Easy Chicken and Sausage Gumbo
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Easy Chicken and Sausage Gumbo is a scrumptious, spicy, and satiating stew flavored with shrimp, basil, thyme, and onion. The taste is next-level delish, making it perfect for everyday enjoyment as well as occasions where a little extra celebration is in order! {Paleo-friendly}
Spiriteds, bless my ever lovin’ heart, what was I even thinking calling this recipe Easy Chicken and Sausage Gumbo? What’s easy about a recipe that calls for upwards of 12 ingredients; lots of chopping, slicing, and dicing; and preparing a roux? How utterly adorable of my younger self. The only thing I can think is the slow cooker part IS easy. Once you’ve done all the hard work, then you throw everything in a slow cooker, and relax.
So, yes, Easy Chicken and Sausage Gumbo eventually becomes easy. But you have to work hard first. And, yet, I did come up with a few tricks to make the frontend easier to handle. Because this Easy Chicken and Sausage Gumbo is WORTH EVERY BIT OF EFFORT. It is one of my favorite soups and stews recipes. And the girls now ask me to make this weekly. Well, in the case of the second born, daily. FOUR OUT OF FOUR of us LOVE Easy Chicken and Sausage Gumbo. And with a 100% fresh rating, you know this gumbo is good. Because the firstborn is our picky eater (inherited from me), and if she likes it, nay, loves it, then you know it’s worth a spot in the recipe tin.
Let us now get our gumbo on! It’s time to slice and dice and slow cook some deliciousness!
This gumbo recipe is
- Paleo-friendly (the key is to find a paleo-friendly sausage – see recipe card Notes)
- Gluten-free and dairy-free
- Delicious as leftovers (store in a large airtight container)
- Adaptable for thickness (add more or less broth, as desired)
This is a gumbo recipe that is easy to tailor to your liking. Add okra, if desired, and other seafood or shellfish. Season with spices and flavors you will enjoy. Over the years we’ve had to get creative with our gumbo, thanks to food allergies and dietary restrictions. Yet we’ve enjoyed this dish each and every time we make it! And we hope you do, too!
Easy Chicken and Sausage Gumbo ingredients
To make you own chicken and sausage gumbo, you will need:
- Tapioca flour and olive oil. To make this a paleo-friendly gumbo, we work with tapioca flour and olive oil. Tapioca flour is ideal in this paleo-friendly gumbo because it is a natural thickener, which is just what you need in a gumbo.
- Coconut oil. I love this oil for sautéing the chicken, onion, and garlic. You can use olive oil, if you’d like, especially if you’re using it to make your roux.
- Chicken and sausage. Sauté the chicken before adding it to the slow cooker to create tender, flavorful pieces. For extra spice, go with an allergen-friendly Andouille sausage. Options include gluten-free Johnsonville and paleo-friendly Amylu brands (not paid mentions).
- Broth. Homemade Bone Broth or Homemade Vegetable Broth work well. However, if you’re in a pinch or come up short, then water will also work.
- Onion, garlic, green bell peppers, and celery. These ingredients are best when fresh. I used a white onion and green bell peppers, but you can use another variety, if desired.
- Bay leaves, basil, thyme, onion salt, sea salt, and coarse black pepper. If you have not been adding basil to your gumbo, then please start doing it now! Your tastebuds will thank you. Because I add sea salt to the chicken, onion, and garlic while I sauté them, I then go a little lighter on extra sea salt during the cooking process.
- Shrimp. I LOVE shrimp in gumbo. However, you can add or skip, as desired.
How to make Easy Chicken and Sausage Gumbo:
Below are the steps to prepare your own batch of gumbo.
- In a skillet, add the coconut oil, sea salt, and chicken and sauté until the chicken is cooked through. Using a slotted spoon, transfer the chicken to a slow cooker. Wipe the skillet and then add additional coconut oil. Add the onion and garlic to the skillet and sauté until the onions are translucent and the garlic is slightly browned but not burned. Transfer the onions and garlic to the slow cooker.
- Next add the broth to the slow cooker, followed by the Andouille sausage, green bell peppers and celery. Stir in the bay leaves, dried basil, dried thyme, and onion salt.
- In a deep saucepan, combine the olive oil and tapioca flour. Cook over a HIGH heat for about 20 minutes, stirring continuously until the mixture thickens and turns a deep bronze or amber color. Transfer the roux to the slow cooker. Cook the gumbo on LOW for about 6 hours. If adding shrimp to the gumbo, add it with about 2-3 hours of cook time remaining.
- When the gumbo is done cooking, serve “as is” or over rice, cauliflower mashed potatoes, or cauliflower rice.
- Refrigerate leftovers in an airtight container for about 2-3 days.
Side note: The hardest part for me when I first started making gumbo was knowing how to prepare the roux. And if you’ve never made a roux before, it can be intimidating. On the one hand, you want a nice bronze color. But on the other hand, you don’t want to burn it. It takes a little patience and a lot of stirring, but it’s worth it. And I’ve found that if the roux starts to darken faster than you’d like, a quick stir usually brings it back into balance.
Tips to prepare your gumbo for slow cooking
The actual cooking process is fairly straightforward. Where time gets away is in preparing this gumbo recipe. So let’s break down what can be in advance so you aren’t prepping everything all at once.
- Two days ahead: Chop the onion, green bell pepper, and celery. Refrigerate them in an airtight container until it’s time to make the gumbo. You can also combine the dried herbs and seasonings in a small jar or dish at this point, too. And if you are working with homemade broth, especially if it’s frozen, now is a good time to store it in the fridge.
- One day ahead: Sauté the chicken in a skillet. If you’d like to sauté the onion at this point, then store it separately from the celery and green bell pepper, so it’s easy to nab. The onion may soften overnight after it has been sautéed, however it will soften during the slow cooking process. If you don’t want to risk mushy onion, them save it for day of. Some gumbo enthusiasts prepare the roux a day in advance, as well. I haven’t tried this, but I suspect you’ll end up with a thicker roux. And if you want a thicker gumbo, then simmering the roux in a saucepan the day before and refrigerating it overnight just might be what you’re looking for!
Another way to make the prep process easier is to enlist the help of an extra set of hands. This is a great recipe to make with children who are old enough to know their way around a kitchen. There’s enough slicing and dicing and chopping for everyone to get their turn. And there’s enough stirring and sprinkling for those too young to handle knives.
More decadent soups and stews!
Here are more delicious recipes that offer just a little something extra when you’re in the mood to celebrate or want to change up your usual soup game!
Spiriteds, stay well and wild! I’m glad you’re here. 🩷
Recipe adapted from New Better Homes and Gardens Cookbook (12th edition), pg. 238, 2002.
Easy Chicken and Sausage Gumbo
Easy Chicken and Sausage Gumbo is a scrumptious, spicy, and satiating stew flavored with shrimp, basil, thyme, and onion. The taste is next-level delish, making it perfect for everyday enjoyment as well as occasions where a little extra celebration is in order! {Paleo-friendly}
- Prep Time: 60 minutes
- Cook Time: 6 hours
- Total Time: 7 hours
- Yield: 6 servings 1x
- Category: Soups and Stews
- Method: Slow Cooker
- Diet: Gluten Free
Ingredients
- 1/3 cup olive oil
- 1/3 cup tapioca flour
- 2 large or 4 small chicken breasts, sliced or cubed
- 2+ tablespoons coconut oil
- Pinch of sea salt
- 1 white onion, chopped
- 4 cloves garlic, pressed or minced
- 3–4 cups chicken or vegetable broth
- 13 ounces pre-cooked Andouille sausage, sliced
- 2 green bell peppers, diced
- 4–5 celery stalks, sliced
- 2 bay leaves
- 1 teaspoon dried basil
- 1 teaspoon dried thyme
- 1/2 teaspoon onion salt
- 1/2 – 1 pound shrimp, optional
- Coarse black pepper or crushed red pepper flakes, to taste
Instructions
- In a skillet, add the coconut oil, sea salt, and chicken and sauté until the chicken is cooked through. Using a slotted spoon, transfer the chicken to a slow cooker. Wipe the skillet and then add additional coconut oil. Add the onion and garlic to the skillet and sauté until the onions are translucent and the garlic is slightly browned but not burned. Transfer the onions and garlic to the slow cooker.
- Next add the broth to the slow cooker, followed by the Andouille sausage, green bell peppers and celery. Stir in the bay leaves, dried basil, dried thyme, and onion salt.
- In a deep saucepan, combine the olive oil and tapioca flour. Cook over a HIGH heat for about 20 minutes, stirring continuously until the mixture thickens and turns a deep bronze or amber color. Transfer the roux to the slow cooker. Cook the gumbo on LOW for about 6 hours. If adding shrimp to the gumbo, add it with about 2-3 hours of cook time remaining.
- When the gumbo is done cooking, serve “as is” or over rice, cauliflower mashed potatoes, or cauliflower rice.
- Refrigerate leftovers in an airtight container for about 2-3 days.
Notes
- Prep ahead options:
- Chop vegetables up to two days before and refrigerate in an airtight container until you’re ready to make your gumbo.
- Sauté the chicken a day in advance and refrigerate in an airtight container overnight.
- You can prepare the roux ahead of time, as well. Or you can prepare it while the other ingredients begin cooking in the slow cooker.
- Word to the wise: If, like me, you use homemade broth and freeze what you don’t need right away, it’s a good idea to start thawing your broth in the fridge at the same time you prepare the chopped vegetables!
- The color of your roux will depend on the cooking oil and the flour you use. Because we use olive oil and tapioca flour in this recipe, it deepens in color but doesn’t turn as dark as other flours and oils might.
- If you want your celery and peppers to still have a little crunch, then add them in the middle to latter half of remaining cook time.
- To make this a paleo-friendly gumbo, select a paleo-friendly Andouille sausage like Amylu (not a paid mention).
- If you’d like to include okra in your gumbo, then add two cups worth to the slow cooker.
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