Shrimp Gumbo with Andouille Sausage Recipe (2024)

There is one key issue with this recipe. There is no roux! Every person in Louisiana will tell you that what makes gumbo gumbo is the roux. For this recipe I would 1/2 cup of flour and 1/2 cup of butter or vegetable oil. You have to cook the roux for a while, about 40 minutes on very low heat until it has gone from pale to a dark chocolate color. Keep stirring the whole time (it is a labor of love) and make sure it does not burn.

Don't add the shrimp right away. Peel & refrigerate them; wrap the shells in cheesecloth and tie it up into a bag. Simmer the gumbo with the bag in it for c. 1/2 hour; remove & toss it, and add the shrimp. Cook until just pink and cut off the heat. Let sit until the kettle is cool and refrigerate overnight. RIght before it's time to eat, heat the gumbo through and correct the seasonings. The shrimp will have infused it with their flavor, but they won't be tough or mushy

It is ground sassafras root.It is NOT a necessary ingredient for gumbo. The biggest rule is that file' is ONLY used after you have your gumbo in your bowl. NEVER, EVER in the pot itself. Use it like any seasoning.....to taste.My family has lived in Louisiana since the late 1600s. You can find far better recipes than this for gumbo.

(continued from the previous post), Once the roux is a deep chocolate brown, turn off the heat and add the vegetables (onion, celery, garlic and bell pepper) and cook until soft, not too long or else you will burn the roux, about 3-5 minutes. Gumbo is best made in a ducth oven because it preserves the heat. If you don't have one and have to keep the heat on, just make sure it is not too hot, a burnt roux is not a good one.

Added a roux of 4 tablespoons butter and 4 tablespoons of flour. Cooked it to a brown. I set the roux aside and sautéed the veggies. And then re-added the roux when the recipe said to add flour. Fantastic!’

Patience is required to make a roux. You can roast flour in the oven, or my preferred method, a cup of flour in a heavy pot on a medium to hot fire to toast the flour to a light beige. You have to watch it. It should smell nutty, not burned. On a low fire, add a couple of tablespoons of oil, or butter or bacon drippings, a little at a time, stirring to dissolve. Begin to add a little liquid (stock) to "cream" the roux. It should be brown, creamy looking, smooth. Add stock & vegs.

I was very disappointed with this recipe. I thought I would try as it seemed a bit faster than my usual process. You simply can't build the classic flavor without a proper roux. Even making the shrimp broth which was great and I will do that again, sadly the ending dish is very bland without much depth of flavor. MAKE A PROPER ROUX Y'ALL!!!!

Basically followed the recipe and it was delish. Regarding the controversies around okra and tomatoes, the gumbo at Commander's Palace has both. I can hear people saying "Well, what the heck does Ms. Ella Brennan know about creole food?" Then I hear them saying "Why is Ms. Ella's ghost haunting me and please make it stop." As a devotee of creole cuisine, but not an expert, my personal advice is if you like okra and tomatoes, use 'em. If you don't, don't.

Made the gumbo with the following changes.1.5 lb shrimp Whole bag of okraAdded a cup of crabmeat at end, like Mimi’s. Note - A 14.5 oz can of diced tomatoes is about a cup when drained. Added 2 links of Adele’s andouille.

Andouille is a fairly spicy smoked sausage, but any kind of smoked sausage you like will work. A smoked Polish kielbasa is good if you're not looking for something too spicy. On the hotter side, a Porytugese linguica sausage, or any smoked chorizo goes well. I would think any of those would be found fairly easily in London. Hope this helps you out.

No roux? Sacrilege! To begin with, one must stir (pretty constantly) butter and flour until it turns mahogany brown, This will take 15 to 20 minutes. Then, cook the trinity in the roux and continue with the recipe. The rest of the recipe is OK.

Since andouille is a pork based sausage, you should use a heavily smoked pork sausage. Andouille also contains a lot of garlic. Places here in Louisiana ship andouille, I suggest Jacob's andouille in La Place. It's a fully cured, shelf stable sausage that is something my grandmother and her mother always used. Try it out!

You can double the amount of okra and brown half of it in a separate skillet, then add it in and it will thicken that way. Some would say that gumbo isn't gumbo without okra ("gumbo" in West African is "okra"). File powder isn't necessary -- its usually one or the other but it's ok to add it if you would like. There are no hard or fast rules to gumbo, but you should definitely make a roux. Also gumbo really isn't a soup, more of a stew.

I knew this recipe wouldn't be authentic without a roux, but thought it was worth trying to save time. I also found that browning flour to the vegetables created a mes. Gradually adding about a cup of the broth salvaged the meal. I added the remaining broth after browning the meat. We added two boneless chicken thighs to the sausage.

I bought already peeled, deveined shrimp to save myself time. Instead of shrimp broth, I made a fish broth from store-bought mix. I have store-bought roux also and was faced with the challenge of including it. I mixed it in with the fish broth and left the flour out of Step 2. When it was time to add the broth, my broth had roux in it. After that, I followed the recipe closely. In the end, I was a bit underwhelmed by a lack of flavor other than too much cayenne for my taste.

Make roux at the beginning of the day with 4 TBL butter 4 TBL flour stir for at least 20 minutes to chocolate brown color. Set aside until vegetables are cooked.

I suppose there was no way to avoid the comments going every-which-way about roux, file, okra, etc. To my thinking, gumbo is a category, not a dish with a strict set of rules. Like pizza.I make gumbo to *our* liking. It's based on an oven baked roux, poblano instead of bell pepper, which we all dislike, and has andouille, chicken and shrimp generally.

Husband said "one of the best dinner I've ever had," and he is not generous with dinner complements. I forgot to add thyme and it was still delicious (but won't forget it next time). I removed a portion of the recipe before adding sausage and seafood broth and added vegetable broth and Trader Joe's vegetable protein to this for my vegetarian daughter, followed by the okra and sassafras file. And the veggie version wasn't too bad!

Smaller sausage piecesHalf smoked paprika

No need for file. Made a roux the traditional way. Perfectly good for a week night recipe.

This is pretty good, but takes significantly longer than 1 hour including prep time. I doubled the andouille and should have increased the shrimp. The shrimp was delicious. I used a combination of shrimp stock and chicken stock. Shells of 1 pound of shrimp are only about enough for two cups of stock. The veggies never browned in the roux. It was more like an overcooked French roux than a Creole roux, but it served its purpose.

Yes you need a roux for Gumbo. Used black eyed peas instead of the okra . Used Rex Gumbo file and New Orleans School of Cooking Joe’s Stuff Original for the spices. Yummy for sure.

The non-roux roux method actually worked for me, because I had to brown my veg in a cast iron skillet. They got nice and toasty, so as I simmered, the gumbo developed the classic brown color.I usually eat around okra in gumbo, so I left the okra out and added more tomatoes instead. Because okra is a thickener, added some cornstarch, but honestly didn’t need it.I had lots more andouille than the recipe called for, and that worked out, too. I’ll chop it up more next time around. Good Recipe

Flavors are good and there is, of course, roux in the recipe. My only issue is that I think the volume of broth makes it too soupy. Cut it to 4 cups.

Great recipe! Made one change that helped address The Great Roux Controversy. Render the day off the andouille, remove those once they’re nice and brown. Add the flour, take the pot off the heat. Scrape and stir like your life depends on it until the roux turns a nice dark brown. You can use some of the shrimp broth to loosen things up id it’s sticking too much. Add the veggies and continue as directed! Delicious.

I've cooked this several times, always with crawfish instead of shrimp, but using shrimp stock. I used a little (2tbsp) homemade lard and the rest oil. If you're prepared to stand in front of the stove, you can cook the roux at a little higher heat to shorten the time. I've also tossed the tomato paste in with the roux, as it roasts alongside for richer flavor. This is a really fine recipe, very user-friendly.

Made the roux firstDelish!

I'm a Yankee, but my southern friends really liked this! I did a makeshift roux from previous comments and cooked the vegetables in the roux. Also let the gumbo base sit for about three hours before finishing...