A chicken, sausage and shrimp gumbo, made with a butter-based roux, the trinity and okra.
Butter Roux Chicken, Sausage and Shrimp Gumbo
A long time ago, I remember hearing an old wives' tale about combining chicken and seafood together in a gumbo, something to the effect of "land and sea, never the two shall meet," a throw back to Kipling I think. Supposedly, you weren't to mix seafood and chicken in a gumbo.
In my growing up, we didn't. There was seafood gumbo and there was chicken gumbo. There was no mixing of the two together in one gumbo.
Seems like it's actually really a thing though!
Just a quick reminder.... if you aren't interested in the chit chat, info, photos, tips, product recommendations and such on a blog, as always, you'll find the complete recipe text with measurements and instructions, as well as a printable document, a little bit further down the page. Just swipe or scroll down to the bottom of the post!
Here lately though, I have been seeing a lot of chicken with seafood gumbos out and about in social media, and it seems it might be more common in Cajun country. Often, it's not even just chicken with shrimp, but chicken with all kinds of seafood - shrimp, fish, crab and oysters, whatever one has!
Well, that might be a step too far for me, but I was curious enough to try the chicken with shrimp version at least, and you know, it's really good y'all!
I also noted that a lot of folks were using butter as the fat in their roux and I had only ever used a cooking oil and never butter, so that was also a new one on me. I like it though!
This is a small batch gumbo, though you could certainly double up on it. Here's what you'll need to make my Butter Roux Chicken, Sausage and Shrimp Gumbo:
- 1 pound raw small (100/150 count) Wild American shrimp, peeled and deveined (preferably Gulf shrimp)
- 1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter
- 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
- 1 cup chopped onion
- 1/4 cup chopped green bell pepper
- 1/4 cup chopped celery
- 1-1/2 quarts chicken stock/broth
- 2 small bay leaves
- 1-1/2 teaspoons Creole or Cajun seasoning, or to taste
- 1 teaspoon dried thyme
- 1 pound mild or spicy smoked sausage or andouille, sliced
- 1 cup sliced frozen okra
- 1/4 cup sliced green onion
- Kosher salt and freshly cracked black pepper, as needed, to taste
- Hot sauce, (like Tabasco), for the table, optional
First things first I want to give a shout out to cast aluminum.
If you're lucky enough to have inherited one, the leader of these pots was and still is Magnalite. Camellia beans, my favorite in the whole, wide world bean brand, has an excellent article about the history of Magnalite here.
Unfortunately, for whatever reason, they aren't made anymore and I didn't inherit one. If luck is on your side, you might run across one at a thrift store, but more likely, you'll have to get it at a site like eBay or Etsy.
Luckily, there's a couple pretty decent copycats and that's what I own!
Note: As an Amazon.com Services LLC Associate and member of other affiliate programs, I earn from qualifying purchases linked in my posts and marked as #ad or #affiliate links.
I absolutely love this pot. Besides Magnaware, there's a couple other brands out there like McWare and Cajun Classic to choose from.
Since it's just me and The Cajun I got the smaller size (#ad) and I use it a lot, but it's really ideal for a roux because it cooks evenly and quickly. Cast iron also works pretty good for roux but I find that it gets away from me easily where the cast aluminum doesn't.
So... let's make some gumbo!
If needed, peel and devein shrimp; refrigerate until needed. Today I'm using thawed from frozen, Wild American Gulf shrimp, already peeled and deveined.
Start the roux by melting the butter over medium heat in a soup or gumbo pot and stirring in the flour, a little at a time.
Stir constantly until all of the flour is blended in. Oh, and there's my roux spoon (#ad)! I typically used a wooden spoon when making roux in cast iron, but this spoon pairs perfectly with the Magnaware pot for cooking gumbo and the flat edge really helps with scraping up the mix so it doesn't burn. Another helpful tool!
Continue cooking, stirring constantly and scraping up the sides and bottom of the pot. You don't want your roux to burn!
Keep cooking until roux is fragrant and brown in color. This color pictured is about the roux patience level I have, but certainly, take it as dark as you like, keeping in mind that the darker the roux, the less thickening power you'll have in your gumbo and the stronger the flavor.
Add the onion, bell pepper and celery to the hot roux. I'm substituting 6 heaping tablespoons of the C'est Tout dried trinity I've featured here before, reconstituted in water for 5 minutes in microwave for a yield of 1-1/2 cups. For fresh, you'll want 1 cup chopped onion, 1/4 cup chopped green bell pepper and 1/4 cup chopped celery.
Cook the veggies in the hot roux, stirring constantly until tender, about 3-4 minutes.
Stir in the stock or broth.
Adding a little at a time and blending until mixture is smooth. Stir in all of the remaining stock.
Add bay leaves, thyme and Creole or Cajun seasoning. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to just under medium, cover and let simmer for 30 minutes, stirring occasionally.
You'll need a pound of smoked sausage. I have several favorites I switch back and forth between and today I'm using Savoie's brand.
Cut into rounds about 1/4-inch thick.
Stir the sausage into the gumbo and bring up to a near boil.
Reduce to simmer and continue cooking for 15 minutes.
Add the chicken. I'm using already cooked chicken I pulled from the freezer, that I made using my Ready Chicken recipe. It's a great oven poaching method that adds excellent flavor, far above a stovetop poach. You can also use a rotisserie chicken or start with pan seared raw chicken - see the Cook's Notes in the recipe text below for instructions.
Add the shrimp.
Add the okra and green onion and bring up to a near boil.
Reduce to a simmer.
Continue cooking for about 10 minutes longer, or until the shrimp are pink and chicken is warmed through.
Taste, add salt and pepper, only as needed, and adjust Cajun seasoning to taste.
Serve over hot steamed rice and pass a bottle of Tabasco for some extra kick. Add some hot, buttered French bread, rolls, cornbread or biscuits and some creamy gumbo potato salad, or a side salad to round out the meal.
Although we rarely do wait, gumbo is a dish that only improves with advance preparation. The flavors really benefit from settling down and mingling together, and it thickens up better too. While it’s delicious right out of the pot on day one, it’s always even better the next day, so make it ahead of time whenever possible. Prepare, let cool and skim any accumulated oil off the top before storing. Skim off any refrigerated fat before reheating.
For more of my favorite gumbo recipes, check out the collection on my Pinterest page
Unable to view the printable above on your device? Tap/click here for a backup printable.
Thank you for supporting my work! Please note that Images and Full Post Content including photographs and recipe ©Deep South Dish. Recipes are offered for your own personal use only and while pinning and sharing links is welcomed and encouraged, do not copy and paste post or recipe text to repost or republish to any social media (such as other Facebook pages, etc.), blogs, websites, forums, or any print medium, without explicit prior permission. Unauthorized use of content from ©Deep South Dish is a violation of both the federal Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) and copyright law. All rights reserved.
Material Disclosure: Unless otherwise noted, you should assume that post links to the providers of goods and services mentioned, establish an affiliate relationship and/or other material connection and that I may be compensated when you purchase from a provider. You are never under any obligation to purchase anything when using my recipes and you should always perform due diligence before buying goods or services from anyone via the Internet or offline.
20241013
