"Big Easy" Gumbo

This is delicious! And is just what it says--a quick and easy gumbo. If you want the authentic, the go the long, time-consuming route and quit complaining! This is the third New Years we have made it. It's now a tradition to have this with Hoppin' John to start the new year!

I'm looking for GUMBO!!!  WHERE'S THE OKRA????

I'm not even Cajun and I know to get a chocolate brown roux takes 35-40 minutes. Black eyed peas? No okra? I don't know what this is but I wouldn't call it gumbo. Update: I will never rate a recipe before I try it again. Southern Living editors, I owe you an apology. This was very good. I doubled the amount of Cajun seasoning and added some cayenne. The chicken broth was simmered with the shrimp shells for half an hour. Adding the flour to hot oil gave me a nice deep brown roux in no time. I still wouldn't call this an authentic gumbo but whatever it is, I'll be making it again.

I can't believe Southern Living is calling this "gumbo"! This is some type of watery soup, but NOT any type of real gumbo. Please, if you want real gumbo recipe, DO NOT EVER put black-eye peas in it (those are to be made by themselves, as a main course or a side), it needs to be thicker, it needs to be cooked for at least 3 hours (the veggies should not still be in big pieces, you need to cook down ingredients as you add them, and okra is a good addition for flavor and texture-- you can even fry it down first to get rid of some sliminess), you need cayenne, many people add tomatoes, AND YOU DO NOT LEAVE THE TAILS ON THE SHRIMP. why have people started doing this in the last decade? who wants to put their fingers into a bowl of anything, fish out a shrimp, bite it off from the tail, make a pile of tails on the table somewhere, then do it all over again??? As another poster said, nola.com has good REAL gumbo recipes, as do lots of other new orleans websites.

hard to call this Gumbo! I will pass!

What? Sounds interesting. Black eyed peas, sausage, and shrimp?

The taste was okay but the consistency was that of a very thin soup. Not like any gumbo I've ever had. 12 cups of chicken broth probably did this one in. Not to be repeated at my house.

I'm giving this 5 stars because it it a good recipe but I must say something about the making of a roux. I'm from New Orleans and having been making roux most of my life. I can tell you this...there is NO way you can make a chocolate colored roux in just 5 to 7 minutes.

This was excellent. Made it twice. Doubled the amount of black eyed peas the 2nd time and just used a pot of rice. Easier that way. Also used chicken thighs the 2nd time instead of breast the first time. The thighs are much better in the gumbo even though I am normally a white meat guy.

Made this on hot summer night with fresh black eye peas from the garden, extremely awesome. If my kids weren't eating I would of added more cajun spice.

This was my first attempt at gumbo. The only other times I've had gumbo were in Charleston, SC, and at a seafood festival - so this recipe had to come pretty far to meet my expectations! It's good, but not stellar. With some tweaking (as should be done with gumbos) I think it'll be great. We love okra, so in went half a bag of frozen. ADD SPICES. I used Zatarain's, and by the 4th tsp I put it back in the cupboard and grabbed the cayenne. Added 2 bay leaves too, and a tbsp of beef bouillon granules because it was so bland. (I am not a fan of chicken broth.) KEEP TASTING until you think it's where you want it!

This is delicious! We enjoyed it during our Labor Day beach getaway. We picked up fresh gulf shrimp to add and put in some sliced grilled okra as well. It was the perfect dish to enjoy on SEC football's opening weekend!

Great gumbo recipe, but I would definitely double the spice like the other reviewer recommends. When served alone, I thought the sauce was too thin, but when served with rice, it was just fine. Great Mardi Gras meal!

This is a great recipe! The entire family loved it even the second time around. We used smoked sausage/kielbasa instead of the andouille and added okra. I will be sure to make the Hoppin' John the next time as well!

This is a great gumbo, i left out the black eyed peas, just isn't gumbo to me with those. I also added crab meat and 1 can of diced tomatoes to replace the volume of the peas. Next time I'll add about 2 more Tablespoons of flour to make it just a bit thicker.

Excellent. Received rave reviews from family. Did not have Black Eyed Peas, so I just omitted them. Added a little Cayenne Pepper for some heat.

This was wonderful!!! I will be making this again. Everyone loved it...even my 3 y.o. It was even better as left-overs! Loved the Hoppin John with it, but will double the recipe next time and serve with corn bread. Perfect dish on a cold, snowy day!

This is one of two recipes that I tried for the New Year. One of the best that have ever been in a January issue. My family loved it. It is a "keeper" recipe.

Made this over the weekened and we loved it! We too, made the Hoppin John to serve with it. Two adjustments I made; added a bit more creole seasoing to the Gumbo and added a chopped jalapeno to the Hoppin John. We'll be making this again!

Made this for the family on New Year's Eve and it was fantastic. I did make the Hoppin' John and some baguettes which went great with this. The family loved it!