Gluten-Free Dark Roux

Ingredients

• 1 cup Neutral oil (grapeseed, canola, or refined avocado)
• 1 cup White rice flour, or a cup-for-cup gluten-free all-purpose blend

Method

1. Set a heavy skillet or Dutch oven over medium-low. Add the oil, then whisk in the flour until the paste is smooth and there are no dry pockets.
2. Cook, stirring constantly with a flat wooden spoon or whisk, until the roux moves from pale tan to peanut butter to a deep chocolate brown. Plan on 35–55 minutes. Rice flour and gluten-free blends brown a little unevenly and can smell toasted sooner than wheat flour. Judge by color, not by the clock. Do not walk away.
3. Keep the heat modest. If the roux smokes hard or smells sharp and bitter, pull the pot off the heat and keep stirring. A neutral oil with a higher smoke point is steadier here than olive oil or butter, which scorch before the color is right.
4. When the roux is chocolate-brown and still fluid, it is ready for onions, celery, and bell pepper. For a gluten-free gumbo, continue with New Orleans–Style Chicken, Sausage & Shrimp Gumbo in this same pot.

Nutrition

Kitchen estimate only, not lab-verified. This is mostly oil and flour. It is a base, not a finished plate.

Guest diet / allergy swaps

Short kitchen notes for guests. A fuller gluten-free or dairy-free ingredient list, when we have one, is in the panels below.

• Low-sodium friendly

  The roux itself is unsalted. Salt the finished pot lightly, or not at all, and use no-salt-added broth when you build the soup.

• Gluten-free style

  Stay with white rice flour or a blend labeled gluten-free. Do not stir in wheat flour. Some blends contain other grains — read the bag.

  • United States: Use a cup-for-cup blend whose bag says gluten-free. Rice flour also works in the roux and gravy notes below.
  • United Kingdom: Look for a free-from plain flour marked gluten free. Keep batters and gravies wetter than the wheat version.

• No rice flour

  A cup-for-cup gluten-free all-purpose blend works in the same amount. It may brown a little faster or slower. Keep stirring.