I did a search, and it seems most folks are talking about basic flour thickener roux. I am learning some other thickening methods for "simple thickening" but for a proper gumbo, you MUST have a browned roux...to the color of a penny.

Gumbo simply is not gumbo without dark roux...without it, it is simply soup or stew. We can call anything what we want, but a real Cajun would never call anything without that dark roux, gumbo. For good reason, it is the baseline flavor for it.

My guess is the majority of people simply dont make this kind of roux at home, its really time consuming and can be burnt, causing a complete start over if you mess it up, so it can be intimidating. I have become very proficient at making it from scratch in my "full carb" life, but alas...I am now LC for the foreseeable future.

I have some EX-Cajun transplant friends that I was shocked to find out they buy roux in a jar down in Louisiana! (Dark roux for gumbo). But my guess is, it is far from low carb.

Anything out there to make that leap in the low carb world?

I can make soup or stew from anything and love it, no problem. But this is one of those "it ain't this without that" situations.