Seafood Gumbo
My favorite seafood gumbo recipe with loads of shrimp, white fish, crab and oysters, all with plenty of Cajun seasonings. It’s heaven in a bowl.
It’s time for seafood gumbo, my friends. Gumbo is one of my very favorite things on this entire planet, and I’ll take it any way I can get it, whether we’re talking chicken and sausage gumbo, extra spicy gumbo, vegetarian green gumbo, whatever!
I just want gumbo!
When we were in New Orleans, I ate gumbo every day. Every person makes it a little different, but you still get that “gumbo” essence, which is one of its outstanding qualities.
You can make it your own! Especially with seafood.
Let’s talk about how we make seafood gumbo! Excited!
Seafood Gumbo Ingredients
- FOR THE GUMBO
- Oil. Use ¾ cup vegetable oil. Peanut oil is great here.
- Flour. Use ¾ cup all-purpose flour
- Vegetables. Use 1 large onion, 1 large bell pepper, 2 jalapeno peppers (optional), 2 celery stalks, 4 cloves garlic, and 2 cups okra.
- Liquids. Use 12 ounces amber beer and 5 cups seafood stock. Use 4-6, depending on how thin you’d like your finished gumbo. You can also skip the beer and just use more stock.
- Seasonings. Use 1 tablespoon Cajun seasoning blend or more, 1 tablespoon cayenne powder, for more heat, 2 teaspoons salt, ½ teaspoon dried thyme and bay leaf.
- Extras. 2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce, 1 teaspoon hot sauce or more to your preference, and ½ cup freshly chopped parsley.
- FOR THE SEAFOOD
- 1 pound medium shrimp, peeled and deveined
- 1 pound white fish – use red snapper, grouper, catfish, whatever is available to you
- 1 pound lump white crab meat
- ½ pound smoked oysters Or use freshly shucked if you can get them.
- FOR SERVING
- Cooked white rice fresh chopped parsley, spicy chili flakes, spicy chili oil, extra hot sauce
How to Make Seafood Gumbo – the Recipe Method
Start with a Roux. First, heat the oil in a large pot or Dutch oven over medium heat. Add flour and continually stir until the flour is incorporated, forming a roux.
Constantly stir the roux for 20-30 minutes (or longer), ensuring nothing sticks to the bottom of the pot, or it may burn. The roux will darken to a peanut butter color to a light chocolate color, then to a dark roux the color of chocolate. I like to achieve a light chocolate color for my seafood gumbo.
*See my NOTES above on making a roux. Learn more here about How to Make a Roux.
Add the Vegetables. Add in onions, bell peppers, celery, garlic and okra. Stir the mixture often, about 5 minutes, until the okra is no longer slimy.
The Liquids. Stir in beer, seafood stock, Cajun seasonings, cayenne pepper, salt, thyme, bay leaves, Worcestershire and hot sauce.
Simmer at Least One Hour. Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat to medium-low heat and simmer for at least 1 hour. 1.5-2 hours will develop more flavor.
Add the Seafood. When nearly ready to serve, add in the shrimp, fish, crab and oysters* (See my NOTES below about your seafood options). Cook another 10 minutes, or until all the seafood has cooked through.
Serve the Seafood Gumbo. Stir in the fresh parsley. Serve the seafood gumbo into bowls with rice and top with fresh chopped parsley or green onions, spicy chili flakes, spicy chili oil, and extra hot sauce if desired.
About the Roux
Your roux will darken the longer you cook it. It stars out very white from the raw flour, but as you cook, stirring constantly, the flour darkens to a light brown and gets darker, to the color of copper and eventually very dark, like chocolate.
Lighter, or blonde, roux is thicker and will result in a thicker gumbo. Darker roux is thinner or soupier.
I cooked mine to a dark chocolate brown this time, though you can cook it to your own personal preference.
Seafood Options
I used shrimp, red snapper, crab and smoked oysters for my seafood gumbo. I just love the combination of those ingredients. However, you can use pretty much any seafood that you’d prefer.
Famous Cajun chef Emeril Lagasse uses gumbo crabs in his seafood gumbo, but they aren’t easily found where I live. You can use pretty much any type of fish. Catfish is good here. Try any whitefish, really.
I actually added in a bit of shrimp powder that I made from my cookbook, “The Spicy Dehydrator Cookbook”. It adds some umami to the dish.
How to Make Seafood Stock
You can use a store bought seafood stock, or even use chicken or vegetable stock, but you can make your own seafood stock fairly easily.
I save shrimp shells, crab shells and lobster shells, things you might normally throw away. I keep them in the freezer for meals like this.
Simply add the shells to water, bring to a boil at medium-high heat, then simmer for an hour or so, or longer. The nutrients from the shells leaches into the water and becomes a rich and flavorful stock.
It is quite delicious and a great way to make use of those shells.
NOTE: If you don’t want to spend the time making a seafood stock, substitute it with chicken broth and you’ll still have an incredible pot of seafood gumbo.
Recipe Variations
- Tomatoes. Try adding tomatoes or tomato sauce to the dish before the long simmer. It’s a nice option for more of a Creole style gumbo.
- Andouille. Many gumbos include smoked andouille sausage, which is very common in Cajun cuisine. Even though this is a seafood gumbo, feel free to include it in your gumbo pot. I think it’s great with this.
- Simmering Time. Don’t skimp on the simmering time if you can help it. This isn’t a 20 minute or 30 minute gumbo. The dish really benefits from a longer simmer, so plan for spending a bit of time in the kitchen.
- File Powder. File powder is a common ingredient in gumbo, stirred in to act as a thickener. Use it if you’d like. Very popular!
That’s it, my friends! I hope you enjoy your seafood gumbo! It’s one of my favorites ever!
Patty’s Perspective
I love a good seafood gumbo. All that tasty seafood floating around in a big bowl of tastiness. Mike has been making different types of gumbo for years, and I have to turn one down. I love his gumbos. He’s made this with catfish as well and I was surprised at how much I enjoyed it. I really hope you try this recipe out. It’s a keeper for sure.
Check Out My Other Gumbo Recipes
If you love gumbo, check out some of my other gumbo recipes.
- Cajun Gumbo
- Creole Chicken and Sausage Gumbo
- Gumbo Z’Herbes – “Green Gumbo”
- Southwest Style Chicken Gumbo
- Mike’s Spicy Gumbo, made with ghost peppers
- Learn More with How to Make Gumbo – a Guide
Check Out These Other Popular Recipes
Got any questions? Ask away! I’m happy to help. If you enjoy this recipe, I hope you’ll leave a comment with some STARS.Also, please share it on social media. Don’t forget to tag us at #ChiliPepperMadness. I’ll be sure to share! Thanks! — Mike H.
Seafood Gumbo Recipe
Ingredients
- ¾ cup vegetable oil peanut oil is great here
- ¾ cup all-purpose flour
- 1 large onion chopped
- 1 large bell pepper chopped
- 2 jalapeno peppers chopped (optional)
- 2 celery stalks chopped
- 4 cloves garlic chopped
- 2 cups okra chopped
- 12 ounces amber beer
- 5 cups seafood stock use 4-6, depending on how thin you’d like your finished gumbo
- 1 tablespoon Cajun seasoning blend or more, as desired
- 1 tablespoon cayenne powder optional, for more heat
- 2 teaspoons salt
- ½ teaspoon dried thyme
- 2 bay leaves
- 2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce
- 1 teaspoon hot sauce or more to your preference, use your favorite!
- ½ cup freshly chopped parsley
FOR THE SEAFOOD
- 1 pound medium shrimp peeled and deveined
- 1 pound white fish use red snapper, grouper, catfish, whatever is available to you
- 1 pound lump white crab meat
- ½ pound smoked oysters Or use freshly shucked if you can get them
FOR SERVING
- Cooked white rice fresh chopped parsley, spicy chili flakes, spicy chili oil, extra hot sauce
Instructions
- Heat the oil in a large pot over medium heat. Swirl in the flour and continually stir until the flour is incorporated, forming a roux. Constantly stir the roux for 20-30 minutes (or longer), ensuring nothing sticks to the bottom of the pot, or it may burn. The roux will darken to a peanut butter color to a light chocolate color. *See my NOTES above on making a roux.
- Add the onion, peppers, celery, garlic and okra. Stir the mixture often, about 5 minutes, until the okra is no longer slimy.
- Stir in the beer, seafood stock, Cajun seasonings, cayenne pepper, salt, thyme, bay leaves, Worcestershire and hot sauce.
- Bring the pot to a quick boil, then reduce the heat to low and simmer for at least 1 hour. 1.5-2 hours will develop more flavor.
- When nearly ready to serve, add in the shrimp, fish, crab and oysters* (See my NOTES above about your seafood options). Cook another 10 minutes, or until all the seafood has cooked through.
- Stir in the fresh parsley.
- Serve the seafood gumbo into bowls with rice and top with fresh chopped parsley, spicy chili flakes, spicy chili oil, and extra hot sauce if desired.
Video
Notes
Nutrition
NOTE: This post was updated on 10/9/20 to include new photos and information. It was originally published on 1/2/19.
22 comments
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do you make your own sea food broth. i make beef and chicken?
Mary, I often make my own stocks – usually chicken, seafood or vegetable – for these types of recipes. I save scraps then make big batches.
My gumbo was awesome!! My roux never browned. Maybe because I used butter instead of oil, I didn’t use okra because I don’t like them. But other then that, oops I only used lobster, shrimp and crab.
Sounds like a great combo, Tamara. It’s possible the heat wasn’t high enough to brown the roux, but glad it turned out!
Can this be adapted to the slow cooker? If so, would u add it to the slow cooker after softening the veggies?
Adam, yes, I would just cook everything down, then add it to the slow cooker and let it cook low and slow for 2-3 hours. Let me know how it goes for you.
This was delicious! I’ll DEFINITELY make it again!
Thanks, Dana! Yes, one of my favorites for sure.
Worth all the time and attention to make! Just the right amount of heat, but next time Ii may omit the oysters (since my wife does not like them). I think I may also use some Hatch peppers next time. But 20 minutes prep time? You have to be kidding me! Only possible if you have two people chopping the veggies and one dedicated to the roux.
Thanks. Prep time is so hard to estimate, as people all work differently in the kitchen. 20 minutes to me is actually very long, but not every day! LOL.
Substitute for the beer? My husband will not eat this if it has alcohol in it, but I’m sure the flavor is important.
Jenna, use stock instead – seafood stock, chicken stock, or vegetable stock. It will be delicious! Let me know how it turns out for you.
Great gumbo! I added Hatch chili’s that I grind as needed from dried chili’s that I take from the ristra I always have hanging in my kitchen, just cut some up into a grinder to have on hand every day…no other chili’s have the same flavor!
Outstanding! I love this. Nicely done.
Just like home!!! Thanks for that. Only we added a few (lot) more hot to it!
Very nice! I’ll take a version with some extra HOT! Love it.
I need help to make a roux My only attempt was a complete failure Any suggestions would be welcomed
Don, how did it fail? Did it clump up? Burn? It’s hard to say, but proper proportions of oil and flour, proper heat and constantly stirring are the most important factors. I’ve been thinking about doing a video for how to make a roux. Check out my post on How to Make Gumbo: https://www.chilipeppermadness.com/recipes/how-to-make-gumbo/. I have a section there discussion how to make a roux in detail. Let me know if this helps.
Mike,
If using andouille, when would be added? Would it be added raw or cooked first? Also, can frozen okra be used? If so, would that be added the same way as fresh okra? Thanks!
Bill
Hi, Bill. You can add the andouille just before the 1 hour simmer. Also, yes, frozen okra works just fine. Let me know how it turns out for you! I’d love to hear. I need to make this again very soon.
Gumbo! Just the recipe I need! My own shrimp gumbo lacked worcestershire sauce and beer… but that will not happen again, thank to you, Mike!
Yes! Glad you enjoyed my version! Excellent flavor.