Cajun Roux Recipe

roux recipeCajun Roux Recipe

If you’re Cajun, you know it starts with the original Roux recipe for most of our stews and our famous gumbos which we are known for.  It doesn’t matter if you are rich or poor, rest assured a Cajun gumbo will most likely be on your table.

Although a dark brown Roux Recipe is perfect for thickening a gumbo, it is not the only choice when making gumbo; the Cajun cuisine also uses okra and file’.  Then to complicate things further, Cajun gumbos and Creole gumbos are totally different.  Therefore, if you’ve had gumbo in New Orleans, it is likely that you did not have a Cajun gumbo.

There are different kinds of Roux Recipe also within our French cuisine.  There are dark and light colored Roux’s made with vegetable oil and flour and then there is also a roux made in the microwave which is dry and made with only flour.  Then to complicate things a little further, different cooks have different ideas of how much roux should be put in a gumbo and how dark it should be.

The roux serves a few purposes such as…  it adds color to the dish, it serves as a thickener and it actually tastes really good when mixed with meats.  The meat flavor takes the roux taste to a different level.

Dark brown roux is the secret to traditional Cajun food because of the richness and depth it adds to the dish.   The secret to making a roux is to take your time and cook it on a low to medium heat.  If you rush it, rest assured it will burn and you just assume start over.

Ingredients

  • 3/4 cup oil (Canola or Vegetable)
  • 1 cup all purpose white flour

Directions

Always use a heavy skillet when making a Roux.  Add oil and heat it then add the flour stirring constantly until everything is blended well.  Never quit stirring the mixture because it will become too hot and burn.

Continue to cook over  a medium to low heat, stirring constantly until flour and oil blend to form a brown roux; you want the color of a dark copper penny.

The longer you cook it, the darker the roux will become. Remember don’t rush when cooking the roux and keep stirring; allow the mixture to develop at its own pace.  If you rush the roux, you will begin seeing little black specks in the roux and this is burnt roux.   If you taste it, it will taste bitter!
A dish made with roux always taste better the next day or, if frozen, the next time it’s reheated.   Also, the next step after making a roux is adding the “Cajun Holy Trinity” vegetables.  This is a mixture of diced onions, bell pepper and celery.  See hints below for sautéed onions, bell pepper and celery.

Cooking Tips

When cooking most Cajun dishes, it’s all about the flavors; it begins usually with our Cajun Holy trinity melody of SAUTEED onions, bell pepper and celery.  The trick to making this melody perfect is to saute it in either butter or olive oil (depending on the dish) on a low heat.  You want to end up with your vegetables transparent and not crunchy.  Your dish will not taste the way it should if your melody of vegetables are crunchy.

The next tip is to use a Cajun seasoning that does not have salt in it.  This allows you to add as much of the spices and herbs from the seasoning you want while having full control over the salt content.  I use Benoits Cajun Seasoning and Redmond Real Salt (Sea Salt) for that reason.

More Recipes

More recipes from the Louisiana Cajun Mansion Bed & Breakfast.  Recipes at the Louisiana Cajun Mansion Bed & Breakfast made with a roux are chicken and sausage gumbo, shrimp gumbo, seafood gumbo and shimp okra gumbo.