Cajun Seasoning Recipe

Making your own Cajun seasoning blend with my easy homemade Cajun Seasoning recipe. This staple of Cajun cuisine is a must have in any spice lovers cabinet. It is far easier to make a batch of this homemade spice blend, than adding all these spices individually to your Cajun food and Creole cooking. So, lets make a jar or two.

In my opinion homemade Cajun seasoning tastes better than store bought, which is often overly salty. If you love spicy food this is for you!

Cajun Seasoning

This Cajun spice mix is of course essential for making any recipe that calls for Cajun seasoning. It is also a good stand in for Creole seasoning and is generally what is used as a blackening spice blend as well.

This is the blackening seasoning I used on both my Blackened Salmon recipe and Blackened Chicken.

How to Make Cajun Seasoning

Preparing this recipe is easy with common spices right from your spice drawer.

What is Cajun Seasoning made of?

Here is what I use in my Cajun Seasoning Recipe:

• Paprika
• Salt (Sea Salt or Himalayan Pink Salt)
• Italian Seasoning
• Onion Powder
• Garlic Powder
• Cumin
• White Pepper
• Freshly ground black Pepper
• Cayenne Pepper

Notes: The Italian seasoning can also be home mixed, many recipes for this seasoning simply call for oregano and thyme. So feel free to swap in 3 parts oregano and 1 part thyme if you prefer. I also a a little ground mustard sometimes, especially when using the blend as a blackening spice mix.  

Cajun Seasoning Uses

The homemade seasoning is quite versatile. I use it on Cajun Shrimp, in my Cajun Chicken Appetizers, Blackened Salmon, Cajun Pasta (with chicken and sausage) and  Cajun Keto Crackers.

It is also an easy way to season meats for grilling, dirty rice, fried chicken and of course, jambalaya and gumbo. Add a scoop to your next batch of baked beans, such as my Crockpot Baked Beans with Ground Beef or use as a dry rub on chicken breasts.

Is Creole seasoning same as Cajun?

Traditionally, Cajun seasoning contained fewer ingredients than Creole spice mix, but over time the two have become pretty much interchangeable.

If you were to use the basic original Cajun blend of just; garlic powder, onion, black pepper, and Cayenne, odds are you would be disappointed. Modern Cajun Spice is usually Creole seasoning.

Why Make Your Own Spice Mix?

Making your own homemade spice mixes is fun. It is also a great way to use up dry herbs and common spices in a timely manner. Fresh spices have better flavor. So, it makes more sense to use them making spice blends, rather than keeping  jars around for year or even more. Personally, I like homemade better than store bought anyway.

Homemade Cajun seasoning is not only a great spice mix to have in your cabinet, but jars of it also make great DIY gifts. I'm a big fan of making gifts people will actually use. In particular, this spice mixture would be nice as a housewarming gift, Father's Day gift or for your foodie friends, anytime.

The Cajun seasoning recipe will roughly fill a four ounce jar (½ pint). I prefer to split it into two 2 ounce jars myself. The image shown is one of these smaller jars. If you wish to make more or less of the spice mix, simply adjust to your requirements right in the recipe card.