Easy Gumbo Recipe (German Coast Inspired)
Gumbo, you may think, is not German at all. It's correct that influences from France helped to shape this cajun dish, too. However, it was the German sausage making that helped the Louisiana-famous Andouille come to life. So yes, Andouille sausage is German. The German coast where it was invented is an area in Louisiana that is located to the North of New Orleans on the west bank of the Mississippi River and it's where some of the best Gumbo comes from.
Servings: 10 servings
Calories: 404kcal
Equipment
- 1 Sauce Whisk this (for me) is a must, so I don't burn the roux!
- 1 Dutch Oven love this gorgeous one by the Zwilling-owned Italian brand (and it's super affordable)
Ingredients
- 2 yellow onions large
- 6 cloves garlic
- 2 stalks celery or a fist size of celery root, peeled and cut into small cubes
- 1 green bell pepper
- 1 cup okra I used frozen, chopped okra
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
- 1 cup oil high heat neutral-tasting cooking oil such as avocado oil
- 1 ½ quart chicken broth you may need a little more, so have some extra handy
- 8 links andouille sausage
- 2 teaspoons sweet paprika powder
- ½ teaspoon ground white pepper
- ½ teaspoon ground black pepper
- 2 teaspoons dried oregano double the amount if using fresh
- 1 teaspoon dried thyme double the amount if using fresh
- 1 bay leaf
- cayenne powder ¼ to ½ teaspoon cayenne or leave it out if you don’t like it as spicy
- 2 teaspoons salt
- 1 cup shrimp I used frozen, fully cooked, peeled and deveined shrimp to make it easy
- 1 rotisserie chicken remove skin and bones, and break apart the meat into bite-sized portions
- 1 handful fresh parsley chopped
Instructions
- Prep your veggies first. Peel and small dice the onions. Remove stem, spines and seeds of bell pepper, and small dice. Trim the ends off the okra, cut into ½ inch slices. Trim the ends off the celery and small dice. Mince the garlic.
- Prepare the roux by combining the oil and flour in a deep, large skillet (to avoid splatter). Stir constantly while heating. It's best to use a sauce whisk, which helps you to pick up the bottom of the pan and avoids the roux from burning.No multitasking while making this!! If your roux gets dark too fast, turn down the heat a bit. You want to arrive at a milk chocolate color and as soon as you're there, you'll want to remove the pan from the heat, and pour in 1 quart of your (heated) chicken broth. The heating of the broth helps to avoid splatters.See the note section below for additional tips on how to create a dark roux.Stir until the sauce is combined (you may need to add in more later after the Gumbo is done simmering).1 cup all-purpose flour, 1 cup oil, 1 ½ quart chicken broth
- Heat a separate deep skillet or deep pot (ideally an enameled cast iron pot, cut andouille sausage into ½ inch (1 cm) coins, then add to the cast iron pot. Cook on both sides until starting to brown. Remove the cooked sausage and transfer to a large plate.8 links andouille sausage
- Add the veggies, except garlic, and cook for a couple of minutes.2 yellow onions, 2 stalks celery, 1 cup okra, 1 green bell pepper
- Add in the garlic for the last minute and stir. Now add back in the roux. Combine with the spices and herbs and simmer for 15 minutes. At this point, you may need to add in a bit more chicken broth to bring the Gumbo to a saucy consistency.6 cloves garlic, 2 teaspoons sweet paprika powder, ½ teaspoon ground white pepper, ½ teaspoon ground black pepper, 2 teaspoons dried oregano, 1 teaspoon dried thyme, 1 bay leaf, cayenne powder, 1 cup shrimp, 1 rotisserie chicken, 2 teaspoons salt
- Add the browned sausage, cooked shrimp and rotisserie chicken meat and stir together. Allow to warm up for 5ish minutes. Don't stir too much after adding the chicken, or else it will just pull apart into shreds and your gumbo won't look as pretty.
- Finally, season to taste with salt, pepper and cayenne and stir in the parsley. Serve it over steamed rice, and if you would like, with some Louisiana hot sauce to adjust the heat level for everyone at the table.1 handful fresh parsley
Notes
Notes on making a dark roux:
The most important part about making gumbo is figuring out how to make a dark roux.- Use oil instead of butter. Because butter has a much lower smoke point than oil, it's traditional to use oil for making a dark roux. With dark roux, you're letting your oil and flour mixture cook, while constantly stirring, until it turns a milk chocolate brown color.
- Use a sauce whisk. I highly recommend using a sauce whisk for this process (I burned by first batch using a spoon). With the sauce whisk, I was able to pick up more bits from the bottom of the pan, while working at a slightly higher temperature. This way, I drastically cut down the cooking time for my roux. It's a game changer.
- Use a deep pot. In the process of adding the chicken broth for making your Gumbo sauce, the mixture will splatter because of the temperature shock. The deep pot keeps it from splattering you!
- Warm your chicken broth. Avoid splatter by heating up with chicken broth before adding it to your roux.
Nutrition
Calories: 404kcal | Carbohydrates: 15g | Protein: 24g | Fat: 28g | Saturated Fat: 3g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 6g | Monounsaturated Fat: 14g | Trans Fat: 0.1g | Cholesterol: 99mg | Sodium: 1244mg | Potassium: 213mg | Fiber: 2g | Sugar: 2g | Vitamin A: 354IU | Vitamin C: 5mg | Calcium: 53mg | Iron: 1mg