Dutch Oven Chicken Gumbo
A dark roux, canned chicken, and okra that holds the whole pot together.
- calories
- 390
- weight
- 9 oz
- cal / oz
- 43
- protein
- 26 g
- serves
- 8, scales
- prep
- 15 min
- cook
- 60 min
- total time
- 75 min
- water
- 1000 ml boiled
- cost
- $$
Calorie and protein figures are my own estimates, good enough for planning a food bag and not meant as precise nutrition data.
- Dinner
- Dutch oven
- Campfire coals
- Car camping
- Basecamp
- Dairy free
- Nut free
- One pot
- Grab and go
- Shelf stable
- Actual cooking
Ingredients
| Cooking oil | 4 tbsp | |
|---|---|---|
| All-purpose flour | 3 tbsp | |
| Canned chicken | 4 cans, 12.5 oz each | drained; replaces 2 lb fresh breast |
| Canned cut okra | 2 cans, 14.5 oz each | drained |
| Canned diced tomatoes | 1 can, 28 oz | juice and all |
| Dried minced onion | 1/2 cup | |
| Dried bell pepper flakes | 1/3 cup | |
| Celery flakes | 3 tbsp | |
| Garlic powder | 1 tsp | |
| Salt and black pepper | to taste | |
| Water | 1 quart |
Method
- Set the 12-inch dutch oven over a bed of coals at frying heat, roughly 325F. Pour in the oil and whisk in the flour.
- Stir it more or less constantly until the roux turns the color of peanut butter, about ten minutes. Walk away and it burns; burnt roux is not fixable.
- Add the dried onion, pepper flakes, and garlic powder. They will sputter in the hot roux for a minute.
- Pour in the quart of water slowly, whisking as you go, so the roux loosens instead of seizing into lumps.
- Add the tomatoes with their juice, the okra, and the celery flakes. Salt and pepper it. Bring to a boil, then pull coals until it holds a bare simmer near 225F.
- Lid on, simmer 30 minutes. The okra will start to break down and thicken the pot.
- Stir in the drained chicken and simmer 20 minutes more, uncovered if it is thinner than you want.
- Taste for salt at the end, not the start. Canned goods carry their own.
The original is a fresh-vegetable gumbo, which means a cooler full of onions, peppers, tomatoes, and two pounds of raw chicken. Cans and dried vegetables do the same job with no cold storage. Okra is the one ingredient that has to stay: it thickens the broth as it cooks down, and the roux alone will not carry a pot this size.
The roux is the whole recipe. Oil and flour cooked until brown is where the color and most of the flavor come from, and it takes ten unglamorous minutes of stirring over steady coals. Dried onion and pepper rehydrate in the simmer, so they go in early. Canned chicken is already cooked, so it goes in last and only long enough to heat through.
Packing
Cans travel in the food bin, no cooler space. Premix the onion, pepper, celery, and garlic in one jar at home so the roux stage is one pour, not four lids.
Variations
- A cup of instant rice per two servings, cooked separately or stirred in at the end, stretches the pot.
- Sliced summer sausage or shelf-stable andouille browned in the oil before the flour goes in adds fat and smoke.
- Cayenne or a few dashes of hot sauce at the table, since not everyone wants the same heat.
https://www.boyscouttrail.com/content/recipe/chicken_gumbo-1309.asp