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Weight Watchers Friendly Recipe: Chicken and Sausage Gumbo
I attended a fun cooking class class Wednesday night: Mardi Gras Magic, where the menu included a yummy Louisiana favorite – chicken and andouille gumbo. I thought it would be fun to offer up a lighter, healthier alternative.
I found exactly what I was looking for – a healthy easy chicken and sausage gumbo – in Holly Clegg’s Trim & Terrific Gulf Coast Favorites!
Recipe Notes, Substitutions and Variations
It turns out the secret to a healthy gumbo is a healthy roux. Using browned flour saves both time and a ton of fat and calories, while keeping all the rich nutty flavor associated with traditional gumbo.
This light and healthy chicken and sausage gumbo is diabetic friendly and perfect for Weight Watchers.
The recipe calls for okra. If you’re not a fan, leave it out.
And it doesn’t include File powder (pronounced [FEE-lay]) powder, which I learned in my cooking class, is one of the key ingredients in making gumbo and has a distinctive “root beer” flavor. File powder is made from the dried ground leaves of the sassafras tree and is used to both thicken and flavor gumbo.
You should be able to find file powder in the seasoning section of most well-stocked grocery stores. It can also be purchased online at Amazon: Zatarain’s Gumbo File.
Good thickening substitutes for File powder included okra (which is usually included in Gumbo) or Cornstarch.
How Many Calories and WW Points in Chicken and Sausage Gumbo?
According to my calculations, each serving has 160 calories.
To see your WW Points for this recipe, track it in the WW App!
(You must be logged into WW on a smartphone or tablet.)
3 SmartPoints (Green plan)
2 SmartPoints (Blue plan)
2 SmartPoints (Purple plan)
4 PointsPlus (Old plan)
You could easily divide the ingredients in half to make a smaller batch of gumbo or freeze the leftovers for future healthy lunches and suppers. Enjoy!
If you like this chicken and sausage gumbo recipe, be sure to check out some of my other easy, healthy Weight Watchers friendly recipes including Slow Cooker Chicken Sausage Gumbo, Slow Cooker Creole White Beans with Chicken, Crock Pot Hamburger Stew, Slow Cooker Southwest Chicken Soup, Easy Southwestern Goulash and Slow Cooker Sausage and Vegetables
If you’ve made this WW Friendly Gumbo, please give the recipe a star rating below and leave a comment letting me know how you liked it. And stay in touch on Pinterest, Facebook, Instagram and Twitter for the latest updates.
Weight Watcher’s Friendly Chicken and Sausage Gumbo Recipe
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
- 1 pound reduced-fat sausage, sliced in 1/4-inch pieces (I used chicken andouille sausage)
- 2 pounds boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut in 1-inch pieces
- 1 onion, chopped
- 1 teaspoon minced garlic
- 1 green bell pepper, seeded and chopped
- 2 stalks celery, chopped
- 8 cups fat-free chicken broth
- 1 package (16 ounces) frozen cut okra or fresh cut okra (optional)
- 1 teaspoon dried thyme leaves
- 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
- Salt and pepper to taste
- 1 bunch green onions, chopped
Instructions
- Preheat oven 400F degrees.
- Place flour on baking sheet (affiliate link) and bake, stirring every 6 to 8 minutes, until dark nutty brown color. This should take about 20 minutes. Set aside.
- In large non-stick pot coated with non-stick cooking spray, cook the sausage over medium heat until crispy brown. Remove any excess grease and set aside.
- Recoat the skillet with non-stick cooking spray. Add the chicken and cook, stirring often, just until it begins to brown. Then add onion, garlic, green pepper, and celery, cooking until tender.
- Stir in browned flour until it coats the chicken and vegetables.
- Continue to stir while adding the chicken broth. Then add the okra, thyme, cayenne, and salt and pepper to taste.
- Bring to boil, and then lower the heat and simmer 30 minutes or until chicken is tender.
- Add sausage and green onions and continue to cook for about 5 more minutes.
- Serve with rice.
Notes
(Must be logged into WW on a smartphone or tablet.) 3 SmartPoints (Green plan) 2 SmartPoints (Blue plan) 2 SmartPoints (Purple plan) 4 PointsPlus (Old plan) Diabetic Exchanges: 1 carbohydrate, 3 very lean meats
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
How much Filé powder do you recommend one add to the above recipe? You mentioned that it could be acquired and added, but failed to list the quantity suggested for your particular recipe. Would you have an amount you’d deem ideal? My mother is on the WW diet to avoid cirrhosis due to a fatty liver and I am planning on making this for her tonight (but I could not find the info on how much filé). ?
Thanks in advance for any assistance you could provide with this dilemma.
Kindest regards
It’s really a matter of personal taste. You add it at the end of cooking or into individual servings. You don’t want it to boil or it can become bitter/stringy. Here’s a good article with more details: https://www.chilipeppermadness.com/ingredients/file-powder/ It suggests 2-3 tablespoons per serving. I would start with 1 tablespoon in an individual serving and then add more from there. Hope this helps. ~Martha
So tasty!! I cooked it for a few hours and let it reduce. Used smoked paprika instead of cayenne pepper to make it not too hot.
Just recently learned to make a dry roux, in the stove top. Just brown your flour. I use a stainless steel skillet, and brown the flour till it looks like cinnamon, over medium heat, takes about 15 minutes, stirring constantly, once you add your liquid (after the roux has been mixed with the cut veggies) the color of the roux is beautiful!
Thanks, Mary!
So I actually made this today. The only thing I did differently was to use chicken and shrimp (replacement for sausage) and I also added 1 Tbs of olive oil for mouth feel. I have a professionally calibrated oven and it still took me 40 minutes to get even a chocolately look to the flour. I decided to go with it because the aroma was telling me it wasn’t far off from burning. I used 7 cups of homemade chicken broth (only way to get the low fat and flavor IMHO) but cooked it down for 30 minutes. Then I tossed in the shrimp and cooked another 3 minutes. Didn’t use the seasonings but instead used a homemade seasoning at https://www.gimmesomeoven.com/cajun-seasoning/. 2 Tbs is perfect (unless you’re a Cajun). Again, thanks. This made a great lunch with a thin piece of homemade french bread Instead of rice.
Addendum: Made this again today using my enameled cast iron Dutch oven to toast the flour. The flour toasted and was browned within 20 minutes so apparently it just takes longer on a heavy cookie sheet because it doesn’t retain as much heat as the Dutch oven.
Pleasantly surprised. I don’t do WW but was looking for a way to do gumbo that’s low fat. Thank you!
So glad it worked for you!
How much is a serving size?
OMG! I made a big batch of this the other night! My kids and husband could not get enough of it!! I made enough leftovers for two days I did cheat a little bit now is the population I had cooked chicken breast beforehand and cut it all up. And I used salad size shrimp, also already cooked. After slicing the kielbasa, I quickly pan seared them for two minutes to give texture. Wish I could post pictures or video of it!
Hi Martha: I am about to begin WW and I really like soups in the fall and winters months does 3SP per serving include the rice or do I add an extra points for the rice?
Hi Teresa, You’ll want to add extra points for however much rice you eat. Another alternative would be to substitute cauliflower “rice” for 0 SP. Hope this helps. Warmly, Martha
There are powder roux mixes that are available and are very good. I use Kary’s. It is available on Amazon. It is already seasoned. You add water and whatever meat or seafood you wish. I grew up in Louisiana and know many cooks who use this instead of making their own. Kary’s is 1 WW point per serving. It makes a delicious Gumbo without all the work.
Thanks Terry! This is good to know!!
thank u so much is very helpful
Doesn’t ww get ticked that you use the phrase ww?
It’s Weight Watchers friendly!