Healthier and Easy Mardi Gras Recipes (2024)

FAQs

What are 3 traditional foods prepared during Mardi Gras? ›

Try classic Mardi Gras recipes like shrimp étouffée, jambalaya, or red beans and rice, or fix something unexpected for a group of party guests like warm gumbo dip or cornbread hush puppies. No collection of Mardi Gras recipes would be complete without sweets.

Depending on your tradition, religion, or culture, people enjoy a variety of foods on Fat Tuesday, including pancakes, king cake, jambalaya, or a crawfish boil. Individuals consume foods high in fat and sugar to prepare for Lenten fasting.

Dirty Rice

Although the liver is typically seen as a staple ingredient, dirty rice can be made without it. The rice itself is cooked in chicken and beef stock, giving it an incredible flavor and making it dark in appearance, hence the name “dirty rice.”

Candlemas (la Chandeleur) and Shrove Tuesday (Mardi-Gras) are the highlights and the tradition is to indulge in “crêpes”, the delicious thin French pancakes and “beignet”, French doughnuts which are crispy fried dough pastries dusted with icing sugar.

At the center of local parading customs is the peculiar term “krewe” itself. A krewe is, simply, a club or organization that exists to celebrate Carnival. But while a krewe has royalty, the positions of king and queen are merely ceremonial.

Gumbo is really a soup or stew that's often served over a little rice, while jambalaya is made with the rice cooked into the dish, making the grain an integral part of it. In gumbo, there should be more liquid than rice, while jambalaya should not be liquid-y or mushy. "Jambalaya is a way to cook rice.

There are fasting guidelines on Ash Wednesday and throughout Lent, but Fat Tuesday generally does not have restrictions on what to eat.

Traditional Fat Tuesday Meals

Many celebrations include donuts, pancakes, and Polish Pączki. One popular favorite food item is Mardi Gras King Cake—a delicious cake with a small plastic baby hidden inside, representing the baby Jesus.

Traditionally, pancakes were eaten in abundance on Fat Tuesday so that the kitchens could be cleared of all butter, eggs, and milk since these were not eaten during Lent.

What is New Orleans style food called? ›

Cajun and Creole food are both native to Louisiana and can be found in restaurants throughout New Orleans. One of the simplest differences between the two cuisine types is that Creole food typically uses tomatoes and tomato-based sauces while traditional Cajun food does not.

At a Mardi Gras party, the king cake is sliced and served fresh. Each reveler looks to see if their piece of king cake contains the small baby. If so, then that person is declared “king for a day” and bound by historical Mardi Gras custom to host the next party.