This homemade slow cooker chicken gumbo includes chicken, Andouille sausage, okra and lots of fresh vegetables! I’ve added rice to make it a full meal in one! It’s easy to set up and turn on before work, so you can have a family meal ready to go when you get home.
What is Gumbo
? Gumbo
is a thick stew most commonly eaten in southern Louisiana. Gumbo can be made with any meat you have on hand, but seafood gumbo, sausage gumbo, and chicken gumbo are the most popular versions of this dish. It should also be noted that gumbo is almost always made with okra and some kind of thickening agent like a roux and also gumbo lime powder.
How to Make Slow Cooker Chicken Gumbo Soup
Seal the Chicken First for More
Flavor
To really make the flavor of this slow cooker recipe taste rich, seal the chicken on the stove first. It will brown, which adds a lot of extra flavor to the gumbo.
Many
- gumbo recipes don’t have tomatoes, but I really love the acidity they bring to the overall flavor profile. I love how tomatoes help balance salted andouille sausage.
- Use a whole can (28 ounces) of peeled tomatoes and then crush them by hand in the slow cooker. This will give the best rustic and thick texture to the gumbo.
- You can use fresh tomatoes if you have them on hand, but it is better to peel and plant them. See the notes on the recipe card on how to do this.
Use Andouille
Sausage
- Andouille is a traditional Louisiana sausage with a spicy smoky flavor and adds a hint of flavor to the gumbo. I like Niman Ranch’s Andouille sausage if you can find it.
- If you have difficulty finding Andouille, you can use kielbasa, because it is also a smoked sausage. Or you can use a hot Italian sausage or even chicken if you wish. It won’t be traditional, but it will surely taste great!
In
- Cajun and Creole cuisine, the Holy Trinity is a combination of peppers, onions, and celery. It’s like what odori is for Italian cuisine, and mirepoix is for French. This Gumbo is no exception and I used a heavy hand to increase the portion size.
- In addition to celery, onions, and peppers, gumbo almost always has okra. Today I used frozen okra, but if you can find fresh, use that! Just make sure that when you’re cutting it, if you come across an okra stem that looks concise, don’t use it. That will be hard and fibrous.
- Usually, Gumbo is served with rice, but in this case, to make it a complete meal from a pot, I added the rice to the gumbo. It is brown rice for additional fiber.
Skip the roux (and added saturated fat) and instead thicken with okra
and gumbo filé
- The traditional gumbo is made with a roux which is a cooked mixture of butter and flour. In Cajun cooking, fat is usually oil instead and roux is darker.
- I tried this with and without the roux, and I didn’t think it really added too much to the overall texture of the dish. This is very thick as it is, and the gumbo file really makes it nice and thick. So I opted to save the extra fat calories and the grams of saturated fat, and not use a roux at all.
- If you’re not familiar with gumbo file, you can find it in the spice section of good grocery stores and with bulk spices in health food stores. It is made from ground sassafras. The flavor isn’t actually as strong as you might think, but it has a subtle slightly licorice and mint flavor. It doesn’t need to be cooked, so you can stir it at the end.
- Okra also adds body to gumbo. Don’t worry, they won’t be viscous at all! After cooking in the slow cooker, they are super tender and practically melt in the gumbo.
When
you look at the ingredient list below, it will seem like this one is big, but many of the ingredients are spices. I paired it for this new version 2.0 of this recipe to just sage, thyme, garlic and salt. I used a whole sprig of rosemary, which adds a pleasant flavor without being too bossy. Once the gumbo has finished cooking, simply remove the twig.
Cook slowly
for 8 hours
Once you’ve scorched the chicken and stirred everything together in the slow cooker insert, you’re ready to let the appliance do the rest of the work
.
Simmer for 8 hours or 4 hours over high heat. Let the chicken gumbo cook, covered and undisturbed until the timer goes out. Remove the sprig of rosemary and add the gumbo lime. Bowled ladle and serve with Tabasco.
Frequently asked questions for this recipe
Serving Tips
More slow cooker chicken recipes: This slow cooker chicken omelette soup
- is arguably even easier, because there’s no scorching step!
- Slow Cooker Chicken Cacciatore, one of my all-time and readers’ favorites. If you think you don’t like chicken thighs, I dare you to try this recipe!
- Thai slow cooker chicken and coconut soup, this recipe follows the line of exotic and 100% comforting flavor!
- Slow Cooker Maple Chipotle Pulled Chicken, I love the combination of chipotle chili and maple syrup. You will never go back to the shredded pig. Okay, maybe you do, but at least you’ll love shredded chicken too!
- Slow cook chicken and okra, totally in the same vein as this recipe here. It also has a great story to go with.
- Our Crockpot White Chicken Chili is another favorite recipe here.
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