Slow Cooker Cajun Shrimp Gumbo with Smoked Sausage & Pork Chop

Is there any other dish that yells “Southern Recipe” more loudly than a hearty gumbo? This slow cooker Cajun shrimp gumbo recipe will bring the flavors of Mardi Gras into your kitchen.

Gumbo is one of my favorite recipes to make in the Crock Pot. That’s because gumbo leaves lots of room for creativity, and you can use ingredients, mostly, as they’re available. Gumbo is much like a chili or a stew, where you can make up many of the rules as you go along.

Actually, this is exactly what gumbo is; a roux-based, thick, hearty meat and vegetable stew, seasoned with Cajun spices, designed and destined to accept any ingredients or flavors you desire it to have.

This Cajun shrimp gumbo recipe is one of my favorites, but feel free to tweak it! Sure, this recipe may look like it has a lot of ingredients, and it does. It’s definitely not a 5-ingredient dish. But don’t sweat it – it’s hard to make a mistake.

What Type of Ingredients Go Into a Gumbo?

I’m going to answer this one straight from the horse’s mouth. The cookbook Picayune Creole Cook Book, published by the New Orleans newspaper Times-Picayune, has been in constant print since 1901. The well-worn 1922 edition we are referencing has nine different recipes: gumbo file (pronounced “fe-lay”), squirrel or rabbit, turkey, okra, crab, oyster, shrimp, shrimp gumbo filé, green or herb, and cabbage gumbo. 

Besides the basic fresh vegetable mixture of green bell pepper, onion, and celery, just about anything goes when adding or substituting ingredients. You can add chicken, crawfish, catfish, fresh shrimp, any kind of smoked sausage such as Louisiana’s Andouille sausage, as well as ham or tasso (smoked, spiced, and cured ham), duck, goose, quail, and even alligator. Again, gumbo truly defines the meaning of melting pot.

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How to Make Slow Cooker Cajun Shrimp Gumbo

Make sure to print the recipe card below!

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The Meats

• 4 pork chops, thin-cut bone-in (optional – you can leave these out if you wish)
• 1 pound smoked sausage, cut into medium-sized chunks
• 1 pound shrimp, shell on

The Roux

• 4 tablespoons butter
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 5 tablespoons all-purpose flour, I like Wondra Quick-Mixing Flour, but Gold Medal or even a generic brand works just fine

The Vegetables

• 2 green bell peppers, roughly chopped
• 6 stalks celery, roughly chopped 
• 1 onion, roughly chopped
• 3 garlic cloves, finely chopped
• 2 cups cut okra

The Tomatoes

• One 10-ounce can diced tomatoes
• 1/3 cup tomato paste

The Herbs & Spices

• 1 tablespoon Cajun seasoning, I like Slap Ya Mamma
• 2 bay leaves
• 1 tablespoon dried oregano 
• 1 tablespoon dried basil
• salt and pepper, to taste

Additions

• 2 tablespoons butter for the pork chops
• ½ cup all-purpose flour for the pork chops
• 2 cups chicken broth
• Serve with cooked white rice

Step-by-Step Instructions for Making Pork Chop, Sausage, and Cajun Shrimp Gumbo

Make sure to print the recipe card below.

1. Brown the sausage – In a large skillet, sauté the smoked sausage with medium-high heat on all sides until well browned. Remove from the skillet and set aside.

2. Flour the pork chops – Place the ½ cup of flour and the Cajun seasoning in a gallon-size plastic bag and shake to combine. Place the pork chops in the bag and shake to completely coat the pork chops with the flour mixture.

3. Brown the pork chops – In the same large skillet, add about a tablespoon of vegetable oil or canola oil and let it get warm. Sauté the pork chops on both sides, using medium heat, until well browned. Be sure not to overcook the pork chops. Remove them from the skillet and set aside.

4. Make the roux – Wipe out the same large skillet with a paper towel, and melt the butter with the olive oil. Over low heat, slowly add the 5 tablespoons of flour to the mixture, constantly whisking as the flour is added. Keep whisking until the color and texture of the roux is as desired. The longer the roux is cooked and whisked, the darker and more robust in flavor it will become.

5. Add the vegetables to the roux – Stir the bell peppers, celery, onion, and garlic into the roux, and cook for roughly 5 minutes until the vegetables are soft.

6. Add the herbs to the vegetable mixture – Stir the oregano, basil, and bay leaves into the vegetable mixture and pour into the crockpot.

7. Add the vegetables to the crockpot – Add the okra and diced tomatoes to the vegetable mixture. 

8. Pour in the chicken stock – Pour in the chicken stock, add the tomato paste, and stir to combine.

9. Add the smoked sausage and pork chops – Stir the sausage into the vegetable mixture, and place the pork chops on top.

10. Turn on the crockpot – Place the lid on the crockpot and cook for three hours on high or 5 hours on low. NOTE: If you don’t want to use a slow cooker you can use a large Dutch oven or an everyday large pot instead.

11. Flip the pork chops and add the shrimp – After 1 ½ hours, flip the pork chops over so both sides cook in the gumbo. After 2 ½ hours, stir in the shrimp and let cook for 20-30 minutes or until the shrimp are bright pink.

12. Serve – In a large serving bowl, place a generous helping of cooked white rice and spoon the gumbo over the rice. Place a pork chop on top of the gumbo and serve with Cajun hot sauce. We like Cajun Chef hot sauce.

CAN I REHEAT MY GUMBO LEFTOVERS?

Absolutely. I LOVE leftover Cajun shrimp gumbo for lunch. Just make sure to store any leftovers in an airtight container and put it in the fridge. Make sure to eat it within 3 to 4 days. One thing to note is that if you microwave or otherwise reheat the shrimp it may get a little tough. I personally don’t mind, but my daughter is not a fan. She removes the shrimp!

THINGS YOU’D LIKE TO KNOW BUT DIDN’T KNOW YOU NEEDED TO KNOW

(About Gumbo)

• What nationalities historically added their ingredients to gumbo? – French, Spanish, German, Italian, African, Canadian, Caribbean, and Native American. Truly, a melting pot.

• What are the traditional thickeners for gumbo? – Roux, okra, and file (pronounced “fe-lay”), which is finely ground sassafras leaves.

• Where did the word “gumbo” come from? – Most likely from the Bantu word for okra or “gombo,” the Choctaw word for file, or “kombo.”

• Mireproix vs. The Trinity – In France, the vegetable foundation for soups and stews is onion, celery, and carrots, called a Mirepoix. In the South, the vegetable foundation is onion, celery, and green bell peppers, called The Trinity (sometimes called the Holy Trinity). 

• What is the difference between Creole and Cajun cooking – Basically (and rather simply), Creole is from the city, while Cajun is from the country. Creole cooking uses more seafood, tomatoes, and cream and is more sophisticated, while Cajun cooking uses wild-caught and foraged ingredients and is more homey. This recipe is probably better referred to as a Creole gumbo recipe than a Cajun gumbo recipe.

• Are gumbo and jambalaya the same recipe? – No, but they are very similar. Both are a hardy, vegetable and meat-based, slow-cooked stew, but with two main differences. Gumbo is made with a roux, and jambalaya is not. Jambalaya has rice as an ingredient cooked into it, while gumbo has rice served on the side. For a delectable rendition of jambalaya, try our Gluten Free Jambalaya recipe.

A LITTLE GUMBO HISTORY

There are infinite recipes and variations of this historical dish made with the vast larder of wild and farmed ingredients available to Southern cooks. Originating in Louisiana, primarily in New Orleans, good gumbo quickly became very popular and rapidly spread throughout the southern states. It is probably one of the more popular Cajun dishes that everyone has heard of.

Every southern family boasts a gumbo version passed down through generations, each claiming their own gumbo is the best. And beware, changing the recipe or substituting another ingredient might just get you excommunicated from the family!

For countless years, many different cultures immigrated to Louisiana, bringing with them their cooking techniques, favorite ingredients, and specific best-loved flavors, creating a true melting pot of cooking styles. And this is exactly what gumbo is; a roux-based, thick, hardy meat and vegetable stew, seasoned with Cajun spices, designed and destined to accept any ingredients or flavors you desire it to have. So, if you have a little bit of this leftover or too much of that, or come home from fishing or hunting with too much of both, just chuck it into the gumbo. It’ll all be just fine!

POPULAR TYPES OF SLOW COOKER GUMBO FOUND IN THE USA

• Seafood gumbo
• Cajun shrimp gumbo
• Okra gumbo
• Shrimp sausage gumbo (the key ingredients in our recipe here)

Any of the above served on top of hot cooked rice

TIPS AND TRICKS FOR MAKING CAJUN SHRIMP GUMBO

• Don’t chop the fresh vegetables too fine – The vegetables will break down and cook as the gumbo is slowly simmering. If you chop them too small, they will cook down too much and disappear. So, it’s best to leave the vegetables a little chunky.

• Use fresh okra – We’ve never been sure why okra has such a bad reputation, probably because it can be slimy. But okra is a very flavorful Southern ingredient, and it helps thicken the Cajun shrimp gumbo, too. If fresh okra is not available, It can be found in the frozen vegetable section in most any grocery store. Just be sure to add it to the gumbo frozen and not thawed.

• Add in your seafood last – Most meat ingredients, such as pork chops or chicken, take a little while to cook. But any seafood doesn’t. So, mix the seafood into the gumbo half an hour before the gumbo is ready to come out of the crockpot, or it will be overcooked and mushy. This doesn’t change even if you’re using frozen shrimp over thawed raw shrimp.
  
• Let your roux keep cooking – A perfect roux is a combination of fat, like melted butter or olive oil, with flour whisked in, in a 1-to-1 ratio. Light colored roux really adds little flavor to the gumbo, but this is what thickens the stew as it slowly cooks. You never want to leave your roux while it is cooking, or it will burn, but constantly whisk and stir it. The longer you whisk the roux over the heat, the darker in color and more flavorful it becomes. A dark roux is wonderful. Roux can run from light blond to a dark reddish brown to a deep chocolate brown, with bold and earthy flavors. So, keep stirring your roux until you achieve the color, consistency and flavor you like.

• What if my gumbo is too thick or too runny? – Both of these can happen and the fix is simple for both. If your gumbo is too thick, stir in just a tad more chicken stock. If it is too thin, make a slurry with two tablespoons of cornstarch and two tablespoons of chicken stock or water and stir it into the gumbo. Problem solved. Add salt only at the end after you taste the gumbo – Many of the ingredients we are adding to the gumbo have salt in them, like the smoked sausage and the Cajun seasoning on the pork chops. So, taste your gumbo when it is finished cooking, and add salt as needed.
  
• Serve the gumbo on a bed of white rice – Rice has a long history in Louisiana. Because the low swampland of Louisiana is often flooded, rice was one of the first commercial crops grown. So, gumbo is traditionally served on top of or alongside white rice. And it is a combination that definitely belongs together! If serving along side rice, you might choose to garnish your rice with the green parts of green onions for some color.
  
• Use a store bought rotisserie chicken – If you’re pressed for time, or you don’t want shrimp, then make it a chicken gumbo! Get an $8 cooked rotisserie bird from the store, and shred the chicken and mix it into the gumbo.