Best Ever Chicken and Sausage Gumbo

(1 vote)
25 Comments
3 minutes
April 24, 2023
Andi GleesonJump to Recipe

I don’t usually get so uppity and call my recipes “the best,” but I honestly think this Chicken and Sausage Gumbo is up there. It’s at least the best my family has tried!

The Best Chicken and Sausage Gumbo #cajun
The Best Chicken and Sausage Gumbo #cajun
The Best Chicken and Sausage Gumbo #cajun

I am so excited to bring you this recipe! I have been saving it up for nearly a year since I started The Weary Chef. What took so long, you ask? Well, it’s not exactly quick and easy. It’s not difficult, but there is a good bit of chopping and lots of steps involved. It is so worth it though! I made a big batch of this gumbo to freeze before both kids were born. Instead of getting by with just sandwiches and pizza delivery during the bleary newborn weeks, we were able to enjoy this savory, spicy, wonderful gumbo for dinner a few times. It freezes beautifully and seems to taste even better leftover. There’s a secret about this gumbo: It’s pretty low in fat! Yes, really. The original recipe called for a whopping 2/3 cup of oil, and I couldn’t bring myself to pour that much into the pot. Over the years I reduced the oil to 1/2 cup, then 1/3 cup. It still tasted just as amazing, but even with 1/3 cup there was oil floating to the top of the finished dish that I had to carefully ladle off. Since there still seemed to be more than I needed, this time I tried reducing the oil to only 1/4 cup. That’s only FOUR TABLESPOONS in an entire pot of gumbo! Folks, it turned out perfectly. You can enjoy a big, steaming bowl of gumbo without the side of guilt! Read through the recipe before you get started because I wrote in opportunities to chop your vegetables and do other prep while you are waiting for other steps. This helps the recipe come together more quickly instead of doing all your chopping first.

This recipe is adapted from a worn, stained, photocopied page that my mother-in-law gave me years ago.

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The Best Chicken and Sausage Gumbo #cajun

Best Ever Chicken and Sausage Gumbo

This delicious gumbo is rich in flavor but lower in fat than most classic recipes.

  • Total Time: 50 minutes
  • Yield: 6 1x

Ingredients

Units Scale
  • 1 lb. boneless, skinless chicken breasts
  • 12 oz. fully-cooked chicken andouille sausage cut lengthwise and sliced into 1/4″ half circles
  • 1/2 tsp. Cajun seasoning approximate measurement
  • 1 green bell pepper diced
  • 4 ribs celery diced
  • 1 yellow onion diced
  • 68 green onions sliced thin
  • 1/4 c. chopped parsley
  • 4 cloves garlic minced or crushed
  • 1/4 c. olive oil
  • 1/3 c. all purpose flour
  • 4 c. chicken broth
  • 2 c. hot water
  • 1 tsp. kosher salt
  • 1/4 tsp. cayenne pepper or to taste
  • gumbo filé powder optional
  • 4 c. cooked white rice

Instructions

  1. Spray a large dutch oven with cooking spray, and heat over medium-high heat.
  2. Sprinkle both sides of chicken breasts with Cajun seasoning, and arrange on one side of the pan. Place the sliced sausage on the other side. (If all your meat can’t fit in your pan at once, you can do the sausage first, then chicken.) While your meat is cooking, dice your vegetables. Cook chicken for about 5 minutes per side, and stir sausage occasionally for even browning. Transfer cooked meat to a bowl and set aside. (It’s OK if the chicken isn’t completely cooked through at this point.)
  3. Your pan will likely be left with lots of brown bits from the meat, and that is OK. Turn the heat down to medium, and add flour and oil. Stir together until smooth, and keep stirring constantly as this roux cooks. Cook until it smells a bit like popcorn and is the color of peanut butter or a tad darker, 5-7 minutes.
  4. Stir in diced onion, bell pepper, and celery until coated with roux. Cover and cook, stirring often, until vegetables are tender, 10-12 minutes. Stir in green onions, parsley, and garlic, and cook 3 minutes longer. (Some flour will stick to the pan and look a bit burned during this step. Do not even worry. That will be incorporated into the gumbo and add wonderful flavor.) While your vegetables are cooking, shred your chicken. Now is also a good time to start the rice cooking.
  5. Add chicken broth, about 1/2 c. at a time, stirring until the mixture is smooth before adding more. Scrape the bottom of the pan as you stir to loosen the browned bits from earlier steps. Add water, salt, cayenne, sausage, and shredded chicken. Increase heat to medium high, and bring to a boil. Cook at a low boil for for at least 10 minutes before serving.
  6. To serve, place about 1/2 c. rice in each bowl, and ladle gumbo over the rice. Sprinkle about 1/4 tsp. of gumbo filé powder over each serving, to be stirred in before eating.

Notes

Gumbo filé powder is ground sassafras leaves. It is traditionally added to gumbo to add flavor and thicken the soup. If you can not find it in your area, you will still love this recipe without it!

  • Author: Andi
  • Prep Time: 5
  • Cook Time: 45
  • Category: Main Dish
  • Cuisine: Cajun

Andi Gleeson

25 comments

Avelina
6 years ago

My husband & I made this together. WOW!!! Fantastic! We added precooked shrimp after it was done cooking and turned the burner off just as it was starting to simmer. I used chicken thighs and a sausage we got from Louisiana. This recipe will stay in my rolodex!! Thank you

Deborah
7 years ago

If you add onions first to the roux without the bell paper and celery, it will help to darken it even further. That is a Poppy Tooker tip.

Andi Gleeson
7 years ago

Oh, I have never heard that tip, Deborah. Thank you!!

Laurie DeSoto-LaCombe
7 years ago

To cut down excusing the pun….lol use pre cut season mix, we call it the Trinity in South Louisiana. You can find it in any freezer section. It contains onions, celery and bell pepper. WalMart stocks a huge family size that I love.

Andi Gleeson
7 years ago

That’s a great tip, Laurie!! I also see it in the produce section here all cut and ready, although then it usually has carrots instead of bell pepper. I could find your version in Mississippi, but I don’t think they sell it most places here in California. Have a great weekend!

sydney maria
8 years ago

I will try to make it.
Thank for sharing. Now i have a new repice.

Andi Gleeson
8 years ago

Thank you, Sydney. I haven’t made this in a long time, and you reminded me I should make it again. I hope you like it!

Liz
8 years ago

Great recipe, Andi. Thank you and Merry Christmas.

gerontologist
8 years ago

When I make gumbo, I use Mary Foreman’s (Deep South Dish blog)technique. She makes her roux in the oven. She starts it on top of the stove and then transfers it to the oven. It takes one hour to one hour and a half in the oven for the roux to become a dark chocolate brown. Cooking a roux for 5-7 minutes is not sufficient time to make an authentic New Orleans style gumbo. Give her recipe a try sometime.

Andi Gleeson
8 years ago

That’s very interesting to make the roux in the oven! I’ll have to try it (although I disagree that my method is insufficient).

Liz
9 years ago

Thanks Andi for the nice recipe.

Andi Gleeson
9 years ago

Thank you, Liz!

Evelyn
9 years ago

I am a senior and am finding wonderful recipes on your site! Can’t wait to try them. Thank you!

Andi
9 years ago

Thank you so much, Evelyn! I’m glad to have you :)

Garnet
9 years ago

I just made this tonight and it was amazing! Definitely took some time to make, but worth it. Next time I will double or triple the batch for the freezer (I don’t think it would take much more time to double it!) Thank you!

Andi
9 years ago

I’m so glad you liked it, Garnet! This freezes really well, and I like to do that when I take the time to make it. You’re right that it doesn’t take much longer except more chopping time. I froze several dinner-for-two portions of this gumbo before we had each of our babies, and it was so nice to have already made! Thank you :)

Holly
8 years ago

I may sound like an idiot but how do u freeze this? I’m having a baby in January and this sounds amazing to have on hand for when family comes!!

Andi Gleeson
8 years ago

Hi, Holly! You don’t sound like an idiot :) I just put it in smallish containers that held about two servings and froze those after cooking it. Then I put one in the fridge a couple days before I wanted to eat it. Or, you can freeze the whole batch in larger containers if you’ll be feeding more people. When it’s thawed, just make rice and heat it up! Now that they have such good frozen rice, you can use that and not even have to cook the rice. Congratulations on your baby!!

Liz
9 years ago

Thanks for the nice recipes Andi.

Andi
9 years ago

You’re welcome, Liz! Thank you!

Melissa
10 years ago

This recipe sounds delicious and I will be trying it as soon as our weather cools, San Jose is hot right now! Do you have suggestions I can use to replace the bell peppers with though? I cannot eat them due to an allergy, I can’t even do tomatoes much to the hubby’s chagrin.

Andi
10 years ago

San Jose, CA? I’m right up here in San Francisco, and it was cold today! I’m going to San Jose for a blog conference later this month, and I’ll have to remember to dress for the heat :)

Oh, it would be hard for me to make it without tomatoes! I would just add a little more onion and celery to the gumbo to make up for the bell pepper. It will still be good without it. Let me know how it turns out when you make it in the fall. Thanks so much for stopping by!

Kelly
10 years ago

What a awesome looking gumbo Andi! I love freezer friendly meals and a hot bowl of this gumbo sounds perfect for the cold wintery days where I am. Love all the spices and veggies in here too – yum!

Andi
10 years ago

Thank you, Kelly! I think you will really like this recipe if you get a chance to try it! Thank you for all your sweet comments today. I’m always happy to hear from you :)

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