Commander’s Palace is a New Orleans institution and they make fabulous seafood gumbo. This gumbo is a medley of shrimp, crab, oysters, onions, garlic, peppers, and okra. If you haven’t tried gumbo, you don’t know what you are missing.
About Commander’s Palace Restaurant
For well over 100 years, Commander’s Palace has been a venerated landmark located in New Orlean’s Garden District. But there is much more to this legendary restaurant than its infamous 25-cent lunchtime martini specials.
Commander’s Palace has been serving up classic Cajun and Creole recipes, prepared by some of the finest chefs in Louisiana, for generations.
One of the most popular dishes on the menu is the seafood gumbo. No trip to New Orleans is complete without a visit to Commander’s Palace for a bowl.
However, if you can’t make it to the Big Easy, you can still savor the taste of this dish by cooking up a batch at home using the Louisiana seafood gumbo recipe below.
What is Gumbo?
At its heart, gumbo is simply a stew. This Creole recipe originated in Lousianna at the turn of the 20th century and is so ingrained in the area’s culture that it is listed as the state’s official cuisine.
Traditionally, gumbo was made from anything that walks, flies, or swims, but these days, the most popular versions are chicken, sausage, or seafood.
So, what is usually in gumbo besides the meat or fish?
First off, all gumbos contain onions, bell peppers, and celery. These three vegetables are so prevalent in both Cajun and Creole cooking that they are sometimes called the ‘Holy Trinity’ of the cuisine.
In addition to the veggies, gumbos always contain some sort of thickener. Most recipes call for using okra in addition to filé powder or roux. Okra is a popular vegetable throughout the South. Filé powder comes from the leaves of the American sassafras tree. Roux is a mixture of flour and fat.
The ingredients used for thickening in this recipe are roux and okra.
Isn’t Gumbo Just Another Name For Jambalaya?
Don’t be confused when it comes to gumbo and jambalaya. Although both are popular Lousiana dishes, they are not the same thing.
Jambalaya is a slightly older recipe than gumbo and first began appearing in New Orlean’s French Quarter in the late 1800s.
Besides the origins of the recipe, probably the most distinct difference between the two is how each dish uses rice. Gumbo is served on top of white rice, while white rice is cooked in the same pot as the rest of the jambalaya.
The cooking method for jambalaya creates a naturally thicker stew and eliminates the need for any additional thickeners.
Seafood Gumbo Ingredients
Here’s a list of what you will need to make seafood gumbo:
- All-purpose flour
- Vegetable shortening
- Fresh garlic
- Onion
- Bell pepper
- Celery
- Peeled shrimp (fresh is best, but frozen is ok)
- Tomato sauce
- Crab meat (claw meat is preferred)
- Water
- Thyme
- Bay leaves
- Okra
- Oysters with juice
How to Make Seafood Gumbo
- Cook flour and shortening in a large pot over medium-high heat until the flour turns brown and begins to smell nutty. Stir occasionally.
- Add garlic and cook until golden brown.
- Add onion, bell pepper, and celery and cook until transparent.
- Turn heat down to low, and add shrimp and tomato sauce. Simmer for 10 minutes, stir in water, and blend well.
- Add all other ingredients except okra and oysters. Cook for about 30 minutes.
- Add okra, and cook until the okra turns bright green.
- Add oysters and cook for 10 minutes.
- Serve the gumbo in a soup bowl over steamed rice.
Tips For Cooking and Storing the Roux For This Louisiana Seafood Gumbo Recipe
- Rule the roux. Be careful when making your roux. Ideally, you are aiming for a dark, melted chocolate color, but it is very easy to burn the flour. Heat very slowly. It can take up to an hour to reach the perfect color, but remember, you can always use an under colored roux, but you can’t use one you burn.
- Don’t waste a great roux. Making a roux takes time. You can double or triple the amount you need for the seafood gumbo recipe and then store the rest in an airtight container in the freezer.
Love Cajun and Creole food? Try these recipes
- How to Make Chicken Gumbo
- Best Shrimp and Grits
- Louisiana Cajun Rice Recipe
- Crawfish Etouffee
- Crawfish Soup Bisque
- Cajun Shrimp
- Cajun Seasoning Mix
- Louisiana Bourbon Chicken
- Cajun Dip Recipe
- Shrimp Remoulade
More Fine Dining Seafood Recipes
Be sure to take a look at more of my easy seafood recipes and the best fine dining copycat recipes.
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Commanders Palace Seafood Gumbo
Ingredients
- 6 tablespoons all purpose flour
- 1/2 cup shortening
- 6 cloves chopped garlic
- 1/2 cup diced onion
- 1/4 cup chopped bell pepper
- 1/2 cup chopped celery
- 2 pounds shrimp peeled
- 8 ounces tomato sauce
- 3 quarts water
- 1 pounds crabmeat claw preferred
- 1 bunch chopped Parsley
- 1/2 teaspoon thyme
- 3 bay leaves
- 8 ounces okra frozen
- 1/2 pint Oysters with Juice
- salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
- Make a roux with the flour and shortening. Cook flour and shortening in a large pot over medium-high heat until the flour turns brown and begins to smell nutty.
- Add garlic and cook until golden brown. Add onion, bell pepper, and celery and cook until transparent.
- Turn heat down to low, and add shrimp and tomato sauce, simmer 10 minutes, stir in water, and blend well.
- Turn heat down to simmer and add all other ingredients except okra and oysters.
- Cook for about 30 minutes add okra, and cook until the okra turns bright green.
- Add oysters and cook 10 minutes longer. Serve in a soup bowl over steamed rice.
Notes
- Do not use a cast iron pot to cook the soup, it will discolor the soup. Stainless steel, or a ceramic pot like Le Cruset is recommended.
Carolyn
This is basically the recipe I use, modified over years. Except: I add a few shrimp, 5 or so, when I add the holy trinity. They will just disappear and add flavor. The main shrimp I dust with a Cajun spice mix, like Emerils, and sauté very briefly, just till some of the pink disappears. Then do not add them to the gumbo until the very last minute. I don’t usually add okra. I provide filé powder so that everyone can add a bit to their bowl. It’s very subtle and adds a bit of thickening. For years I added no tomatoes. I have found that a tablespoon or two, depending on how much you are making, deepens the flavor, but I didn’t grow up with tomatoey gumbo. There are a million ways to make gumbo. Most are wonderful. Its all about your tradition. I fully agree with the comments about not adding water. When I first started making gumbo, I wondered what I was doing wrong. I followed recipes, and even my relatives were no help. I think they guarded their secrets. Finally, I realized water was the,problem. Broth, the best homemade broth if possible.
Cheryl
Ask 100 cajun cooks how to make gumbo, All different answers. All in the timing on what you throw in the pot at the time.
Baltisraul
Wonderful gumbo. I would saute the shrimp in a garlic butter sauce in a different pan and add the last couple minutes. That way you keep the shrimp away from the salt content and there is no chance of the salt making the shrimp mushy and the shrimp remain snappy this way.
Darlene Ross
That is exactly what I intend to do. It doesn’t take long to overcook shrimp.
Baltisraul
That was a tip I got years ago from a N.O. shrimpboat captain.
Jane Pate
I have been making seafood gumbo for years thanks to my sister-in-law who grew up in New Iberia, La. Instead of the tomato sauce, we use canned tomatoes with the juice that have been cut up or blended slightly. Also for the okra to keep from being “slimy” we precook it in a skillet with a little oil. and add it in at the same time as all of the other. This looks though like a pretty close recipe to the one we make.
Rebecca Northcut
I loved this.
Stephanie
Thank you for your comments, they are much appreciated.
Nina
Don’t be so unkind. Stephanie is offering her advice. Take it or leave it.
Samantha Brumley
I can’t imagine leaving shrimp in a gumbo pot for 1+ hours….it would turn out to the equivalent of shredded tire pieces!!!! I’ve cooked gumbo at least 75 times in my life and I’ve ALWAYS put them in maybe 15-20 minutes before serving, otherwise WAYYYYYY over cooked.
Keith Mac
Agree Samantha… I would never do this also, with adding water… it will not have good flavor. I make a stock with all seafood shells, heads, etc. with onion root, shell, celery root and leaves. That stock taste like seafood stew and you add this instead of 3 qts water.
Then you can add seafood late and have a rich, deep flavored gumbeaux!
Bobby
Should the roux be cooked over high heat and how long? I also noticed they put the shrimp in early, wouldn’t it over cook?
When I do a roux I use medium heat it takes about 45 minutes to get nice and dark and usually add shrimp the last 30 minutes.
I’ll take any tips.
Stephanie
When I was in culinary school, we browned flour in the oven. We put some in a pan, baked the flour at 350 degrees until it was brown, then made the roux. You may want to try this to make a nice roux.
lupe
Can I substitute the oysters with crawfish
Jo
Yes, you can.