How to Make Chef John's Spicy Turkey Gumbo

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Put that leftover turkey to use with Chef John’s Spicy Turkey Gumbo! In this video, he uses turkey, spicy sausage, and a bold blend of seasonings to create a classic gumbo flavor. With Chef John's tips on making a smooth roux and achieving just the right spice level, this recipe turns holiday leftovers into a Louisiana-inspired feast.

Transcript

00:00Hello, this is Chef John from FoodWishes.com with Spicy Turkey Gumbo!

00:08That's right, I think this amazing soup is the perfect way to use up leftover turkey.

00:13In fact, this is so good, your family might just want you to make this next year instead

00:17of serving the roast turkey.

00:19And besides the delicious recipe, I'm also going to show you a great trick that will

00:23make any gumbo you do much easier.

00:26And to get started, we will mix together some flour and some avocado oil in a small

00:30baking dish, since that trick I just mentioned is to do our roux in the oven instead of at

00:36the stovetop.

00:37And I should mention, you can use any vegetable oil for this, as long as it's high heat.

00:42And while I'm using a freakishly small wooden spoon, feel free to mix this up with whatever

00:46you want.

00:47And what we'll do once that's mixed up nice and smooth, is transfer that into a 350 degree

00:52oven for about an hour to an hour and a half, or until it's as dark as we want, which for

00:58me is going to be like a beautiful caramel color.

01:01And while this step is not faster, it is way, way easier, since the classic method has us

01:06standing at the stove for like an hour, pretty much stirring our roux constantly so it doesn't

01:11burn, which is kind of fun for like the first 10 minutes, and then it's not.

01:16So I really do prefer this method.

01:19Oh, and speaking of stirring, it's not a bad idea to give it a stir every 20 minutes or

01:22so, just to help it brown evenly.

01:26And that's it.

01:27We'll stir that together nice and smooth, at which point we'll set that aside until

01:30we need it.

01:31And then besides our roux, which is what makes a gumbo a gumbo, the other things we'll need

01:36before we get started is about 8 cups of a nice rich broth, which ideally is a turkey

01:41broth made from the bones and scraps.

01:43About a couple cartons of ready to use broth will work as well.

01:47And then, of course, we're also going to need some leftover turkey.

01:50And according to a recent made-up study, your average amount of leftover turkey after Thanksgiving

01:55dinner is going to be a pound and a half, which is just about the perfect amount for

01:59this soup.

02:01And all we need to do is cut that up into bite-sized pieces, and then we'll simply keep

02:05that in the fridge until we need it.

02:07And once we're ready with our broth, meat, and roux, the next thing we will do is add

02:11some sliced up andouille sausage to a couple tablespoons of vegetable oil set over medium-high

02:16heat.

02:17And what we'll do is cook that stirring for a couple minutes to get a little bit of color

02:21on the sausage, and more importantly, flavor that oil, which is what we're going to use

02:26to cook what we call in the business our Holy Trinity.

02:30So what we'll do once our andouille looks a little something like this is remove it

02:33to a bowl and reserve it until later.

02:36And then we'll go ahead and toss in a couple cups of diced onions, along with our salt,

02:41and we will cook that stirring for a few minutes, still on medium-high heat, until

02:46those onions soften up and start to turn translucent.

02:50And then once we feel like that's happened, we will add our diced green bell pepper, as

02:54well as our freshly sliced celery, to complete, as I mentioned earlier, our Holy Trinity of

03:00aromatic vegetables.

03:02We can also toss in our freshly ground black pepper at this point, along with way more

03:07than a few shakes of cayenne, which is what's going to turn this turkey gumbo into a spicy

03:12turkey gumbo.

03:14And that's it.

03:15We'll cook this stirring for a few minutes, until those veggies start to soften up a little

03:19bit and take on a little bit of color, at which point we're going to stop and toss in

03:23some all-purpose flour, which, yes, is a little bit surprising, since we made that giant batch

03:28of roux.

03:29But the reason we're going to add this uncooked flour in now and cook this for about three

03:33or four minutes, is because a dark roux, like the one we cooked in the oven, does

03:37not have the same thickening power as a light roux.

03:40So this little bit of flour we're cooking in now is going to help give our soup a little

03:43extra body.

03:44So, yes, I guess this step is optional, and you can skip it if you want.

03:48I mean, you are, after all, the Brigitte Bardot of your spicy turkey gumbo.

03:54But for me, I do think it helps us achieve the perfect texture.

03:57And that's it.

03:58After we've cooked that for about three or four minutes, we can go ahead and transfer

04:01in our actual gumbo roux, which, if we've made ahead, we've stirred again until it's

04:06nice and smooth.

04:08And since that was already fully cooked, all we need to do here is stir that in, at which

04:13point we can transfer in our broth that we hopefully made earlier.

04:17And since mine was homemade and cold, it's going to look like jello, which I thought

04:21would make for a very cool-looking shot as I dumped it in.

04:24And it did, except a chunk flew out and hit my floor and broke into a hundred small gelatinous

04:29pieces.

04:31So that was unfortunate.

04:33But as you know, we never let the food win.

04:36So I went ahead and stirred that in, and while I waited for that to come to a simmer, I cleaned

04:41up the floor.

04:42Oh, and besides our turkey jello, we should also stir in our reserved andouille sausage.

04:48And by the way, at this point, if you want to raise your heat to high, go ahead, since

04:51that will have this come to a simmer a little quicker.

04:55And once that does eventually happen, we will lower our heat to medium-low, and we will

04:59simmer this, stirring occasionally, for about 30 minutes, at which point it's probably going

05:04to look something like this.

05:06And at this point, we can grab our cut-up turkey and go ahead and stir that in.

05:11And if it's not holiday season, and you want to make this anyway, just buy a couple rotisserie

05:16chickens and you can make the same recipe, pretty much.

05:19But anyway, once our meat is stirred in, we'll let this simmer for another 30 minutes or

05:23so, or until we think it's done.

05:26And about 30 to 35 minutes later, it might look like this.

05:30And yes, as always, if you want to skim some fat off the top, go ahead.

05:34And even though I didn't show it, I did remove a couple tablespoons off the top.

05:39And that's it.

05:40To finish our gumbo off, we'll reduce our heat to low, and we will stir in some freshly

05:44chopped Italian parsley, as well as some freshly sliced green onions, which I don't think we

05:50want to cook too much.

05:51So once those are stirred in, we'll just leave this on low for about 5 minutes, before we

05:56serve up.

05:58Although we never do that before we give it a final taste, so we can adjust the salt if

06:02need be, or maybe add a little more spice.

06:06But mine was tasting just about perfect, so I went ahead and ladled some up.

06:10And then it's not mandatory, but it is required, to serve this soup with a little bit of rice,

06:16just to make it a little more filling, and a little more satisfying.

06:20And that's it, I finished up with a few more shakes of cayenne, and a little more freshly

06:24sliced green onion, before I grabbed a spoon and went in for the official taste.

06:30And that my friends, really was a great gumbo.

06:33And while it would be almost as good if we used chicken, I think the richer, meatier,

06:37slightly sweeter turkey, makes an even better gumbo.

06:41And I generally don't wish bad weather on people, but I'm kind of hoping it's wet and

06:45cold and kind of nasty outside when you make this, since for whatever reason that just

06:49seems to make this taste even better.

06:52And while I was kind of kidding about your family wanting this, instead of the roast

06:55turkey at Thanksgiving next year, once you taste this, that actually might seem like

07:00a good idea.

07:01But whether you do this as your main course, or make it using some leftover turkey like

07:06I did here, either way I think you're going to love this soup, and I really do hope you

07:11give it a try soon.

07:13So please follow the links below for the ingredient amounts, a printable written recipe, and much

07:18more info as usual.

07:20And as always, enjoy!

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