Delicious Mardi Gras Gumbo Recipe
The one-two punch of the “Big Game” and Mardi Gras may just call for something spicy and traditional from the good state of Louisiana – and that means Gumbo! But if you think making gumbo starts with standing over a pot of blistering hot simmering roux, think again. Try this method for a simple and easy start to a great gumbo – for Mardi Gras, game time or anytime. Whether your team wins or not – your tastebuds will be celebrating!
Delicious Mardi Gras Gumbo Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 cup flour
- 3/4 cup oil
- 1 white onion, minced
- 2 stalks celery, minced
- 1 green bell pepper, chopped
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- 2 tsp dried thyme
- 2 tsp cayenne pepper
- Salt and pepper
- 5-6 cups chicken stock
- 1/2 cup fish sauce
- 4-5 whole, skinless, boneless chicken thighs
- 3 bay leaves
- 4 Andouille sausages, halved, sliced 1/4-inch
- 12 oz raw shrimp, peeled and deveined, roughly chopped
- 3 cups white rice, cooked
For Roux:
For Soup:
Instructions
- For a perfect roux, simply brown 1 cup flour in a heavy-bottomed Dutch oven over medium heat for about 5 minutes, add 3/4 cup oil and stir until smooth, cover, and place in a 350º oven for 45 minutes.
- Prep roux as above, return it to the stove top over medium heat and stir in onion, celery and bell pepper. Cook until soft, stirring frequently, about 5-6 minutes.
- Add garlic, thyme and cayenne, season with salt and pepper and sauté for another minute. Slowly add in chicken stock and fish sauce. Stir until smooth using a whisk to avoid clumping, and bring up to a boil.
- Add chicken thighs, bay leaves, and reduce to simmer. Cover and cook until chicken is tender, about 30 minutes. Uncover and add sausage and shrimp; cook until shrimp is pink and tender. Serve over a scoop of cooked rice.
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A roux is equal parts flour and oil. Also, the most important ingredient in gumbo is okra, which you left out. Gumbo literally means okra. I suggest you revise this recipe as it is not technically gumbo if the recipe does not include okra.
Thanks Brittany. There are many different kinds of roux and can be made in different quantities to provide thickening. This recipe makes an amazing dark roux which, in my mind, is more essential to gumbo than okra, and although okra is a very common ingredient in gumbo, it doesn’t grow locally and is not in season, so it was not included. Though a bag of frozen okra could easily be added.
Also, Okra is disgusting, so there’s that :p
Here in southeast Louisiana, we do love our gumbo. Lots of folks, myself included, are not that fond of okra. Lots of other folks are. Many times, at a big gathering, there’ll be a pot of gumbo with okra, and a pot of gumbo without. But nobody ever says, “Hey this isn’t real gumbo…there’s no okra.”