Cajun Gumbo

An Cajun-style classic featuring a rich dark roux, smoky sausage, tender chicken and seafood, simmered with onions, celery, and bell peppers for a deeply flavorful Southern stew served over rice.

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Ingredients

  • For the Roux:  ·   
  • All Purpose Flour  ·  1 cup 
  • Vegetable Oil  ·  3/4 cup 
  • Celery, chopped  ·  1 cup 
  • bunch Scallion, sliced  ·  1 
  • Garlic, minced  ·  2 cloves 
  • Yellow Onion, chopped  ·  1 
  • Green Bell Pepper, coarsely chopped  ·  1 
  • Andouille Sausage, sliced  ·  1 pound 
  • Chicken Breasts, boneless skinless and shredded  ·  2 
  • Shrimp, raw and deveined  ·  8 ounces 
  • For the Gumbo:  ·   
  • Chicken Stock  ·  3 quarts 
  • Sugar  ·  1 tablespoon 
  • salt  ·  1 teaspoon 
  • Herbie's Cajun Seasoning  ·  1/2 tablespoon 
  • Tabasco Hot Sauce  ·  2 tablespoons 
  • Herbies Bay Leaves - Turkish (whole)  ·  4 
  • Herbies Thyme Leaves, rubbed  ·  1/2 tablespoon 
  • Tomato Sauce  ·  12 ounces 
  • Canned Tomatoes  ·  14.5 ounces 
  • For the Finish:  ·   
  • Herbie's Gumbo File Powder  ·  1 tablespoon 
  • White Vinegar  ·  2 tablespoons 
  • Parsley, chopped  ·  2 tablespoons 

Instructions

A taste of Louisiana, Cajun Gumbo is a hearty, slow-simmered stew built on a rich dark roux and layered with bold Southern flavors.

Traditionally featuring a combination of sausage, chicken, and seafood, along with the "holy trinity" of onions, celery, and bell peppers, gumbo delivers a satisfying blend of smoky, savory, and gently spicy notes.

  1. Start by heating the vegetable oil in a large, heavy saucepan over medium-low heat. Whisk in all of the flour until smooth to form a roux. Continue whisking constantly, until it becomes a rich mahogany brown color. This can take 20 to 30 minutes; (watch carefully and whisk constantly or roux will burn). Remove from heat; continue whisking until mixture stops cooking.
  2. Stir in onion, celery, bell pepper into the roux and cook over medium heat-low heat while stirring constantly, until vegetables are tender, 2-3min. Then add sliced green onion and sliced sausage.
  3. In a large container or pitcher add the chicken stock, hot sauce, sugar, thyme and bay leaves then stir to combine. Then slowly pour into the roux/vegetable mixture that is cooking. Whisk to combine then add the stewed tomatoes and the tomato sauce to the pot, continue whisking until it is brought up to a boil. Then boil for 5 min.
  4. Turn down the heat to a simmer and cook over low heat for 1 hour; mix in 2 teaspoons of Herbie's Gumbo File Powder, white vinegar, and Herbie's Cajun Seasoning at the 45 min mark.
  5. Add the shrimp and the shredded chicken breasts (that were cooked for 45min at 350 degrees, cooled and shredded) to the gumbo and continue to cook for about 10 more minutes.
  6. Remove from the heat, adjust the seasoning with salt, to taste.

Jenny's Tip: - Garnish with chopped parsley and serve immediately on its own or with jasmine rice or a crusty baguette.

Chefs Tip: - We know people from Southern Louisiana don't put tomatoes, tomato sauce and vinegar in gumbo be we wanted folks all over the country to be able to get that nice finish with locally available ingredients.