Chicken and Sausage Instant Pot Gumbo Soup Recipe

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Make this no-roux Instant Pot gumbo for your next family dinner or Mardi Gras party food lineup! It’s festive Cajun food flavor without the stress, and the best easy gumbo recipe out there!

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About This Instant Pot Gumbo Soup Recipe

Working on your Mardi Gras menu?

Make this cheater Instant Pot gumbo (with no tricky roux) the star!

It’s a classic Mardi Gras food and one of our favorite Cajun recipes for a New Orleans celebration or family dinner.

This chicken and sausage gumbo is flavorful, healthy, low calorie, high protein, and always a crowd-pleaser.

And the best part? It’s incredibly easy to make!

I removed all the hard steps of creating and babying a roux for hours, in favor of a simpler and lighter stew-like dish that still has all the flavor.

It’s sure to be the highlight of your Mardi Gras recipes or Fat Tuesday recipes, or a new weeknight dinner favorite!

While it’s not a “true gumbo”, it’s certainly delicious!

THIS RECIPE WORKS BECAUSE IT’S:

• Easy to make. The okra melts into the broth and acts as a thickener, so there’s no need to create a roux!
• Light and healthy. This recipe is packed with vegetables, lean meat, and it’s low in calories with just 240 calories per serving (before adding rice)!
• Great for a crowd. You’ll get 10 hearty servings from this dish. Or, 12 if you go heavy on the rice! It also freezes well so smaller families can have leftovers for another day.
• Even better the next day. Our family loves this recipe because the leftovers are even better than the day one dinner!
• Cheap. This recipe relies on cheap vegetables, affordable meat options, and inexpensive pantry staples, making it thoroughly budget-friendly. I always plan this meal when I’ve overspent the week before or have a more costly meal later in the week.

Key Ingredients

• Chicken Breast Tenderloins: Chicken tenderloins are exceptionally lean and cook up incredibly fast in the pressure cooker. Removing the tough, white tendon before slicing ensures every single bite of chicken is melt-in-your-mouth tender. You can substitute boneless, skinless chicken thighs if you prefer richer dark meat.
• Smoked Sausage: Adds a deeply savory, wood-fired depth of flavor and an essential richness to the broth. Slicing it into uniform rounds allows the fat to render beautifully during the sauté step. Authentic Andouille sausage is the traditional choice for a Louisiana-style kick, but kielbasa or smoked turkey sausage works perfectly for a milder version.
• Bell Pepper & Yellow Onion: These vegetables form two-thirds of the famous “Holy Trinity” of Cajun cooking. Sautéing them directly in the rendered sausage fat softens their texture and releases their natural sugars, creating a sweet and savory flavor foundation for the soup.
• Fresh Garlic: A generous amount of freshly minced garlic cloves brings a powerful aromatic punch that elevates the broth. Avoid jarred, pre-minced garlic, as it loses its potent oils and can leave a bitter background taste in a long-simmered soup.
• Petite Diced Tomatoes: Adds a subtle acidity and beautiful red flecks throughout the gumbo. The “petite” cut is ideal because the smaller tomato pieces blend smoothly into the broth without overwhelming the other chunky ingredients.
• Frozen Okra: Okra is a non-negotiable, traditional gumbo staple. Beyond its earthy flavor, okra contains natural vegetable starches that release as it cooks, acting as the primary thickener for the broth. Using frozen, pre-sliced okra is a fantastic shortcut that eliminates tedious knife work.
• Cajun Seasoning: The soul of the dish. This blend provides a robust combination of paprika, garlic, and cayenne warmth. Brands vary wildly in their sodium levels—if you use a highly salty blend, hold off on adding extra salt until the very end after tasting the finished broth.

Step-by-Step Instructions

Sauté the Chicken and Sausage

1. Heat the pot: Turn your Instant Pot or Ninja Foodi to the sear/sauté function on medium-high heat.
2. Prep and season chicken: While the pressure cooker is heating up, prepare chicken breast tenderloins by removing the tendon running down the middle. Once the pot is hot, add in olive oil and the chicken. Season to taste with salt and pepper on both sides (I like to use garlic salt and a little onion and garlic powder, but that’s optional).
3. Sear and chop: Cook for about 5 minutes on both sides. While the chicken is cooking, dice green bell peppers, yellow onion, and smoked sausage of your choice (use andouille for more authentic flavor) into bite-sized pieces. Mince large cloves of garlic.
   • Pro-Tip for garlic: Heat the cloves in your microwave for 10 to 15 seconds. The skins will slide right off!
4. Brown the sausage: Once the chicken is cooked through, remove it and set aside. Add the diced sausage and cook until lightly browned.

Cook the Aromatics and Build the Soup

5. Sauté the veggies: Next, add the onion and bell pepper and cook for 2 to 3 minutes until slightly translucent. Add in the minced garlic and sauté, just until fragrant.

6. Add fillings and liquids: Next, add in a can of petite diced tomatoes and frozen okra (one bag). Season with Tony Chachere’s Original Creole Seasoning and salt. Pour in cans of chicken broth and stir until well combined.

Pressure Cook and Serve

7. Pressure cook: Turn off the sauté function and set your device to pressure cook on high heat for 5 minutes. It will take awhile for the pot to come to pressure, so don’t get nervous!
8. Shred chicken and release: When the minutes are up, manually release the pressure. While the gumbo is cooking, shred the chicken tenders with two forks or with one of those handy kitchen gadgets.
9. Combine and present: Once the pressure is fully released, add in the chicken and stir. Serve over white rice with optional hot sauce, green onion, or parsley for garnish!

Recipe Tips and Substitutions

Here are some tips to make this “less-than-traditional” gumbo recipe a little more classic New Orleans-style.

• Use andouille sausage. For a more classic gumbo recipe, andouille sausage is the best choice. But, you can use any sausage you prefer. I like to use smoked turkey sausage because it has fewer calories and it’s not as spicy for my kids.
• Add celery. Bell pepper, onion, and celery are the Cajun “holy trinity” used as a base for gumbo, Jambalaya, and other traditional recipes. For a slightly more authentic flavor, diced two stalks of celery along with the other veggies. The only reason I don’t use it is because I hate having the leftover celery!
• Add shrimp. You can also add shrimp to this recipe. Stir it in right after the pressure is fully released and before you add the chicken. Let the shrimp cook in the hot liquid until pink. Then, add the chicken. Make sure your shrimp is thawed!
• Add browning seasoning sauce. If you want a dark roux add in a couple dashes of browning seasoning for that signature dark color.
• Add a couple bay leaves. For an additional layer of flavor, add 1-2 bay leaves to the pot before turning on the pressure cooker and fish them out before serving.

My favorite Creole seasoning is Tony Chachere’s, but any Cajun seasoning will do!

Serve This With

This Creole gumbo soup pairs perfectly with:

• White long-grain rice or brown rice
• Crusty bread
• Cornbread
• Simple green salad
• Fried okra
• Hush puppies
• Potato salad

FAQs

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