Big Charlie's Gumbo

1st gumbo i made and haven't had to try any others...made this multiple times, by the book and with alterations, personal best is as such... use 1/3 cup flour and butter and take your time when making the roux (until deep brown), do stir constantly, it will be fine... fresh okra, venison rather than beef, vegetable juice instead of water, dbl the cayenne pepper, dbl the hot sauce (a habenero xxx or hellfire), add a extra 14.5 oz can of diced tomatoes, use high grade andouille sausage (ordered from jacob's in louisiana on-line, hard to get top-line in michigan), king crab, extra 1/2 cup celery, and although cognizent of the ol cajun addage, "never add file when using okra, as they cancel each other taste" i do add a tspn of file just as cooking is finished as well as encourage addition to individual bowls before eating...the finished product has a bite as cajun should but is not uncomfortable by any means...this recipe is always a big hit at group gatherings and expect recipes requests...thanks eric

This Gumbo was wonderful!! I made it for my husbands 50th birthday dinner. It does take quite a bit of time to make but it was worth every minute. I left out the stew beef and added anduille sausage to it, gave it that extra bite. My best friend told me that it was THE best meal I had ever cooked and coming from her, that was a major compliment!!

This recipe is exceptional. I left out the beef, and served it over rice, it was quite good that way, I didn't feel that anything was missing. The andouille sausage adds a LOT of flavor, you really shouldn't substitute anything else for it. Splash in some Tabasco, and you're in heaven; this meal is incredible

Great recipe. I took out the beef and added a 3 pound rotisserie chicken (pulled and stringed). Also made crawfish cornbread to compliment. Next time I will use rock shrimp because I prefer whole shrimp, and the ones I got had to be cut down. I simmered for an extra hour before adding meat and then simmered for another hour before adding file powder, just to make sure the flavors were more combined. Was a huge hit with my friends.

Delicious! I did substitute scallops for the beef. Great recipe as written. My hot sauce was habanero.

My boyfriend owns a bar, and I made this gumbo for his Mardi gras celebration this year, and everyone LOVED it. I get requests for it all the time. Now that football season is underway I'll be making it again. Thanks!!!!

I thought this recipe was awesome. Very spicy. I did add oysters to the mix tho. For someone like myself that loves fiery food, this is a great recipe. now if i could just convince my family to eat it!

I added chicken gizzards instead of the stew beef. The gumbo was everything I expected it to be. It has become one on my favorite recipes.

This recipe was absolutely delicious & quite easy to make--with plenty of leftovers!

Wow! This was great. I used chicken instead of the shellfish and beef and it was wonderful. I would highly recommend it as a way to serve chicken. My whole family (3 kids under 8) enjoyed it.

I'm from New Orleans and I know good gumbo! I love this recipe and every year for the past 5 years I make this during Christmas time! My family loves it! I just use blue crab(whole) in mine instead of chopped crabmeat! This is so great!!! Reminds me of home!!!!

I’ve never attempted a gumbo before or worked with okra (slimy stuff, that); or tried to find andouille sausage; or made a roux.I really did not want to use a Hillshire Farms kielbasa. I had read if you couldn’t get the andouille, to use kielbasa, like locals in New Orleans. I had to get frozen okra. The only thing I couldn’t find was file powder. Instead of stew meat, I used catfish & scallops with shrimp, crab & andouille. I threw all of it in at the end, since it was all seafood. It was very good. People really liked it. With our only Cajun/Creole place going TexMex and possibly closing down, it will be comforting to be able to make our own gumbo. Thanks for sharing. PS -“The down sides”: I think it is the sausage that is a little on the stinky side, much in the way kielbasa is; it kinda takes over in the fridge. Also (and this is a weird one), as it sat on my stovetop with no heat going after it was done, it ‘simmered’ on its own. It bubbled & kind of ‘grew’. I brought some to a friend. When I got home, the portion I stored myself in a Glad container began to leak. So I put it all back in the pot & in the fridge until the party - forgetting all the while about my friend - she was going home right away to have some. She called me two days later. Hers exploded all over her refrigerator! I have no idea what could have made any of it happen. Obviously it gave off a bit of gas. Using 2lbs of sausage was too much? Was it the okra? But it was really good…and also kinda funny

This was a great Gumbo. I used chicken instead of beef. I also went with the andouille sausage and shrimp. I didn't use the fille powder and I thought it turned out great. My wife loved it too. This has definitely became a favorite.

Fantastic! I added a chopped green bell pepper to the celery and onion (hello...gotta have the trinity!). I also omitted the sugar and filé powder since the okra thickened the gumbo nicely. I didn't have crabmeat so I diced up a boneless skinless chicken breast. One of my husband's coworkers tried to trade him his leftovers at lunch. No go! We will be having this often. It's nice to have a taste of my Southern home up here in Wisconsin!

This is a very good gumbo recipe. I've made it twice now, the first time without the optional beef stew meat (used chicken instead). It was amazing, reminding me very much of the times I've visited New Orleans. The second time, I added the beef stew meat and was a little disappointed, to be honest. The beef seems to overpower all the wonderful seafood flavors, especially the crab. It changes the whole character of the dish...perhaps for the better for some, but when I eat gumbo, I want to taste the variety of flavors, and that just isn't the case with the "beefed up" version. Minus the beef, this is a great recipe that I will use again and again. Thank you for sharing!

Excellent. I prepared HALF A recipe using 2 1/2 cups chicken stock in lieu of the 4 cups water, and 1/3 cup tomato sauce and 1 cup halved cherry tomatoes in lieu of the 8 oz canned tomatoes (which I didn't have on hand), browned the meat (3/4 lb cubed beef) in the roux and prepped the veggies as indicated, placed everything in a slow cooker for 5 1/2 hours. When ready to eat, added the shrimp and cooked on high until ready. I did not use sausage but if using, would have browned and added with the shrimp at the last minute and would have increased chicken broth by 1 cup at the beginning. I added a chopped mildly hot red pepper when grilling the veggies and omitted the hot sauce at the end. This is definitely a crockpot keeper! I will use more flour next time though as my sauce was rather liquid (although I had already reduced the quantity of liquids). It was definitely a soup/stew thing, not a "serve over rice"!

Loved it! Easy recipe for someone who has been intimadated by making roux. This recipe rivaled some of the best I've ever tasted.

The combination of srhimp,crab meat and andouille was to die for.

Awesome. So good. Takes a long time to make though. And better the next day.

Having lived in Nahleans for eight years I thought this is an excellent quick gumbo recipe. I do not like adding plain water to anything so I add 4 chicken boulion cubes and it was wonderful!

Made it tonight and everyone loved it. I did not put in the beef and doubled the shrimp, but everything else was as it recommended.

This was hands down the best gumbo I've ever had! I slightly altered it to my taste by omitting the beef stew meat, and replacing the crab meat with crawfish tails. Other than that I followed the recipe exactly. My husband took some of the leftovers to work and all his co-workers raved about it. Thanks so much for this awesome recipe!

This gumbo was decent. Don't fear making the roux - it is simple: stir, wait 20 seconds, stir again. Honestly, I was fascinated as it became darker and darker. I subbed cooked bratwurst for the andouille sausage (dad hates them), and omitted the crabmeat, beef stew, and okra. Added chicken and extra shrimp. I halved the hot sauce. Next time I may decrease the amount of Worcestershire sauce, as its taste was on the border of overpowering the rest of the flavors. Unlikely to make it again - too much work and time for the result.

Good, but it is spicy! Perhaps the hot sauce at the end should be optional.

It came out okay, but it did not have the "gumbo flavor" I've had out of New Orleans, so I added some Zataran's gumbo seasoning to give it a kick.

I had a big bbq the night before and needed to use up the sausages, tomatos, and onions that were left over. This recipe was incredible. My family gobbled this up. It even passed the picky kid test. My 5 year old had three bowls. I didn't make any changes besides using the sausage I had on hand. I didn't add a can of tomatos because I had plenty of tomatos already sliced. Thanks so much for sharing. Delicious. Great recipe because it has a fabulous base and allows for easy substitutions!

We loved this! Extra garlic, chicken stock instead of H2O, and a little light on the wortchestershire sauce...it was perfect. Rave reviews from all.

An excellent gumbo! Thanks! For those that left out the okra and/or hot sauce--you can't as it just isn't gumbo then!:) I added a few extra dashes of hot pepper sauce and put it out on the table after as my family likes it extra spicy. I left out the stew meat and replaced it with some cut up cooked chicken. The secret to good gumbo REALLY is in the roux and it can sometimes take up to 1/2 hour of constant stirring for the colour to change from yellow to dark brown but is SO worth it! Thanks for the recipe, Charlie! I can't wait to eat the leftovers!

I wish I had taken a picture! it was beautiful and delicious.

This was wonderful! I deleted the beef and added chicken, andouille sausage, crabmeat, and clams for extra flavor. My husband is a gumbo "expert" and says this is the best gumbo he has tried (we go to New Orleans several times a year and he has at least 5 bowls from various restaurants. Highly recommended!

I browned the sausage before I put it into the mix. This takes a lot longer than 30 minutes to prepare, but the results are worth it.

My family loved this gumbo, and I must admit I was very proud of it myself. Instead of fresh parsley I used 1 1/2 teaspoon of dried, and instead of fresh thyme, I used dried. I substituted 8 cups of water with 6 boullion cubes and 8 cups of water mixed and dissolved before adding to pot. Because my family likes a generous amount of broth with their rice, I cooked the gumbo 1 hour and 15 minutes uncovered and 1 hour and 15 minutes covered. This helped to reserve more liquid. Like I said, my family loved it. My daughter said "We should have an endless pot of gumbo!"

Very good especially the next day. We changed a lot as Erika cannot eat shell fish, WE ADDED GREEN PEPPER TO FULFILL THE TRINITY, we made this without the stew meat--yuck--and with chicken, used andoulle hot sausage (search internet for sources) We used half the okra and the file. used only 7 teaspoons worchester sauce. added 2x as much garlic and 3 times as much hot sauce (Al-T's from winney texas, best cajun in tx), half the lemon, 2/3 the sugar. Very good, not quite what we had in Tx or La

Just made this tonight and this is the first and only review i've written so far. We have made gumbo in the past but none compare to this one. We followed the ingredient list somewhat. We used vegetable stock in place of the water and boiled it in a seperate pan with the shrimp skins in with it. (We used almost twice as much water/stock as the recipe called for) We added corn and bay leaves and did not use the file powder and used dried thyme since we did not have fresh thyme on hand. We also used a vegetarian chorizo substitute from trader joes instead of the andoullie which, when removed from casing breaks up a lot like ground beef. We sauteed it in a hot pan for a couple minutes before putting it in. We also used haddock (in place of the stewed beef) and put it in early on to get a nice seafood flavor. Other than that, we followed the ingriedients of this recipe. Although we used the ingredients in this recipe as a guide, we followed the method of a YouTube recipe video that was very helpful. Look up Cajun Gumbo on YouTube(user: ScooterSMcGee). The roux took much longer than expected. We used whole wheat flour which starts off pretty dark anyways and seemed to take quite a while to get to a milk chocolate color...but it was definitely worth it in the end. This was an exceptional recipe and we were more than happy with the results. Delicious!!!

I loved it! Lump crab was going for 37$ a pound so I replaced it with two diced chicken breasts and left the beef out completely. I also left out the Worchestershire sauce, lemon juice and sugar. The results were terrific. I'll make this again!

This is as good or better than any restaurant gumbo I have tried. It is time consuming but definitely worth it. I omitted the meat and the okra and reduced the amount of water by half. I will definitely make it again.

Joe, sounds like your burner was up too high. Plus you have to stir constantly.

I love this recipe. I have changed the meats using chicken instead of beef. It turns out great.

This is one of the best dishes that I have ever made! I do use chicken broth instead of water and took advice of others and add an extra can of tomatoes; further, I do add green peppers to onions and celery. FABULOUS! WELL worth the effort!! Freezes well.

super yummy! I added cayenne pepper for extra heat. Yum!

For flavor and genuine nature of gumbo this recipe is it! However, be prepared to wait a LONG time for the roux to acheive the right color if increasing proportions. I make 40 servings and it takes 30 mins just to get the roux right. Otherwise, get those helpers to choppin' and enjoy!

Although I did not follow it perfectly (I made a seafood version), making the roux and slow simmering really made it a great recipe.

I've never written a review before but OMG, this was great!!! I'm not such a great cook & my husband LOVED this. He told me i should make a gallon of this & freeze it so he can have it every week. I only made a few changes based on what i had in the house. i 1/2 the recipe since it's just the 2 of us, left out the celery, okra, stew meat & crab meat cause i didn't have those things. i used frozen crawfish along with the andouille sausage. I also used one can of Rotel in place of the regular canned tomatoes. Finally i used 2 cups of chicken broth with 2 cups of water instead of all water. it sounds like a lot of changes but it wasn't really. Anyway this is a great recipe & although it took a while to prepare......it was definitely worth it!

I've made this Gumbo 10+ times. Always amazing. But I've tinkered to make it as I prefer it. I fry my okra and add it in last 1/2 hr, as to keep it firmer(more flavor). I keep my stew meat as big of pieces as possible (it will fall apart late in the recipe anyway). And also use my beef to absorb my roux, for transfer into big pot. I always love my gumbo hot, a good way to do this is to use ghost chili. I cut off stem, use whole inside tied teabag, or cheese cloth. Do this so you can take it out after cooking.

This is the first gumbo recipe I have ever made and my family and friends loved it. I altered a little - in place of andouille sausage I added sweet and italian sausage cut up into bite size pieces at the beginning with the stew meat. I also used diced tomotoes vs whole. This is reciepe is a keeper and one worth sharing.

This was definately time consuming but worth it!! I had to use canned Okra because that was all that was available at the store. I substituted chicken breast for the stew meat and added a 1/2lb of bay scallops. I didn't use the file powder or the lemon juice. My husband absolutely loved it..he must have been raving about it at work because he asked me to email him the recipe for his coworkers.

Pure bliss! Perfect for a cold day. This was the first time I made gumbo. It takes a while to make, the ingredients are numerous and not cheap but the r.o.i. Outweighs the time and cost. This is definitely one I'll share with my friends and family! Thanks All Recipes!

Made this for a true blood party (added red food coloring and called it louisiana guts) and it just disappeared. Put it in sourdough bread bowls. Changed around the meats a lot (added chicken, removed seafood, doubled andouille), but otherwise followed exactly and it was simply delicious!

this was pretty good, did but modified it quite a bit, it is a good base for gumbo though.

I always brown my flour in a pan before using it for gumbo or brown gravy! That way, there's no constant stirring to brown the roux! AND no chance of burning it only to start over! Simply place white flour into a saucepan over high heat and stir it around with a spatula from the bottom! It'll take a while, but you'll see the flour coming together a little, then keep an eye on it and continue to scrap it up from the bottom..you'll soon notice it browning. Make it as deep a brown as you'd like but don't burn. This whole process takes only a few minutes! As for the gumbo...fantastic!! I've read elsewhere never to use both okra and file, so I chose the okra, which I boiled first to remove some of it's gloppiness. I also added some OldBay seasoning and used only chicken and andouille. Fantastic! Will be in my permanent collection!

This was fantastic! Really good base to experiment off of. I used bear sausage, kielbasa, and shredded chicken in place of stew meat, andouille and crab meat. Since I am not a fan of okra I put leaks in its place. It was a huge hit and there were hardly any leftovers.

Rave reviews from my family on this recipe! The man at the grocery store suggested I cook 2-3 full crabs in the gumbo for the flavoer but remove prior to serving (or someone can eat the crab meat if they are willing to do the work). It was my first pot of homemade gumbo and I will definately make it again. I burnt the roux the first time and had to start over so make sure you spend the time to get the roux just right.

Great. Used one less cup of water,smoked sausage, and next time will add some chicken.

I made this last weekend for Mardi Gras, it was amazing! The flavors were delightful! I'll definitely make it again!

Is this what it is supposed to taste like?? BECAUSE IT WAS WONDERFUL!! First shot at making gumbo was a great experience.

Great base to start from. I added a few more of the "usual" items and some spices. Was my best batch overall from many different recipes.

This was great. I added me own little twist. Great job. Thanks for sharing

This was hit with my family. I follow this to the letter. The only thing I did was add smoked sausage,ham crab claws

Fabulous! A real favorite when we entertain. Perfect year round, but really enjoying it now buried under feet of snow in cold Wisconsin.

I used the crock pot because I was short on time and it was great!

My husband enjoys spicy foods and he really enjoyed this recipe. Unfortunately, it was a little too spicy for my taste. Perhaps the Cajun style Andouille sausage made it extra spicy. I made one slight change, I added only half the amount of Worchestshire sauce. I was afraid with the lemon juice, it might be too tangy. I think if I decide to try this recipe again, I would omit the hot sauce.

I thought this was a great recipe as did my family!!! I did make a few changes I browned my smoked beef sausage(andouille was not available at my store) and added them with the veggies and used precooked chicken instead it beef and it turned out great severed with a scoop of rice on top!!!

This was the first gumbo I have ever attempted, and I love it! I have made it my own by adding half of a bell pepper that I saute with the celery and onions. I also use beef sausage links, shrimp, and chicken. I season the chicken with seasoning salt, onion and garlic powder, black pepper. Then let that boil for an hour, remove from the bone and shred. I add all 3 proteins to the gumbo after and hour of cooking, and let it cook the remainder of the time.

wow. this was really great. adapting to what I had on hand I used 3/4 lb stew meat as well as the legs and body meat picked from a Dungeness crab and smoked sausage for the andouille. very rich, filling and good. I also omitted the sugar and cayenne.

Yummm! Great recipe!

This recipe is absolutely easy to make and very flavorful. Made for my wife and kids , and they devoured it.{Smile} Great for company and during fall and winter months.

Wow! This is a great recipe! Having lived in Houston, I was used to being able to great cajun food at restaurants. We now live in Tampa and have found it not as easy. I used 2c chicken stock, 2c fish stock, 4c water, kielbasa, shrimp, crab meat and cat fish. I did not use the beef and could not find andouille sausage so I used kielbasa instead. This was awesome! My husband and I thought it tasted like a good restaurant recipe. We will definitely make this again.

Great recipe. I changed it up some by using frozen gumbo mix for the veggies and diced petite tomatoes with chilies. I also used beef broth for the water. Did not use file powder or the lemon. Added chicken, beef and lots of seafood. Also added old bay with the spices. Excellent dish overall. Served over red beans and rice!

This gumbo was awesome! Very flavorful; I will definitly make it again and again.

I just made this and it is so good. Worth time, I did use 2 cans of chicken broth and 6 cups of water instead of 8 cups of water. Great flavor and VERY TASTY. Will make this one again!!!

Everyone that ate this Gumbo absolutely loved it. Their only complaint was that it wasn't hot (spicy) enough but that was because I left out the hot sauce because I needed the kids to eat it too, they did!

Very good!!!

Great!

This recipe was very easy and very flavorfull. I did tweek it a little by using a creole sesoning mix that I'm fond of. I only used the shrimp, crab, and sausage. I would suggest using large shrimp instead of medium because after cooking them I found them to be quite small and so you couldn't taste them as much. I made it again with large shrimp and was a lit happier with the result.

My husband can't get enough of this, everytime I make it he cleans the pot!

This is amazing Gumbo. I made this for a Super Bowl party to honor the Saints and it was a crowd favorite. The only thing I changed was I subbed pork for the beef stew meat. I will be making this again and again.

This was SOOOOO good. I made it without the beef stew meat and without the file powder (because I didn't have it)...it was delicious. Thanks for sharing.

okra makes the juice thick. probably do without next time

Very hearty, this definitely is a keeper/

I have never had gumbo before so I made this recipe for my family... LOVED IT! Will be making it again!

This was my first attempt at making Gumbo. It was good, but could have used more seasoning. I made it mild so my kids would eat it, and they wouldn't touch it anyway. I needed to add a ton of Tobasco to make mine right for me. All in all, it's a good recipe. I guess we're just not a Gumbo family. Thanks for sharing.

WOW! I have made gumbo a few times, but this is the best - left out stew meat otherwise exact and it was fantastic! Can't wait for leftovers tomorrow! Thank you!!!

This was the best gumbo I have ever had - I omitted the beef, and the file, and used hot peppers. I couldn't even wait a whole week to make it again - my family loves it!

It was good but I think next time I make it I'll sub the water with V8 juice.

My whole family loved this! It was spicy enough for the adults but not to hot for the little ones.

This is so easy to make. I used sausage instead of beef, but man o man, what an easy recipe to follow and it tastes like happiness!

Everyone raved over this gumbo! My only complaint is that the ingredients can be a little expensive but the flavor can't be beat!

This receipe was very close to the way my grandmother used to make her gumbo, and I've followed it with some small variations. Never disappointed.

This was so easy! And awesome. My hubby loved it and so did my kids. I am not a good cook and this was easy. The only thing I left out was the file powder but it was still fantastic. Thank You Big Charlie!!!!

As a college student, I've recently been trying out new things to explore in the culinary world, and this dish really knocked the socks off of me. It wasn't hard to cook at all, just took some time. However, I did have a problem with my roux...as I combined the butter and flour in the pot and stirred it, some of the roux stuck to the bottom and burnt to a black crisp, which kinda ruined some of the dishes effect. I hope to cook this again, so can anyone help?

amazing

OMG! I first made my own shrimp base from a recipe from this site, but over all this is the best dang gumbo I have had since Houston. I put crab meat and legs, oysters, and scallops as addition to this recipe. Boy! were we smack'n! Thanks!

Left out stew meat, but this was still a good gumbo. We all liked it. Added clams.

Great recipe to use as a base.

Its alright. I threw in a couple extra spices and omitted the seafood

My husband, brother-in-law and nephew LOVED this gumbo!!! My brother-in-law told me I should sell it! :)) I left out the beef and it was still great! It's a little pricey to make with the crabmeat (I used the canned to cut time), but definitely worth the raves!!

Really tasty. I accidentally made it a bit spicier than I intended, but it was still fantastic. Made the house smell great while it was cooking too!! I omited the beef and the shrimp and used canned crab, crawfish tails, and the andoullie sausage. Yum city!!

Its perfect. I use chicken breast then shredded it. Delicious. i didnt use the beef. But the base is delicious if u use beef or chicken. Yummmmmyyy

I REALLY ENJOYED THIS RECIPE! I sub.'d alot, for example I used regular sausage and the stew meat with no shellfish- I also used red paper flakes instead of cayenne pepper- Which I thought gave it a nice kick, I didn't use the pepper sauce at the end. I almost ommitted the sugar, but I didn't. I was afraid of the sweet. But believe me ITS FAR FROM SWEET! Oh and I also didnt have celery so I used celery salt- It seemed fine Just a half a teaspoon though. Everyone should try this, Its easy, fuss free and HEARTY!