New Orleans Jazz Fest Crawfish Bread Recipe

Craving the crawfish bread from New Orleans’ Jazz Fest? In this recipe, I show you how to assemble and bake your very own at home.

The combination of rich crawfish sauce encased in warm French bread is out of this world, and this recipe tastes like the real deal from Jazz Fest.

What is Crawfish Bread

Crawfish bread is made with a cheesy seafood sauce stuffed into a loaf of French bread, wrapped in foil, and baked. The bread turns crispy on the outside, while the soft middle has soaked up all the flavors of the spicy sauce and holds the crawfish so each bite is heavenly.

Boiled crawfish is a hot commodity in Louisiana from the months of March through May. What’s not eaten at the boil is often used to make dishes like this and other classic New Orleans recipes: gumbo, etouffee, and jambalaya. 

Homemade Crawfish Bread Ingredients

To make homemade crawfish bread worthy of being served at Jazz Fest, you will need:  

• Oil: for cooking the veggies. 
• Onion: adds aroma and flavors. It’s the first part of the veggie blend known as the “Holy Trinity.” 
• Celery: diced into small pieces and cooked down with the onion. 
• Bell pepper: use red or green bell pepper. 
• Garlic: brings delicious flavor to the seafood sauce.
• Creole seasoning: essential for the seafood sauce. You can use your favorite brand or make it with my Homemade Creole Seasoning recipe.  
• Crawfish tails: use a pound of leftover boiled crawfish tails or a frozen bag from the grocery store. 
• Creole mustard: adds a little kick to the sauce. 
• Greek yogurt: makes the sauce creamier. You could also use mayonnaise.
• Shredded cheese: a combination of shredded Monterrey Jack and Cheddar works great, but you can use one or the other for the full amount of cheese.  
• French bread: crispy on the outside and fluffy on the inside. Check out the recipe card for more bread substitutions. 

How to Make Crawfish Bread

If this is your first time making crawfish bread, just know it’s easy! Follow the recipe steps below and you’ll have cheesy, saucy seafood goodness at your fingertips.  

1. Prep the oven
   Preheat the oven to 350F. Place the oven rack in the middle position and place a large piece of foil onto a baking sheet. 
2. Make the sauce
   In a large skillet, heat the oil over medium-high heat, and add the onions, celery, bell pepper, garlic, and Creole seasoning. In a small bowl, stir the Greek yogurt, Creole mustard, and cheese until smooth. 
3. Stir in the crawfish
   Add the crawfish to the veggies and cook for 5 minutes before adding the cheese mixture. Stir to combine and cook until the sauce thickens. 
4. Assemble the loaf
   Slice the bread through the middle and place it onto the lined baking sheet. Spread the seafood mixture onto the bottom half of the bread, from one end to the other. Cover with the top half, and wrap the entire loaf with foil. 
5. Bake
   Bake in the oven for 15 minutes. Remove it from the oven and unwrap the loaf. Slice and serve. 

Watch this recipe video to see how crawfish bread comes together at home!

Depending on the bread you use, you might be able to fit the crawfish bread in gallon-sized zip bags or 2-gallon-sized zip bags.

To enjoy, take out the wrapped crawfish bread from the freezer, remove any plastic wrap, and wrap it in foil. Let it thaw to room temperature while preheating the oven to 350F. Bake, in the preheated oven for 20 minutes, until the sauce is heated and the bread is toasty.

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