This Summer Sausage Gumbo is flavor-packed and is a great way to put your leftover Turkey Day ingredients to good use! The sauteed summer sausage adds a unique, show-stopping flavor in this dish, and with a hint of pumpkin pie spice, it gives a beautiful holiday touch to a traditional creole recipe. The leftover roasted turkey in this recipe can be replaced with rotisserie chicken, making it one you can use all year.
Well, Thanksgiving is over and every year, as much as I love a good leftover turkey sandwich, they get old after a day or two! I always have an abundance of leftover turkey in my fridge, plus, somehow every year, I manage to buy more celery and onion than I need. I always have plenty of extra thyme as well…too bad that can’t translate to “real time” instead of the herb – I never have enough of that in a day!
There’s also the question of what to do with the leftover summer sausage – after all, a gal can only eat so much of that in its raw form…so I added it in the gumbo this year to “spice it up” (pun intended!) It’s always nice to switch up the flavor profile the week after Thanksgiving, and man is it a show-stopper! Replacing browned summer sausage with the traditional andouille (spicy sausage found in the traditional gumbo), toned down the heat profile so it’s palatable for little toddler tastebuds as well. Browning the sausage brought out it’s amazing flavor that really stands out as a bright ingredient in the gumbo with its unique taste compared to the andouille. If spicy gumbo is your preference, serve up your bowl with your favorite hot sauce to hike up the heat index, while keeping the bulk of the gumbo more mild for others. Cholula is my personal fav!
One ingredient I always have stocked in my fridge and use frequently is Better Than Bullion, a chicken and spice paste that boosts the flavor of soups and stews. This little jar of flavor flair can be found at the grocery store, usually in the soup aisle next to chicken broth and stock.
For the creole seasoning, I use Lucile’s, a brand from Lucile’s Creole Cafe, founded in Boulder, Colorado. With trips to Colorado to visit family a few times a year, it became a fast favorite and I usually receive it as a Christmas gift from my mom every year. If you ever visit Boulder or Fort Collins, I recommend purchasing a few jars for future use! For this recipe, any creole seasoning blend that contains sodium will work, and can usually be found in the spice aisle.
This holiday- flavored creole gumbo is one we will be making a tradition! I love my turkey sandwiches, but I am excited to have this gumbo in the fridge to heat up in this cold weather. I see cozy socks, bulky sweaters and steaming bowls of gumbo with holiday movies in the forecast this week…From our home to yours, Happy Holidays!
Ingredients
2 1/2 c thanksgiving turkey (I used turkey breast) or roasted rotisserie chicken
4 c. Fat free Chicken broth
1/4 c. Vegetable oil
1/4 c. Flour
1/4 tsp salt
1 medium sweet onion, diced
1 medium bell pepper, seeded, diced
1/2 c. diced carrots
1 c. Diced celery
1 1/2 tsp minced garlic
4 oz can green chiles
1 can diced tomatoes, drained
2 c. Frozen okra
1 1/2 c. diced summer sausage, browned
1/2 tsp pumpkin pie spice
1/2 tsp dried oregano
1/2 tsp fresh thyme
1/4 tsp smoked paprika
1 tsp Creole seasoning (I use Lucile’s brand, but any creole seasoning with a little sodium will work)
1/2 tsp ‘Better Than Boullion’ paste
Instructions
- Finely dice your onion, carrots, celery, and red bell pepper.
- Separate 1/2 tsp thyme leaves from the sprig, and give it a slight mincing.
- Chop up the turkey into bite size pieces and set aside.
- A traditional roux is made with a one to one ratio of oil or butter, and flour and is the base ingredient when making Gumbo. Heat the oil over medium high heat. (If using an Instapot or Crockpot Express Multicooker, put on the saute setting to make the roux and saute the vegetables). Mix the flour into the oil once heated and brown for a min or two, add onions, bell peppers, celery, onion, carrots and cook 5 minutes until onion is translucent.
- Add minced garlic.
- Either add the vegetable-roux mixture with garlic to a crockpot for slowcooking, or to a large pot if heating on the stove. Add broth, chopped turkey (or chicken), tomatoes, green chiles.
- Add spices, thyme, bullion & creole seasoning.
- Brown summer sausage over medium-high heat, transfer to a paper towel or two to soak up the extra grease, then add to the gumbo.
- Place crockpot on high to heat more quickly, or to the stove top pot until bubbling hot. If using Instapot of Crockpot Multicooker, place setting on “soup” until bubbling (about 25-30 min, then switch to the warming setting until served.
- Serve with hot, white rice, or brown rice for a healthier, more fiber-filled option.
- Enjoy!
