Gumbo, a beloved dish hailing from the Southern United States, is a flavorful and comforting stew often served over rice.
Some families prefer to use chicken and sausage for their gumbo, while other families enjoy a mixture of seafood such as shrimp, crab, crawfish, and oysters.
No matter how your family likes their Louisiana gumbo, on occasion, you'll have leftovers.
So, we got to work creating these Fried Gumbo Balls as an appetizer that can be assembled and served with a delicious ranch dipping sauce, or even frozen and saved for your next movie night or tailgate party!
These crispy bites are a perfect party bite to impress your friends or a unique twist for your next family meal.
In this article, we'll walk you through the process of creating these mouthwatering treats. So, roll up your sleeves, and let's get cooking!
How To Make Fried Gumbo Balls
This recipe begins with 2 cups of gumbo (liquid stew without rice added) and 2 cups of fluffed white rice.
The gumbo can be homemade or store-bought from your favorite restaurant. For this recipe, you will need 2 cups of the stew without the addition of rice, so make sure you tell them that if you are doing the take-out option.
The gumbo can be seafood or chicken and sausage, it doesn't affect the recipe.
For the rice, you'll cook medium-grain white rice according to the package instructions in order to have at least 2 cups for this recipe assembly.
In a pinch, you may also use any 90-second microwaveable rice packets (such as Uncle Ben's), cooked via the package instructions and fluffed.
In a large bowl, I added my rice and the stew, plus about 1/4 cup of Louisianna-style hot sauce for flavor. This is optional.
Setting Up The Breading Station
The breading station will be flour, egg wash, panko breadcrumbs.
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Procedure For Frying The Gumbo Balls
You can use a large stock pot filled with oil to fry, or a kitchen fryer like the Delonghi fryer that we use at home and in our test kitchen. Both methods work great with these gumbo balls.
The oil is preheated to 350 degrees and I recommend frying 1 at a time. If that works ok, you may go ahead and place another ball in, monitoring the oil to make sure it doesn't dip below 325 degrees.
Fry the balls until golden brown and immediately dust them with cajun seasoning or salt while they are still hot.
Serve with the cold spicy ranch, lemon wedges, or your favorite hot sauce.
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Fried Gumbo Balls Recipe
Ingredients
Gumbo Balls:
- 2 cups white rice
- 2 cups leftover gumbo
- ¼ cup Louisiana style hot sauce optional
- 1 c. flour
- 3 eggs mixed with ¼ cup water for an egg wash
- 3 cups panko bread crumbs
- 2 quarts oil for frying
- cajun seasoning or salt
Ranch Dipping Sauce:
- ½ cup homemade ranch
- ¼ cup Louisiana style Hot Sauce
Instructions
Gumbo Balls:
- Combine the liquid gumbo, the rice, and the hot sauce and mix well with a spoon.
- Place this mixture into the freezer for about an hour, just to stiffen up a bit.
- Using a large scoop, scoop out balls and place them onto a greased baking sheet.
- Leave them overnight in the freezer or until solid.
- When you’re ready to fry, set up the standard breading procedure with a platter of all-purpose flour, another platter of egg wash, and another platter of the Panko breadcrumbs.
- One at a time, dust the gumbo balls first into the ap flour, then into the egg wash, then into the Panko breadcrumbs. Place back onto the baking sheet. Repeat with the remaining balls until all the balls are breaded.
- Place the balls back in the freezer for 10 to 15 minutes, while you set up the next step.
Ranch Dip:
- For the ranch, combine the Louisiana hot sauce and the homemade ranch, stir well and chill until ready to serve with the gumbo balls.
For Frying The Gumbo Balls:
- Preheat the oil in a fryer or a large stockpot with an oil thermometer. Bring the oil to 350°.
- Fry the frozen gumbo balls one to two at a time for about 1-2 minutes, or until golden brown.
- Salt well as they come out of the hot oil with Cajun seasoning or salt.
- Serve immediately with the spicy ranch.
Deborah says
I wonder if I could spray them with olive oil and bake them…. Counting my calories .
Terick says
Looks so good! How would you freeze them for later and then fry?
Sarah Penrod says
You can just keep them frozen in the step where we freeze them and batter them when ready. You could also potentially experiment with breading them fully and pulling them out to fry individually as needed. If I had a restaurant I would do that.