My Seafood Gumbo is the BOMB!đ„Itâs made with a whole bunch of love and is a super easy one-pot recipe. Itâs that time of year, celebrating MLK Day and the weather is cold outside, so itâs the perfect time for a big pot of Gumbo! Most people make Gumbo for special occasions but Gumbo is always good when you need to feed a crowd! Did I say âI love GUMBOâ! đ
Letâs jump right into this yummy Seafood Gumbo. Gumbo is always made with the 3 Cajun holy trinity ingredients which includes celery, onions and bell peppers, and I also add gumbo filĂ© powder which has a rustic flavor and thickens the gumbo. Lotâs of people add okra vegetable as well but in this pot of loveliness I didnât add okra. You can always add okra if you make your gumbo too spicy, the okra will mellow the spicy flavor. I do, however, make a simple roux from flour and oil to serve as a thickener, and I make my own homemade cajun seasoning spice mix. This results in a gumbo that has the flavors and textures of traditional New Orleans gumbo and is very delicious, and at the same time is easy and uses common ingredients.
The hardest part of this one-pot Seafood Gumbo is prepping all of the ingredients â slicing the sausage, deveining the shrimp, chopping bell peppers, slicing onions, chopping celery, and so forth. For me, itâs worth it because this recipe cooks up a weekâs worth of dinners and my whole family loves gumbo. But if youâre looking for a shortcut, I recommend buying mirepoix. Thatâs just a fancy name for a container of pre-diced onions, carrots, and celery. You should be able to find it in your local supermarket, like at Trader Joeâs and itâll save you time on prep work. I always do my own mirepoix, as youâll see in the recipe below, but if you go this route then I suggest getting about 4-6 cups of mirepoix to substitute for the whole vegetables listed in the recipe.
Another way to save time is to buy cajun seasoning instead of making your own. Itâs simple to make homemade cajun seasoning â it uses everyday spice ingredients â but if you decide to buy a cajun seasoning packet, you should aim to use 3-4 tablespoons of it.
What should you pair this gumbo with? My favorite is simple white rice. You can eat the gumbo by itself, but thatâs such a waste of good stew; good stew should always be sopped by up delicious carbs. If you donât want to use white rice, then I also recommend brown rice and quinoa, both of which would work well here.
Feel free to refrigerate or freeze pre-portioned servings of this gumbo for another day. Leftovers for this gumbo taste amazing after reheating. Itâs as if the flavors got a better chance to get acquainted with each other.
Gumbo is easier than you think to make and once you try this simple recipe donât forget to share your pictures on my social media outlets!
Hope your 2019 is off to a great start!
