Couche Couche Recipe, A Cajun Mama's Breakfast Cereal

Many Cajun mamas feed their families with this traditional Couche Couche Recipe. It's a Cajun delicacy of hot cereal made of pan-fried cornmeal mush, usually served in milk or coffee milk and sweetened with cane syrup. These cornbread crumbles make a quick and filling meal for any time of day!

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If you aren't Cajun, then you probably aren't familiar with this cereal called Couche Couche (pronounced coosh-coosh) made with cornmeal. This simple Cajun breakfast cereal, is also fitting for a snack or quick evening meal.

I've been eating it with sweet coffee milk since I was a child, and one whiff of its rich popcorn scent instantly comforts me.  

Once, I asked my Maw-maw Trahan what they ate for supper when she was a child. She said their main meal was at dinner (that's lunchtime), and supper (which is dinner to most) was usually leftovers or something simple, like couche couche.

After a hard day's work, there wasn't much energy left to prepare another big meal, so simple suppers were the answer.

Classics Like the Couche Couche Recipe

Another favorite breakfast food in Cajun home cooking is French Toast Or Pain Perdu (Lost Bread) . The outside is crisp and crunchy, and the inside is soft and custardy. Top it with butter, syrup, or powdered sugar then sprinkle it with fresh berries. Yum!

For a quick bite with your morning coffee, try this traditional Galette Des Rois: Traditional French King Cake Recipe It's an original king cake from northern France. The simple and easy-to-make pâtisserie of golden buttery puff pastry has a filling of creamy frangipane tucked with a hidden prize—a cake full of meaningful symbolism.

Jump to:

• Ingredients
• Instructions
• Substitutions
• Variations
• Equipment
• Storage
• Top Tip
• FAQ
• Related
• Pairing

Ingredients

The idea of couche couche is so smart. It's made with common ingredients found in most kitchens. It's quick, economical, filling, and can be eaten in so many ways. 

• Canola, or Vegetable oil - keeps the crust from sticking and fries the cornmeal mixture to form a crust.
• Yellow Cornmeal - plain cornmeal, not the cornmeal mix that has leaven already added.
• Salt - the saltiness complements the other ingredients and gives a salty-sweet taste when sweet additions are added.
• Baking powder - a leavening agent that causes the cornmeal mixture to rise.
• Baking Soda - for more leavening power.
• Water - to moisten the batter.

See the recipe card below for specific ingredients and nutrition facts.

Instructions

This simple dish gives an aroma when cooking like popcorn, but richer. Yum!

1. Heat the oil in a 10-inch cast-iron skillet over medium-high heat.
2. Mix cornmeal with the rest of the dry ingredients together in a medium bowl. 
3. Add the water and stir to mix well.
4. Pour batter into the hot oil, and spread the cornmeal mixture evenly with a spoon.
5. Lower heat to medium heat, and allow the crust to form and brown along the side of the pot.
6. Turn the couche couche over using a spatula before the crust sticks; the crust should be golden brown. 
7. Cover and cook for 15 minutes; lower the heat under the hot skillet and stir occasionally.
8. Serve hot.

The couche couche has golden lumps of cornbread and dark, crispy edges mixed in the cereal.

Hint:  Use the spatula to cut the couche couche into pie shapes, turning them over before covering the skillet.

Substitutions

Olive oil is a great substitute for canola or vegetable oil when cooking the batter in a cast iron skillet.

Instead of cooking oil, bacon grease adds smoky bacon flavor to the couch couche. 

Sweeten with sugar substitutes for sugar sensitive diets.

Variations

This simple Cajun breakfast cereal can be served in a sweet or savory version. Some people like it with milk, sugar, steen's syrup, preserves, eggs, sausage, gravy, and whatever suits their taste buds!

Mama said her daddy used to eat it with fig preserves like rice and gravy. I would never have thought of that one, but every Cajun has his own way of eating couche couche.

Equipment

The couche couche cooks well in a 10-inch or 12-inch cast-iron skillet, but any heavy pot such as a large Dutch oven will do. A good sturdy wooden spatula works well to turn the hot cereal over before covering the pot to finish cooking.

Storage

Store the cooked cereal after it cools in an air-tight container in the refrigerator for up to 5 days.

I like making an extra batch to keep in the freezer for up to a couple of months in a zip-lock bag. This is ideal for a quick breakfast food any time of the day.

FAQ

Related

For more great cornmeal recipes like this Couche Couche, try these:

Pairing

These are my favorite dishes to serve with Couche Couche:

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