Authentic Cajun Gumbo: It’s Okay To Cheat

I like checking out YouTube and the rest of the internet every now and then, just to see how wrong some people can get their gumbo recipes. I don’t know why watching abject failure is fun for me, but at least I limit it to gumbo. There are worse ways to pass a few minutes, you know.

Oh, hey. Before I get into a long, involved story about the time a bowl of gumbo saved my life when I was a Dickensian street urchin working the coal mines, you can skip straight to the recipe here. You’re welcome.

I’m all for quick and easy gumbo, though. Cheat Gumbo, you can call it. You don’t have to make your own roux if you don’t want to. You don’t even have to chop your own vegetables or cook any chicken. There are ways. Sadly, most of the methods you’ll find on the internet are just too lazy.

Everyone knows the key to cooking up a great gumbo is the roux. The reason purists will tell you it’s important to make your own isn’t because slowly cooking up your own oil and flour combo is better than using someone else’s pre-cooked oil and flour combo. In the end, the roux will pretty much taste the same.

Nope, the difference is what you do with the roux. If you make your own, what you do when it’s ready is toss in your holy trinity (onion, celery, bell pepper) and saute those veggies right in the roux since it’ll be roughly the temperature at the heart of a dying star at that point. That’ll flavor up the roux and the veggies, and you’ll have a great base to build the rest of your pot on.

However, what almost everyone on the internet says to do with jar roux just makes my heart sad. They all want you to dissolve it in boiling water and then dump all your raw ingredients into the pot after its boiled for a couple of hours or so. No. No, no, no. You can make a pretty decent watery gumbo-flavored soup this way, but no. You’re not making Gumbo with the capital G. You gotta earn that.

My way is less lazy but just as easy, and you’ll end up with a very flavorful stew, like how Gumbo should be. (See? Capital G right there.) Here’s how.

Buy you some store-bought roux. I like Savoie’s, but really, it’s all just oil and flour anyway. Buy whichever one you want. (If you get to making your own roux, you can use vegetable oil if you want, but never use olive oil. I don’t care what the cooking show chef on your talking box said. Don’t do it. Also, if you want a really great roux, use bacon grease or lard for your oil. Trust me. Equal parts oil and flour, cook over medium heat stirring constantly until you get a rich, chocolate color. Simple.)

Toss that roux in a big pot you’re gonna cook up the gumbo in. I use a whole jar for my pot, so the rest of this super easy recipe will follow that. Add a little oil to it if you need to (jar roux will be very, very dense and dry) and put it over a low heat, stirring constantly until it’s all smooth. After that, keep the heat on low and stir it regularly while you do the next steps. (The reason jar users don’t saute their vegetables in the roux is because it’s already cooked and pretty easy to burn if you try to bring it all the way up to temperature from the get-go. That’s why I bring the roux up slowly over a low heat while I do the other stuff.)

The sausage! Use whatever sausage you want. My favorite won’t be your favorite, so pick what you like. I recommend a sausage that tastes red because sausage that tastes too brown just screws everything up. (Shout out to all my synesthesia folks out there who understand what I’m talking about.) Cut it into thick slices, dump the slices into a separate pan, and brown them up on both sides. (The Maillard reaction brings out extra flavor.) When you’re done with that, dump the sausage into a bowl or some other kind of temporary container.

Stir that roux a bit.

Without taking your now empty pan (except for some grease and a bunch of bits stuck to the bottom) off the heat, toss in your veggies (or, if you want to be extra lazy like me, you can buy a “seasoning blend” of veggies in your grocer’s freezer section that’ll be just fine as long as it’s got onions, celery, and bell peppers). Dump in the whole 24oz bag, and cook them until they’re nice and cooked down and soft. Nobody wants crunchy veggies in their gumbo.

Stir that roux a bit.

When you dump the veggies in the sausage pan, the moisture will deglaze it and bring all that goodness up that was stuck on the bottom. You should also have plenty of grease from the sausage to cook up the veggies. (All this adds flavor, you know.)

Stir that roux a bit. Go ahead and turn the heat up to a low medium while you’re at it.

When your veggies are ready, dump them a little at a time into the gumbo pot with the roux. Stir it all together, then add a little more. (If your roux starts to seize up on you, just add a little oil.) Keep stirring the veggies in until you have all you want in there. (I usually have, I dunno, maybe 1/3 to 1/2 of a cup left over.)

Stir the roux and veggies up a minute, then dump in the sausage and stir it all together. Now add a couple of boxes of chicken stock. Just dump it in, stir everything around, and make sure everything is all nice and smooth and the roux has completely dissolved.

You should season up the liquid now with some salt and pepper. Don’t add any “Cajun spice” blends, though. That’s just dumb and you don’t need them. Instead, add a couple of teaspoons of filé to the pot and stir it up. (It’s just ground sassafras. Nothing fancy.) The filé will not only flavor your Gumbo (ooooh, that capital G is back now), it’ll also help thicken it a little to just the right amount. Maybe start with 1.5 teaspoons, although you can always add a little water to the pot later if it gets too thick.

When you got that done, try and get at least three pounds of meat off a few fully cooked rotisserie chickens, shred it, and toss it in the pot. (Or buy at least three pounds of chicken thighs and boil them in water with salt and pepper, some dried oregano, a couple of bay leaves, and half an onion (no need to chop it). Boil them about 20 minutes, then take them off the heat and let them sit in the water another 10-15, then pull them out and shred them with a couple of forks. (If you want tastier chicken and have the time/energy, just season your thighs and brown them in a pan, finishing them off in the oven however you normally like baked chicken.) But if you’re really lazy, just pick up some thighs from Popeyes, take the skin off and chunk them into the pot.

I like to add some finely chopped garlic just before I toss in the chicken, by the way. I don’t saute it first because it’ll be plenty hot enough to cook it in the pot, and I want the flavor that comes from tossing it in this way. If you’d like a more mellow garlic, saute it first or just sprinkle in some garlic powder. I don’t care. Some people like to add a bay leaf at this point because I guess they think it does a damn thing, so go on ahead and do that if you want to plant a tree in your pot. I don’t think it brings anything to the party though, so I don’t invite it to mingle.

Anyway, now all you gotta do is let that simmer (bring it to just below a boil, then turn the heat down to a low simmer) for however long you want. The longer you go, the more flavor you’ll get, but it’ll be ready to eat whenever you decide you can’t wait anymore. (And it’ll be even better the next day and the day after that and the day after that…)

If I’m gonna put rice in my gumbo, I like to serve it on the side to add to my bowl as I go. Honestly though, rice is just a stretcher to make thin, watery gumbo last longer and serve more. My Gumbo is thicker – but not too thick – and is more of a rich stew, so you really don’t need the rice. Have some if you want, though. I’m not the boss of you.

Okay, now here’s the quick version for everyone who just jumped straight to the bottom of the post for the recipe. You jerks.

Chicken and Sausage Gumbo
Lazy Cheater’s Recipe

• 1 16oz jar of dark roux (or 2 cups oil and 2 cups flour; protip – bacon grease is great; or use Bacon-Up)
• 1 24oz bag frozen seasoning blend (onions, celery, bell pepper)
• 2 pounds of sausage, sliced (you can add more, but not less)
• 3-5 pounds of chicken (again, you can add more, but not less – also, I recommend boneless, skinless thighs)
• 96 ounces (three 32-ounce boxes) chicken stock or broth (you can grab an extra box to have on hand if you need more liquid, or you could always just add some water)
• However many cloves of garlic you want, finely chopped
• 2 teaspoons gumbo filé (or a lot more, if you prefer — I go with a lot more)
• Bay leaves

Cook your chicken first, however you like – or you can get some fully cooked rotisserie chickens and use those. I like chicken thighs, myself – boneless, skinless. You can cook them in a pan, in the oven, on the grill, however you like. Just remember to season them first. Once cooked, just shred them with a couple of forks or, if you spend too much time on TikTok, use a hand mixer on them. There are no rules here.

In a large pot, add the jar of roux and maybe a little oil (if you want to stir it a little more easily before it’s heated up) over low heat, stirring constantly until smooth. (Stir occasionally after that, while you do the next steps.) If you’re making your own roux and you’re not experienced, you might want to save this step for after your sausages are done.

Cut sausage into slices and brown in separate pan. When browned on both sides, remove from the pan (but leave the grease), put it in a temporary container and set to the side.

In the same pan you used for the sausage, saute seasoning blend (onions, celery, and bell peppers) until well cooked and soft.

(If you’re making your own roux, do it now.)

Add veggies to large pot with roux a little at a time, kind of like you’re tempering chocolate. Add sausage to pot and increase heat to medium, stirring constantly.

Pour in chicken stock. Stir until roux dissolves completely. Season with salt and pepper. Add chopped garlic and filé, then put down that jar of “Cajun spice” I know you’re about to try and sprinkle in there. I can see you. Trust me, you don’t need it. Just stir your pot.

Add chicken, bring to just below a boil, then reduce heat and simmer with a couple of dried bay leaves until you can’t stand it anymore. The longer the better, but I’ll understand if you just can’t wait.

Eat.

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