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I can hardly believe I've never shared this recipe with you, but perhaps, with the holiday season almost on top of us, it was supposed to be saved until now. Maybe we'll just call it an early Christmas present.
I've been making this delicious gumbo for, what seems like, eons. A co-worker of mine attended cooking school in New Orleans many years ago. One fine day, not long after she returned, my friend brought a large container of this classic Creole dish to work as a treat. It was one of the recipes she'd learned in her class. Up until then, the only gumbo I knew about, was the kind in the red and white can, so I wasn't expecting anything super exiting.
Wow, I couldn't believe how fabulous it was! I begged her for the recipe and didn't waste any time re-creating it for my family to try.
"Candy", that's what my husband called it as he ate the first bowlful. It's a funny description, but it's the adjective he uses for something so superlative that there are no other words. Although Scott is my greatest culinary fan, there are only a handful of recipes that he describes as "candy".
I've served this gumbo many times over the years for family get togethers and dinner parties. It's always a huge hit.
I love that all the work can be done in advance allowing me to enjoy my guests instead of slaving in the kitchen. When it's time for dinner, I dish up bowls of steaming hot rice ladled with this fabulous Cajun-style gumbo.
A scatter of thinly sliced scallions and finely chopped parsley is the fresh, finishing touch. Sighs of delight often accompany each savory bite.
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Chicken & Shrimp Gumbo
Ingredients
- 2 pounds boneless chicken breast, cut into bite size pieces
- 2 teaspoons Cajun seasoning
- 1 ½ cups all-purpose flour
- 1 cup canola oil or other mild flavored oil
- 1 pound Andouille* sausage, if you can't find Andouille, use your favorite smoked sausage. (I like to use Andouille chicken sausage.)
- 3 medium onions, peeled and cut in ½-inch pieces
- 4 medium bell peppers, cored and cut in ½-inch pieces
- 4 large cloves garlic, minced
- 6 cups low sodium chicken broth
- 2 teaspoons kosher salt
- ½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- 2 pounds shrimp, medium or large, shelled and deveined
- green onions, scallions, thinly sliced for garnish
- fresh parsley, finely chopped, for garnishing
Instructions
- The night before, or at least several hours before starting the gumbo, sprinkle the chicken breast with Cajun seasoning. Massage the meat to incorporate the seasoning. Refrigerate until ready to use.
- Preheat oven to 375˚F.
- Add the flour to a large heavy-duty Dutch oven cook over medium heat on the stovetop. It will take about 5-10 minutes for it to begin to toast. Stir flour continuously. You'll notice a nutty aroma first, then flour will start to smoke just a bit and turn a pale golden brown color. As soon as you see the smoke, remove pot from burner.
- Add oil and stir until mixture is nice and smooth. Cover Dutch oven and transfer to the preheated oven for about 1 hour, stirring every 15 minutes. The time will vary a bit, depending on your oven. I like the roux to be a deep golden brown color, darker than peanut butter but not as dark as chocolate. You can go a bit darker for more intense flavor, if desired.
- When roux is the right color, transfer pot from the oven back to the stovetop. With heat on medium, add sliced sausage, peppers and onions. Cook, stirring occasionally for 2-3 minutes. Add garlic and cook for another 30 seconds, continuing to stir.
- Add 2 cups of the chicken stock, salt and pepper. Stir well. Slowly add the remainder of the broth, stirring continuously. Bring to a boil, then reduce to a simmer and cook for 15 minutes, uncovered, or until peppers and onions are tender.
- Add chicken, stir to combine, then return gumbo to a boil. Add shrimp, stir, cover pot and turn off the heat. Let gumbo sit, covered for 10 minutes before serving. The chicken will finish cooking and the shrimp will cook perfectly during this 10 minute resting time. Taste and season, if needed.
- Serve in bowls over jasmine rice. Garnish with sliced green onions and chopped parsley.
Notes
~ *
Andouille
sausage is a spicy smoked sausage originally made in France. It's common in many Cajun dishes as well and is classically made from pork. Now days you can find chicken
Andouille
which tends to be lower in fat.
~ The recipe's been tweaked a bit over the years, utilizing beautiful bell peppers in hues of yellow, red and orange in lieu of the plain green peppers in the original recipe.
Cook's Illustrated
taught me the "oven roux" method, eliminating a lot of tedious stovetop stirring, a traditional step in classic gumbo recipes.
~ The gumbo can make it a day in advance and rewarmed before serving. We always comment that the flavor just keeps getting better and better as the gumbo ingredients have time to make friends (aka melding).
~ This makes a large pot of gumbo. Feel free to cut the recipe in half, but you may be disappointed when you go to the fridge and find out that someone's snitched the last little bit!
Serves 12-14 with jasmine rice (basmati is great with this too!)
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Excited to try this tonight. I have never made gumbo before , so toasting the flour in the oven before hand will be interesting. I was shocked that there is not many seasonings. Will let you know I I do.
Seriously, Krystal! This gumbo is so good! Scott does the happy dance in the kitchen when I make it!
It was delicious! My whole family loved it. Thank you for sharing it. I plan on making at least once a month or so. Will look for more recipes. 🙂
This would have been easily prepared in my kitchen, when I was a tad younger in my body. I could have stood and stirred for hours! Though, nowadays, I have to improvise. The results are delicious, and nobody can tell that I didn't really work hard with the Gumbo!
My Aunt Cu'de, was in New Orleans, Louisiana, and cooked the Best everything you can imagine. Thanks for reading me. May God bless your kitchen, with goodness!
Thanks Nanci!
I had never had Gumbo before but saw this recipe and thought I'd try it. OMG! So good! I made it last Sunday and the leftovers made the rounds between relatives houses as the week wore on.. Everyone loved it. This one is a keeper!
Thanks for the kind words Debra! So glad you enjoyed it.
The picture looks yummy...but coming from New Orleans I can't imagine a true gumbo without the Holy Trinity... Celery, Onions, Green Bell Pepper. And what about file powder?
looks yummy but am I missing something. do you cook the chicken prior to adding it in the end. Sounds like it just goes in raw and sits in the pot for 10 minutes.
Hi, the chicken cooks perfectly during those last 10 minutes. You bring the gumbo to a boil and add the chicken. It doesn't take long and it's not dry. I amended the recipe a bit to make that clear. Thanks.
Is vegitable oil ok to use?
Thanks so much for taking the time to leave a comment. I'm so happy you are enjoying the gumbo. It is one of our favorites. I don't make it that often but when I do, it thrills everyone!
This is an awesome recipe. I have it on the stove right now. I have never made a gumbo but they had shrimp on sale at the store and I bought 2lbs had not idea what to do with it.. OMG just from tasting it this is so awesome. Was alot of work but so worth it.. My son already let me know he wants me to make more and he will chop all the veggies... 🙂 however due to cholesterol issues in the house next time I might have to leave out the shrimp... Yummy thanks so much for sharing... Steps were east to follow. Only thing I really needed was a bigger pot lol...
Yummy! I like this dish for a stay at home New Year's Eve dinner 😉
Never ever taste gumbo... I probably should as it looks really good:)
Chris, I have never made a gumbo either - that is not a recipe that is known around here much - but it certainly looks so absolutely worthy of re-creating following your wonderful recipe - inspiring and delicious - absolutely fabulous family fare, dear Chris! If the recipe had not gotten my undivided attention, the photos certainly would have!
Have a wonderful weekend, dear friend!
tho i've nvr heard of gumbo here, it sounds like a good comforting kind of stew! have a good weekend!
What an amazing dish! Chicken and shrimp is always such a winning combination especially coated in a sauce like this one! YUM!
I've got a few of those recipes, too - the ones I've made many times but not yet posted on my blog. Your gumbo ('candy') looks awesome!
Looks mouthwatering! The sauce is irresistible!
I've never made gumbo before... it looks fairly easy and so delicious!
Any idea how many this will serve?
It serves a crowd and makes great leftovers, easily feeds 12-14 with rice.
I just updated the recipe, thanks for pointing that out! 🙂
Stupid question time-
Do you throw chicken in raw or cook ahead of time? ( I've not made gumbo before.)
Hi Cindy, that's a really good question, not stupid at all. You do throw the chicken in raw. It's cut into bite size pieces so the heat will cook it as it sits covered for the ten minutes. It will be completely cooked but still very tender, not dry.
Your gumbo looks so good! After we went to New Orleans about ten years ago, my kids fell in love with gumbo - it's such comfort food. I make a lightened up version these days.
I like the idea of gumbo but never really had a great one. I must must must try this one. It's got my mouth watering!
Beautiful dish!!! Bet its a hit!!! Thanks for sharing!!!
Mr. Rosemary, too, calls things he likes "candy" although those things usually involve either sausage or chocolate; thankfully, not together. This is a beautiful gumbo. I once, long ago, attended a cooking class in New Orleans, fell in love with the food, bought a cookbook, and made a few things once or twice. I'm reminded how good it all was.
Oh Chris,
You have done it again! I would love a warm bowl right now-you know I just had to pin it too!
xx-
Jemma
Oh, my gosh, does this look amazing! I guess an arctic chill will arrive by Sunday...wonder if Bill can have this whipped up for my arrival home? Nah, I better just make it myself!
OMG Chris...I can't believe you've been holding out on us with this luscious recipe, either! It looks AMAZING! Definitely on my must make list. I love shrimp and love finding new recipes to showcase it. This one is a beauty! : )
My parents were from Louisiana and gumbo was a staple when I was growing up. I make it a couple of times a year and I make a lot of it. I love how bright and colorful yours is, this is the ultimate comfort food!
I can't wait to try this:)
If Candy came to mind..:)
Is this one of the new spoons?:)
I always love that cast iron pan..it made me make that first recipe!
Is it a full 1 1/2 cup of flour?
Hi Monique, it is 1 1/2 cups of flour. It's a roux and the sauce gets nice and thick from the browned flour.
Hi, I would love to make this for my boyfriend, but he is gluten free. Can you tell me if it would be ok to substitute a rice flour for the regular or would that not work?
Thanks Chris..
Your garnish of scallions and parsley looks so good! Heck, this whole recipe looks so good. I love gumbo, but it's been ages and ages since I've made any. Need to soon, I think. Thanks for the inspiration!
Sounds like a very tasty winner Chris! And I see my favorite cast iron pan too:@)
Look beautiful Chris!!
Looks delicious! Love gumbo!
Patty at Home and Lifestyle Design
A lovely rich and flavourful cajun dish - I have just learned from the very knowledgeable REMCooks that this would be classed cajun [ie Louisiana country style] not creole as it does not have tomatoes in it. Living half a wolrd away I did incorrectly exhange the two at times. Loving a reasonably spicy taste methinks when I try this I'll put the cajun seasoning up a notch: perhaps 1 Tb? 🙂 !
Thanks Eha, living right here in the South (but not in Louisiana) I did't understand the distinction. Hope you enjoy this dish, let me know how you like it!
Hope I am not leading you astray, but Richard is awfully good at crossing the Ts and dotting the i's 🙂 ! He just did a fabulous seafood jambalaya on his blog and gave us a very welcome lesson to boot 🙂 !
This is such delicious comfort food, Chris. I love how colorful, warm and comforting it looks!
Your gumbo looks amazing!!! I had combo for lunch today from our cafeteria and it was not that good. I should show them your recipe! Yours look delish!!
Looks like the kind of recipe that would please everyone in my family and that's a rather large task Chris. Yum!
What a comforting meal and I love that it can be made in advance - so perfect for the hectic holiday season!
What a gorgeous gumbo, Chris!!! I love your chicken dishes...