I’ve been meaning to make a vegetarian gumbo for a long while and finally it happened! I’m so glad too because it came out really nice! I used this recipe with okra instead of the mushrooms. I just love okra in gumbo! I added a tomato too because I really like the freshness tomato gives a stew.

I used ghee instead of oil and ended up burning my first batch of roux using the oven method. So on the second try I turned down the oven temperature, but it was taking sooo long, so I finished it on the stove. And I will say that I didn’t get as dark a roux as I would have liked, but I still think it tasted great.

For the protein I added a couple of Field Roast Mexican Chipotle sausages made from seitan (wheat meat) and some veggie ham I had in the freezer from the 99 Ranch.

1/2 cup ghee or clarified butter
1/2 cup flour
2-3 onions chopped
3 celery stalks chopped
2 green bell peppers
4-5 garlic cloves sliced
1 tomato chopped (optional)
1/2 pound okra cut into crosscut pieces
1 teaspoon dried thyme
1 teaspoon dried oregano leaves
1/2 teaspoon chili powder
1 teaspoon smoked paprika
3 bay leaves
Salt
4 cups water or vegetable stock
1 tablespoon vegetarian worcestershire sauce
1 teaspoon olive oil
2 vegetarian sausages sliced (I used Field Roast Mexican Chipotle)
Veggie ham (or 2 more sausages)
Rice cooked (I used Jamine)
Gumbo file

1. Melt ghee in a big heavy bottomed pot (I used a dutch oven like this one). Stir in the flour until smooth. Continue to cook stirring often until the roux is a dark brown. How high your heat is will determine how much you have to stir. If you have it on low you don’t have to stir it quite as often. The hotter the flame the more you have to stir. This can take a really long time, so patience is key.
2. Add onions, celery, and bell pepper to the roux and cook stirring often until the onions soften, adding the garlic part way through cooking.
3. Add the tomatoes and okra and cook for a couple of minutes.
4. Add the thyme, oregano, smoked paprika and bay leaves, and stir for another minute or so.
5. Add the salt, water, worcestershire and cook over medium low heat for about 30 minutes, stirring occasionally.
6. In another skillet heat the oil and cook the sausages until browned. Add the sausages and veggie ham and cook for another 10 minutes.
7. Serve over rice and sprinkle with gumbo file.