Gumbo Calories: Per Cup, Per Bowl and vs Jambalaya

A cup of gumbo has about 203 calories, but few people stop at a cup. Served the usual way, ladled over rice in a bowl, gumbo lands between about 400 and 600 calories. The Louisiana stew starts with a dark roux of flour and fat, then simmers chicken, andouille sausage or seafood with onion, celery and bell pepper. The roux, the sausage and the rice are what move the number. Take one photo of your bowl and Dietfit's Deep Scan counts the gumbo and the rice under it as two parts, so the scoop of rice gets logged too.

The short version

• Per cup, without rice, gumbo has about 203 calories, 21 g of protein and 1,057 mg of sodium (USDA).

• A bowl of 1 1/2 cups of gumbo over 1/2 cup of rice comes to about 406 calories; a big bowl with a full cup of rice passes 600.

• Shrimp gumbo is the lightest common version, at about 149 calories a cup.

• Jambalaya has almost twice the calories of gumbo per cup (393 vs 203), because the rice and more fat cook right into it.

• Sodium is the bigger issue: a large restaurant-style bowl can pass the 2,300 mg Daily Value on its own.

How many calories are in a bowl of gumbo?

It depends on two things: how much gumbo is in the bowl and how much rice is under it. USDA lists gumbo by the cup; a bowl at home or at a restaurant often holds 1 1/2 to 2 cups over 1/2 to 1 cup of rice. Built from those USDA values:

Source: USDA FoodData Central (gumbo, no rice; gumbo with rice; white rice, cooked). Bowls are built from those entries.

A cup of gumbo mixed with rice has only a few more calories than plain gumbo, because rice replaces some of the stew in the cup. The bowl is where it adds up: every 1/2 cup of rice under the gumbo adds about 102 calories and 22 g of carbs.

Chicken and sausage vs seafood gumbo

Seafood gumbo is the lighter pot. Shrimp and crab are leaner than chicken thighs and andouille, so a cup of shrimp gumbo has about 149 calories against 203 for USDA's general gumbo entry.

Source: USDA FoodData Central.

Canned chicken gumbo soup is a thin, broth-based soup, not a roux-based stew, so it has a fraction of the calories and protein but almost as much sodium.

Where gumbo gets its calories: roux, sausage and rice

The vegetables in gumbo barely count; the roux, the sausage and the rice do. Here is what each adds, from USDA data:

Source: USDA FoodData Central.

The roux. A classic dark roux uses equal parts flour and fat, cooked until it is the color of chocolate. The roux in the table, 1/2 cup each of oil and flour, has about 1,190 calories. Spread over a pot that makes 12 cups, that is about 100 calories a cup, almost all of it from the oil.

The sausage. Andouille and other smoked sausages bring flavor, fat and salt in one ingredient. Each ounce in your bowl adds about 88 calories and 235 mg of sodium.

The rice. Rice is the easiest part to control and also the easiest to over-pour. Going from 1/2 cup to 1 cup adds about 102 calories.

Gumbo vs jambalaya: which has more calories?

Jambalaya has more, cup for cup: about 393 calories against 203 for gumbo. Gumbo is a stew served over rice, while jambalaya is a rice dish, with the rice cooked in the same pot as the meat, sausage and fat. That makes each cup of jambalaya denser in both carbs and fat.

Source: USDA FoodData Central.

A cup of red beans and rice, the other Monday-night Louisiana classic, has about 269 calories and 7 g of fiber, more fiber than either gumbo or jambalaya.

If you are choosing between the two at a Cajun restaurant, a cup of gumbo over a little rice is the lighter order. A 2-cup plate of jambalaya comes to about 786 calories.

The number to watch in gumbo: sodium

Gumbo's calories are moderate; its sodium is not. One cup without rice has about 1,057 mg, close to half of the 2,300 mg Daily Value. A large bowl with rice reaches about 2,500 mg, more than a full day's limit in one meal.

The salt comes from several places at once: smoked sausage, stock or bouillon, Cajun seasoning blends and the salt added to the rice. To bring it down:

• Use unsalted or low-sodium stock.

• Season with a salt-free Cajun blend and add salt only at the end, to taste.

• Cut the sausage in half and make up the difference with chicken or shrimp.

• Cook the rice without salt; the gumbo seasons it.

Can gumbo fit a weight-loss diet?

Yes, and better than most Southern comfort food. Gumbo is high in protein for its calories: a cup has about 21 g of protein for 203 calories, so a bowl fills you up. Kept to about 400 calories, it fits a calorie deficit as a full meal.

The trouble starts around the bowl, not in it: a second scoop of rice, a hunk of French bread, or a scoop of potato salad, a common gumbo side in Louisiana. Our guide to Southern food and whether grits are healthy covers the rest of the plate.

Ways to keep a bowl near 400 calories:

• Measure the rice once. Serve 1/2 cup and the bowl stays around 400 calories; a full cup pushes it past 500.

• Pick seafood. Shrimp or crab gumbo saves about 50 calories a cup over chicken and sausage.

• Go easy on the roux at home. Use 1/4 cup of oil to 1/2 cup of flour, or toast the flour dry in the oven first; you keep the nutty flavor with half the fat.

• Add okra. It thickens the pot and adds fiber for about 28 calories per 1/2 cup.

• Order a cup, not a bowl. At a restaurant, a cup of gumbo with a side salad is a lighter meal than a bowl with bread.

Ordering out? See our tips for eating out while losing weight.

Restaurant gumbo is hard to log because the rice hides under the stew and nobody knows how much roux went in. An AI calorie tracker like Dietfit reads the bowl from one photo: Deep Scan separates the gumbo from the rice, and Meal Score, a health score for each meal, shows whether the bowl fits your goal.

In the example below, Deep Scan read a bowl of chicken and sausage gumbo over rice as 764 calories, with 95% confidence. The andouille alone came to 315 calories, more than the chicken (132) and the rice (130) together.

FAQ

Is gumbo healthy?

Gumbo can be a balanced meal. A cup has about 21 g of protein and only 203 calories, and the onion, celery, bell pepper and okra add vegetables. The weak spots are sodium, at about 1,057 mg a cup, and the extra fat a heavy roux or a lot of sausage can add.

How many calories are in chicken and sausage gumbo?

Chicken and sausage gumbo has about 203 calories per cup without rice, based on USDA's general gumbo entry. A bowl of 1 1/2 cups over 1/2 cup of rice comes to about 406 calories, and more sausage pushes it higher.

How many calories are in seafood gumbo?

Shrimp gumbo has about 149 calories per cup, and lobster gumbo about 144, according to USDA. A bowl of 1 1/2 cups of seafood gumbo over 1/2 cup of rice comes to about 325 calories.

How many carbs are in gumbo?

Gumbo without rice has about 10 g of carbs per cup, most of it from the roux flour and vegetables. The rice adds the rest: about 22 g per 1/2 cup, so a bowl over rice has about 37 g.

Is gumbo or jambalaya healthier?

Gumbo is usually the lighter choice. Per cup, gumbo has about 203 calories and 9 g of fat, while jambalaya has about 393 calories and 19 g of fat, because the rice and more fat cook into the dish.

Is gumbo keto-friendly?

Gumbo without rice can fit a keto diet, with about 10 g of carbs per cup. Serve it over cauliflower rice instead of white rice, and thicken with okra or filé powder instead of a flour roux to cut the carbs further.

References

• https://fdc.nal.usda.gov/food-details/2706879/nutrients, FoodData Central, "Gumbo, no rice", FDC ID 2706879

• https://fdc.nal.usda.gov/food-details/2706726/nutrients, FoodData Central, "Gumbo with rice", FDC ID 2706726

• https://fdc.nal.usda.gov/food-details/2707142/nutrients, FoodData Central, "Shrimp gumbo", FDC ID 2707142

• https://fdc.nal.usda.gov/food-details/2707141/nutrients, FoodData Central, "Lobster gumbo", FDC ID 2707141

• https://fdc.nal.usda.gov/food-details/172908/nutrients, FoodData Central, "Soup, chicken gumbo, canned, prepared with equal volume water", FDC ID 172908

• https://fdc.nal.usda.gov/food-details/2706727/nutrients, FoodData Central, "Jambalaya with meat and rice", FDC ID 2706727

• https://fdc.nal.usda.gov/food-details/2708993/nutrients, FoodData Central, "Kidney beans and white rice", FDC ID 2708993

• https://fdc.nal.usda.gov/food-details/2708408/nutrients, FoodData Central, "Rice, white, cooked, no added fat", FDC ID 2708408

• https://fdc.nal.usda.gov/food-details/172336/nutrients, FoodData Central, "Oil, canola", FDC ID 172336

• https://fdc.nal.usda.gov/food-details/168894/nutrients, FoodData Central, "Wheat flour, white, all-purpose, enriched, bleached", FDC ID 168894

• https://fdc.nal.usda.gov/food-details/174584/nutrients, FoodData Central, "Sausage, smoked link sausage, pork", FDC ID 174584

• https://fdc.nal.usda.gov/food-details/172388/nutrients, FoodData Central, "Chicken, broilers or fryers, thigh, meat only, cooked, roasted", FDC ID 172388

• https://fdc.nal.usda.gov/food-details/2709944/nutrients, FoodData Central, "Okra, fresh, cooked, no added fat", FDC ID 2709944

• https://www.fda.gov/food/nutrition-facts-label/daily-value-nutrition-and-supplement-facts-labels, "Daily Value on the Nutrition and Supplement Facts Labels", U.S. Food and Drug Administration