Crockpot Chicken Gumbo Recipe

A slow cooker is your best friend when you're looking for a hearty one-pot dish that develops deep flavor over several hours but mostly makes itself. Tasting Table recipe developer Julianne De Witt highlights just that with her crockpot chicken gumbo recipe. "Gumbo, a famous Creole-Cajun dish, is a thick, hearty stew that usually contains ingredients like chicken, sausage, seafood, okra, tomatoes and the 'holy trinity' of celery, onions, and green peppers," De Witt says.

These layered components build the foundation for this tasty dish, which pairs well with simple white rice or a rustic loaf of bread. "I love the complexity of the flavors in this recipe," shares De Witt. "It's a hearty, delicious stew — the perfect cozy meal for the colder seasons." When the temperatures cool down, there's nothing quite like digging into a warm bowl of meat, vegetables, and plenty of spices to nourish you from the inside out.

This recipe starts with olive oil, yellow onion, green bell pepper, celery, and garlic. Next, you'll need tomato paste, all-purpose flour, chicken stock, a can of diced fire-roasted tomatoes, chicken breasts, and sliced andouille sausage. 

"I like to use canned diced fire-roasted tomatoes because I feel the smoky flavor really complements the other ingredients," De Witt notes, adding that regular diced tomatoes make a suitable substitute. As for the andouille sausage, De Witt describes this "mainstay in Cajun cuisine" as "a chewy, smoky sausage flavored with cayenne and paprika." If you can't get your hands on it, try chorizo instead.

To season your crockpot gumbo, you'll need sea salt, fresh ground black pepper, Cajun seasoning, dried thyme, dried oregano, cayenne pepper, and bay leaves. "I use a particular brand of Cajun seasoning — Slap Ya Mama, from Louisiana — that contains cayenne, paprika, and salt in addition to other spices," De Witt says. Her recipe is intended to round out the Slap Ya Mama flavors, so if you use a different brand, "you may need to adjust the salt and cayenne levels a bit." Finally, this gumbo also contains fresh okra and can be garnished with chopped scallions and gumbo filé, if desired.

Place oil in saute pan over high heat.

Add onion, bell pepper, celery, and garlic and cook for 2 minutes.

Add tomato paste and stir. Cook until fragrant, approximately 1 minute.

Add flour and stir to combine.

Transfer contents from saute pan to the slow cooker.

Pour in chicken stock and tomatoes.

Add chicken and sausage.

Stir in salt, black pepper, Cajun seasoning, thyme, oregano, cayenne, and bay leaves, and slow cook on high for 3 hours.

Add okra to slow cooker and continue cooking for 30 minutes until okra is tender.

Garnish gumbo with scallions and gumbo filé, if desired, before serving.

If you're all about the meat and vegetables, then you'll find this chicken gumbo to be perfectly satiating. Nevertheless, a few add-ons and sides can enhance it even more. "I like to serve my gumbo with some filé powder on the side for sprinkling on top," De Witt comments. If you're not familiar with Cajun recipes, you may not have encountered this ingredient before. "Filé powder, also known as gumbo powder, is made from ground sassafras leaves. Earthy and thyme-like in flavor, sassafras leaves were introduced to Cajuns by the Choctaw who began using the ground leaves as a thickener and flavoring in their soups and stews," she explains. Both savory and functional, this is a great option to sprinkle on top — especially if you plan to make more Cajun recipes in the future. 

Next, De Witt suggests adding sliced scallions for a fresh vegetal crunch. To plate the dish, she says, "Serve gumbo with rice and some crusty bread to soak up all the delicious sauce." There's no way you'll want to let any sauce go to waste. If you have a penchant for spice, she recommends using Tabasco to complement the smoky notes in the dish. 

While some dishes taste best as soon as they're made, that's not necessarily the case with gumbo. De Witt remarks, "Gumbo will taste even better the next day," which is yet another benefit of this convenient and easy-to-make recipe. The meat and sauce will soak up the flavors over time, giving the dish extra depth and complexity and allowing you to make it a day or two before impressing your dinner party guests.

Once you've enjoyed your meal, you'll want to store extras in the fridge or freezer for longer-term storage. "Leftovers will last 3-4 days in the fridge and can be frozen for up to 3 months," De Witt says. You can heat the dish in the microwave or on the stovetop. Either way, De Witt recommends adding a little water to loosen up the gumbo before heating, if needed. This will prevent the sauce from drying out too much as you warm it up.