Gumbo is one of those comfort foods from south Louisiana that people would typically make after Thanksgiving or Christmas. After eating the meat from a turkey, the carcass would end up in a large Dutch oven and it would be turned into this delicous comfort food, either turkey and sausage or seafood gumbo. The original recipe of course would have lots of onions and garlic, but I have made it without either of them and it turned out delicious. I like to season it quite well with herbs and peppers and add File’ when serving. You can use chicken broth as well but when I start with a chicken or turkey carcass, I usually use water.

Gumbo
8
servings45
minutes40
minutes547
kcalIngredients
4 chicken (or 2 turkey) legs and thighs, wings and back (or 1 whole roasted chicken or turkey carcass)
3 quarts water
1 large green bell pepper, diced
4 stalks celery, diced
½ cup chopped fresh parsley, chopped
16 ounces chopped okra
1 pound smoked sausage, sliced
1 cup diced turkey tasso or ½ pound andouille sausage, sliced
4 bay leaves
1 teaspoon black peppercorns
1 ½ teaspoon cayenne pepper
1 teaspoon white pepper
1 tablespoon thyme
1 tablespoon sage
1 tablespoon oregano
1 tablespoon paprika
1 tablespoon salt
¼ cups butter
¼ cup olive oil
½ cup rice flour
1 tablespoon corn starch
1 cup water
File’
Directions
- In a 12 quart Dutch over or stock pot, add the bay leaves, black pepperorns, turkey or chicken and cook until the meat is easy to take off the bones, about 30 minutes. Remove the meat and bones from the liquid and cool and debone. Discard the bones and skin.
- Chop the meat into bite sized pieces and place the meat, okra, bell pepper, celery, parsley and the sausages in the Dutch oven and bring to boil. Turn down to simmer while making the roux.
- In a cast iron skillet, add the butter, oil and rice flour and cook on medium heat while stirring to prevent burning. Stir until the rice is medium to dark brown, add the cornstarch and remove the skillet from heat.
- Add the 1 cup of water to the rice mix while whisking to prevent clumping. If you need more liquid you can use the liquid from the Dutch oven. Stir until smooth.
- Pour the roux in the Dutch oven and stir. Add the seasonings and simmer for about 10 minutes. Adjust seasoning.
- Serve with cooked white rice and sprinkle File seasoning on top.
Notes
- Recipe analysis by https://www.verywellfit.com