My Ultimate Seafood Gumbo recipe for a traditional New Orleans dish made with okra, andouille sausage, shrimp, crab, and Cajun seasoning.
Delicious seafood gumbo is classic Southern comfort food with an amazing blend of vegetables, seafood, and a flavorful broth. For another traditional Southern Louisiana Dinner Recipe, try my Easy Jambalaya.
Table of contents
Sabrina’s Ultimate Gumbo Recipe
Gumbo is considered Louisiana’s official state dish and is a staple in both home cooking and special occasion meals like Mardi Gras. Its flexibility means that it can be made with virtually any combination of meat, seafood, and vegetables. While the core ingredients and techniques remain consistent, regional variations abound. No matter which regional variation though, this southern stew is the epitome of comfort food.
Chef’s Note: Good gumbo takes time!
There’s nothing better than serving a flavorful bowl of gumbo over steamed white rice. The only drawback is that, like all the best soul food, it takes time and effort to make well. My sausage and seafood gumbo is a labor of love, from properly soaking and cooking the okra, to building a dark rich roux, to simmering the broth to marry all the flavors. It takes about 3 full hours total but when done right, my gumbo is so mouthwateringly delicious and well worth the time!
Ingredients
- Roux: A traditional gumbo base is made with a flavorful roux. This mixture is made by cooking flour and fat together and using it to thicken broth or sauce. I used bacon fat in the roux for a rich, smoky flavor.
- Okra: Okra is a plant often used in soups and stews, essential to a classic gumbo recipe. Prepared properly, it adds a great depth of flavor to the dish. But make sure you follow my prep instructions; otherwise, it will have a slimy texture.
- Gumbo file powder: This is another key ingredient to any gumbo recipe. The ground herb is made of leaves from a sassafras tree. It adds a rich flavor and helps thicken the gumbo broth.
- Holy Trinity mixture: You may hear “holy trinity mixture” or the “trinity of cooking” in Cajun and Louisiana Creole cuisine. It refers to bell pepper, onion, and celery, important ingredients in classic dishes like gumbo and jambalaya.
- Protein: Instead of just having one type of meat, gumbo is typically a blend of many delicious flavors. For this version, I used crab meat, shrimp, and spicy andouille sausage.
How to Make
Time needed: 3 hours
- Okra
Add the chopped okra to a large bowl with vinegar. Set it aside to soak while you prepare the rest of the Ultimate Gumbo dish.
- Trinity Mixture
Roughly chop the onion, celery, and green pepper. Put them in a food processor with the garlic and pulse until finely chopped into small pieces.
- Ultimate Gumbo Base:
Add the bacon grease and flour over medium-low heat in a large Dutch oven. Whisk constantly as the mixture forms into a paste. Let it simmer and bubble while continuing to whisk for about 20-25 minutes. Do not leave the pot or stop whisking, as the flour will burn. The roux is done when it reaches a rich, dark brown color. Remove pot from Heat. Turn off the heat, but continue whisking until the mixture cools.
- Cook Trinity
Once it stops bubbling, add the trinity mixture and andouille to pot. Turn the heat back to medium-low and continue cooking until the vegetables soften, about 8-10 minutes.
- Broth Mixture:
Add the beef stock, stewed tomatoes, tomato sauce, sugar, salt, Tabasco, Cajun seasoning, bay leaves, thyme, and 1 tablespoon of gumbo file powder to the pot. You can add extra hot pepper sauce if desired. Raise the heat to medium and bring it to a boil. Once boiling, reduce the heat and simmer on low for an hour.
- Okra
Melt butter in a large skillet about 15 minutes before the hour ends. Add the drained and dried okra and cook over medium-high heat for about 15 minutes until lightly browned. Add the cooked okra to the Dutch oven along with the Worcestershire sauce. Cook for an additional 30 minutes on low heat.
- Seafood
Add the crab meat and shrimp to the gumbo and cook for the final 15 minutes. Stir in the last tablespoon of gumbo file powder just before serving the Ultimate Gumbo in bowls.
Recipe Card
Ingredients
- 4 cups okra , chopped
- 1 cup distilled white vinegar
- 1 yellow onion
- 4 stalks celery
- 1 green bell pepper
- 3 cloves garlic
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
- 3/4 cup bacon fat
- 1 pound andouille sausage , sliced
- 12 cups beef stock
- 14.5 ounces stewed tomatoes , undrained
- 3/4 cup tomato sauce , 6 ounces
- 1 tablespoon sugar
- 2 teaspoons kosher salt
- 1 tablespoon Tabasco sauce , double if you can handle a bit of spice
- 1 teaspoon Cajun seasoning , recipe above
- 3 bay leaves
- 1 teaspoon dried thyme
- 2 tablespoons gumbo file powder , divided
- 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
- 1 pound lump crabmeat
- 3 pounds raw shrimp , peeled and deveined (13-15 count)
- 2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
Instructions
- In a large bowl add your chopped okra and vinegar and let it sit while preparing your gumbo to remove the slimy texture of the okra.
- Roughly chop your onion, celery and bell pepper and add to a food processor along with the garlic and pulse until all the vegetables are cut into very small pieces.
- In a large dutch oven whisk together the bacon fat and flour on medium-low heat until it forms a paste then let it simmer and bubble while you continue whisking non-stop until the color becomes a dark brown color (about 20-25 minutes), do not leave the pot unattended or stop whisking or the flour will burn.
- When it is done cooking turn off the heat and keep whisking until the mixture has cooled down and the bubbling has stopped then add in the trinity mixture along with your sausage and turn the heat back on to medium-low cooking until the vegetables are just softened, about 8-10 minutes.
- Add the beef stock, stewed tomatoes, tomato sauce, sugar, salt, Tabasco, Cajun seasoning, bay leaves, thyme and 1 tablespoon of the gumbo file powder to the pot then raise to a boil, reduce to a simmer and cook for 1 hour.
- In a large skillet melt the butter and add in your okra (drain it from the vinegar and pat it dry) and cook on medium high heat for 15 minutes until lightly browned before removing and adding to the dutch oven along with the Worcestershire sauce for an additional 30 minutes.
- Add in the crab, shrimp cook for 15 final minutes before serving then stir in the last tablespoon of gumbo file right before serving.
Nutrition
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Can this be made ahead of time?
Absolutely! The longer gumbo sits, the more time the flavors have to develop. The seasoning and spices have a chance to infuse the broth and meat, often making this Southern cooking dish even more flavorful the second or third day. This is why gumbo is such a popular dish for meal prep or family gatherings—it is the epitome of comfort food. Store in a refrigerator-safe container or airtight, freezer-safe container
Nutritional Facts
How to Store
- Store: If you have leftover gumbo, let the gumbo cool completely. Then, you can seal the stew in an airtight container to store in the fridge for up to 3 days.
- Reheat: If you can, try to remove the shrimp from the gumbo before reheating this way it doesn’t get tough. Reheat the gumbo over medium heat until it’s simmering, then if you separated the shrimp, toss it into the simmering gumbo and cook just until the shrimp is hot.
- Freeze: You can also freeze the leftover gumbo in an airtight, freezer safe container, for up to 6 months. To reheat it, let the dish thaw in the fridge overnight. Then heat it on the stovetop before serving.
Homemade Cajun Seasoning
One of the key flavor components in Ultimate Gumbo is the blend of spice ingredients. You can get Cajun Seasoning at the grocery store, but it’s also easy to make with ingredients from your pantry. Here’s how to make the perfect Cajun Seasoning to use in a variety of recipes:
- Ingredients:
- ½ teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon garlic powder
½ teaspoon paprika
¼ teaspoon ground black pepper
½ teaspoon onion powder
¼ teaspoon cayenne pepper
¼ teaspoons dried oregano
¼ teaspoons dried thyme
- ½ teaspoon salt
- Instructions: Once you’ve assembled the spices, add them to a small bowl. Mix them together and store them in a covered container for up to three months.
Frequent Questions
If you cook fresh okra without proper preparation, it will have a slimy texture that can add to the gumbo. Simply rinsing the okra will not remove that sliminess.
First, soak the okra slices in white vinegar for 30 minutes. While they’re soaking, you can prep the gumbo base. Then drain and pat dry well. Cook in a high heat setting or on low heat for 30 minutes or more.
Creole gumbo is made with seafood, like shrimp, crab, and oysters, and tends to use a tomato-based soup base broth. Cajun gumbo is more rustic and rural, focusing on meats like chicken, sausage, or duck. It often has a darker roux and no tomatoes, relying more on the rich flavors of the roux and the addition of local seasonings.
While gumbo starts with a flavorful broth (usually made from stock, tomatoes, and seasonings), using a roux and adding meats, vegetables, and seafood make it more of a southern stew. The final texture is thicker and heartier than a typical broth, so gumbo is generally classified as a stew.
Variations
- Chicken Gumbo: Instead of this Classic Seafood Gumbo, you can make flavorful Chicken Gumbo. Prepare the rest of the recipe according to the instructions. Just use 2-pounds chopped boneless, skinless chicken breast for the meat. Then add the chicken when you’d typically add the shrimp and crab. Continue cooking the chicken until it has cooked through.
- Sausage gumbo: Another option is leaving out the seafood and adding extra sausage. The great thing about this classic recipe is that you can try any combination of the meat ingredients that you like to make your own Ultimate Gumbo dish.
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