My humble Chicken and Sausage Gumbo recipe with a bonus How To w/pics

Here we have the players.

6qts total broth/stock
1 jar of roux (dark)
3 large yellow onions
2 celery sticks
1 rotisserie chicken
3 lb pure pork smoked sausage
1.5 lb Tasso
1/4 cup parsley flakes
1 tsp smoked paprika
2 heads of garlic (or 1 Tbsp garlic powder)
1 tsp white pepper
2 tsp slap ya momma
3 bay leaves
1/4 cup Louisiana hot sauce
2 tbsp worcheshire (sp?) sauce
Green onions for garnish

I usually use Karys roux or Richards but I saw this one and decided to give it a try. I can make roux from scratch but this is just a little easier and a little more fail safe. I can’t taste the difference. Anyway, shout out to my favorite Tasso and smoked sausage supplier, Guillory’s in Pineville/Pine Prairie. Being from the Cajun prairie, I cannot tell you how much it pains me to say that my favorite sausage comes from Pineville, but their roots are Pine Prairie so I guess it is ok.


Cut the sausage into medallions, the Tasso into chunks, and chop the onions and celery as large or small as you see fit.


Put about 1/2 a qt of the broth to heating on medium high heat. Once it starts steaming, out entire contents of jarred roux into the broth. It will be ugly. It is ok, it will get better quickly. From this point until all broth/stock goes into pot, you need to stir constantly to keep that roux from scorching and to promote incorporation into the stock. As the stock thickens and gets hot, add another qt of stock and stir until it is smooth and hot. Repeat until all stock is in the pot. This is the only physically demanding part of the recipe and it shouldn’t take more than 15, maaaybe 20 minutes.


This is what it should look like with all stock in and roux properly incorporated. Nothing special yet.


In a separate pot, start browning the sausage. Not the Tasso. I guess you could if you wanted too but I don’t. We want to put a little color on it but we don’t have to brown it too hard. We are really just after a little fond and some fat so we can smother/brown the onions. You can add just a hint of water to start the fat rendering process here if you want. This is where it should start smelling really good.


This should be what you are seeing after a few minutes. The bottom is Not black, but colored.


This is where your stove should live through this whole process. At least until you get to the simmer phase.


This is what you should have after you remove the sausage with a slotted spoon.


Dump your veggies in there and get them covered in that oil. After about a minute, you may still need juuust a bit of water to help deglaze the bottom. Do not just pour a ton of water in because you don’t want to steam these veggies. You want them to sizzle in the oil to soften up. Stir these veggies frequently but you don’t have to babysit them quite as much as earlier with the roux. While these brown, add all spices, meat, and sauces to the stock pot and allow it to start simmering.

See how the pot deglazed?


After about 20 minutes, the onions and celery will begin creating a new fond. Add a little water to deglaze and continue for about another 10 minutes. Deglaze one final time and place all onions in the stock.


This is what it should look like at this point. The amount of oil on your gumbo will depend on several factors. How fatty is your meat? How much oil was used in the roux. Did your stock have a lot of fat? It doesn’t matter. Skim off as much as you can. It’s ok to leave just a little but I can’t stand a super oily gumbo. I use one of those measuring cups with the spout on the side to help get rid of oil. It works like a charm.


The white foam is the result of a gentle boil. If you boil it too hard, this foam will get out of hand very quickly and then you will have a serious mess. This is the main reason I use a stock pot instead of my cast iron. The stock pot has a little more room to forgive you if you let it boil too hard accidentally. This foam goes completely away as you return it to a simmer, which you should do at this point.

Allow this to simmer for at least 2 hours. 4 is better, 6 is preferred. If you simmer more than 4 hours, you will need to add a little water. Do not add more stock because it could make it too salty.


If your whole house doesn’t smell amazing by this point, you did something wrong. That gumbo smell gets me excited every time. Make some rice. I like to put a little vinegar in my rice pot. Chop some green onions for garnish. Boil a couple eggs or make some potato salad. Put the Crackers, hot sauce, pepper vinegar, green onions, eggs, potato salad, and/or whatever you like to eat gumbo with at the table and make your plate.

This is your reward for your hard work and patience.

Geaux Tigers!!!