Creole cajun seasoning recipe – the must have seasoning for your southern cuisines, just as authentic as what you’d get in New Orleans.

I thought it was about time that I’d introduced a few seasoning recipes to you all. This creole cajun seasoning mix is raw, fresh and straight out of the dirty south. This spice blend contains a handful of common pantry ingredients and made within a matter of minutes.

Is creole and cajun seasoning the same

Although these names are used quite loosely and interchangeable to many people who don’t know about the history and its depth. No these seasonings are not the same at all.

The difference between cajun and creole seasoning

One of the major difference between cajun and creole seasoning is that creole seasoning contains tomato. On the contray, cajun seasoning does not contain any tomatoes.

In fact cajun food/cooking was originally eaten by only the farmers, it was known as peasant food where ingredients such as alligator, turtle and crawfish were used.

Times have changes and with the evolution of food and trends these very same ingredients mentioned above have now been incorporated into creole cooking too. Creole food/cooking is known as the city dwellers creation, they founded it!

Some people also like to make the distinction that creole is “city food” and that cajun is “country food”

Other things such as – creole Jambalaya contains tomatoes, where as Cajun doesn’t. Creole roux is made from flour and butter and Cajun roux is made from oil and flour.

Creole vs cajun seasoning

Although both creole and cajun ingredients have now become much more interlinked. If you separate the two and go back to basics, in truth it’s really about generously seasoned versus flaming hot.

If you like bold flavours that fragrant herbaceous, complementary flavours without the heat factor then creole is what you would appreciate.

Cajun seasoning/cuisine

The word Cajun derives from the French speaking Acadian people who migrated to South Louisiana and brought there wonderful cuisine. Cajun cuisine is based on the three pot method – one pot is for the main dish, the other is for the rice and the third would be for the vegetables.

Cajun seasoning relies more on ground spices, peppers i.e white/black pepper, bell peppers and it’s the heat that can be quite intense from the use of cayenne pepper making it more of a fiery contender.

Many cajun dishes start with a foundation which is a medley of vegetables known as “the holy trinity”(onion, celery and bell peppers). It’s not uncommon to find green onions, parsley, thyme, file, paprika salt and garlic in the seasoning blend either.

Creole seasoning/cuisine

Creole comes from an admixture of cultures ranging from Irish, Spanish, Caribbean, French all the way back to West Africa. The people who were born to settlers in Louisiana had founded it. It’s much more herbaceous i.e parsley, oregano, thyme, bay leaves, rosemary and basil.

Why you should make your own spice blends from scratch

When purchasing your herbs/spices in bulk it’s cheaper
You can double or triple the batch making it last even longer
there’s no MSG, no anti caking agents or any processed fillers to worry about.
You doesn’t take very long to prepare it all
You can customise according to your taste/preference
It’s fun!!

The ingredients to make creole cajun seasoning mix

Onion powder
Garlic powder
Paprika
Black pepper
Himalayan pink salt
Oregano
Cayenne pepper
Thyme
Red chilli flakes (optional)

What recipes can I use this creole cajun seasoning mix for?

This seasoning is a favourite of mine it’s fiery and extra spicy, if you like HOT flavours then this spice is mindblowing and multi-purpose.

Try this seasoning in any of the following recipes;

Notes and tips for making creole cajun seasoning mix

Store the creole cajun seasoning in an air tight container to increase longevity.
Use dried herbs and spices to prepare the spice blend, you don’t need fresh ingredients and will save yourself some money by following the former.
Double, triple and quadruple the amount as required.
The recipe makes 3-4 tablespoon worth of spice blend.
If you don’t like nor care for a lot of heat simply reduce the amount of chilli flakes and/or cayenne. There’s even the option to remove the chilli/pepper if you wish.
Add the salt separately if you prefer to include when making your dishes instead
If you want a finer/powdery consistency simply blitz the ingredients in a spice/coffee grinder

Other spice blends you make like

Jamaican jerk seasoning

Lemon pepper seasoning

Jamaican curry powder

Sazon seasoning

All purpose seasoning