40 Minute Weeknight Seafood Gumbo
Let me start by saying I am a huge gumbo snob/fanatic. I can count only a handful of restaurant gumbos that I have ever really loved and I blame it all on my parents. I grew up eating my moms thinner, chicken and sausage gumbo passed down to by her mother (which I have found is very rare to see a thin gumbo like this but I promise it’s to die for), and my stepmom’s thick, smoky seafood gumbo passed on by her mother (which I beg for about every week). These are the two most amazing gumbos I have ever had, and they couldn’t be more different.
I have tried for years to re-create both of these but as any gumbo lover knows, it’s very time-consuming. When I discovered HEB’s “Creole gumbo base” though, everything changed…. forget the 30 minutes making roux, forget making the base yourself, this frozen gumbo base is so mind-blowing in the fact that you really cannot tell the difference between homemade or not. I spent about 40 minutes making this gumbo, turned the heat off and covered, threw the rice into a rice cooker, and headed to my yoga class. How easy is that?!!? Oh yea by the way…. get a rice cooker. I know some people will cringe at this thought but it makes weeknights so much easier getting fresh meals prepared.
After I finished making this gumbo I put it to the test with a few friends and everyone said it was on of the best they have had!!! I really hope all of my readers can find this frozen gumbo base (I found at HEB and Central Market), because it is just unreal!
Ingredients:
- 1 package frozen Central Market creole gumbo base
- 1 12 oz. package frozen crawfish tailmeat, I use Cajun central inc brand
- 1 lb. shrimp, peeled and deveined, leave the tails on
- 1 tbsp. olive oil
- 1 cup onion, minced
- 1 cup celery, minced
- 1 1/2 cups okra, diced
- 2 cloves of garlic, minced
- 8 oz. chicken stock
- 1 cup white or brown rice
- 1 1/4 to 1 1/2 cups stock to cook rice in
- 1 green onion, diced
Directions:
- Thaw the gumbo base and crawfish tails. In a large pot, sauté onion, celery, and okra in a little bit of olive oil about 5 minutes then add garlic. Sauté for another minute and then add in gumbo base and 8 oz. of chicken stock. Simmer the base for about 25 minutes, then add in the crawfish tailmeat, shrimp, and any other seafood you desire, keep it on a simmer for about 3 more minutes then turn off the heat and cover until ready to serve.
- To make the rice I use my rice cooker. I simply put in the rice, stock, green onion, a touch of salt and pepper and cook.
- Freeze any leftover gumbo you aren’t going to eat that week and it thaws out just as good!!
- Enjoy!!!
Love!
I love gumbo. Excited to try this recipe out – my favorite is Pappadeux’s – believe it or not – at the Hobby Airport in Houston. #thintowin
I can honestly say I don’t know much about gumbo but I know that this one looks amazing 🙂
Yum, I love gumbo, this sounds delicious! I will be on the lookout for that frozen gumbo base and I really need to get a rice cooker 🙂
Great idea, love seafood gumbo! This recipe will tide me over until I can make a trip to New Orleans! 🙂
That looks so rich and incredible! Any leftovers?…..I’m heading by! 😉
How many does this serve approximately?
The serving size is about 8 I would say!
I’m so glad I found this recipe. I recently discovered the frozen Central Market gumbo and was looking for recipes to use it. This one delivered. I like gumbo with a lighter roux (my fav is Goode Company Seafood in Houston) which this had. I didn’t have crawfish so I used 2 lb frozen shrimp (defrosted). I also left out the okra since I didn’t have any and added two bay leaves. I took short cuts (already diced onion and celery from H-E-B and bottled garlic) since I needed something quick and easy. I also forgot to cook rice so I used a package of microwave Good and Gather brown rice, lentils and quinoa that I buy from Target. Even with the shortcuts and changes it was really tasty.