Vegetarian Gumbo Recipe (2024)

Better than Bullion makes a "No-Chicken" base that tastes like chicken stock but is vegetarian and delish.

Chicken stock in vegetarian gumbo is an interesting option imo

I make a vegan gumbo using Beyond Meat sausages and spicy tofu, and pretty much everything else the same as regular gumbo. Tastes amazing.

As Doug and Kim mentioned, chicken stock isn't vegetarian. With that said ... roasting the okra, and including red lentils, are both great ideas! Fresh okra would be preferable, though. I prefer whole or crushed tomatoes, in glass jars rather than cans. Or, I might use low-sodium tomato juice. And, I would use smoked paprika instead of "liquid smoke". Great. I've become "that" person who wants to change the recipe. :)

This is really tasty, though a little different from chicken or seafood gumbo. I’d suggest cutting down slightly on the hot sauce because it adds a little more vinegar than I’m used to—if you want more spice, compensate with more creole seasoning or some cayenne. I also added a few shakes of MSG, which always helps to make a vegetarian alternative taste a little meatier.

Most vegetarians would know how to make this completely vegetarian. So the quibbling seems unnecessary. This is delicious and easy. No okra to be found, fresh or frozen, so I used fresh zucchini, cut in 1/2” rounds, roasting it on a cooling rack over a baking sheet at 450F for 35 minutes, then added it where okra was added. For creole seasoning try https://www.emerils.com/120057/emerils-essence-creole-seasoning, converting it as tsp rather than TBsp. I used 2 tsp rather than 1 in this recipe.

If you use veg stock and olive oil this recipe is vegan.

A far darker roux - approaching the color of Great Auntie Amélie's mahogany sideboard - would provide more flavor. Other than the Trinity, including chunks of leeks and large cubes of a winter squash - butternut, pumpkin, etc. - would add texture and additional flavor - roasted in the oven to caramelize the sugars and then add them toward the end of cooking into the gumbo pot, along with the okra. With a properly-made roux and slow, long cooking, no lentils are necessary. And rice, please!

Okay so it's not strictly vegetarian if you use chicken stock - but still it's practically a "no-meat" recipe. Many of us, myself included, are eating much less meat than in previous years, maybe almost no meat, but we don't call ourselves "vegetarian".

The roux in a gumbo is always equal parts vegetable oil and flour. Cook it over medium heat until it is the color of an old penny.

Not sure if this is why it was specified, but I find that making a dark roux like this is always easier to gauge when is the perfect moment to pull it from the heat in my enameled cast iron dutch oven because the white enamel makes it much easier to see its color.

So... use a Dutch oven to make the roux... and then don't use the oven for anything else? Seems like a waste. Why not just do the simple roux in a small sauce pan?

creole gumbo ~ yes tomatoes.cajun gumbo ~ no tomatoes.needing to get back to the 'nawlins' jazz fest now...

I made a vegan gumbo substituting red beans, black beans and cannellini for the chicken and andouille sausage I usually use. Obviously, you must use vegetable stock. It came out very good, and was a big hit with my vegetarian and vegan friends.We also had the chicken and sausage gumbo and a seafood gumbo for the non-vegetarians. Btw, I much prefer vegetable oil for making the roux.

Recommended: I make a vegan gumbo using Beyond Meat sausages and spicy tofu, and pretty much everything else the same as regular gumbo.Or: I made a vegan gumbo substituting red beans, black beans and cannellini for the chicken and andouille sausage.

Great recipe base. I doubled the recipe and made a few alterations, but it all came out fantastic:-Did not roast the okra, but added the frozen bag to the gumbo at the last 10 minutes.-Made the roux in a dutch oven and followed Step 3 directly afterwards using the same vessel.-Used a 28oz can of whole peeled San Marzano tomatoes.-Added a can of red kidney beans.-Added plant-based Chipotle sausage, cut up into coins.

I've made this twice and loved it both times. Will continue to repeat. I've both roasted the okra as directed and I've just put it in the pot while still frozen and I didn't notice a huge difference between the two. But it may be because I'm not personally put off by the sliminess of okra. This time, I doubled the recipe and will be freezing the second batch. Served with rice.

This was delicious! Definitely my go-to gumbo base from now on. Since we aren’t vegetarians, I used chicken stock and threw in some roasted b/s chix thighs. Roasting the okra is a great idea. Added 1 tsp smoked paprika (as someone recommended rather than liquid smoke). The Old Bay was a surprise, but delicious. Will make again.

I made this basically as written, but added some kale at the end to bump up the nutrition. Kale or not, it was absolutely delicious! I can't wait to make this again!

This recipe was very good and surprisingly had the Creole flavor without the need for meat. It is worth a try if you want to try something different.

Here in New Orleans we make “gumbo z’herbe“ or “green gumbo“. Make the roux Cajun style, with oil instead of butter, and you’re there

If you can find Better Than Bouillon No Chicken Base which is vegan it will make a wonderful chicken-flavored stock. We use it all the time. There's a No Beef one also.

My wife is a Cajun, and I have lived in Louisiana since 1958. We know gumbo. We would not try this gumbo, but it is probably good as a soup. Our pet peeve over the last 10 years, has been the abundance of gumbo recipes which include Old Bay. To our way of thinking it has no place in gumbo. We make a good chicken and sausage gumbo many times during the year, and our Christmas meal of choice, is seafood gumbo (shrimp, oyster, and crab). Never have we used Old Bay, and ever will.

This was very good, my carnivore partner kept saying "omg this is good" out loud while eating it. I used non-chicken chicken broth, used the liquid smoke (a tiny bit) and added some Hot Italian Beyond sausage, pre-cooked and sliced into coins. Absolutely will be making this again!

I would add some smokey tofu to this...

A valiant attempt at mimicking Gumbo but no one mixes creole seasoning and Old Bay in the same Gumbo pot.

Looks and sounds like lentil/okra soup to me, not gumbo! Just saying.

What's behind the notion of eliminating the gooeyness of okra? The oligosaccharides of okra thicken the gumbo. Gumbo is derived from a Kimbundu word that means okra. Add some at the end if you like the fivefold symmetry without the slime, but you won't need lentils to thicken the dish if you add some at the beginning."Serve warm over white rice or quinoa."Quinoa? Just don't.

Other gumbo recipes often add the trinity to the roux after taking it off the heat in order to cool it and prevent further cooking and possibly burning of the roux. Any reason not to do that here?

Ugh. A cinnamon colored roux is what someone who doesn't know any better makes. A Cajun's gumbo roux is a *dark* brown, darker than "pecan shell" as my Cajun mom said. It takes over 20 minutes made the old-fashioned way.A rubber spatula isn't heat-proof enough, and a spoon doesn't scrape the pot bottom well enough to prevent scorching. Use a long-handled, flat-bottomed (3+ inches wide) wood spatula. The long handle keeps your hand away from the hot oil.Use gumbo filet as a spice.