Gumbo vs. Jambalaya — What's the Difference?

Gumbo (Louisiana Creole: Gombo) is a soup popular in the U.S. state of Louisiana, and is the official state cuisine. Gumbo consists primarily of a strongly-flavored stock, meat or shellfish, a thickener, and the Creole "holy trinity" ― celery, bell peppers, and onions.

Jambalaya ( JAM-bə-LY-ə, JUM-) is a Creole rice dish of West African, French (especially Provençal cuisine), and Spanish influence, consisting mainly of meat and vegetables mixed with rice. Traditionally, the meat includes sausage of some sort, often a smoked meat such as andouille, along with pork or chicken and seafood (less common), such as crawfish or shrimp.

Okra, especially the gelatinous pods used in cooking.

A Creole dish consisting of rice that has been cooked with shrimp, oysters, ham, or chicken and seasoned with spices and herbs.

A French-based patois spoken by some blacks and Creoles in Louisiana.

Any of various of rice-based dishes common in Louisiana Cajun or Creole cooking; most often with shrimp, oysters, chicken or ham.

A fine clayey soil that becomes sticky and impervious when wet.

A spicy Creole dish of rice with ham, sausage, chicken, or shellfish, plus tomatoes, and seasoned with peppers, onions, herbs, and celery.

A type of Cajun music consisting of a lively blend of styles and sounds

Spicy Creole dish of rice and ham, sausage, chicken, or shellfish with tomatoes, peppers, onions, and celery

Chiefly Southern US See okra.

A soup or stew thickened with okra pods. Also called okra.

Chiefly Mississippi Valley & Western US A fine silty soil, common in the southern and western United States, that forms an unusually sticky mud when wet.

Gumbo A French patois spoken by some black people and Creoles in Louisiana and the French West Indies.

(countable) okra: the plant or its edible capsules.

(countable) A soup or stew popular in Louisiana, consisting of a strong stock, meat or shellfish, a thickener (often okra), and the "Holy Trinity" of celery, bell peppers, and onions.

(uncountable) A fine silty soil that when wet becomes very thick and heavy.

A soup thickened with the mucilaginous pods of the okra; okra soup.

The okra plant or its pods.

Any of various fine-grained silty soils that become waxy and very sticky mud when saturated with water

Tall coarse annual of Old World tropics widely cultivated in southern United States and West Indies for its long mucilaginous green pods used as basis for soups and stews; sometimes placed in genus Hibiscus

Long mucilaginous green pods; may be simmered or sauteed but used especially in soups and stews

A soup or stew thickened with okra pods