Boudin is the Louisiana sausage traditionally made with pork, rice, onions, and seasonings in a casing.
Louisiana boudin commonly combines cooked pork with rice, onion, green onion, parsley, and spices. The mixture is stuffed into a casing and sold fresh, often as links or loose boudin that can be eaten from the casing. Some recipes use liver, while others emphasize pork shoulder or other cuts.
Boudin reflects the influence of French-speaking Louisiana communities and became especially associated with Cajun cuisine in Acadiana. It is widely sold by butcher shops, grocery stores, roadside markets, and restaurants across southern Louisiana.
Boudin is not the same as andouille. Andouille is a smoked sausage with a coarser, more strongly smoked profile, while boudin’s defining feature is its cooked rice-and-meat filling. Boudin balls are a related preparation in which the filling is shaped, breaded, and fried.