Gumbo Recipe
Spice up your weeknight meals with the best gumbo recipe in town! This chicken, sausage, and seafood stew is bursting with authentic Cajun flavors from Creole seasoning, paprika, and gumbo filé. And the richly flavored broth and roux make every spoonful simply delicious and comforting.
If you’re looking for the best Louisiana gumbo recipe, then you’ve come to the right place. (Ahem!) Many years of trial and error have finally led this gumbo lover to the perfect recipe. And now, I can proudly share this recipe with you. Not to brag, but this gumbo will surely be your new favorite!
Cajun vs. Creole Gumbo
The debate rages on among the purists. However, I’m not a purist, so for me, it’s all good. The simple difference is the tomatoes. Creole cuisine goes for the tomatoes, and Cajun does not. Cajun roux tends to be darker than the Creole.
However, the similarities are unifying. The holy trinity, bell pepper, celery, and onion, provides the authentic flavor, and a roux thickens it. So, adapt it to your tastes and call it your own.
How to Make Gumbo
- Season the chicken and sear it in a hot pan. Set aside, and brown the sausage. Set aside, and make the roux.
- Add the holy trinity, stir well, then add the broth. Add the chicken and sausage, then add the seafood and simmer until the shrimp are done. Add tomatoes if desired. Adjust the gumbo to your desired consistency.
Recipe Tips and Twists
- For a Cajun gumbo, leave out the tomatoes and make the roux a little darker.
- Throw a flame-throwing party with scotch bonnets, serrano peppers, jalapenos, or habaneros. Or a dash of cayenne adds a kick of heat that’s not too overpowering.
- Enjoy a plant-based gumbo with vegan meat substitutes, mushrooms, and cauliflower.
- If using okra to thicken the soup base, chop the okra and add it to your gumbo 10 minutes before it’s done.
Make-Ahead and Leftovers
Gumbo (and most tomato-based dishes) tastes even better the next day. So, if you want to save time before the big event, cook the gumbo the day before, and wait for reheating time to add the crab legs and shrimp. Heat it up, and add the seafood when you’re ready to serve. Relax and enjoy!
Transfer cooled, leftover gumbo into an airtight container or ziplock bag. It will last in the fridge for 3-4 days or in the freezer for 3-4 months. Thaw overnight in the fridge, and heat it up in a saucepan for a quick weeknight dinner.
What Goes Well With Gumbo
A bowl of steaming hot rice and a loaf of crusty French bread is a must, but it also goes great with mashed potatoes if you’re grain-free. A potato salad and cornbread are also tasty sides for gumbo.
More Comforting Soul Food Recipes to Try
Watch How to Make It
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This post was first published in January 2014 and has been updated with additional tips, beautiful new photos, and a video.
Gumbo Recipe
Ingredients
- 2 pounds (900g) skinless chicken thighs
- salt and pepper to taste (see notes)
- 1 tablespoon (12g) Creole seasoning or to taste
- 2 tablespoons (30ml) canola oil
- 8 ounces (250g) smoked sausage (andouille, kielbasa, and Polish sausage work well)
- ¼ cup (60g) unsalted butter
- ½ cup (60g) flour
- 1 medium onion, diced
- 2 teaspoons (10g) minced garlic
- 1 medium green bell pepper, diced
- 1 cup (120g) chopped celery (about 3 stalks)
- ½ pound (250g) crab legs
- 1 tablespoon (12g) Creole seasoning
- 1 tablespoon (10g) chicken bouillon powder (1 cube)
- ½ tablespoon (4-5g) smoked paprika
- 1 tablespoon (6g) thyme (fresh or dried)
- 2 bay leaves
- 1 14-ounce can tomatoes, chopped (optional)
- 6 cups (1.5l) chicken stock (or 6 cups water and 6 teaspoons of bouillon)
- 1 pound (450g) shrimp, peeled and deveined
- 1 tablespoon (6g) gumbo filé
- 2 green onions, chopped
- ¼ cup (15g) chopped parsley
Instructions
- Lightly season the chicken with salt, pepper, and Creole seasoning.
- Heat the oil over medium heat in a heavy-bottomed Dutch oven. Then cook the chicken until browned on both sides, remove it, and set it aside.
- Brown the sausage, and set it aside.
- Melt the butter with the oil in the same pan, then sprinkle in the flour and stir until smooth.
- Cook on medium heat, stirring continuously, for about 20-30 minutes or until it turns a rich dark brown color, just like chocolate. Please don't walk away from the stove during this process, or it could burn. The time it takes is so worth it.
- When you have achieved your desired color, remove the Dutch oven from the heat and let it cool slightly.
- Return it to the heat. Add the onion, garlic, green pepper, and celery, and cook for 8-10 minutes, stirring frequently.
- Then add chicken, sausage, crab legs, Creole seasoning, chicken bouillon or cubes, paprika, thyme, and bay leaves, and let it cook for 5 minutes.
- Follow with the tomatoes (if using) and about 6 cups of chicken stock, then bring to a boil and simmer for 45-50 minutes. After that, add the shrimp and simmer for 5 more minutes.
- Stir in filé powder, green onions, and parsley. Adjust the soup's thickness and flavor to preferences.
Tips & Notes:
- The standard for salting to taste is ¾-1 teaspoon per pound of meat. If you are on a low-salt diet, start with ½ teaspoon or less and do a taste test after making the sauce to see if it needs more. You should taste all the wonderful spices, not the salt.
- There is no shortcut to a good roux. Take your time and cook your flour-fat mixture until it’s beautifully dark and smooth. Keep your eye on the roux and stir continuously when cooking it because it burns quickly. If available, use a wooden spoon to mix your roux.
- Creole and Cajun seasonings are similar, and they work interchangeably in this recipe. If the sauce tastes bland, add more.
- If using okra to thicken the soup base, chop the okra and add it to your gumbo 10 minutes before it’s done.
- Please keep in mind that the nutritional information is a rough estimate and can vary significantly based on the products used in the recipe.
Made this last night for our snowy Halloween. It was my first time ever making Gumbo. Everybody loved it. I will be making it again for the opening weekend of Deer Season in a couple weeks. Such a yummy comfort food.
I NEVER Leace reviews. Ever. And it became an absolute must after making this last night. You can literally taste the layers of flavor in this dish. The depth it has is out of this world. Not only did our house smell absolutely amazing, but my husband loved it as well. This is such a hit, you would t be disappointed
Brielle, this is amazing! I am ecstatic that it was a hit in your home. It is indeed one of my favorites. Thank you for stopping by!
Cooked this for a after trick or treat get together.
Everyone raved about this gumbo. Thank goodness I made enough! Must try it. Its a crowd pleaser for sure.
I haven’t even thought about using this dish in relation to Halloween but that sounds great! I’m glad you enjoyed 🙂
I made this today and just finished eating it oh my God I deviated from the recipe a little bit out of my own will touch and I usually don’t use measuring cups which I didn’t in this case I added a few pieces of corn on the cob this was amazing OMG it was awesome.
Those sound like great additions Johnnie! Glad you enjoyed 🙂
I’m making this happen right now and it smells amazing!!
Oh wow, so jealous! Eat up! 🙂
This recipe is !!!!!! Nough said!!!!!
doesn’t sound great to make all the changes to this amazing africanbites recipe it’s perfect the way it is
I loved reading your recipe!! It is very similar to my own. I actually combined several recipes to make it mine. Basically the difference’s in mine and yours is no crab or shrimp, no file, I use a whole rotisserie chicken deboned, use bones and skin to make my own stock, then use 1 lb. of smoked sausage cut in half moon slices and 1 bag okra pieces and no smoked paprika(however, I may add this to give it a little smokiness). Love to get new ideas for recipes. Thank you for sharing.
That’s a great alternative! Thanks for sharing!
doesn’t sound great to make all the changes to this amazing africanbites recipe it’s perfect the way it is
I just made the gumbo and it was the best. I will be making it again soon
Woohoo Gloria, I’m very happy to hear that 🙂
Wow ,must try this
You must! 🙂
The Gumbo looks very tasty with all the seafood, i love your cooking style, Thanks for sharing.
Thanks Deborah! Hope you try it out!
My favorite meal of all time
Great recipe! This is pretty true to the classic creole-style gumbo theme. I’ve heard that Cajun style has rules against using meat AND seafood together, and doesn’t use tomato, but is otherwise pretty similar.
There’s two things I do slightly differently: One is adding the garlic only during the last minute or two that the vegetables are cooking. The other is to let it simmer for a good 2 hours before finishing it, because a really dark brown roux takes FOREVER to cook out.
Oh! and speaking of the roux, you can save some time cooking it if you get the oil really hot, then whisk the flour into it. It cuts the time for cooking that down from 30-45 minutes to 15 or so, once you get the hang of it.
I am simply amazed by not only the diversity of you recipes but the quality of the food as well. Please keep up the good work! Jack
I checked out the recipe here for reference for making Gumbo my second time ever. A tip for the shrimp, i put the shrimp shells in a small pot with a little water and boiled a few minutes and then strained the liquid into my Gumbo gravy which added a great shrimp flavor. I had seen that before somewhere that you can extract a lot of flavor off of the shells.
Awesome! Thanks for taking time out to share this with us.
Just thought that I would pass this piece of culinary history on to the uninitiated. Gumbo which is so popular in the South, has it roots in Africa. In fact the word “gumbo” is Swahili (an African dialect) for okra.
By the way Imma, this is an excellent recipe that you posted. I’ve lived in Louisiana for the past fifty-eight years and I love gumbo. My wife was born and raised in New Orleans and is an excellent cook. We enjoy gumbo as often as we can.
How do I make your creole seasoning. Thank You
Hi. Please see my homemade creole seasoning here >> https://www.africanbites.com/creole-seasoning/
I’ve used raw, fresh pan seared, rotisserie and left over chicken. It all works. If it’s raw I’d consider chopping it first or shredding it after tho.
Yes. Oil and butter with flour. Usually in equal parts for rue. 1/4 cup butter + 1/4 cup oil for a half cup of fat to 1/2 cup of flour.
It’s sassafras leaves. Usual brand you can find is Tony Chachere’s. It thickens the stew. You can add it individually to the bowls after serving or put it in as it is cooling down. Don’t cook it though, it tends to overthicken.
Yes. Raw, peeled and deveined shrimp