Paul Prudhomme (July 13, 1940 – October 8, 2015), also known as Gene Autry Prudhomme, was an American celebrity chef whose specialties were Creole and Cajun cuisines, which he was also credited with popularizing. He was the chef proprietor of K-Paul's Louisiana Kitchen in New Orleans, and had formerly owned and run several other restaurants. He developed several culinary products, including hot sauce and seasoning mixes, and wrote 11 cookbooks.

The youngest of 13 children born to Eli Prudhomme, Jr. and Hazel Reed, Prudhomme was raised on a farm near Opelousas, the seat of Saint Landry Parish, Louisiana. His father was a farmer, who struggled financially during Prudhomme's childhood, and his mother was a creative cook.

Previously named after Saint Paul, as chosen by a Catholic priest, Prudhomme adopted the pseudonym "Gene Autry Prudhomme" during his youth.

His maternal ancestors include early Acadian settlers Martin Aucoin (c. 1651 – 1711) and Marie Gaudet (c. 1657 – 1734).

Prudhomme opened his first restaurant in Opelousas in 1957, a hamburger restaurant called Big Daddy O's Patio. The restaurant went out of business in nine months, during which time his first marriage also ended. He became a magazine seller initially in New Orleans, and afterward several restaurant jobs took him around the country. During this period he began creating his own spice mixes and giving them away to customers. In 1970, he moved back to New Orleans to work as a sous chef at Le Pavillon Hotel. He soon left to open Clarence Dupuy's restaurant Maison du Puy. While there, he met his second wife, Kay Hinrichs, who worked at the restaurant as a waitress. In 1975, Prudhomme left to become the first American-born executive chef at Commander's Palace under Richard Brennan, Sr. Chef Paul turned the Garden District restaurant into a world-class destination.

In 1979, Prudhomme and Kay opened K-Paul's Louisiana Kitchen in the French Quarter of New Orleans. The restaurant was named as a portmanteau of their names, with Paul working as head chef and Kay as restaurant manager. For a while he attempted to operate the restaurant while still working at Commander's Palace, but the demand in his new restaurant was such that he moved to work there full-time, while also appointing Emeril Lagasse to take over as executive chef at Commanders Palace. In 1980, Prudhomme was made a Chevalier (Knight) of the French Ordre National du Mérite Agricole in honor of his work with Cajun and Creole cuisines.

His cookbook, Paul Prudhomme's Louisiana Kitchen, was published by William Morrow and Company in 1984. It was given a Culinary Classic Book Award in 1989 by the International Association of Culinary Professionals. Prudhomme has been credited with having popularized cajun cuisine and in particular blackened redfish during the 1980s. The popularity of the fish was such that commercial fishing of the species was restricted to prevent its extinction. Prudhomme was also credited with introducing the turducken into American cuisine.

During a summer residence in New York City in 1985, Prudhomme's pop-up restaurant was reported to the Board of Health, which visited the restaurant and closed it before it opened, reporting 29 violations of the city's health code. Prudhomme ignored the order and opened the restaurant anyway, resulting in the Board of Health threatening him with jail time if he continued to operate the restaurant. The city's mayor Ed Koch appeared with Prudhomme at the restaurant to declare an end to what the media reported as the "gumbo war". The restaurant was quite successful during the five weeks it was open, with lines sometimes reaching four blocks long. Four years later, Prudhomme opened a permanent restaurant in New York City at 622 Broadway, which had queues of up to two hours.