If you have not heard of or tasted gumbo, you are surely missing out!
Now that the weather has started to cool down, this is a perfect recipe to warm up you and your family.
Keep scrolling to read why Wave Soda loves this gumbo recipe and how you can make it at home!
Full of Veggies and Proteins
Once I add the list of ingredients, be warned, it may be a little overwhelming at first!
That's because gumbo has a whole heaping of delicious veggies, meats, and spices.
These ingredients can provide healthy minerals, antioxidants, vitamins and fiber.
Plus, gumbo tastes amazing when it is washed down by some of our sparkling fruit soda!
Gather the Ingredients
Okay here we go! You're going to need the following:
-1 cup all-purpose flour
-¾ cup bacon drippings
-1 cup coarsely chopped celery
-1 large onion, coarsely chopped
-1 large green bell pepper, coarsely chopped
-2 cloves garlic, minced
-3 quarts water
-6 cubes beef bouillon
-1 tablespoon white sugar
-salt to taste
-2 tablespoons hot pepper sauce (such as Tabasco®), or to taste
-½ teaspoon Cajun seasoning blend
-4 bay leaves
-½ teaspoon dried thyme leaves
-1 (14.5 ounce) can stewed tomatoes
-2 teaspoons gumbo file powder
-2 tablespoons bacon drippings
-2 (10 ounce) packages frozen cut okra, thawed
-2 tablespoons distilled white vinegar
-1 pound lump crabmeat
-3 pounds uncooked medium shrimp, peeled and deveined
-2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
-2 teaspoons gumbo file powder
Very long list, but this will produce 20 servings so you can share with a large group, or just have ton of leftovers!
Just make sure your fridge is stocked with your favorite all-natural sparkling soda before you invite everyone over :)
The Prep
Since there are a lot of ingredients, you can imagine prep time will be a little longer than normal, but once again, I cannot stress how much you won't regret putting all that time in because this gumbo recipe is almost too good to be true!
1. Make a roux by mixing 3/4 cup bacon drippings and flour in a large saucepan over medium-high heat. Continue whisking the roux as it cooks, for about 20-30 minutes or until it becomes a rich mahogany color.
2. Place celery, green pepper, onion and garlic into a food processor and pulse until the veggies are finely chopped. Stir veggies into the roux and then add in the sausage. Bring mixture to a simmer and cook until veggies are tender, around 10-15 minutes, then remove from heat.
3. Boil the water and beef bouillon in a large pot, then pour in the roux mixture. Reduce heat to a simmer and mix in the sugar, stewed tomatoes, tomato sauce and all the spices and herbs. Simmer the soup over low heat for 1 hour, adding in 2 teaspoons of file gumbo powder at the 45 minute mark.
4. While the mixture is simmering, melt 2 tablespoons of bacon drippings in a skillet and cook the okra with vinegar over medium heat for 15 minutes. Remove with a slotted spoon and stir into simmering gumbo. Mix in crab meat, shrimp and Worcestershire sauce and simmer until everything is blended. Just before serving, mix in 2 more teaspoons of file gumbo powder.
Whew! After all that, you might need to have a Wave Soda Cocktail, or two!
