This veggie-packed vegetarian gumbo recipe is made in a slow cooker, so it's super easy to make - and it's a healthy vegan option as well!
Kidney beans, zucchini, and mushrooms, replace the meat in this healthy, goodness-packed slow-cooker stew.
And don't worry! The heat is still there with the addition of Cajun seasoning and hot sauce.
If you're not opposed to meatless sausage, Field Roast's Sausage would be a great way to add some heat (and a little faux meatiness) too.
And if you love this vegetarian gumbo, be sure to check out these other tasty recipes:
- 17 Best Vegetarian Slow Cooker Recipes
- Spicy Vegetarian Chickpea Stew
- The Ultimate Vegetarian Comfort Foods
📖 Recipe
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 yellow onion, chopped
- 1 green bell pepper, chopped
- 2 stalks celery, chopped
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- 2 tablespoon all-purpose flour
- 2 cups vegetable broth
- 14.5 oz diced tomatoes, canned
- 15 oz kidney beans, rinsed and drained
- 8 oz white mushrooms, quartered
- 1 small zucchini, cut into thick half moons
- 1 cup frozen okra, sliced
- 2 tablespoon vegetarian worcestershire sauce
- 1 tablespoon cajun seasoning
- 1 bay leaf
- salt and pepper, to taste
- hot sauce and cooked rice, for serving
Instructions
- Heat 1 tablespoon of oil in a Dutch oven over medium heat. Add the onion, bell pepper, celery, and garlic and cook until softened and just beginning to brown, 8-10 minutes. Transfer veggies to a 4-6 quart slow cooker.
- Return the Dutch oven to the stovetop and heat the remaining tablespoon of oil in it. Stir in the flour and cook, stirring constantly, until it's golden brown, about 4 minutes. Pour in the broth and bring to a boil; once the broth has come to a boil, transfer it to the slow cooker. Add all of the remaining ingredients to the slow cooker except the hot sauce and cooked rice.
- Cover the slow cooker and cook on low for 6-8 hours. Once the gumbo has finished cooking, remove the bay leaf and add more salt and pepper to taste if needed. Serve over rice with hot sauce.
Nutrition (estimated per serving)
Calories: 298kcalCarbohydrates: 46gProtein: 14gFat: 8gSaturated Fat: 1gPolyunsaturated Fat: 1gMonounsaturated Fat: 5gSodium: 594mgPotassium: 1270mgFiber: 13gSugar: 10gVitamin A: 1718IUVitamin C: 55mgCalcium: 127mgIron: 6mg
Craving more veg-friendly recipes? Shop our collection of vegetarian and vegan cookbooks, including our new Vegan Thanksgiving and Vegan Christmas cookbooks!
JulieD says
So what if it doesn't have meat or seafood, it looks like a big plate of comfort to me!! Yummy!!
Kiersten Frase says
It totally is! 🙂
Alexis @ Hummusapien says
Love this veggie version of the classic! I'm been going slow-cooker crazy, so I eat up every veggie-friendly recipe I find 🙂
Kiersten Frase says
I loooove my slow cooker! When you're busy, it is SO nice to have dinner ready and waiting. 🙂
Liz says
"Don’t be afraid to be a little inauthentic. I mean, it’s just food. If your [...] tastes good, does it really have to be a perfect replication of the original? No! [...] Enjoy your food for what it is!"
Amen to THAT! People just take things WAY too seriously these days, ESPECIALLY food (to the point of being judgemental, snooty and, in the end, exclusive and offensive; Top Chef contestants are like the Inuit, but instead of having 50 words for "snow", it's 50 for "puree"). Like you said, it's JUST food. Don't complicate it, and, by all means, ENJOY it. There should never really be any rules when it comes to food; taste is such a subjective thing, anyway. As long as one is thoughtful, conscientious and aware of where their food is coming from and how it's produced, what you do with it is fair game. 🙂 Unconventionality usually equates with originality, which usually wins out for me. 🙂
Kiersten Frase says
Yes, a lot of people will get caught up in the right or wrong way to do things, but really, unless you're doing something that could cause food poisoning, fire, or the loss of a limb, there's no right or wrong with cooking as long as it tastes good in the end. I think that fear of doing things wrong keeps a lot of people out of the kitchen, which is sad!
Dixya @ Food, Pleasure, and Health says
im all about making changes to the traditional recipes - this is surely going to be a hit 🙂
Kiersten Frase says
Me too--I very rarely make things the way they're supposed to be made. 😉
Allison Drake says
This looks delicious! Can you suggest a replacement for okra? We can't get this in Australia!
Kiersten Frase says
You can omit it entirely, double the zucchini, or add a yellow squash instead. 🙂
Lynn @ The Actor's Diet says
I love this! I've got a crockpot red beans and rice recipe that would go great with this! Here it is:
http://theactorsdiet.com/2011/02/19/soaked/
Kiersten Frase says
That would definitely be perfect! 🙂
Gayle says
I love your website! I was so tired of my old standby's. You have given me a reason to go on cooking.
Kiersten Frase says
I'm glad you've found it helpful! 😀
Joanne says
One of the things that I discovered about the.boy that surprises me in a major way is that he loves okra. It's very uncharacteristic of him. I love okra too so this is totally happening.
Kiersten Frase says
Ha! There are times when I love okra and times when I hate it. I was pretty ready to pick the okra out of my gumbo, but surprisingly, I liked it. But yeah, it's not exactly the most popular veggie.
Georgia @ The Comfort of Cooking says
Love this delicious, hearty gumbo, Kiersten! It looks so warm and comforting... and filling!
Kiersten Frase says
It's definitely filling, especially when served with a big bowl of rice!
Helen @ Scrummy Lane says
Totally agree that things don't HAVE to be authentic - doesn't matter in the slightest!
Nice site, by the way!
Kiersten Frase says
Thank you! 🙂
Genevieve says
I like your philosophy - I've seen other bloggers get attacked by readers for making "inauthentic" versions of traditional dishes, but I think the point of having a blog is to be creative and contribute something different from what everyone has already made! I wouldn't know what authentic gumbo is anyway, but this sounds good to me and the mexican field roast sausage would be perfect in it!
Kiersten Frase says
I've seen the same! It's such a silly thing to get upset about, isn't it? Some people have too much time on their hands! 😉
Natalie @ Once Upon a Cutting Board says
I hate when people leave comments like you can't call this X, true X only has this, this, and this .. If we never experimented with dishes then so many delicious ones would never have been invented (not to mention food would be pretty boring)! Traditional gumbo has never really appealed to me but this version sounds great!
Kiersten Frase says
Yeah, those comments bug me too! I don't get too many of them (I guess because people coming here are already assuming my recipes will deviate from the original since they're meatless!), but I see some pretty intense arguments on other blogs and I feel bad for those bloggers!
Helen says
Making this tonight using leftover butternut squash and parsnip soup as part of the mix 🙂
Kiersten Frase says
I think those would both be awesome additions!
Nikki says
I picked up some fresh okra and peppers at the market today. Do you think this recipe will fare well with fresh okra instead of frozen? I've never cooked okra before...
Kiersten Frase says
I've never cooked with fresh okra before either, only frozen! I think it should work out either way, but let me know how it turned out if you made it.
Shavavian says
I made a giant pot of this tonight and it is TAS.TY. I'm very happy with how it turned out. I used fresh okra instead of frozen, and cooked them with the other ingredients listed in the first step so they wouldn't be slimy and disgusting. That is the only thing I did differently and I will definitely be making this again in the future. I already screenshot the recipe to my computer!! 🙂 Thanx!!
Ryan says
As the husband of a vegetarian-who-doesn't-cook (and as a non-vegetarian), it's been frustrating trying to come up with tasty vegetarian dishes that can be made easily to support my wife. It's hard when you've been raised with meat @ every meal and there seems like so little time in every day to spend researching and experimenting on making things vegetarian. I made this gumbo yesterday for my wife and I was amazed how good it all turned out! (I'm looking forward to the leftovers this weekend!) I'm glad that I stumbled upon your website---it looks like a great resource going forward. I think I'm going to try out a weekly dinner plan next. Thank you!
Eirin says
Do you have a suggestion on how to make a gluten free roux? I am thinking a GF flour mix should do the trick. Just wondering if someone has already tried that. Thanks.
Kiersten Frase says
I'm not gluten-free, so I've never made a gluten-free roux before. I know that with gravy, some people use cornstarch or arrowroot powder as a thickener, so that might be an option.
Vannessa says
What if I don't own a dutch oven? Is a big pot ok?
Kiersten Frase says
I developed this recipe for a slow cooker, so while you can make it in a pot on the stove, the cook time is going to change significantly.
yvonne says
I made this gumbo - AWESOME!!!!!! At the end I threw in a bag of frozen precooked baby shrimp. quite tasty
Jillian says
This looks very tasty. I am making this tomorrow !! But I was wondering if I could substitute brussels sprouts for the Okra? I'm not really sure if this would work Thanks
Kiersten Frase says
Sorry for being a few days late with my reply - Brussels sprouts will work, but they won't thicken the gumbo like okra does.
Lauren W. says
Okay this seriously turned out AMAZING! I can't even put into words how much I enjoyed this dish! Thank you so much!!
Matthew Kneale says
I found the can of tomatoes made the meal taste way too acidic. Next time I might try using fresh tomatoes and add some brown sugar.
Harrison says
This is absolutely delicious!
Julie says
So you think this would work if you prepare everything The day before and just start The cockpit? It is a lot to prepare in The morning with everything Else...
Kiersten says
If you prepared everything the day before, I'd refrigerate it and then put it in the crockpot the next morning - it shouldn't be left room temperature in the crockpot overnight.
Aguilera says
I'm a little confused. Its called Gumbo, but that's not what the picture shows. I'm a cajun from South Louisiana, so I'm quite familiar, and I make my own vegetarian Okra Gumbo that's a big hit with even the meat eaters. However, when you eat gumbo, its in a bowl with lots of liquids and you put a big scoop of rice in before using the soup spoon to add the gumbo. This looks VERY dry. Is it supposed to be like a gumbo with lots of liquids like a soup, or is it more like a stew like it looks in the picture? There's no picture of the pot with the gumbo in it, so I'm not sure if its the same consistency as the picture or if it has all the liquids and can be eaten like a soup with rice.