This gluten free gumbo is an absolutely delicious one-pot meal that you will love. It is hearty, filled with cajun flavor, and packed full of shrimp, chicken, and andouille sausage. If you have never made gumbo before then you will love this easy gluten free recipe that is perfect for the whole family!
Easy Gluten Free Chicken and Sausage Gumbo
Gumbo! If you have never made it at home before, the idea of making gumbo from scratch might feel a little intimidating to you. It was for me before I made my first batch.
But, here’s the thing with gumbo, and probably a few other dishes that you may think are too complicated to make at home, it is actually pretty simple!
Watch How to Make This Recipe
The base of this gumbo is a nutty dark brown gluten free roux, which may sound involved but all it requires is a little patience. Once you’ve made the roux, it’s as simple as adding all of your ingredients to a pot and letting everything simmer for an hour. Your house is going to smell incredible!
This easy recipe is perfect for Sunday dinner and makes plenty of leftovers or feeds a crowd. Keep reading to learn how to make gluten free gumbo!
The Tools You’ll Need:
How to Make Gluten Free Roux for Gumbo
The base of any good gumbo is a roux. A roux is a mixture of equal parts fat (usually butter) and flour that is used as a base in sauces. The longer you let a roux cook the more flavorful it becomes. Cooking the flour allows the raw flavor of the flour to cook out and creates a rich nutty flavor.
Making the roux is the most labor intensive part of this recipe and if you have never made one before, you may feel a little intimidated. Trust me, don’t be nervous! All you need is a little patience and attention to make the perfect roux.
Typically in gumbo you would use melted butter and wheat flour to make your roux, but in this gluten free version you will use a gluten free flour instead.
To make the gluten free roux for this gumbo, add half a cup of butter to your pot or dutch oven and let it melt over medium heat. Next, whisk in half a cup of gluten free flour to make a paste.
After you add the flour, just let the roux cook over medium heat until it becomes a deep brown color while stirring constantly.
A couple of tips for making a successful roux:
- Cook the roux over medium heat and no higher. This will help to ensure that it does not burn.
- Whisk the mixture frequently to help prevent it from burning.
- Do not be afraid to let the roux keep cooking. The dark brown color is what helps to give the gumbo its flavor.
Let’s Talk About The Rest of The Gumbo Ingredients
Bell Peppers: This recipe uses a mix of green, orange, and red.
Onion: White or yellow onion will both work well in this gumbo.
Okra: Remove the tops and slice into even rounds. You can also buy pre-cut okra to make things even easier.
Tomatoes: You’ll need one can of diced tomatoes in their juice. No need to drain them.
Chicken Thighs: This recipe uses boneless skinless chicken thighs. Chicken thighs are great for dishes like this that have a longer cooking time because they stay tender.
Smoked Andouille Sausage: One 12 oz package sliced into rounds.
Shrimp: If you don’t like shrimp or if you are allergic, feel free to leave them out! Just increase the amount of chicken or sausage you use to keep this gumbo hearty.
Herbs: For this recipe all you need are fresh thyme and dried bay leaves.
Chicken Stock: If you have seafood stock available you can also use a combination of both chicken stock and seafood stock in this dish.
How to Make Gluten Free Gumbo
(Scroll down for the full instructions and ingredients)
Step One: The first step is to brown the diced chicken thighs in a little avocado oil. While the chicken is browning, season it with a little salt and pepper.
Once the chicken is mostly browned, add in the smoked sausage and allow the chicken to continue cooking until it is done. Then, remove the chicken, sausage, and any remaining liquid from the pot.
Step Two: Next, it’s time to make the roux. Add the diced butter butter to the pot and let it melt. Once the butter is melted, you’ll whisk in the flour to create a thick paste.
Let the flour and butter mixture cook over medium heat, whisking frequently, for around 20 minutes until it becomes a dark rich color. As it cooks, the roux will become less like a paste and a bit more of a liquid consistency.
Step Three: Once the roux has reached the right color, the work is pretty much done! Next, you’ll just need to add the tomato paste, cajun spice seasoning, bell peppers, onion, garlic, and celery to the hot roux and allow everything to cook for a few minutes until the veggies start to become tender.
Next, add the herbs, diced tomatoes, okra, chicken stock, coconut aminos, hot sauce, and cooked chicken and sausage back to the pot. Give everything a good stir and bring to a boil. Once it’s boiling, reduce the heat to a simmer and cover. Let the gumbo simmer for an hour.
Step Four: After the gumbo has been simmering for around an hour, the final steps are to thicken it and add in the shrimp!
First, create a slurry to thicken the gumbo. To do this, whisk ¼ cup of gluten free flour with ¾ cup of water until a slurry forms. Be sure to whisk the slurry mixture well so that there are no lumps. Stir the slurry into the gumbo and allow it to cook for a few more minutes until it begins to thicken.
The last step is to add in the shrimp! The shrimp won’t take long to cook, so just add them to the gumbo, stir, and let things cook for a few more minutes until done. When the shrimp is done, serve the gumbo over white rice and garnish with green onion.
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Print
Gluten Free Gumbo
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Cook Time: 2 hours
- Total Time: 2 hours 15 minutes
- Yield: 6-8 servings 1x
- Category: Dinner
- Method: Stovetop
- Cuisine: American
- Diet: Gluten Free
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Cook Time: 2 hours
- Total Time: 2 hours 15 minutes
- Yield: 6-8 servings 1x
- Category: Dinner
- Method: Stovetop
- Cuisine: American
- Diet: Gluten Free
Ingredients
- ½ tablespoon avocado oil
- 1.5 pounds boneless skinless chicken thighs, diced
- 12 oz smoked andouille sausage, sliced
- ½ teaspoon salt (plus more to taste)
- ¼ teaspoon black pepper
- ½ cup butter, diced
- ½ cup gluten free flour
- 1 cup finely diced yellow onion
- 1 cup finely diced green bell pepper
- 1 cup finely diced red bell pepper
- 1 cup finely diced orange bell pepper
- 1 cup finely chopped celery
- 6 large cloves garlic, minced
- 1 tablespoon tomato paste
- 1 tablespoon cajun spice blend
- 2 cups sliced okra
- 1 – 14.5oz canned diced tomatoes
- 3 dried bay leaves
- 6 sprigs fresh thyme
- 4 cups chicken broth
- 1 tablespoon coconut aminos
- 1 teaspoon hot sauce
- To thicken: ¼ cup gluten free flour + ¾ cup water
- 1 pound peeled and deveined shrimp
- Sliced green onion, for serving
- White rice, for serving
Method
- Heat a large heavy-bottomed pot or dutch oven over medium heat. Once hot, add in ½ tablespoon of avocado oil. Next, add the chicken thighs to the pot and season with salt and pepper. Cook the chicken until mostly brown, and then add in the smoked sausage. Let the meat continue to cook until the chicken is fully cooked. Transfer the chicken, sausage, and any remaining liquid from the pot to a bowl and set aside.
- Next, make the roux. Add the diced butter butter to the pot and let it melt over medium heat. Once the butter is melted, whisk in the flour to create a thick paste.
- Let the flour and butter mixture cook over medium heat, whisking frequently, for around 20 minutes until it becomes a dark rich color. Be careful to watch the roux so it does not burn.
- Add the bell peppers, onion, garlic, celery, cajun seasoning mix, and tomato paste to the hot roux and allow the veggies to cook for a few minutes until they start to become tender.
- Add the herbs, diced tomatoes, okra, chicken stock, coconut aminos, hot sauce, and cooked chicken and sausage back to the pot. Stir until well combined and then bring to a boil. Once boiling, reduce the heat to a simmer, cover, and let the gumbo simmer for an hour.
- Create a slurry to thicken the gumbo by whisking together ¼ cup of gluten free flour with ¾ cup of water until a slurry forms. Be sure to whisk the slurry mixture well so that there are no lumps. Stir the slurry mixture into the gumbo and allow it to cook for a few more minutes until it begins to thicken.
- Lastly, stir in the shrimp and let it cook for a few more minutes until done. Once the shrimp is done, serve the gumbo over white rice and garnish with green onion.
