Proper Vegan Gumbo

5 from 2 votes

Course: Main Course

Cuisine: American, Cajun

Prep Time: 15

Cook Time: 3

Total Time: 3 15

Servings: 3 bowls

Calories: 572kcal

Author: Kelly

Cost: $1.45 per serving

This vegan gumbo is a meatless take on the classic Cajun dish, complete with chick'n and Andouille soysage. No beans or other stuff that never belongs in gumbo!

Print Recipe

US Imperial (Cups) - Metric (Grams)

Equipment

Dutch oven
Wooden spoon or spatula

Ingredients

¼ cup vegetable oil
¼ cup all purpose flour
1 yellow onion
½ bell pepper
1 rib celery
½ head garlic
2 bay leaves
½ can amber beer (see Note 1)
½ tsp poultry seasoning (*optional)
½ tsp cayenne pepper (see Note 2)
½ tsp ground black pepper
3 cups vegetable stock (see Note 3)
1 okara "Andouille" seitan sausage (see Note 4 for recipe; can sub with 1 storebought sausage)
1 cup chickwheat shreds (see Note 5 for recipe; can sub with 1 additional sausage)
2 stalks scallions
kosher salt (to taste; see Note 3)
Cooked Rice (to serve *can also serve with potato salad)

Instructions

Prep veggies: dice up 1 yellow onion, 1/2 bell pepper, 1 rib celery, 1/2 head garlic, and 2 stalks scallions.
Add 1/4 cup vegetable oil to a Dutch oven on medium-low heat (err on the lower side if you're nervous about burning your roux).
When oil is shimmering, sprinkle in 1/4 cup all purpose flour. It should sizzle when it hits the oil. Start stirring immediately with a spatula or wooden spoon.
As you cook the roux, it will darken in colour and look like it's "splitting" into a sandy texture. Keep stirring until the roux is a dark brown (see Note 6 for a reference photo).
Add the diced onion, bell pepper, and celery. More sizzling! After stirring for a minute or two, once the veggies have softened, add the garlic and 2 bay leaves.
Give it another stir, then add 1/2 can amber beer. Once the pot starts to simmer, pour in 3 cups vegetable stock one cup at a time, stirring continuously and making sure to scrape the bottom to make sure nothing sticks.
Add 1/2 tsp poultry seasoning, 1/2 tsp cayenne pepper, and 1/2 tsp ground black pepper.
When everything comes back to a simmer, turn the heat down very low to maintain it at a bare simmer. Cover and let cook for about 3 hours. The consistency shouldn't be thin but it shouldn't be too thick, definitely on the soupy side. You may leave it uncovered for the final 30 minutes if it's still too watery.
Turn off the heat. Slice 1 okara "Andouille" seitan sausage, pull apart 1 cup chickwheat shreds, and stir them into the soup.
Taste for seasoning and add kosher salt as needed (see Note 3).
Spoon into bowls, top with scallions, and serve with Cooked Rice or potato salad. Or both if you love your carbs.

Notes

If you're making this for vegans, make sure you use a vegan beer. I recommend the Waterloo Amber beer. Not only is it made by a brewery in my university town, it's also vegan-friendly.
You may adjust the cayenne pepper up or down depending on spice tolerance. I also suggest serving with some hot sauce (Tabasco or Crystal Hot Sauce are the most popular in New Orleans) at the table. This way, each person can season their gumbo to taste.
Depending on the vegetable stock you use, you may need to add additional salt. I used water + Better Than Bouillon® No Chicken Base so I didn't need to add any additional salt. If your vegetable stock contains no sodium at all, start by adding 1/2 tsp salt (3 g).
For the sausage: I use my Vegan Okara Sausage with homemade Andouille spice blend. You can prep these a day or two before. Please don't add the sausage until the very end of cooking; prolonged simmering will cause the sausage to become mushy and it will even start to fall apart into the broth.
For the chickwheat shreds: use this vegan chickwheat recipe. You can prep these a day or two before.
You want your roux to be around this shade or slightly darker before adding your veggies.

Dark vegan gumbo roux is stirred around by a white spatula in a black Dutch oven.

Nutrition