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This Easy Gumbo Recipe Has the Flavor of a gumbo that you’ve spent hours preparing. Ready in about 45 minutes, this is a straight forward, simple weeknight dinner recipe you’ll want to keep on your meal plan rotation. Bold with flavor this shrimp and sausage gumbo recipe will become one of your favorites.
This recipe was first published October, 2012 and updated October, 2020.
The weekend is over and lazy lingering meals will be replaced with quick work-week dinners. Cue this easy gumbo recipe please.
The reason I made this soup is because a true-blue gumbo is a process that can span over of a couple of days.
Someday when I’m feeling ambitious, I’ll take the time to do that. But in the meantime I wanted to challenge myself to come up with an easy gumbo recipe version that reminds me of the wonderful flavors we enjoyed in New Orleans.
Depending on how fast your can slice and dice, I’d say this is a 45 minute start to finish meal.
Okra, shrimp, red and green bell peppers swim in a broth colored with roux and flavored with onions, bay leaves, garlic and crushed red pepper,
And with a side of steamed white rice, you’ll be digging out your Louie Armstrong CD’s.
Let’s take a look at this easy shrimp sausage gumbo.
What Goes Into This Recipe
Mise en place. Always gather ingredients before starting any recipe. It will save you time and organize your mind.
- Green Bell Peppers, Red Bell Peppers, Onions and Celery are key ingredients to any gumbo soup recipe. They create a “sofrito” style beginning for this soup.
- Okra: Gumbo wouldn’t be gumbo without sliced okra.
- Chicken broth, oil and flour to make that traditional gumbo roux.
- Andouille Sausage. Please seek out a quality well flavored andouille sausage. It’s a French smoked sausage with a wonderfully spicy flavor.
Ingredient Swaps
- Don’t have shrimp on hand? Swap out shrimp for bite-sized chunks of chicken. Just add those uncooked chicken pieces to the gumbo at the same time as you add the sausage.
- You can swap out Andouille Sausage for any smoked sausage. Kielbasa is a good choice here.
Step by Step Instructions, It’s Easy
- In a large sauce pan, prepare the roux by combining flour and oil. cooking and stirring until roux becomes a beautiful dark red-ish brown.
- Stir in onion, celery, peppers, garlic, black pepper, and ground red pepper and cook for about 7 minutes or until vegetables are tender.
Pro Tip Knife Skills: Always keep the hand that’s gripping the knife clean and dry. A wet hand could cause slips resulting in nicks or worse a nasty slice on your hand.
- Stir in hot chicken broth, sausage, okra and bay leaves.
- Bring to a good simmer and let cook 15 minutes.
- In the meantime, cook the rice.
- Drop in the shrimp and let them cook for two minutes.
- Remove bay leaves and serve over rice.
Common Questions About This Easy Gumbo Recipe
How Do You Know When the Roux is Done?
Once you start cooking the roux, stir it often. The flour and oil mixture will turn to a red brown color and will take on a nut-like odor.
Whats The Difference Between Gumbo and Jambalaya?
It all has to due with the roux and the role of the rice. Gumbo builds its flavor upon the roux, and the roux will thicken it to a stew like texture. Gumbo is served with rice on the side, while with jambalaya, the rice is simmered in the soup.
What to Serve with Gumbo?
Rice is a traditional partner for gumbo. Start with this beautiful New Orleans recipe for Louisiana Sunburst Salad. A popular recipe made famous by the Palace Cafe in New Orleans. You could also serve it with Cornbread Muffins or try this Herbed Tomato Bread. And why not make a Chile Chocolate Cake with Chocolate Bourbon Frosting for dessert.
Can This Be Made Ahead?
The roux can be made 3 – 5 days in advance stored in an airtight contained.
Can I Use Different Seafood For This Recipe
Shrimp is a typical seafood ingredient in Gumbo. You can also use crab, white fish or crawfish.
Storage and Leftovers
With just the two of us, this easy gumbo recipe made plenty of welcome leftovers for next evening’s dinner.
- When storing leftovers in the refrigerator, place rice and soup in separate containers, reheat separately and then bring them back together in the soup bowl. The texture of the rice is much happier that way. And only a gentle reheat of the soup is needed, we don’t want rubbery shrimp.
- Because this gumbo contains shrimp, we don’t recommend keeping in the refrigerator for over two days.
- You can freeze gumbo for up to six months. I like to use a gallon zip lock back. Just fill the bag with the gumbo to about two inches to the top. Squeeze the air out and make sure the bag is sealed well. Lay flat in freezer for maximum storage.
- To reheat, let the gumbo thaw in the refrigerator overnight. Then gently reheat in a saucepan, over low heat.
Recipe for Easy Gumbo
I can’t claim this gumbo to be 100% authentic, there’s not even any file powder in it, but it’s delicious and easy to make with ingredients found at your local supermarket. There are no hard and fast rules when it comes to gumbo, and as I learned during my visit to New Orleans, each restaurant has their own version.
The only necessity is to make a good roux (pronounced “roo”) which is the mixture of fat and flour cooked stovetop until it becomes a dark caramel color.
I hope you give this easy Louisiana gumbo recipe a try. This hearty gumbo is a true melting pot meal that will transport you to Louisiana in just one bite. A top notch flavorful creole stew with origins from West Africa, Germany, French and Choctaw and has become a staple of Southern cooking.
So whether you’re looking for a dish to celebrate Marde Gras, or just a fun weekend meal, you and your family will find this easy gumbo recipe very satisfying.
More Super Easy Soup Recipes Ideas
- Sherried Black Bean And Ham Soup
- Original 7 Can Taco Soup with Ranch Dressing
- Easy Cheesy Vegetable Chicken Chowder
- Chicken Fajita Soup Recipe
And if you love soups as much as we do, you won’t want to miss my Soup Category. You’ll find tons of great soup recipes, including the most popular on my site for Anthony Bourdain’s New Mexico Style Chili.
If you’ve tried this or any other recipe on my website, please leave a star rating in the recipe card below. And write a review in the comment section. I always appreciate your feedback.
And, don’t forget to subscribe to my newsletter for more delicious recipes and cooking tips. Make it a delicious day … every day.
Easy Gumbo Recipe with Shrimp and Sausage
This Easy Gumbo Recipe Has the Flavor of a gumbo that you've spent hours preparing. Ready in about 45 minutes, this is a weeknight dinner recipe you'll want to keep on your meal plan rotation.
5 from 8 votes
Print Pin Rate
Course: Soup, Stews and Chilis
Cuisine: Creole
Prep Time: 15 minutes minutes
Cook Time: 30 minutes minutes
Total Time: 45 minutes minutes
Servings: 4
Calories: 954kcal
Author: Lea Ann Brown
Ingredients
- 1/3 cup all-purpose flour
- 1/4 cup cooking oil
- 1/2 cup sweet onion chopped
- 1/2 cup celery chopped, about two good sized stalks.
- 1/4 cup green pepper chopped
- 1/4 cup red pepper chopped
- 4 cloves garlic minced
- 1/4 teaspoon ground red pepper
- 1 Tablespoon Creole Seasoning or Cajun seasoning
- 3 cups chicken broth heated
- 1/2 pound shrimp medium and deveined
- 8 ounces andouille sausage fully cooked
- 1 1/2 cups sliced okra or one 10 ounce package frozen cut okra
- 2 bay leaves
- 3 cups hot cooked rice
- Tabasco sauce
Instructions
For roux, in a large heavy saucepan or Dutch oven combine flour and oil, stir till smooth. Cook over medium-high heat for 5 minutes, stirring constantly. Reduce heat to medium. Cook and stir about 15 minutes or till roux is dark reddish brown.
Stir in onion, celery, peppers, garlic, black pepper, creole seasoning and ground red pepper. Cook over medium heat for 3 to 5 minutes or till vegetables are just crisp-tender, stirring often.
Gradually stir in hot chicken broth, sausage, okra, and bay leaves. Bring to boiling. Reduce heat and simmer, covered, about 15 minutes or till okra is tender. Stir in shrimp and cook until done, about 2 minutes. Discard bay leaves. Serve in bowls with rice. Finish with a few shakes of Tabasco Sauce.
Notes
How do I know when the roux is done? Once you start cooking the roux, stir it often. The flour and oil mixture will turn to a red brown color and will take on a nut-like odor.
Can I freeze this gumbo? Yes, simply place the soup (minus the rice) in an airtight container. The gumbo will keep in the freezer for 4 – 6 months. Gently reheat it on the stovetop in a saucepan when ready to eat. Freeze rice separately.
Ingredient Swaps: Switch out the shrimp with chicken. You’ll just have to add the chicken a little sooner, as it will take a bit longer to cook. Small chunks should take about 10 minutes.
Nutrition
Calories: 954kcal | Carbohydrates: 126g | Protein: 36g | Fat: 32g | Saturated Fat: 7g | Cholesterol: 191mg | Sodium: 1606mg | Potassium: 708mg | Fiber: 4g | Sugar: 2g | Vitamin A: 670IU | Vitamin C: 45mg | Calcium: 179mg | Iron: 4mg
Tried this Recipe? Please leave a comment and star rating below. Or tag me on InstagramMention @CookingOnTheRanch or tag #cookingontheranch
Shrimp and Sausage Easy Gumbo Recipe …It’s What’s for Dinner.
Lea Ann Brown
Why Trust These Recipes? Lea Ann Brown has lived, worked and played in Colorado for 45 years. She has immersed herself in the Colorado Culinary space, is a Culinary School Graduate and publishes her Colorado food Blog, Cooking On The Ranch.
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Reader Interactions
Comments
Robin Wilson saysWonderful recipe. Looking forward to trying it.
Reply
- Lea Ann Brown says
Thanks Robin. Let me know what you think. It’s sure popular around our house.
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