Pantry Recipe: New Orleans Gumbo
This New Orleans gumbo recipe is a new family favorite. It’s spicy, hearty, and hits all the food groups when served over rice. It does require more pots and pans to make that I usually cook with for one meal: a stock pot for the roux, a separate pot large enough to simmer vegetables, and additional pans to boil and broil sausage and saute shrimp. Lots of dishes. We end up with leftover gumbo, which freezes well-do not include the rice when freezing.
New Orleans Gumbo
This gumbo is based on a recipe for authentic New Orleans style gumbo that has a roux base of flour and oil, finely diced celery, green peppers, and onion simmered in chicken broth and then combined with the roux, cajun spices, and one or more meats: shrimp, chicken, or sausage. Serve over rice or top with a scoop of rice.
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup flour
- 1/3 cup canola oil
- 5 stalks celery minced
- 2 green peppers minced
- 1 yellow onion (large) minced
- 1 cup fresh parsley (or 1/2 cup dry) minced
- 6 cloves garlic minced
- 1 tbsp cajun seasoning substitute mix of cayenne, cumin, red pepper flakes, garlic powder, salt (see chicken broth note)
- 4 cups chicken broth make with bouillon cubes, omit added salt to recipe
- 1 lb sausage boiled 20 min, browned in broiler, then sliced into rounds
- 1 lb shrimp peeled, deveined, sauteed in olive oil and butter with salt and garlic powder
- 1 rotisserie chicken remove meat from the bones and shred, discard bones or make broth
- 4 cups Cooked white rice for serving
Instructions
- Prepare ingredients:
Prepare the Ingredients
- Put the sausage in a large pan of water and bring to a boil. Simmer for 20 minutes (begin mincing ingredients below in the interim), drain the water, set the sausages on a broiling pan and then brown on two sides under broiler, then slice into rounds. Set aside.1 lb sausage
- Mince the celery, green pepper, onion, parsley, and garlic and place into a pot with the broth.5 stalks celery, 2 green peppers, 1 yellow onion (large), 1 cup fresh parsley (or 1/2 cup dry), 6 cloves garlic
- Prepare rice - you want approximately four cooked cups to serve six, per package instructions. If not serving six, prepare less rice and freeze the leftover gumbo without adding any rice to the frozen portion.4 cups Cooked white rice for serving
- If using shrimp, peel, devein, and then saute the shrimp in a pan with olive oil and garlic powder. Set aside.1 lb shrimp
- If using chicken, remove the meat from the rotissierie chicken and shred or chop into bite-size pieces. Set aside.1 rotisserie chicken
Make the roux
- Heat a large stock pot over medium heat and add the oil and flour, stirring to make a paste. Stir frequently, cover with a lid when not stirring, to make a roux that gradually browns. Add more oil or flour as needed to keep a pudding-like consistency. Do not add water.1/2 cup flour, 1/3 cup canola oil
Simmer celery, green pepper, onion, parsley, and garlic in broth
- Heat the broth and minced celery, green pepper, onion, parsley, and garlic in broth to a simmer and keep simmering until the vegetables are tender.5 stalks celery, 2 green peppers, 1 yellow onion (large), 1 cup fresh parsley (or 1/2 cup dry), 6 cloves garlic, 4 cups chicken broth
Combine the roux and broth mixtures
- Once the vegetables are tender and the roux has browned, add the broth mixture to the roux and stir to combine and remove any residue on the bottom of the pot. Add cajun seasoning.1 tbsp cajun seasoning
Add the meat and serve over rice
- Once the roux and broth are combined well, add the pre-cooked sausage, shrimp, and/or chicken to the gumbo. Serve over cooked rice, or put a scoop of cooked rice on top of the plated gumbo.
Notes
The roux in this recipe needs to be watched carefully, maybe with a lid in-between stirrings, and the flour and oil quantities adjusted as needed to make a pudding-like consistency that will eventually brown. This recipe is adapted from a recipe by Lauren Allen that called for a heaping cup of flour and 2/3 cup of oil, which formed big dry clumps when I tried to make it.I had no cajun seasoning, so I added cayenne pepper, cumin, red pepper flakes, and garlic powder. I made with sausage and shrimp, but not chicken, added to the top after plating. My husband thought it was delicious and requested we add it to our recipe binder.
