New Orleans Gumbo with Shrimp and Sausage
My take on a hearty New Orleans Gumbo with shrimp and sausage! I’m making the roux from scratch so it’s extra flavorful! This recipe is perfect to make on the weekend and enjoy all week long as the flavor gets BETTER with time!
A biiiig ol’ pot of steaming hot New Orleans style GUMBO right here.
Talk about this being the highlight of the week! A big pot of gumbo with shrimp, sausage, and if you’re feeling extra generous, some chicken! I love making these kinds of meals on a Sunday. It’s hearty and cozy and the leftovers are enjoyed for a quick lunch all week long. Just think – a warm bowl of rice topped with a slow-simmered, tomato-based stew loaded with aromatics like onions, peppers, and celery. It’s spicy, hearty, and completely made-from-scratch. Okay, it’s basically amazing. I don’t know about you, but I LIVE for food like this.
This is for my food lovers out there that don’t mind taking a few extra minutes to make GOOD FOOD. It’s perfect to curl up with on the couch. If you’re in Texas, have the air conditioner on full blast while you pretend isn’t just shy of reading 1000 degrees. And if it happens to be cool when you’re making this, I promise you it will warm you to your bones!
Let me just say it now, THIS is a LOOOOOONG post. If you are a gumbo expert and just want a recipe, feel free to scroll to the bottom. I’m sharing all the things I’ve learned from when I was a noob.
While this was still in the recipe testing phase, I read pretty much everything on the topic. Not to mention the countless videos I sat through to make sure I learned how to make a proper roux. And though I’m not claiming I’m an expert in gumbo making or that my recipe is an authentic ‘Creole’ or ‘Cajun’ recipe, I will say I’ve picked up quite a few things along the way that can help make your pot more delicious.
Best tips for making the best gumbo:
- The cookware: The roux in this recipe requires extra special love and care and so I really suggest using a dutch oven or a heavy bottom pot. A pot that’s pretty thin, like a stockpot is not a good option for this recipe. Stockpots get super hot and you run the risk of burning the roux. But you could make the roux in a cast iron skillet, then transfer to a stock pot and continue from there.
- The Mise En Place: Basically all I’m saying is that just get your ingredients ready to go! Chopping while browning the roux is a big no-no. I highly, highly, highly suggest getting the chopping, measuring, and having all ingredients ready to go before you start making the roux. Trust me on this, it will make your life so much easier.
The secret to making the perfect roux for homemade gumbo recipe:
What is roux?
It’s basically the heart and soul of every gumbo recipe. I’ll elaborate further It’s a simple combination of oil and flour that is slowly browned to perfection. You want a nice, deep, and rich flavor that gumbo is known for. In our case, we’re using equal parts of each.
- A high heat oil. You can use corn, avocado, canola, or vegetable. I don’t suggest using olive, coconut, or any other oil that has a low smoke point. You need something that can really withstand the heat and the longer cooking time.
- All-purpose flour. I’ve only tested this recipe with all-purpose flour so sadly, I can’t say if any other type will work.
- Continuously stirring: I know, I’m asking a lot here! Okay, so yes, this needs a total of 15-20 minutes of constant stirring and constant attention. And yes, I’m asking you to drop everything. No multitasking in general but a big pot of gumbo is in your future and I promise you, you will love me a little more when you don’t have a burnt, smelly pot of caked-on flour to clean because like a champ, you listened and babied your roux.
Know the stages of a roux:
Okay. So now that I’ve stressed the importance of constant stirring and no daydreaming while roux-making, let me walk you through what to expect in terms of the roux. The timing may vary 1-2 minutes but this is a guideline to help you make sure you’re on the right track. If at any point your roux is browning too much/too little, adjust the heat slightly to help it get back on track.
- The blond roux: This is the most basic type of roux that we make. It’s what you make when preparing a béchamel sauce and it’s also what we use to make my shrimp enchiladas with poblano cream sauce. The roux is nice and light and usually requires just a quick 30 seconds -1 minute of browning the flour.
- 5-minute roux: This reminds me of the color of tahini paste. It’ll be a little deeper than the blond roux but we need to keep going. Keep in mind, as we cook the roux, it is losing its thickening power. This means that the darker the roux, the less it will thicken your gumbo.
- 10-minute roux: Almond butter-ish. It’s lighter than peanut butter but on its way there. You’ll notice that it smells a little like popcorn or similar to when you brown butter. A nice nutty smell.
- 15-22 minute roux: The color of homemade peanut butter. It’s dark and nutty and its a medium brown tone. I stopped my roux here (at 21 minutes exactly) because I still wanted a little thickness to the gumbo and a deep-dark roux is an acquired taste. If you’re new to gumbo making, i’d suggest leaving it at this stage! It will thicken the dish just enough and the flavor will be well pronounced without overpowering.
- 25+ minute roux: Dark brown roux is the color of peanut butter. You can take the roux a little further to what is considered a black roux (about 32-40 minutes), which is about the color of dark chocolate. But keep in mind that this will change the overall taste of dish and will leave it thin (a soup like consistency) and a black roux just isn’t for everyone!
Basic ingredients in gumbo:
- Oil: Is one of the two ingredients needed to make the roux.
- All-purpose flour: Is the other ingredient need to prepare the roux. It’s the first step of making gumbo.
- The holy trinity: This is a combination of yellow onions, celery, and bell peppers. Keep in mind that I used a colorful array of peppers, however, just green bell peppers would also work for this recipe
- Garlic: you can use as much or as little as you like, I use 6 cloves for that perfect flavor!
- Bay Leaves:
- Sausage: Andouille sausage is most commonly used when making gumbo. I
- Seasonings: You’ll need cajun or creole seasoning, Louisiana hot sauce, and cayenne pepper to add some heat.
- Tomatoes:
- Chicken broth: we’ll need a quart. Homemade chicken stock is best because it allows you to control the sodium in the recipe. But you can also use a carton of store-bought or dissolve a few cubes of bouillon in water and use that.
- Shrimp: I like to use shrimp in my homemade gumbo but I have seen all sorts of other additions like oysters and crab legs in a seafood gumbo.
- Filé Powder: or gumbo filé as it’s sometimes called is a spicy herb made from dried and ground sassafras leaves.
- Ingrdients for serving: I like to have some chopped scallions and fluffy white rice to serve. Gumbo can also be served in a bowl like a soup.
You’re still here! I was afraid I might have scared you off! Honestly, it’s not difficult to make, it just requires some attention. After you make it for the first time, you’ll be able to tell exactly how long it takes to get your roux to that perfect sweet spot. From then on making gumbo will be a breeze. Possibly even a midweek affair?
Oh, two more things! My recipe uses stewed tomatoes, if you can’t find stewed tomatoes, diced tomatoes can be used. Also, some people don’t believe in adding tomatoes to their gumbo recipe and I’m actually loving the way that tomatoes taste in this! Authentic or not, it’s delicious! I also chose not to use okra in this recipe, as I’m not the biggest fan of it. I’m a texture girl and something about it just doesn’t sit right with me.
A pot full of this stuff was slow simmering last Friday, all morning long. For lunch, hubby and I ate like king and queen. A bowlful of this stuff really made me miss the short time we spent in the French Quarter a couple of years back. I didn’t even have to call when lunch was ready, the smell of slow-simmered, home-cooked stews have their way of getting everyone together at the table.
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New Orleans Gumbo with Shrimp and Sausage
My take on a hearty New Orleans Gumbo with shrimp and sausage! I'm making the roux from scratch so it's extra flavorful! This recipe is perfect to make on the weekend and enjoy all week long as the flavor gets BETTER with time! I highly suggest reading the post once all the way through before starting the recipe. I provide lots of tips to get the perfect roux color which will help make this process much easier.
Ingredients
roux:
- ½ cup high heat oil, such as canola, corn, or vegetable
- ½ cup all purpose flour
gumbo:
- 1 medium onion, diced
- 2 bell peppers (I used ½ of each red, green, yellow, orange - see note), diced
- 3 stalks celery, diced
- 6 cloves garlic, minced
- 3 bay leaves
- 8 ounces andouille sausage, sliced (I used Tofurky)
- 2 tablespoons EACH: cajun seasoning AND tabasco sauce (more or less to taste)
- 1 tablespoon cayenne (omit if you want it mild)
- 4 cups low sodium chicken broth
- 1 (14.5 ounce can) stewed tomatoes and juices, roughly diced
- 1 ½ pounds raw shrimp
- 2 teaspoons gumbo filé
- sliced scallions + white rice or quinoa, for serving
Instructions
ROUX:
- Heat the oil in a large dutch oven or a heavy bottom pot over medium-high heat. Whisk in the flour until combined and smooth. Switch to a wooden spoon and continuously stir for 15-22 minutes or until the roux darkens to just past a deep peanut butter color. Do not let the roux burn! (if you smell it burning, you will need to throw is out, clean the pot, and start over, unfortunately there's just no saving burnt roux!)
- Once the roux reaches that deep rich brown color, stir in the onions, bell peppers, and celery and continue to cook, stirring as needed so the vegetables don't stick. About 8-10 minutes or until the veggies soften. Add the garlic, andouille sausage (if using tofurky, do not add yet), and bay leaves. Continue to cook for an additional 1-2 minutes until the garlic is nice and fragrant.
- Add the cajun seasoning, tabasco sauce, and cayenne along with the chicken broth and stewed tomatoes and bring to a high simmer before lowering the heat to medium-low, covering and simmering for 15-20 minutes.
- IF USING TOFURKY: Add a teaspoon of oil to a skillet over medium high heat. Add the slices and cook for a quick 90 seconds (turning half way) just to sear the outside before adding to the gumbo.
- Add the shrimp and tofurky (if using) to the gumbo, give it a stir and allow to continue to simmer for an additional 10-15 minutes or until the shrimp is opaque and the veggies have softened. Taste and season with salt and pepper as desired. Add the gumbo filé and stir. Remove bay leaves before serving.
- TO SERVE: Serve warm with white rice or quinoa with sliced scallions on top.
Notes
- You don't have to use all the colors for the bell peppers. I just really enjoy the taste that they bring to the party! You can use 1 green and 1 red bell pepper and still achieve a similar flavor.
- Tofurky is a sausage that's completely meatless. You can use the Andouille variety, which is a little difficult to find or the Kielbasa which most grocery stores carry.
- 1 (14.5-ounce can) diced tomatoes can be used in place of the stewed tomatoes as they can be hard to find sometimes.
- Gumbo filé - available in the ethnic food aisle near where they keep the cajun seasonings. It's basically ground leaves from the sassafras tree.
- Also, please keep in mind that this recipe has not been tested with any other ingredients than what is written. For best results, I suggest following the recipe as is (with the exception of spices to taste).
This looks so good! Thank you for posting. I will be craving this all day now 🙂
I never write reviews and I had to come back to say this was DELICIOUS! I was so intimidated by making Gumbo but this was the first time and it was so stinking tasty!! If your on the fense about making this, just do it!!
Seriously everything I’d hoped it would be! So delicious an satisfying! You know how you often cook a meal and everyone else thinks it’s great but by that stage you’re less than impressed. Something to do with smelling it and tasting it over and over. This was different, I couldn’t get enough! I’m looking forward to sampling it over and over again over the next couple of days. Not sure what I did different but my roux was ready in about 10 minutes on a very low heat. I suspect the bottom of the pot was thinner than I thought. Still, I didn’t burn it 🙂 yay me! I haven’t had many gumbos but this recipe will be a regular for me.
followed your recipe step by step it turned out amazing I put andouillu sausage, shrimp and crab meat in mine it was amazing!! I will definitely be making this again in my near future.
This is an awesome recipe. Unfortunately I did not have the file, but none the less the recipe was simple, easy to follow and the meal turned out delicious!
You show cilantro rice with this, How about the recipe for that, linked in this blog….thanks.
Sure looks good. can’t wait to try it.
Hey there! It’s just plain, par-boiled rice that I prepared and dusted with chopped cilantro for pictures. Hope you enjoy the gumbo! 🙂
I made this for Fat Tuesday dinner. My family loved it and said we need to make it again. The only thing I did different was not to add cayenne pepper which would have made it to hot for us. Also the roux only took me 11 minutes to get to the rich color. I cooked it in as cast iron pot which maybe cooked it faster. Great dish!
This was such an awesome recipe! We used hamburger meat instead of shrimp and it was still super tasty! My husband is super picky and he ate 3 bowls!
I have never made a gumbo but I am so glad that I made this one. So yummy! The spice level was perfect! I did use all the ingredients except for the cayenne pepper and the gumbo file. I used andouille sausage and added frozen chopped okra. I didn’t want to have to stir the roux for 15-20 minutes continuously so I did a little research and found Alton Brown’s gumbo recipe and chose to cook the roux the way he does. Which is cooking it in the oven and it turned out beautifully. Then I finished cooking on the stove top. This is a recipe that I will be cooking again and again!
I have often seen Cajun seasoning as an ingredient. Is there a specific brand or do you make it from scratch.
Looking forward to trying your recipe.
I usually just use a store-bought Cajun seasoning. Tony’s is a popular brand that I use often and remember off the top of my head but there are plenty of others you can try as well 🙂
I added okra to this recipe and came out wonderful. Well seasoned and easy to follow instructions
When did you add the okra? How much did you add?
I used okra, as well. I added it with the celery, onion, and bell peppers. It worked well as a thickening agent since I was out of file.
I just tried this recipe for a potluck. It was very good. My husband wanted me to leave it and take another dish. So, I guess I will be making g this again very soon. Thank you for the recipe.
This has become a family favorite, even to the point of helping cut and prep everything for me to cook!
Do you happen to know what the serving size is for each serving? 1 cup of gumbo? 1/2 cup?
It’s been a while since I’ve made this one but I think it’s roughly 1½ cups.
Perfect gumbo!! I’m not a huge fan of bell peppers so I reduced those by half, but that’s just my personal taste. Wonderful!!
Oh my god, will be banking this recipe for sure. I made it tonight and it was absolutely amazing. I halved the tobasco and only one tea spoon of cayenne and was just the right heat for my family. Too hot for my 6 year old but she got points for trying. Will definitely be making this again x
I was so intimidated to make this but it was pretty easy and it turned out so well! I love the flavor and the spice of the dish. Will definitely be making it again!!
Loved it! Super spicy but I love spice
Amazing! I dont like celery so I used carrots instead. I also used the Tony’s bold creole seasoning made it a little more spicy but we love spicy so it was all good!
I made the gumbo for the very first time. My boyfriend is true Cajun and he said it is good!! So two thumbs up for the recipes!!
My mother was a Cajun from Bayou county in Louisiana and she never used tomatoes in her gumbo. Neither do I. Most Cajuns do not use tomatoes either. The recipe looks awesome but I would definitely leave out the tomatoes.
Different strokes for different folks. I’m also from the bayou and we always use tomatoe in our gumbo.?
Creole gumbo has tomatoes in it.
I followed the recipe and it turned out great. The stages of roux are very well explained. You can tell at every moment at what stage the roux is.
Thank you for the recipe :*
P.s i prefer it the next day when the flavours combine completely and the gumbo thickens up a bit more
Made this the other night and it was absolutely delicious! I did use creole seasoning instead of cajun seasoning on accident, but I’m sure it tastes just as wonderful with the cajun seasoning. Everyone loved it. Will definitely be making it again!
This is not a difficult recipe to make and well worth the effort. I had a nice dark brown roux in half the time stated. Everything was chopped and measured before beginning, so it flowed really well. I did cut the Cayenne by a 1/4 as it sounded like a lot and it turned out perfect for my taste. I also added quite a bit of filet powder at the end, as I like my gumbo thicker rather than soupy. This was a perfect weekend recipe, and now I don’t have to cook until Monday, as I will probably be eating it for lunch and dinner all weekend, it was that good! Thank you for sharing!
DIRECTIONS WERE PERFECT. DELICIOUS RECIPE. A WEE BIT TOO HOT FOR ME BUT MY OTHER HALF ABSOLUTELY LOVED IT.
DELICIOUS!! The recipe was super easy to follow and this is going in my official recipe book for things I am going to make over and over again!
I made this recipe and it was incredible! Easy to follow and so good. So that was about 6-8 months ago and I was craving it again so I went to my Pinterest board to remake it and I lost it! I thought I was doomed forever. I loved the detail this one had about the roux and it helped me so much. Well I stumbled upon it by accident and I cannot wait to make this tomorrow!! I will forever save this recipe! Thank you!!
Thank you for the detailed instructions and cautions! I am an experienced cook but have never made a roux. Your descriptions were spot on and I had my veggies all ready to go. Delicious recipe!
Hello my name is joshua and i love this recipe. i want to know how much other stuff i need cause i am making a big batch and have four pound of chicken thighs, two pounds of shrimp, a pound of krab abd almost two pounds of sausgae. should i just double the rest of the ingredients?
Hi there! I’m glad you like the recipe and would like to make a large batch! According to all the protein you’re planning on using, you’ll need to at least quadruple all the other ingredients. Also, just wanted to point out that depending on the size of the pot you’re using and your heat source, your cooking times may vary a bit.
This was THE BEST gumbo me and my boyfriend have ever had… and we live in Texas and eat Cajun food all the time. It was better than any Cajun restaurant. Directions were perfect! Thank you so much for this. Can’t wait to make it again!!!