Shrimp & Sausage Gumbo

How long has it been since you’ve seen “Forest Gump”? I know you’ve seen it and could likely recite at least a quarter of the Bubba Gump Shrimp recipes, or possibly just a few, but with a killer accent. Well, I don’t often get seafood and thus took the opportunity to satisfy my craving with this lovely Shrimp Gumbo recipe from the “Sunday Soup” cook book when Tim was out of town (on his last business trip EVER!).



I’ve never made Gumbo, but I am such a fan of what I’d call Process Type recipes. The type of recipe where there is a distinct method and tradition to the creation of that particular flavor. Gumbo is definitely such a recipe with the incredible brick red roux and cunning use of okra and file powder (aka sassafras). I was overjoyed to attempt this recipe and very pleased with the results.

For your Mise en place:


6 T Vegetable or Canola Oil
     (recipe called for 8, but I didn’t need the other two)
4 T Whole Wheat Flour
     (recipe called for AP Flour, WW was fine, just shortened the time to make the roux)
¾ C chopped onion
¾ C chopped celery
¾ C chopped carrot
¾ C diced and seeded red bell pepper
2 ½ t minced garlic
½ t cayenne pepper
     (recipe called for ¼, but I didn't feel this was enough)
¾ t dried thyme
Pinch kosher salt
Pinch freshly ground black pepper
3 C chicken stock
     (I had 2.5 C chicken stock on hand, so I didn’t drain the tomatoes as specified)
One 28-oz can diced tomatoes
     (they asked to be drained, I didn’t drain and used less chicken stock)Handful fresh parsley
     (I think I accidentally used Cilantro, but didn’t harm anything)
2 Bay leaves
     (recipe suggested to break these in half, I did not as a whole leaf is easier to fish out than something smaller)
12 oz okra cut into rounds
     (I purchased a 10 oz box of frozen okra rounds. I’d like to try fresh next time as there was a texture difference I feel)
6 oz Andouille sausage diced
     (I used 12 oz smoked chicken and apple sausage)
1 lb uncooked shrimp, shelled and deveined
     (I used what I had left in freezer which was 12 cooked shrimp, thus the increase in sausage)
1 t file powder
4 C cooked brown rice
     (recipe called for white, but why?)

For the roux, use a small sauce pan with rounded edges. Over medium heat combine 4 T of oil with the flour. Stir to combine. The color of the flour will deepen as it cooks and absorbs the oil into the grain. Using wheat there will be a nutty flavor. I found the while wheat darkened in color much faster than their prediction of 6 to 8 minutes. I was removing the pan from the flame in under 5. Carry over heat turned the roux a deep mahogany. The smell was glorious. You want to trust your nose and not let the mixture burn. Stir fairly constantly with a wooden spoon. I was taking pictures so it was easy to see the color progression. It’s pretty subtle while you’re watching it. You are looking for a deep brick red color. Remove from heat and set aside.

Now, for the veggies. Although the recipe calls for ¾ C of everything, it’s easy to scale this recipe as that translates to “equal parts”. I’m not a fan of having an unusable fragment of a veggie left over so I tend to just use the whole thing. My onions were pretty small so I used 1 and a half I had in the fridge. The carrots I had an awesome rainbow color package of the full length carrots, I used 3. Celery I used 5 ribs, but cut off the tops and the base. There’s lots of flavor in the leaves of the celery, so don’t remove the tops if you’re down to the heart. I used up the whole red pepper and it was pretty large, about the size of a lady’s softball. Sauté the vegetables for about three minutes. You want them to soften and release some of their liquid, the onions should be translucent.

Add the garlic, give it a stir and cook for an additional minute.


Add in your spices, cayenne, salt and pepper, and thyme along with your stock, tomatoes, bay leaves and parsley. Bring to a simmer and reduce heat to low while maintaining the simmer.

Whisk in the roux and continue to simmer for 20 minutes. The vegetables should become tender and the soup will thicken.

While the simmering is happening, cook the okra. If you used the thawed frozen okra you can skip this step. If using raw, you can heat the other two T of oil (making your total 8 T instead of 6 T) and cook okra over medium-high heat. You want the edges of the okra rings to get a bit brown. Stir occasionally. Add okra and the sausage to the soup after the soup has simmered and thickened, about 20 minutes).

Now for the shrimp. Since mine were already cooked I added them at the very last minute. I basically just wanted them to come to temperature (I did not thaw them). Also I was making this soup for future lunches, so I just tossed them into the pot at the end. If you are using raw and especially if you are eating the soup, cook the shrimp until they curl and turn pink, about 3 minutes.


At the very end, take the soup off the burner and add in the file powder. Gumbo wants to be thick. This soup uses three different agents to add that thickness. The roux, with the flour and oil. Okra, with its eerie sliminess. And finally the file powder also add thickness. You could eat this with a fork if you really wanted to.

When ready to serve, add the rice to the bottom of your bowl and pour the soup on top (Yet ANOTHER thickener). Enjoy!