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Instant Pot Gumbo is so easy to make! Loaded with andouille sausage, chicken, and shrimp, this gumbo is BURSTING with Creole and Cajun flavors!
Instant Pot Gumbo
Instant Pot Gumbo is the perfect meal for a cold day. Thick and hearty with a kick of Creole spice that warms your insides. This southern comfort food originates in New Orleans, Louisiana. Like jambalaya, it can be made so many different ways. Most gumbo dishes start with a basic roux, peppers, onions, and celery. You can add a protein such as sausage, pork, chicken, or shrimp as well. I’ve tried several different varieties of gumbo over the years, but my favorite includes chicken, sausage, and shrimp. I simply can’t pick a favorite meat to put in; I love them all!
True gumbo is usually thickened with okra and/or gumbo filé powder in addition to the roux. It really depends on your taste. Try a big bowl and see for yourself. You will love this recipe!
Additions and Substitutions for Instant Pot Gumbo
Instant Pot Gumbo can be changed up a million different ways, depending on your tastes and preferences. Follow the recipe as directed below for a spicy flavor and all the meats! But you can experiment with spices and other ingredients to make it exactly how you and your family like it.
- Feel free to omit one or more of the meats. Sausage only, just chicken and shrimp, etc. or go all out and add any seafood such as crab meat, fish, lobster, whatever you like!
- Some may argue that tomatoes do not belong in gumbo, when others love the added flavor of tomatoes. I really think there is no wrong way. Personally, I am not the biggest fan of okra, so it is something I usually leave out. Make it according to your tastes, be creative, and you won’t be disappointed.
- In addition to the natural flavors of the ingredients, you can play with the seasonings by adding black pepper, hot sauce, cayenne pepper, chili pepper, thyme, paprika, liquid smoke, and more garlic.
- You can make this recipe in a pressure cooker too. If your cooker doesn’t have a sauté function, just sauté your veggies and sausage in a separate pan, then add to the pressure cooker and follow the directions as listed below.
How To Get A Dark Roux
You can make this gumbo recipe with a simple roux (we made this recipe with a simple, light roux) or if you prefer your gumbo to have that rich, dark color, you can make a “dark roux”. Keep in mind, that by making a “dark roux” you are adding another 35-40 minutes to your cook time. To make a dark roux, simply cook your roux longer until it gets to be a deep, golden brown color and this takes time. Keep a close eye on it and stir it constantly because you want it to be dark, but not burnt. Follow the rest of the recipe as indicated below.
Avoid The Instant Pot “Burn” Notice
Because you are making the roux first instead of adding a thickener at the end, you may be more likely to get the dreaded “burn” warning on your Instant Pot. If you notice your gumbo is really thick (like gravy) after adding all the rest of the ingredients, you may want to add up to 1 cup more broth. Don’t worry, if you think it is going to be too thin, you can always thicken it again before serving by adding 3 tablespoons of cornstarch to ¼ cup cold water and stirring it into your gumbo after releasing pressure.
Gluten Free Gumbo
To make this gumbo gluten-free, the most obvious choice would be to use a gluten-free flour in the place of regular all-purpose flour in the roux. We use Namaste flour from Costco, or a homemade flour blend when substituting flour. If you want to avoid making a roux, you can always use filé powder and/or okra to thicken instead. The Tony Chachere’s seasoning is gluten-free so you should be good using that as your Creole seasoning in this recipe.
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Instant Pot Gumbo
Video
Equipment
- Instant Pot Pressure Cooker
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 red bell pepper diced
- 1 green bell pepper diced
- 1 onion diced
- 1 cup celery chopped
- 3 cloves garlic minced
- 13.5 ounces Andouille sausage cut into rounds
- 1/3 cup flour
- 1/3 cup butter
- 3 cups chicken broth
- 1 pound chicken cubed
- 2 teaspoons Creole seasoning (or to taste, we used Tony Chachere’s)
- 10 ounces diced tomatoes with green chiles (aka Rotel tomatoes)
- 14 ounces fire roasted diced tomatoes
- 2 bay leaves
- 1/2 teaspoon Kosher salt (or to taste)
- 1/4 teaspoon black pepper (or to taste)
- 1 cup okra sliced
- 1 pound shrimp peeled, deveined
- 4 cups cooked rice
Instructions
- Set Instant Pot to "Sauté" function and add olive oil. Add peppers, onion, celery, garlic, and sausage.
- Sauté for 3-5 minutes or until vegetables become soft. Remove all vegetables and sausage. Set aside.
- Immediately add butter to instant pot and stir, scraping up any cooked bits from the bottom of the pot. When butter is melted, add flour.
- Cook 5 minutes, stirring constantly forming a light roux. If you want to make a "dark roux", cook for 30-40 minutes until the roux becomes a dark, golden brown color. Turn cooker off.
- Add chicken broth, cooked vegetables and sausage, chicken, Creole seasoning, diced tomatoes with chiles, fire roasted tomatoes, bay leaves, salt and pepper. Close and lock the lid of the Instant Pot. Turn the steam release handle to “Sealing” position (see notes above about avoiding the "burn" notice).
- Press "Manual" and select “High Pressure." Set time to 20 minutes. When time is up, turn cooker off. Quick release by turning valve to "venting". When pressure is fully released, remove lid and stir in okra. Press "Sauté", and cook uncovered for 5 minutes.
- Add shrimp and cook an additional 5 minutes or until shrimp is cooked through.
- Remove and discard bay leaves. Serve with rice.
Very delicious! Easy to follow recipe. Family enjoyed this on cold evening. You should try if!
So yummy! Thank you for this recipe. I am new to the instant pot world. Perfect dinner for a winter evening.
My family absolutely LOVED this recipe. I served it with pasta instead of rice, but it was a hit with everyone. This one is now part of my must have recipes.
So glad it was a hit!
Can you cook this on stove ?
You sure can!
I’ve made this twice. Both times, followed the recipe to the T. Amazing. It thickened up overnight and was even better the next day. GREAT recipe! Thanks!
I LOVE THIS!! Thank you so much!! I’ve used this time and time again.
This was super good. We used the recipe more as base, but I would imagine it’s also really good as is. We added a jalapeno, fresh basil, fresh cilantro, Pho spice mix, and subbed 1 part seafood broth. Make sure to put your pho mix in a cheese cloth or something similar.
Cajun and Vietnamese (viet-cajun) is a must try fusion!
Your recipe does not say when to add the okra.
It is in step 11!
This is amazing gumbo. Fairly easy and quick. Broth was a little thinner than I am used to but it was so very tasty that it made perfect for dipping some crusty French bread in as a yummy finish! Highly recommend.
This has to be the best instant pot Gumbo I have ever had…we are from Maryland by the bay, so I add crab and oysters to this after it has finished cooking…It is so easy to fix and it taste just as good or even better than my old from scratch recipe to make Gumbo..Thank you for this recipe…D.
This is a great recipe and the flavor profile is amazing. The only thing I will do differently next time is to add the chicken in with the sausage and the veggies during the sauté process prior to pressure cooking. Adding raw chicken and pressure cooking it resulted in the chicken meat becoming fibrous and causing the broth to be thick and not clear.
This was great. We used the Rotel but omitted the other tomatoes. Definitely will make this again.
This was my first time making gumbo and it came out great! Very happy with this recipe
This recipe is a winner! After getting thru the prep it’s super easy! I added crabmeat and some crab claws and a bit of file at the end and it was absolutely delicious! Even my 7 year old enjoyed this dish.
Thank you for the review! We are so happy you like the recipe – and thank you for sharing your additions!
Does your calorie count per serving include the rice you add at the end?
It does!
I made this today in my instant pot and it was absolutely delicious. I left out the shrimp and the okra and I didn’t put the bay leaves in. It was Cajun alright. This is a comfort food for sure. This is a keeper.
This was simple and really yummy
This is in regular rotation here, because it’s fabulous, and I’ve made it dozens of times. The odd thing, and it only ever happens with this recipe, is that the Instant Pot has never, ever come to pressure. I’m wondering if anyone else has had this experience? It’s still wonderful. Fully cooked. Very odd.
Love gumbo but had never thought to make in the IP. What a game changer on how much time it takes!
YUMMY! My family is loving all the delicious things I’m making with my new instant pot. This was so good and everyone loved it.
Burned food in the bottom of the InstantPot, even though I followed the instructions precisely. More trouble than just cooking it the traditional way.
I’m so sorry this method didn’t work for you. Instant Pots can be tricky when you are cooking tomato-based sauces. If you were to try this recipe again I would suggest making sure that when you add the butter you scrape up every cooked bit on the bottom of the pan, and maybe adding extra water or chicken broth right before putting the lid on. Again, I am sorry you had a bad experience, but I hope you’ll give some of our recipes another try!
One can always try the instant pot, pot in pot method or use the non stick IP Pot liner to avoid the burn notice. For pot in pot, I use the 3 quart insert pot on top of a trivet with 1 cup water in main pot with the trivet.