Easy Shrimp Gumbo
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Classic comfort food stew simmered to perfection, filled with andouille sausage + shrimp. So cozy and just so darn good.
This shrimp gumbo has been made on repeat all winter long. And I really do mean all winter long. Because there’s truly nothing better than walking into the house with the aroma of this gumbo simmering for the past 2 hours, waiting to be devoured, in the dead of winter.
Now it requires a bit of stirring and patience for the dark roux (the key to a great gumbo recipe) but I promise, your efforts will be well worth it. It’s savory, rich, hearty, and just so darn good, especially with a dash of hot sauce and some crusty bread off to the side.
Tools For This Recipe
Dutch oven
Easy Shrimp Gumbo: Frequently Asked Questions
Gumbo is a very popular stew in Louisiana made with a dark roux, the holy trinity of vegetables (onion, bell pepper, and celery), and a combination of seafood, andouille sausage, and chicken, typically served hot over cooked rice.
A roux is equal parts fat and flour. And the dark roux here takes patience (and the base for a very good gumbo recipe!). The roux requires constant stirring to prevent burning, and the color should resemble dark brown, or the color of milk chocolate.
Absolutely! But because dried herbs are often more potent/concentrated than fresh herbs, you need less when using dry. The correct ratio is 1 tablespoon fresh herbs to 1 teaspoon dried herbs.
You can omit the okra or substitute with other vegetables such as zucchini, green beans or broccoli florets.
Gumbo is traditionally served hot with cooked white rice and hot sauce on the side.
Easy Shrimp Gumbo
Ingredients
- 1 cup basmati rice
- 5 tablespoons vegetable oil, divided
- 1 (12.8-ounce) package smoked andouille sausage, thinly sliced
- ¼ cup unsalted butter
- ½ cup all-purpose flour
- 1 onion, diced
- 1 green bell pepper, diced
- 3 ribs celery, diced
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- 8 cups chicken stock
- 1 (14.5-ounce) can petite diced tomatoes
- 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
- 3 sprigs fresh thyme
- 2 bay leaves
- 2 ½ cups frozen sliced okra
- 1 ½ pounds medium shrimp, peeled and deveined
- Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
- ¼ cup chopped fresh parsley leaves
- 1 tablespoon hot sauce
Instructions
- In a large saucepan of 2 cups water, cook rice according to package instructions; set aside.
- Heat 1 tablespoon vegetable oil in a large stockpot or Dutch oven over medium heat. Working in batches, add sausage, and cook, stirring frequently, until sausage is lightly browned, about 3-4 minutes; set aside.
- Reduce heat to low; add butter and remaining 4 tablespoons vegetable oil to the Dutch oven, stirring until butter has melted, about 1-2 minutes.
- Whisk in flour until dark brown, about 20-25 minutes.
- Increase heat to medium; add onion, bell pepper, celery and garlic. Cook, stirring occasionally, until tender, about 6-8 minutes.
- Stir in chicken stock, scraping any browned bits from the bottom of the Dutch oven. Stir in sausage, tomatoes, Worcestershire, thyme and bay leaves.
- Bring to a boil; cover, reduce heat and simmer until reduced and flavors have blended, about 2 hours.
- Stir in okra until heated through, about 5 minutes.
- Stir in shrimp; season with salt and pepper, to taste. Cook, stirring occasionally, until pink and cooked through, about 3-5 minutes.
- Remove from heat; discard bay leaves and stir in parsley.
- Serve immediately with rice and hot sauce, if desired.
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DAMN DELICIOUS!!!
I followed your recipe to the tea. At 1st I thought maybe I had too much liquid but once adding the okra it thickened it up. Adding this to my Winter dishes. Next time I may try it without the tomatoes just to see the difference. Thanks for another awesome recipe.
Can I make any part of this recipe ahead of time ?
Made this and will make it again. So flavorful. I used Cajun style andioule style. When cooking was done I stirred the cooked rice into the pot.
Excellent Gumbo! I added cooked chicken for even more protein, and reduced the liquid to 6 cups. I love the simplicity of this Gumbo. The roux is the only hard part, but well worth it. Another go-to recipe from Damn Delicious! Thank you!
I’m making the gumbo today and it just isn’t as thick as I’m used to. I’m adding some extra cornstarch to give it more body. We’ll see how that goes.
Gumbo is translated “okra.” You can leave it out but never substitute w/ broccoli or anything ekes. Shrimp Creole has tomatoes, not gumbo!! Everything else is accurate…..born & raised in Southwest Louisiana Chere!
Born and raised in Lake Charles area and can say I agree with everything you said.My grandma served saltines with her gumbo.If you say gumbo to some Texans they think okra and tomatoes.
A perfect recipe. Exact measurements. Cooking times were perfect also.
Ingredients were spot on as well.
I’ll definitely re use in the future when only Gumbo can fill the need and want.
This is more of a soup consistency as it came out extremely watery and even after 2 hours didn’t cook down enough to make a thick stew like base. I may try it again with only 5/6 cups of chicken broth. The flavor was good though. I also sprinkled about 1/2 of Cajun seasoning with the shrimp .
Substituted bacon grease for the butter in the roux, and smoked sausage because I didn’t have andouille, but everything else was the same as the recipe. So, so good! I had never made dark roux, just the “normal” copper-colored kind. Next time I might add smoked oysters like another reviewer mentioned. At my house, the more seafood the better!
Good recipe but omit the Maters, we don’t put that in da Gumbo. Good Gumbo needs da roux, da holy trinity and da fixings but never tomatoes.
Hi, Louisiana born and bred here. Once you add tomato, it’s no longer gumbo. Still delicious, but we refer to this dish as Shrimp Creole. Works great with catfish chunks, too. We call that Courtbillon, but it’s almost all the same ingredients, minus the okra.
I always add some smoked oysters to my gumbo. Mmmmmm.
I’m returning to this recipe for the 5th or 6th time. The dark roux takes patience and constant attention stirring, but the rest is just easy prep work, and once your past the roux, adding the veges pretty mindless. That why I like this dish to entertain, doubled up, and I still don’t get leftovers!!!
My family is in the South, I was born in New Orleans. I love gumbo and make it often! Tho I haven’t tried your exact recipe, it sounds great! I don’t use hot sugar tho. I use gumbo file. Also a mix of green and purple okra make it a step up! And people think I’m weird, but I learned from my father (who’s family before him taught him), don’t use bread on the side, use Ritz crackers, and as word as it sounds, put a little butter on the crackers, it takes it to a WHOLE NEW LEVEL!
I love your recipe! In my opinion, it is not Gumbo without OKRA. I am a native of Louisiana. If you must, fry your cut okra then add to your Gumbo. I also like Crab Legs in the shell cooked in Gumbo. Sprinkle some Gumbo File in the Gumbo. I guarantee!
The name gumbo is derived from the West African Bantu’s name ‘ki ngombo’, for okra. If it’s made without the okra it’s just a stew. It might be delicious, but it’s not gumbo. What is corn chowder without corn, or clam shower without clams? Both would just be soups.
Thanks for the recipe
I will make this, but I cannot find andouille sausage, what is a good sub?
Smoked sausage will work
I love gumbo and lucky to have a Cajun momma who made shrimp & crab gumbo on weekends . People, made the recipe with all the ingredients, okra makes gumbo …gumbo is okra. . Momma substituted Rotel canned tomatoes to bring a Texas spice. She also used the shrimp shells to make stock, not chicken broth. I’ve never seen roux made with butter, vegetable oil is authentic, withstands the long browning process. She also browned sausage separately then added. This is good stuff!
You are absolutely correct! Okra’s name is gumbo.
I’m terrible at adding “salt to taste”. Could you readers tell me how much you used? Thanks so much!