Ultimate Gulf Coast Gumbo Recipe - Allrecipes.com
Ultimate Gulf Coast Gumbo Recipe
  • READY IN ABOUT 4 hrs

Ultimate Gulf Coast Gumbo

Read Reviews (38)

"Gumbo filled with shrimp, crab, chicken, sausage, vegetables, and Cajun spices. I've also included crab and/or scallops in this recipe. Serve over rice, accompanied with garlic bread. Also have salt, red pepper flakes, and additional file powder on the table. Great with cold beer." —  

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Original recipe makes 20 servings Change Servings
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Directions

  1. Peel and devein the shrimp. Refrigerate shrimp meat. Place the shrimp heads and shells in a large pot, and cover with 2 quarts of water. Cover, and simmer over medium low heat until liquid is reduced by half. Strain out the shrimp heads and shells.
  2. Select a large stock pot capable of holding all the ingredients. Add oil to the pot, and heat over medium high heat. Using a long handled spoon, stir in flour; cook and stir for several minutes until dark brown. At that point, the flour suddenly puffs and absorbs the oil. Slowly stir in chicken broth and an equal amount of water. Place chicken in the pot. Add onions, celery, bell pepper, tomatoes, garlic, bay leaves, red pepper flakes, Old Bay seasoning, and salt. Boil for about 1 1/2 hours, or until chicken meat is no longer pink and the juices run clear.
  3. Remove chicken from the pot, and set aside until cool enough to handle. Remove bones, and chop the chicken into about one inch pieces.
  4. Add chicken meat, shrimp broth, crab meat, sausage, and shrimp to . Add the file powder, and stir from the bottom of the pot. When the gumbo comes to a boil, remove from heat. Continue to stir from the bottom for 1 minute. Serve.
Kitchen-Friendly View
  • PREP 1 hr 30 mins
  • COOK 2 hrs 20 mins
  • READY IN 3 hrs 50 mins

Footnotes

  • File powder is a seasoning made from the ground, dried leaves of the sassafras tree. It's an integral part of Creole cooking, and is used to thicken and flavor Gumbos and other Creole dishes. File should be stirred into a dish after it's removed from the heat because undue cooking makes file tough and stringy.
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Reviews More Reviews

Most Helpful Positive Review
Dec 31, 2003

Igave this recipe five stars because it is the best gumbo I've tasted. I did'nt put as much of the celery it call for instead I use a cup of green onion and a half cup of parsley. My family is from Louisiana an we never made gumbo without those two ingredients.

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Most Helpful Critical Review
Nov 06, 2008

My family has been making Cajun & Creole Gumbo for over 90 years.We use fresh chopped Okra in all of our Gumbos instead of File'Powder.File'was used only if you do not have fresh or frozen chopped Okra. Otherwise the Recipe is very good.Sometims we add shucked Oysters to give our Seafood Gumbo extra flavor. At my home Library I have over 100 different recipes for Gumbo, that were collected while growing up in Louisiana and have shared many of them with friends.

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Oct 13, 2008

I have made this gumbo a total of 3 times now and my friends and family love it! I did make some minor modifications, because being from Kentucky...I had to put a little Kentucky in it. : ) I love hoppin john stew aka black eyed peas and rice, and i use a lot of the flavors like file, cayenne, bell pepper, onion and the like in it. So after the first time I made it (strictly by recipe), I decided why not add some black eyed peas and go ahead and add the rice to it as well? So that's how I did it the last two times I've made it and it is gooood. The original is good too, but the peas and rice thicken it up real nice and just add extra love in my opinion. lol. My neighbor is from New Orleans and I did the big test by taking her some the other night, and the next day she raved. She said it was very good gumbo and that she'd never had it with the b.e. peas and rice added in, but she really loved it that way. My philosophy is..if you like it, put it in there! So thanks for posting the recipe and giving me something new that my family enjoys. I highly recommend it to everyone!

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Jan 27, 2010

I lived in New Orleans most of my life this recipe seems great, but noted a "lack of flavor" might be due to Old Bay Seasoning which is common on the East Coast, not in the South. We usually use Zetairan's Creole Seasoning or Tony Chachere's. Try that instead for a more authentic flavor.

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Feb 25, 2003

I've been wanting to try some gumbo for a long time and one day my husband found this recipe, and he's made it quite a few times since. We love it! Also, it does taste even better the next day. It's not quick to prepare, but after eating this, you know it was made with LOVE.

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Dec 21, 2003

I served this recipe at our Super Bowl Party and got rave reviews. It's a wonderful blending of flavors. And, it's even better the day after!

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Feb 23, 2009

Wow - this is wonderful. We had over friends and they loved it. One of them said it was the best meal he ever had - and he is in the restaurant business. I made a mistake and dumped the shrimp stock before I put it in the gumbo so I added chicken stock instead. It was still great. Nexttime I will by shrimp already peeled to save the time.

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Feb 10, 2011

great that there are people out there other than in the south that are trying this, i live in cenla (central louisiana) and grew up in southeast texas, and this is a meal i grew up eating once a week and i cook on a regular basis for my own family now! for my own, i never use chicken broth, i boil chicken breasts and use that as the base broth, i do not add tomatoes, we dont use any seasoning other than tony chacheres seasoning and garlic powder instead of all of the seasonings and herbs in here, while the chicken is boiling i add seasoning and the onions celery bell pepper... ONLY ONLY use andouille sausage no other types of sausage! we prefer beef! and the file is not necessary unless you want to add thickness to your own bowl after youve made it! also i dont use corn oil i just use vegetable oil and im sure whatever you have on hand would be fine, its such a versatile dish and seafood version is sooo good as well! we also love okra added to ours, fresh, canned or frozen any is fine whatever is more convienent for you! im excited about my culture being embraced by others! most of all, i hope you all enjoy, dont stress over it being perfect on this dish!

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Nutrition

  • Calories
  • 333 kcal
  • 17%
  • Carbohydrates
  • 7.3 g
  • 2%
  • Cholesterol
  • 204 mg
  • 68%
  • Fat
  • 18.3 g
  • 28%
  • Fiber
  • 1.4 g
  • 6%
  • Protein
  • 33.3 g
  • 67%
  • Sodium
  • 999 mg
  • 40%

* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2,000 calorie diet.

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