No.46 The 100 Most Popular Recipes Ever · October 2026

Chicken and andouille gumbo

Made famous by Paul Prudhomme

Photo: Jeremy Thompson, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons

From Chef Paul Prudhomme's Louisiana Kitchen, 1984.

Louisiana's great stew, and Prudhomme's book took it national. The dark roux is the lesson every cook remembers.

Written in our own words and tested in a home kitchen. Get the original in Chef Paul Prudhomme's Louisiana Kitchen.

Ingredients

• 2 1/2 lb (1.1 kg) boneless chicken thighs, cut into bite-size pieces
• Fine salt, black pepper, cayenne
• 3/4 cup (180 ml) neutral oil
• 1 cup (125 g) all-purpose flour
• 2 cups (300 g) chopped onion
• 1 1/2 cups (180 g) chopped celery
• 1 1/2 cups (225 g) chopped green bell pepper
• 4 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 lb (450 g) andouille sausage, sliced 1/4 inch thick
• 8 cups (2 L) chicken stock, warm
• 2 bay leaves, 1 tsp dried thyme
• Sliced scallions, filé powder (optional), hot sauce and cooked long-grain rice, to serve

Steps

1. Season the chicken with 1 1/2 teaspoons salt, 1 teaspoon black pepper and 1/2 teaspoon cayenne.
2. Heat the oil in a large heavy pot over medium-high heat. Brown the chicken in batches, 5 minutes, and set aside. Lower the heat to medium.
3. Whisk the flour into the oil. Cook, stirring constantly with a flat wooden spoon or whisk and scraping the bottom, until the roux is the color of dark chocolate, 30 to 45 minutes. Lower the heat if it starts to smoke. If you see black specks, it has burnt; start again.
4. Immediately add the onion, celery and pepper; the roux will hiss and the vegetables stop it cooking. Stir 5 to 7 minutes until soft. Add the garlic and andouille and cook 3 minutes.
5. Slowly stir in the warm stock, a ladle at a time at first, so it stays smooth. Add the bay leaves, thyme and chicken.
6. Simmer uncovered, stirring now and then and skimming fat, 1 to 1 1/2 hours, until the chicken is very tender and the gumbo coats a spoon. Taste for salt and cayenne.
7. Serve in bowls over rice, with scallions, a pinch of filé stirred in at the table if you like, and hot sauce.

Chef's tips

• A darker roux has more flavor but less thickening power.
• Gumbo is better the next day; never boil it after adding filé or it turns stringy.

This is Chef Amazing's write-up of the dish, tested for a home kitchen. The original is in Chef Paul Prudhomme's Louisiana Kitchen by Paul Prudhomme: get the book, No. 87 on The 100 Greatest Cookbooks.

← No. 45Buttermilk biscuits→ No. 47Red beans and rice