Louisiana Chicken Gumbo really hits the spot on a cold day. It’s a terrific rainy day meal. You’re gonna love it.
Authentic Louisiana Chicken Gumbo. Yum!
Authentic Louisiana Chicken Gumbo has just the right amount of spiciness.
This Louisiana Chicken Gumbo recipe came from my friend Elizabeth Cottrell. October 12 is National Gumbo Day, so naturally, I had to post this amazing recipe. And because. Chicken. Gumbo.
This Louisiana Chicken Gumbo recipe came from Elizabeth’s mother-in-law, Ellen Cottrell. Though born in Mississippi, Ellen Cottrell married a Louisiana man and lived all her married life in southwest Louisiana, in the heart of Cajun country.
Filé or Not?
Ellen used Gumbo Filé (powdered Sassafras) in her recipe, but those of us who do not live in Louisiana cannot generally find this spice in the supermarket. I left it out of my recipe because it’s hard to find locally, but you can get it online. The recipes I looked at called for varying amounts of Gumbo Filé powder. I would start with 1-2 teaspoons of it. If you add it, be sure to comment below to let us know how you liked it.
The Process
In Louisiana, they use a whole chicken and cut it up after cooking to serve a piece with each bowl. Elizabeth prefers to remove the skin and bones when the gumbo has cooled and return the meat to the gumbo. It’s so much easier to eat.
I substituted chicken Andouille sausage for the Kielbasa and I took the easy way out, using boneless, skinless chicken tenders instead of a whole chicken (which the original recipe called for). I cubed the raw chicken and sautéed it with the Andouille sausage until both were fully cooked. I added the meats into the sauce at the end when I added the peppers mixture. The recipe is terrific—a little complicated because there are multiple steps, but still fairly easy. But it’s so worth the effort.
This Chicken Gumbo doesn’t call for any seafood, a surprise to my husband Don, but he loved it. It’s also good to know not all gumbos have okra and tomatoes. I’m not fond of okra. Are you?
I know you’re gonna wanna eat this. I do!
What You Need
For this recipe you need measuring cups and spoons, a knife, cutting board, some good pans and maybe a rice cooker. But what you really want is some beautiful dinnerware, am I right?
Authentic Louisiana Chicken Gumbo Recipe
Louisiana Chicken Gumbo
Ingredients
- 1-1/2 pounds boneless skinless chicken tenders (diced)
- 1 lb. smoked sausage (like Kielbasa or chicken Andouille (cut into round slices)
- 6 tablespoons shortening
- 6 tablespoons flour
- 6 cups hot water
- 1 yellow onion (minced)
- 1/4 cup celery (diced)
- 1 chicken bouillon cube
- 2 teaspoons Kitchen Bouquet flavoring
- 1 teaspoon salt (or to taste)
- 1-1/4 teaspoons black pepper
- 1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper
- 1 green pepper (diced)
- 1/2 cup chopped parsley
- 1 cup chopped green onion tops
- 3 cups cooked rice
Instructions
Step 1: Meat
- In a large skillet, sauté the sausage and chicken until the chicken is cooked through (all white).
Set aside (retain the juice, same bowl is okay)
Step 2: Veggies & Spices
- Put the chopped onions and celery together in a 2-cup bowl and set aside.
- Put the green peppers, green onion tops and parsley in a 2-cup bowl and set aside.
- Put the salt, pepper, cayenne and bouillon cube in a small bowl and set aside.
Step 3: Roux
- Heat shortening on high heat in a heavy pot.
- Add flour and stir constantly until dark brown (this is a “roux” – the basis for many French dishes. It’s easy to burn, so watch it and don’t stop stirring!).
Step 4: Putting It Together:
- Add chopped onions and celery and stir until slightly wilted.
- Add water and mix well to dissolve roux.
- Add spices and Kitchen Bouquet.
- Cover and bring to steaming on high heat, then lower to simmer and continue to cook for about 20 minutes, stirring occasionally. The sauce should thicken somewhat.
- Add chicken and sausage mixture (including juices) and the green pepper, parsley and onion tops mixture ten minutes before removing from heat.
- Serve very hot over hot, cooked rice.
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Recipe Nutrition Information
The information shown is an estimate provided by an online nutrition calculator. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.
Louisiana Chicken Gumbo Nutrition Label. Each serving is 1/2 cup rice and 1-1/2 cup Gumbo.
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Louisiana Chicken Gumbo Recipe. OMG. So good. #chickengumbo #rainy-day-recipes #recipe-repertoire #glutenfree #recipes #gumbo #recipeideashop
Ummm…. can you call it Gumbo, if you don’t add okra?
Yes, according to Elizabeth Cottrell’s mother-in-law. You can add okra if you want. I am not fond of it!
The word “gumbo” to Cajuns, is almost any thick stew. It can, indeed, be thickened with okra or filé, but it can also be thickened by the amount of flour in the roux or by cooking it down. Even when we lived in Louisiana and I had access to filé, I never found that it added much one way or the other, but the locals all used it.
I’m glad the version with chicken tenders was tasty. Cooking the whole chicken pieces first adds a great deal of richness and flavor to the broth. In Louisiana, they would leave the whole pieces of chicken when they served it, but I prefer not having to deal with the bones and skin.
Recently, I have found another sausage I use in this recipe: Johnsonville “New Orleans” style sausages — they look like large hot dogs and are packaged by the pound.
Clearly, it’s a versatile dish!
Thank you, Elizabeth. I’m sure that your version with the whole chicken pieces would taste more robust. Thanks for the tip. I usually go for quicker recipes, and the chicken tenders were easy. It was super good the way I made it. I’ll have to come to your house and try yours!