This Authentic New Orleans Gumbo is made with a dark roux, vegetables, chicken, sausage, and shrimp, and served over rice. This is a beloved recipe shared with me by a native New Orleanian.
As you probably have gathered, I love making comfort food style recipes that use lots of fresh produce and real ingredients. This gumbo is no exception, and if you like this then I know you'll love Jambalaya and Instant Pot Red Beans and Rice.
We had a really fun neighbor growing up who was from New Orleans and made a fantastic homemade Gumbo! I'm so thankful my Mom took him up on his offer to teach her how to make a true, authentic Gumbo! Decades later it is a beloved recipe that has become a staple in our family and we have made it hundreds of times! It is definitely in my top favorite meals of all time! Nothing tastes better on a cold winter day.
Gumbo vs. jambalaya:
Jambalaya is primarily a rice dish (think paella) while gumbo is more of a stew that is thickened with a roux and made with chicken, sausage, and/or seafood. Both gumbo and jambalaya are often made with some similar meats and vegetables but the process of making them and flavors of the end result are completely different. Here is my favorite Jambalaya recipe!
The key to this recipe is the Roux!
A “roux” is made with two ingredients; flour and oil, and it's the key to any great gumbo recipe! The flour and oil are cooked and stirred together for about 30-45 minutes until it becomes dark brown almost like mud, or chocolate and the consistency of dough. The roux is what adds the deep, rich flavor to the gumbo, and it gives it it's thick texture. Make a good roux is a labor of love, but but one that totally pays off, and you can make it ahead of time!
Step-by-step Authentic Gumbo:
1. Make the roux. in a large pot, combine flour and oil and cook, stirring constantly on medium low heat. You have to be careful to stir it constantly, on medium low heat, so that you don't burn it. It's easy, but takes patience. The darker the roux, the richer the flavor!
2. Chop the veggies. When you're ready to make your gumbo, start by chopping celery, onions, bell pepper, parsley. I love the freshness from the green bell pepper, onion, celery and parsley. You can also add okra, if you want. Add it at the same time as the other vegetables.
3. Brown the sausage. Spread the sausage in a single layer on a hot, large skillet. Once browned, flip each one over individually, to make sure they all get nice and brown on both sides.
4. Add to large pot. Add chicken broth veggies, parsley, and roux to the pot and stir well. (Skim off any foam that may rise to the top of the pot.) Stir in cajun seasoning, to taste.
5. Add meat. Add chicken, sausage, and shrimp and taste. Add more seasonings to your liking–salt, pepper, chicken bullion paste, garlic, more Joe's stuff or more chicken broth–until you reach the perfect flavor.
6. Serve warm over hot cooked rice. This recipe tastes even better the next day as the flavors have a chance to blend. If you're really wanting to go all out, serve it with a side of homemade potato salad!
Make ahead, Storing and Freezing Instructions:
Store Gumbo covered in the refrigerator for 3-4 days. The roux can be made 3-5 days in advance, stored in a large resealable bag in the fridge.
This recipe makes quite a lot but it also freezes really well. To freeze, allow it to cool completely and store it in a freezer safe container (separate from the rice) for 2-3 months. Thaw overnight in the refrigerator and reheat on the stove or in the microwave.
Consider trying these similar recipes:
- One Pan Jambalaya
- Caribbean Jerk Chicken Bowls
- Mongolian Beef
- BBQ Ranch Grilled Chicken and Veggie Bowls
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Recipe
Authentic New Orleans Style Gumbo
Equipment
Ingredients
For the Roux:
- 1 cup all-purpose flour , heaping
- 2/3 cup oil (vegetable or canola oil)
For the Gumbo:
- 1 bunch celery , diced, leaves and all
- 1 green bell pepper , diced
- 1 large yellow onion , diced
- 1 bunch green onions , finely chopped
- 1 bunch fresh chopped parsley , finely chopped
- 2-3 cloves garlic
- 1-2 Tablespoons Cajun seasoning *
- 6-8 cups chicken broth *
- 12 ounce package andouille sausages , sliced into 'coins' (substitute Polska Kielbasa if you can't find a good Andouille)
- Meat from 1 Rotisserie Chicken*
- 2 cups Shrimp , pre cooked
- hot cooked rice for serving
Instructions
- Make the Roux*: In a large, heavy bottom stock pot combine flour and oil. Cook on medium-low heat, stirring constantly for 30-45 minutes. This part takes patience--when it's finished it should be as dark as chocolate and have a soft, "cookie dough" like consistency. Be careful not to let it burn! Feel free to add a little more flour or oil as needed to reach this consistency.
- Brown the sausage. In a separate skillet on medium-high heat place the sausage slices in one layer in the pan. Brown them well on one side (2-3 minutes) and then use a fork to flip each over onto the other side to brown. Remove to a plate.
- Cook the vegetables in broth. Add ½ cup of the chicken broth to the hot skillet that had the sausage to deglaze the pan. Pour the broth and drippings into your large soup pot.
- Add remaining 5 ½ cups of chicken broth. Add veggies, parsley, garlic and roux to the pot and stir well.
- Bring to a boil over medium heat and boil for 5-7 minutes, or until the vegetables are slightly tender. (Skim off any foam that may rise to the top of the pot.) Stir in cajun seasoning, to taste.
- Add meat. Add chicken, sausage, and shrimp.
- Taste and serve. At this point taste it and add more seasonings to your liking--salt, pepper, chicken bullion paste, garlic, more Joe's stuff or more chicken broth--until you reach the perfect flavor. Serve warm over rice. (Tastes even better the next day!)
Notes
Nutrition
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Have you tried this recipe?!
RATE and COMMENT below! I would love to hear your experience.
I originally shared this recipe in 2015 but updated it in November 2017 and again in December 2019 with process photos and step-by-step instructions.
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This recipe was the bomb, my family loved it. They literally said this was the best thing I’ve ever made them. It was also so easy & quick to make as well. It didn’t have a bunch of ingredients. It was literally perfect. 1000/10 highly recommended.
This is one of my go to recipes. Yes, add your choice of things but as long as it’s followed Gumbo will be 10/10
I’m from California, raised in the Midwest, lived in the deep south and this is an awesome gumbo recipe. It came together in the time allotted, beautiful dark brown roux smooth as silk and looked like a page out of a cookbook when I was done. Added a few more seasonings, lump crab meat, and a little extra dash of chicken stock and buddy she’s singing. Thanks for a great recipe.
I made it with a couple changes, all seafood, can of petite diced tomatoes, squash and zucchini. I didn’t get the roux quite thick enough but I also added 4cups veggie both and 2cups of beef broth. But turned out great!! Thx for sharing!
The roux was terrible cooking it to chocolate color is way too long. More like Carmel color it was bitter and bold not good at all. Had to rinse roux off and wash everything down with chicken broth my isy to make it edible
Youdon’t know how to cook gumbo then
Jason……PREACH
The recipe is great! You just gotta fix your technique
Hello! Excited to try this. Do you need a traditionally massive gumbo pot for this recipe? Or will a 6 qt pot work?
8-10 quart would be ideal, you could try making it in a 6 qt and waiting to add some of the liquid, or else you can cut the recipe in half.
That’s helpful thanks!
I was looking forward to this but it didn’t turn out as well as the reviews made it seem like it would. I kept having little inclinations along the way about things that should be added or taken away, but I wanted to give the recipe a go as-is. Notes for the future:
– Roux was too oily, even after adding more flour. Thinking butter may have been better. Also, it got too popcorn-y even though I cooked it super low and slow. (Didn’t see comments about adding tomato paste to it, will try that if this happens again.)
– Definitely needs more shrimp. I did not add rotisserie chicken because it wasn’t available, so I did slightly more shrimp than the recipe called for initially but could have done even more than that.
– It felt like it needed crushed tomatoes as part of the liquid base or tomato paste if nothing else.
– NEEDS OKRA!! Didn’t add it even though I knew I should have. It’s definitely missing.
– I used a bit of pre-mixed cajun seasoning but ended up adding a ton more seasoning aside from that. I mixed up onion powder, garlic powder, paprika, cayenne, and thyme.
Over all, I wanted to like this but ultimately was disappointed.
My first time cooking and eating Gumbo and it turned out fantastic.
I used vegetable oil but wish I had used butter instead. Even though I cooked the roux for at least 30 minutes and it was as dark as a Hershey bar when I put it into the gumbo, I could still smell and taste the oil. It didn’t taste rancid, it just tasted like oil. After seeing the comments about New Orleans style gumbo, I added a can of crushed tomatoes, which helped. My family liked it and that’s all that matters.
Made this recipe for everyone at my office and it was amazing! I added a a little old bay and about a teaspoon of the Zatarains Shrimp and Crab boil concentrate.
I wish you would include how many people this recipe will feed.
We do! On the top of all of the recipe cards on the bottom of the post we have a serving section. This gumbo has 10 servings.
This is Cajun gumbo, not New Orleans Gumbo. New Orleans Gumbo has okra , seafood, and is greenish. This brown chicken and sausage gumbo is how they eat it in cajun land. New Orleans gumbo is Creole. I know because I’m from New Orleans and I was shocked when my ex wife put a bowl of this brown chicken and sausage stew in front of me and called it gumbo. It had a good taste to it , but I wouldn’t call it gumbo.
New Orleans gumbo is Creole and includes tomatoes.