This delightful Seafood Gumbo is full of shrimp and crab and it has a nice spicy kick. There’s nothing like a warm bowl of gumbo, and I especially like a seafood gumbo.
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Making a big pot of gumbo is a little labor intensive, but it lasts for days and only gets better with time. It’s perfect for a lazy afternoon spent at home. Build a nice fire in the fireplace and put your biggest pot on the stove.
The most time-consuming part and the most important part is making the roux. It is a process that should not be rushed. It forms the base of the flavor and you really want to take the time and develop a deep, robust flavor. Making roux can take some practice. Turn the heat up too high and it will burn and you will have to start again.
In addition to shrimp and crab, this Seafood Gumbo is also flavored with the Holy Trinity- (onions, bell pepper, and celery), lots of garlic, a bottle of beer, thyme, bay leaves, Worcestershire sauce, and lots of Cajun seasoning. Plus there’s a pound of andouille sausage for some meatiness.
Equipment Needed
- 6 to 7-quart Dutch Oven– It’s important to use a Dutch oven with a thick, heavy bottom so the roux doesn’t burn. This Dutch Oven is perfect.
- Fine-Meshed Sieve– for straining the shrimp stock. This set of 3 strainers is very useful in the kitchen.
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Seafood Gumbo
Ingredients
- 2 pounds unpeeled fresh large shrimp
- 1/2 cup butter, divided
- 2 (32-ounce) cartons chicken broth
- 1 pound andouille sausage, sliced
- 1/2 cup vegetable oil
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
- 2 cups finely chopped yellow onion
- 1 cup finely chopped green bell pepper
- 1 cup finely chopped celery
- 2 tablespoons minced garlic
- 1 (12-ounce) bottle amber beer
- 1 tablespoon Cajun seasoning
- 2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce
- 1 teaspoon dried thyme
- 2 bay leaves
- 1/2 cup green onion tops
- 1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley
- 1 pound lump crabmeat
- Cooked rice for serving
Instructions
- Peel and devein shrimp, placing shrimp shells in a large pot. Refrigerate shrimp until needed.
- In a large pot, melt 1/4 cup butter over medium heat. Add shrimp shells and cook until pink. Then add broth.
- Bring broth to a boil, reduce heat and simmer 15 minutes. Remove from heat and keep warm until needed.
- In a large Dutch oven, cook sausage until browned. Remove sausage with a slotted spoon and set aside.
- Add oil and remaining 1/4 cup butter to Dutch oven. Heat over medium heat until butter is completely melted.
- Add flour and stir with wooden spoon until smooth.
- Reduce heat to medium low and cook, stirring frequently until roux is a dark caramel color. This will take 30 to 40 minutes.
- Add onion and cook for 5 minutes, stirring frequently.
- Add green pepper and celery and cook for 5 more minutes, stirring often.
- Add garlic and cook 1 minute.
- Add beer and stir in well.
- Pour shrimp stock through a fine-meshed sieve into Dutch oven. (I like to add it in 3 separate additions, mixing well between additions.
- Add Cajun seasoning, Worcestershire sauce, thyme, and bay leaves, plus the reserved andouille sausage. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat to medium-low, cover and simmer for 1 1/2 hours.
- Add green onions, parsley, and shrimp. When shrimp are pink, remove from heat and stir in crabmeat.
- Serve with white rice.
Notes
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This was a huge hit! My neighbor requested I make this for him for his birthday today. I just hope it comes out as great as it did the first time. Thanks.
This was an awesome recipe! I tweeked a little and used shredded chicken instead of the crab due to it is so expensive right now. My husband is also GF, so I used gluten free flour, and used low sodium cajun seasoning. It was the bomb and everyone loved it for our superbowl party!
Modified the recipe…did not use beer, subbed plant-based sweet Italian sausage for the andouille. Added some smoked paprika. Really yummy. Time-consuming, but it was worth it!
Absolutely amazing! My family raved over how delicious this recipe was. It took some time to make, but was well worth it. The large batch recipe allowed us to enjoy it for a couple of days which tastes even better due to the flavors having even more time to harmonize.
Absolutely amazing! My family raved over how delicious this recipe was. It took some time to make, but was well worth it. The large batch recipe allowed us to enjoy it for a couple of days which tastes even better due to the flavors having even more time to harmonize.
Time consuming but soothing while preparing it. Delicious and filling!
I left out the beer, but it still came out wondetful
This is an excellent recipe. Takes a while but the results are worth it.
Awesome dish, my first go at gumbo turned out great !
I followed this recipe last night and it turned out wonderfully. I love love love the hint of spice on the back end after you swallow the food. It’s not overbearing and doesn’t take away from the flavor. Using the shrimp shells to make the stock made me feel like a chef lol. I will definitely make this again soon
I have followed this recipe many times and it is awesome. Recently, I was out of chicken stock so I used beef stock and it came out more rich and flavorful. I will not go back to chicken stock for this recipe.
This is an AWESOME recipe. It’s easy to follow and comes out perfectly! It is delightful!!
The flavors are great but I was disappointed my roux was not thicker. It seems like 64 ounces (Two 32 ounce cartons) is alot of liquid. Did I misunderstand this, and the total should have been only 32 ounces? The roux was thick and looked nice and brown/caramel color but then once I added the water it was like a soup consistency. Any ideas why? I did cook the roux for 35 minutes before adding the veggies.
This recipe doesn’t include any thickeners. Down here on the Gulf where Gumbo is a daily eat we would never dream of not including Okra and Gumbo File. Those two ingredients thicken your Gumbo and are necessary. Also we (Cajun) never use Butter in our Gumbo but rather an equal Veg Oil to Flour ratio for our Roux. A dark Chocolate Roux should take 45 minutes to 1 Hour.
How do I get the Roux dark chocolate?
Gotta keep stirring. Will take longer then 40 minutes. That is closer to peanut butter are Caramel color. That may just b the posters desired color
No file powder and no Okra is why it wasn’t thicker. You can always start w/ less fluid and add more as you see fit
I have picky eaters so I emulsified the veggies, and we only used seafood…so delicious!!
I enjoyed creating the most delicious seafood gumbo
Absolutely amazing