Instant Pot Rotisserie Chicken Gumbo Soup. A taste of New Orleans from the pressure cooker, with homemade broth from a store-bought rotisserie chicken.
It's Fat Tuesday, and I want a shortcut to New Orleans. I'm making a chicken gumbo based on my store-bought rotisserie chicken broth technique. Ooo-eee, that's good eating.
And yes, as a rust belt Ohioan, I'm about as Yankee as you can get. I'm so far from Cajun that I've wrapped around, and I am approaching it from the other side.

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The key to this recipe, as for most soups, is homemade chicken broth. Yes, it takes over an hour. (Thanks to pressure cooking - otherwise it would take four hours or more to make the broth.) But it is absolutely worth the effort, and so much better than any store-bought carton of broth. Now, that doesn't mean I won't take a shortcut, and use a store-bought rotisserie chicken for the broth. A pre-roasted bird is a great shortcut, giving me a whole chicken carcass for the broth, and the breast meat to shred and add to the soup later.
After making the broth, the rest of the recipe is what I think of as "standard Cajun". Make a brown roux - I aim for the color of peanut butter - by cooking flour in vegetable oil. Add the Cajun trinity of onions, celery, and bell peppers, and season with cayenne pepper. (Bam!).
The only other trick to the recipe is the long grain rice. I know that ½ cup doesn’t seem like much, but you will be surprised at how much liquid that small amount of rice can absorb. Don’t overdo the rice?
Looking for a taste of Cajun this Fat Tuesday? Try this gumbo soup.
Recipe: Instant Pot Rotisserie Chicken Gumbo Soup
Inspired by: Chicken and Andouille Sausage Gumbo, Emerils.com
PrintInstant Pot Rotisserie Chicken Gumbo Soup
- Total Time: 2 hours 20 minutes
- Yield: 10 servings 1x
Description
Instant Pot Rotisserie Chicken Gumbo Soup. A taste of New Orleans from the pressure cooker, with homemade broth from a store-bought rotisserie chicken.
Ingredients
Rotisserie Chicken Broth
- 1 (2- to 4-pound) rotisserie chicken, breast meat removed and saved for later
- Juices from the rotisserie chicken container
- 1 onion, peeled and halved
- 1 carrot, scrubbed and broken in half (or 4oz baby carrots)
- 1 stalk celery, broken in half
- 1 bay leaf
- 1 sprig fresh thyme (or ½ teaspoon dried)
- 5 whole black peppercorns
- 1 teaspoon fine sea salt
- 8 cups water
Rotisserie Chicken Gumbo Soup
- ¼ cup vegetable oil
- ¼ cup flour
- 1 large onion, diced
- 1 green bell pepper, diced
- 1 stalk celery, diced
- 4 cloves garlic, crushed
- ½ teaspoon fine sea salt
- ½ teaspoon cayenne pepper
- 8 cups Rotisserie Chicken Broth (from above)
- 8 ounces smoked sausage (preferably andouille) sliced 1 inch thick
- Breast meat from the rotisserie chicken, shredded
- 14- to 16-ounce can diced tomatoes
- ½ pound fresh or frozen okra, sliced ¼ inch thick (optional)
- ½ cup long grain white rice
- 1 ½ teaspoons fine sea salt
Accompaniments
- Tabasco sauce
- Minced parsley
Instructions
- Pressure cook the rotisserie chicken broth for 60 minutes with a Natural Release: (Detailed broth recipe is here.) Cut the chicken breast meat off of the rotisserie chicken and set aside for later. Add the rotisserie chicken carcass, onion, carrot, celery, bay leaf, thyme, peppercorns, and salt to the pressure cooker pot, then add the 8 cups of water. (It should just cover the rotisserie chicken – it’s OK if the knobs of the drumsticks are poking up.) Lock the lid and pressure cook on high pressure for 60 minutes with a natural pressure release in an Instant Pot or other electric PC (Manual or Pressure Cook mode in an Instant Pot) or 50 minutes in a stovetop PC. The natural pressure release will take 30 to 40 minutes minutes. (It takes a long time for all that water to cool off. If you’re in a hurry, let the pressure come down for at least 20 minutes, then quick release any remaining pressure.) Scoop the chicken carcass and vegetables out of the pot with a slotted spoon and discard; they’ve given their all to the broth. Strain the broth through a fine mesh strainer, and set aside for later.
- Make the roux: Wipe out the pressure cooker pot liner, then put it back in the pressure cooker base. Set the pot to sauté mode (medium heat for a stovetop PC) and add the ¼ cup of vegetable oil and ¼ cup of flour. Cook, stirring and scraping the bottom of the pot constantly with a flat edged wooden spoon, until the roux turns the color of peanut butter, about 5 minutes.
- Sauté the aromatics: Immediately stir in the onion, bell pepper, celery, and garlic, and sprinkle with the ½ teaspoon of salt and the cayenne pepper. Cook until the onion softens, about 5 minutes, stirring and scraping often to make sure nothing sticks to the bottom of the pot.
- Everything in the pot: Pour in the rotisserie chicken broth and scrape the bottom of the pot one last time with your flat edged wooden spoon to make sure nothing is sticking. Stir in the smoked sausage, shredded chicken breast, diced tomatoes, okra, rice, and 1 ½ teaspoons salt.
- Pressure cook the soup for 5 minutes with a quick release: Lock the lid and cook at high pressure for 5 minutes with a quick pressure release. (Use “manual” or “pressure cook” mode in an Instant Pot.) After quick-releasing the pressure, open the lid away from you – again, be careful, the steam is scalding.
- Serve: Ladle the soup into bowls, sprinkle each with a little minced parsley, and serve, passing the tabasco sauce at the table. Enjoy!
Notes
Make ahead broth: You can make the broth ahead of time, and refrigerate it (and the chicken breasts) for up to 3 days, or freeze for up to 6 months.
File powder: I know I’m going to get flak about this, but I don’t include file powder in my gumbo. (This is plain gumbo, not gumbo file.) If you want file powder, pass it at the table with the tabasco sauce so people can sprinkle some on top of the soup.
Tools
6 quart or larger pressure cooker (I love my Instant Pot 6-Quart Pressure Cooker)
A Flat edged wooden spoon is essential for scraping the pot and keeping the roux from sticking
A spare Inner Pot is convenient for straining the broth
- Prep Time: 20 minutes
- Cook Time: 2 hours
- Category: Sunday Dinner
- Method: Pressure Cooker
- Cuisine: Cajun
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What do you think?
Questions? Other ideas? Leave them in the comments section below.
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My other Instant Pot and Pressure Cooker Recipes
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Deb says
Amazing!!! The best gumbo recipe EVER! I have made this both as per this recipe, and also with roti chicken meat and Better than Bouillon. The second method takes a little less time, but the first is definitely more flavorful. I've become a big fan of okra in soup - really adds silkiness. This is in regular rotation! Thanks, Mike!
Mike Vrobel says
You’re welcome!
Mike says
in the last step it says to cook for both 4 minutes and 5 minutes. I assume it is 4 minutes for a stove PC and 5 for an instant pot?
Mike Vrobel says
It's 5 minutes either way - that was a cut and paste error. (Cut and paste will be the death of me). Thanks for pointing it out!
Debra L. Graff says
I buy my fresh Orlando at Safeway.
Debra L. Graff says
This is the one and only gumbo anyone should make. Making tonight again for the 10th time. Keeper.
Deb says
This is terrific! I confess that I didn't make the broth from scratch. (I buy roti chickens & freeze the meat, so no carcass on hand.) So I used Better than Bouillon instead, and it was still AWESOME! Went a little light on the cayenne, but won't next time. A keeper!
Mike Vrobel says
If you’re buying rotisserie chickens to freeze the meat, may I suggest making broth with the carcass? https://www.dadcooksdinner.com/instant-pot-rotisserie-chicken-broth/
Jackie says
This is becoming one of my favorite recipes. It’s so easy to change out a few ingredients and yet using that rotisserie chicken gives it so much flavor. Thank you Mike!
Mike Vrobel says
You're welcome!
Nicole says
This was so delicious and flavorful and easy. The first time I made it I used a rotisserie chicken and the second time a stewing chicken I had in the freezer. Neither grocery store in my town had okra, fresh or frozen, so I added some frozen green beans instead. Definitely adding to my regular rotation.
Emeril fan says
BAM! 😂
Mike Vrobel says
I know, right?