Grandma’s Okra Gumbo Recipe

I first had okra gumbo when Joe and I were dating. He had several batches of his grandma’s okra gumbo stored in his freezer and decided I needed to give it a try. This gumbo was full of fresh vegetables picked from his grandma’s garden and of course lots of grandma love.  I was a bit skeptical because I’d never really had okra or gumbo but it was pretty darn tasty.

During one of our wedding showers, I received a recipe box full of recipes from family and friends. The okra gumbo recipe was in the box and up until recently, I was too afraid to give it a try. I’m not sure if it was the long list of ingredients, the fact it contained okra, or that it might not live up to his grandma’s cooking but I never made it. That is, not until last week. With our recent influx of okra, I decided now was as good a time as any.

I substituted a few things but overall think it came out pretty well. The boys liked it and most importantly Joe liked it.

Okra Gumbo Ingredients

• 2 TBS Olive Oil
• 2 cups diced beef
• 1 medium onion
• 4 cups stewed tomatoes
• 1-quart water
• 1-quart chicken stock
• 2 beef bouillon cubes
• 1 package (8oz) of frozen lima beans
• 1 package (80z) of frozen okra
• 1/2 cup cooked diced ham or bacon
• 1 cup cooked diced chicken
• 1 can white shoepeg corn or frozen corn
• salt and pepper

Directions

1. In a large soup pot heat olive oil, and add onions and beef. Cook until beef is browned and onions are translucent.
2. Add in tomatoes, water, chicken stock, and bouillon cubes and simmer for 1 hour or more.
3. Add frozen lima beans and cook for another 20 minutes
4. Add okra, diced ham, and diced chicken, and cook for another 20 minutes
5. Then add corn, salt, and pepper to taste and cook another 5 minutes.
6. Serve over long-grain rice.

Print

Okra Gumbo

Course Main Course

Cuisine American

Servings 4

Ingredients

• 2 TBS Olive Oil
• 2 cups diced beef
• 1 medium onion
• 4 cups stewed tomatoes
• 1- quart water
• 1- quart chicken stock
• 2 beef bouillon cubes
• 1 package 8oz of frozen lima beans
• 1 package 80z of frozen okra
• 1/2 cup cooked diced ham or bacon
• 1 cup cooked diced chicken
• 1 can white shoepeg corn or frozen corn
• salt and pepper

Instructions

1. In a large soup pot heat olive oil, and add onions and beef. Cook until beef is browned and onions are translucent.
2. Add in tomatoes, water, chicken stock, and bouillon cubes and simmer for 1 hour or more.
3. Add frozen lima beans and cook for another 20 minutes
4. Add okra, diced ham, and diced chicken, and cook for another 20 minutes
5. Then add corn, salt, and pepper to taste and cook another 5 minutes.
6. Serve over long-grain rice.

You can of course eat it without rice but it’s better with rice. You can also freeze it in smaller portions since this makes a pretty big pot full of gumbo.

The recipe is actually pretty simple to make it just takes a little while. My best advice is to make this ahead of time. I cooked it the night before and stored it in the fridge to eat the next day. In my recipe, I added bacon to the beginning since I didn’t have any diced ham and it was a nice addition in my opinion, of course, I love bacon in anything. And we’ve already discussed how okra and bacon are good together.

I’m no longer scared of this recipe or okra for that matter, so I will certainly be making it again.