Gumbo Filé Substitute: Okra, Roux or Cornstarch?

Filé, dried and ground sassafras leaf, does two jobs at the end of a gumbo: it thickens the pot and adds a sweet, earthy, thyme-like note. It’s one of three classic gumbo thickeners, along with okra and roux, so you’ve got two traditional replacements before you reach for anything modern.¹ A cornstarch slurry comes closest to filé’s timing, and a pinch of dried thyme covers the flavor. One thing not to reach for is sassafras root, for safety reasons covered below.

Quick answer

What filé is doing	Best substitute	Starting amount	Treatment
Thickening the gumbo	Okra, cooked in the pot	No fixed amount; add until the texture suits you	Method
Thickening, when the gumbo already has a roux	A little more roux, made separately and whisked in	Small additions, then simmer and check	Method
Last-minute thickening	Cornstarch slurry	Equal parts cornstarch and cold water or broth; start with about 1 tsp	Attributed
Earthy, thyme-like flavor at the end	A small pinch of dried thyme	A pinch per pot, then taste	Method

How the ratios on this page are labeled

Every ratio carries one of four labels.

Computed: based on a measurable physical relationship.
Attributed: a named source publishes this ratio. We quote it as theirs.
Disputed: named sources give different answers to the same swap. You get each one, side by side.
Method: our starting point, based on how the two compare. Taste and adjust.

How thick you like your gumbo is up to you, and every amount below is a place to start.

How filé works, and why timing matters

Filé goes in at the end. It’s added to a gumbo, soup or stew after the heat is turned down, and people most often sprinkle it on as a finishing garnish. Cook it in too early and the liquid turns viscous, slimy and stringy, like ropes when poured. Louisiana Creole and Cajun restaurants often set it out with the table condiments.¹

Most substitutes run on a different schedule. Okra and roux usually go in early and cook with the gumbo. A starch slurry is the one option you add at the end, the way you would filé.

If filé is thickening the gumbo

1. Okra

Okra is the other traditional choice. Its mucilage makes it a useful thickener for broths and soups. Okra and filé didn’t usually go in the same pot: filé gumbos and okra gumbos were traditionally separate dishes,¹ and Morgan Randall writes that filé adds an earthy dimension or texture when okra isn’t in season.² Tasting Table notes that some chefs warn against using filé with okra, because the result can get too thick.³

Okra changes the flavor and texture. Tasting Table points out that it has its own distinct taste and can be slimy.³ And it has none of filé’s herbal notes.

Ratio (Method): Add sliced okra with the other vegetables, let it cook down, and check the thickness before serving. If the gumbo’s still thin, the cornstarch method below can finish it.

2. Roux

Roux, flour cooked with oil, is the base of most gumbos. If your recipe already starts with a roux, it may not need much else. Tasting Table says to use any thickening powder sparingly in a roux-based gumbo so it doesn’t turn heavy.³

Ratio (Method): If the gumbo is too thin, make a small extra batch of roux in a separate pan, whisk it in a spoonful at a time, and simmer a few minutes before you judge. Roux adds a toasted flavor but none of filé’s thyme-like notes.

3. Cornstarch slurry

Cornstarch isn’t traditional, but it’s the closest match to filé’s timing, since both go in at the end.³

Ratio (Attributed): Tasting Table’s Wendy Leigh says to mix equal parts cornstarch and cold water or broth into a slurry. Start with about a teaspoon, stir it into the hot gumbo, and keep adding until it’s as thick as you want. Add it near the very end so you can see how thick the pot already is.³

4. Arrowroot or okra powder

Ratio (Method): You can use arrowroot like a cornstarch slurry, a little at a time near the end. Okra powder can go in earlier, with the vegetables. Either way, add small amounts and wait a few minutes before adding more.

If filé is there for flavor

Filé’s flavor is subtle. Spice writer Gernot Katzer describes the smell of sassafras leaves as weak but fresh and lemon-like.⁴ Robert Caldwell, writing for the Louisiana Endowment for the Humanities, adds sweet, earthy, peppery and thyme-like notes, and says commercial filé is sometimes a blend that includes bay leaves, oregano, thyme and basil.¹

1. A pinch of dried thyme

Ratio (Method): Caldwell describes filé as thyme-like and some filé blends contain thyme,¹ so a small pinch of dried thyme stirred in near the end can stand in for the herbal note. It won’t thicken. Filé’s leaf aroma is weak, so a little thyme goes a long way; taste before adding more.

2. Your own ground sassafras leaves

Filé is just sassafras leaves that have been harvested, dried and pounded.¹ If you have a sassafras tree handy, drying and grinding the leaves isn’t a substitute. It’s making filé. US federal rules list sassafras leaves among natural flavoring substances, on the condition that they’re safrole-free.⁵ That condition matters, because safrole is the reason for the warning below.

What not to use

Sassafras root, root bark or tea made from them. Katzer reports that sassafras root bark contains about 8 percent essential oil, around 80 percent of it safrole.⁴ The FDA deems food containing added safrole or oil of sassafras adulterated, under an order dating from December 3, 1960.⁶ JSTOR Daily notes that 1960 is when the FDA banned sassafras oil and safrole as food additives.⁷ Katzer considers the leaves and filé generally harmless at cooking amounts,⁴ so the concern is the root, not filé itself.

Root beer. Root beer was once flavored with sassafras root oil,⁴ but it adds sugar and liquid, not thickness, and its flavor isn’t filé’s. We don’t recommend it.

What isn’t known

You’ll often hear that okra gumbo is a summer dish and filé gumbo a winter one. The sources here back a softer version: filé could stand in when okra was out of season.²

Caldwell, Filé, 64 Parishes, Louisiana Endowment for the Humanities. 64parishes.org · Reference work ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴ ↩⁵ ↩⁶
Randall, Suffering Sassafras, 64 Parishes, 2019. 64parishes.org · Publication ↩ ↩²
Leigh, The 2 Best Substitutes To Use In Gumbo When You Don’t Have Filé On Hand, Tasting Table, 2025. tastingtable.com · Publication ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴ ↩⁵
Katzer, Sassafras (Sassafras albidum), Gernot Katzer’s Spice Pages. gernot-katzers-spice-pages.com · Reference work ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴
21 CFR 172.510, Natural flavoring substances, US Food and Drug Administration. ecfr.gov · Regulator ↩
21 CFR 189.180, Safrole, US Food and Drug Administration. ecfr.gov · Regulator ↩
Traylor, Sassafras: From Scent to Science in American Medicine, JSTOR Daily, 2026. daily.jstor.org · Publication ↩

Also drawn on

Gumbo (Ryan Brasseaux, updated 29 June 2023), 64 Parishes, Louisiana Endowment for the Humanities. 64parishes.org
Okra (Britannica Editors, revised by Melissa Petruzzello, updated 6 Sep 2026), Encyclopaedia Britannica. britannica.com

Gumbo Filé Substitutes: Okra, Roux, Cornstarch and What Each Replaces