Quick Chicken and Sausage Gumbo

Gumbo, gumbo, gumbo! As you can see by the name of our blog gumbo is very important to our family. Not only is it delicious and filling, but it is wonderful in that its full of a little of this and a little of that all thrown in and mixed with love. Every persons gumbo is different (and we all ours is the best). In many ways families and gumbo are a lot alike. 

You will notice several big differences with my gumbo. While I do sometimes make gumbo totally from scratch most days I simply don’t have time or the ability (as it’s impossible to stir Roux and watch the little monster at the same time). But I love gumbo… So I cheat. I use a good brand of store bought roux and a rotisserie chicken. Oh, about chicken… while dad prefers shrimp gumbo (and yes it is very tasty) I prefer chicken and sausage.  Also I use a LOT of bell pepper. Really I use a lot of veggies in general as I like my gumbo to be very hearty. 

Keep in mind that almost anything can be changed in amount so long as you don’t start omitting things. If you like less onion, put less onion if you want to use 3 links of sausage instead of 2, be my guest. This is a hard recipe to jack up simply because all gumbos vary so much that it’s totally acceptable if your gumbo is different than my gumbo.  

Some gumbos are thinner than others, some have seafood, some have chicken, some are spicy while some are mild. Some gumbos even include tomatoes and filé… but we don’t talk about those types in our house (Kidding, kidding… I would try your gumbo if it had those things…it just wouldn’t be as tasty as mine ;)  ). So with all that in mind relax, you can totally make a delicious gumbo without all the fuss.

4-6 quarts chicken broth (start with 4 and if you need to add water/broth later you can)

2/3 jar Ragin’ Cajun Fixin’s famous Dark Roux

3 green bell peppers

6-8 stalks celery (8-10 if it’s just hearts)

1 bunch green onions

1 small white onion

4-6 cloves garlic

1 ½-2 cups fresh okra (or a small bag frozen okra)

1 rotisserie chicken

2 links andouille sausage (or if you can’t find it any smoked sausage will do)

2-3 Tablespoons olive oil

¼ - 1/3  teaspoon cayenne

Salt and pepper to taste

2 bay leaves

Bring your chicken broth to a boil in a large stock pot with the bay leaves. Dice all your veggies and  in a separate pan sauté them in the olive oil. Once veggies have started to soften dissolve in 2/3 jar of Roux in the veggies. Add in cayenne and black pepper (wait to add salt until gumbo has cooked for at least one hour as the sausage will contribute to the saltiness).  Add veggie roux mix to boiling broth once roux is mostly dissolved. Stir well. Tear chicken off the bone into manageable pieces and cut up your sausage. Add both to gumbo. Bring back to a boil again and then turn down to low to cook for at least 1 ½ hrs. Best when cooked on low all day. You can add more water or broth if needed but remember the idea is for the gumbo to thicken. It should be the consistency of a thin gravy. 

Serve over steamed rice. I also always accompany mine with a loaf of Italian bread. 

I like to add Tabasco to mine, but Shea doesn’t like his very spicy so he lets it stay as is. 

Also the longer gumbo sits the better it is so this makes AWESOME leftovers.