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One Pot Turkey Gumbo

bowl of gumbo and white rice with a gold spoon in it.
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★★★★★

5 from 1 reviews

This simple, one pot gumbo recipe with turkey and sausage produces the most delicious gumbo you'll ever eat, all in one pot. It's a great way to transform leftover turkey into something new and different!

Ingredients

Scale
  • 4 tbsp butter
  • 2 tbsp olive oil
  • 1/2 to 1 cup flour
  • 1 tsp cajun seasoning (I use Tony's)
  • 1 tsp black pepper
  • 1 medium onion, diced
  • 2 green bell peppers, diced
  • 4 stalks celery, diced (about 2 cups)
  • 4 cloves garlic, minced
  • 1 package (12 oz) andouille sausage, sliced
  • 4 cups chicken or vegetable broth
  • 2 bay leaves
  • 4 sprigs fresh thyme
  • 3-4 tbsp Louisiana hot sauce
  • 4 cups leftover turkey, shredded
  • 1 cup okra, fresh or frozen, sliced (optional)

Instructions

  1. Make the roux. Add the butter and oil to a large, heavy-bottomed pot. Heat over medium-low heat. Once the butter is melted, add the flour, a little bit at a time, stirring, and continue to cook until you have a dark, thick consistency (similar to thick gravy or cake batter). Season with a little bit of the cajun seasoning and pepper. Let the roux get really dark, to the color of chocolate, without burning. It will take 30 minutes to an hour of cooking and stirring.
  2. Add the onion, bell pepper, celery and garlic. Season with a bit more cajun seasoning and pepper. Cook, stirring, about 5-7 minutes. 
  3. Add the sliced sausage and cook, stirring, another 5 minutes. 
  4. Add the bay leaf, thyme, hot sauce, and more cajun seasoning and pepper. Stir, then add broth.
  5. Bring to a boil and simmer, loosely covered, for 1-2 hours. 
  6. Add the shredded turkey and okra, if using. Cook until turkey is warmed through. 
  7. Serve gumbo over white rice. 

Notes

  • According to my brother-in-law, you will need to open a good bottle of red wine in order to get the roux right. That's a method I can get behind.
  • As stated above, the key to a good gumbo is getting the roux extra dark and thick. Keep the heat low-ish so that you can continue to cook the flour without burning it.
  • The roux may seem way too thick and clumpy at the beginning (especially if you add too much flour at once), but it will thin out as you stir.
  • Season each layer with cajun seasoning and pepper as you cook. I end up using about 1 tsp of each.
  • If you still have the turkey carcass and want to get meat off of it for the gumbo and make broth to use, boil the carcass in water with a glove of garlic, a bay leaf, some thyme, a few peppercorns, and the butts of your onion, celery, and bell pepper while you make the roux. Then pull out the carcass, shred any meat that comes off, and strain the liquid to use as additional broth.
  • You want the gumbo to continue to thicken as it simmers, so leave the lid slightly ajar to let steam escape.

Recipe variations:

  • I know some people prefer okra and some don't. If you don't like it, leave it out.
  • My mom adds shrimp to her gumbo recipe. If you'd like to use shrimp, add peeled, deveined shrimp when you add the turkey.
  • I use about 3 tbsp Louisiana hot sauce for a slightly more mild version (so I can feed it to the little ones, too). If you like a spicer gumbo, use more hot sauce. You can also use extra spicy cajun seasoning. 

Keywords: one pot gumbo, leftover turkey gumbo, turkey and sausage gumbo

Find it online: https://livelytable.com/one-pot-turkey-gumbo/