes.

Cooking at home made simple

Home cooking saves money, brings people to the table and lets you control exactly what goes into a meal. ChitaChatter Food is built to make that easier. Recipes list their ingredients up front and break the directions into plain steps so you can read through once, gather what you need and start cooking without guessing.

Southern, Cajun and Creole dishes hold a special place here. Gumbo, jambalaya, red beans and rice and étouffée are meals that families pass down and every cook makes a little differently. Many of them start with the same base of onion, bell pepper and celery cooked slowly until soft. Learning that foundation opens the door to dozens of dishes.

You will also find recipes from kitchens around the world. Search by the name of a dish, an ingredient you already have in the fridge or a cuisine you want to try. Looking up an ingredient is a smart way to cut food waste because it turns leftovers into tonight's dinner instead of tomorrow's trash.

Food is better shared. Members can send a recipe into a chat and the message is translated for friends and relatives who read another language, which makes it easy to swap family recipes across borders and generations.

Quick tips

• Read the whole recipe before you turn on the stove.
• Prep and measure ingredients first so cooking goes smoothly.
• Taste as you go and adjust salt and spice at the end.
• Cool leftovers quickly and store them in sealed containers.

Common questions

Are the recipes free?

Yes. Every recipe on ChitaChatter Food is free to read and cook.

What is the holy trinity in Cajun cooking?

It is the mix of chopped onion, bell pepper and celery that starts many Cajun and Creole dishes such as gumbo and étouffée.

Can I search by ingredient?

Members can search recipes by an ingredient they already have at home to plan a meal and reduce waste.