Jambalaya Recipe
Jambalaya is a classic spicy New Orleans dish loaded with sausage, chicken, and shrimp. This hearty and meaty dish is made in one pot with rice, vegetables, Cajun seasoning, hot sauce, and tomato broth.
Table of contents
What a wonderful dish is this Jambalaya, so full of flavor! It’s a meaty and flavorful rice dish cooked in one pot with vegetables and spicy Cajun seasonings. It originated in the New Orleans region long ago but the exact origins of creation are a little hazy.
The most common meat to include in jambalaya is andouille sausage, chicken, and shrimp. Andouille sausage is the staple in Creole and Cajun cooking and you should definitely use this sausage for a more authentic flavor. It is a spicy sausage so if you cannot tolerate the spicy, use another smoked sausage that is less spicy or not at all.
Every jambalaya has the holy trinity of onion, celery, and bell peppers, and don’t forget the long grain white rice, Cajun seasoning, and hot sauce. Authentic jambalaya is full of flavor and spice so try not to skimp on that unless you really can’t handle spicy foods.
How To Make Jambalaya
- Sear – Cook chicken and sausage in the Dutch oven until golden brown.
- Add veggies – once the meat is browned, add in the diced onion, bell peppers, and celery and mix it together. Let it cook together until vegetables are softened.
- Rice – add rice and mix it in. Cook it all together for a couple more minutes.
- Pour in stock, crushed tomatoes, and seasonings. Mix everything together, bring to simmer, lower the heat to low, cover and cook just until rice is tender. (18-20 minutes.)
- Hot sauce – add a couple of dashes of hot sauce, mix it in well and taste.
- Shrimp – mix raw shrimp into the jambalaya, cover with a lid and cook for about 5-6 minutes.
- Serve – garnish with a little bit of fresh parsley when serving.
Recipe FAQs
Creole – this jambalaya includes tomatoes and starts by cooking vegetables first, then adding meat and cooking them together. Then, you would add rice, tomatoes, broth, and seasoning. Everything is stewed together until rice is fully cooked.
Cajun – this style is also known as brown jambalaya because of the lack of tomatoes and the brown tint from searing meat first. When you let the sausage and chicken brown and caramelize first, it will add more flavor into the whole dish and give it a little brown tint. You just have to make sure not to crowd the meat pieces so it browns, or sear it in batches.
Personally, I like the combination of both styles because the meat browning process does add a lot of flavor to the dish. I also love the addition of tomatoes to bring all the flavors together.
If you’re wondering about the difference between jambalaya and gumbo, I’m here to help too. Gumbo is actually soup while jambalaya is more of a stew/casserole. In jambalaya, rice will be cooked right along all other ingredients and in gumbo, rice is cooked and often served separately.
How To Adjust Spice Level?
You can easily control how spicy your jambalaya will be by using different kinds of sausage and the amount of hot sauce.
- Andouille sausage does have a kick to it but it’s also the authentic sausage to use in Cajun cooking. If you can’t handle much spice though, feel free to substitute another smoked pork sausage that is not spicy.
- Hot sauce is another authentic touch. Use more or less hot sauce depending on your personal tolerance. Or, you can omit the hot sauce all together if you don’t want the extra spice.
Storing and Reheating Instructions
- Storing: Make sure to store any leftovers in the refrigerator. You can use the same pot it was cooked in or transfer it into another air-tight food storage container. Make sure to cool jambalaya to room temperature first. Properly stored, it will be good for up to 4 days.
- Reheating: Jambalaya is good reheated too. Rice will be softer because it tends to absorb a lot of liquid but the flavors will still be there. You can reheat individual portions in the microwave or reheat the whole pot on the stove, over medium-low heat. When reheating on the stove, cover the pot with the lid and stir from time to time. If the rice absorbed too much liquid, you can add a little more chicken stock while reheating.
More Recipes To Try
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Jambalaya Recipe
Ingredients
- 2 tbsp canola oil or avocado oil, olive oil, or vegetable oil
- 1 lb chicken thigh or breast meat
- 12-14 oz andouille sausage
- 1 yellow onion
- 2 bell peppers
- 2 celery ribs
- 1 cup uncooked long grain white rice
- 28 oz can fire roasted crushed tomatoes
- 1 1/2 cups chicken stock
- 2 tsp Cajun seasoning
- 2 tsp dried oregano
- 1/2 tsp dried thyme
- 1 tsp salt more or less to taste
- 2 bay leaves
- 2-4 dashes hot sauce
- 1 lb raw shrimp
- fresh parsley for garnish
Instructions
- Preheat a Dutch oven that’s large enough for the jambalaya over medium heat and add some oil.
- Add sliced sausage and sear it until it’s brown. You can add chicken right to the sausage or take the sausage out and cook the chicken alone. (You will need to add the sausage back once chicken is browned.)
- Once the meat is browned, add in the diced onion, bell peppers, and celery and mix it together. Let it cook together until vegetables are softened.
- Mix in uncooked rice and let it cook for a couple of minutes.
- Pour in stock and crushed tomatoes. Mix well and add the Cajun seasoning, oregano, thyme, bay leaves, and salt. Mix everything together and bring to simmer over medium-high heat.
- Once it starts to simmer, lower the heat to low, cover with a lid, and cook just until rice is tender. (Leave a little crack for the steam to escape.)
- Add a couple of dashes of hot sauce, mix it in well and taste to decide if you need more hot sauce. (NOTE: andouille sausage is spicy, so when you bite into it, you will feel it!)
- Stir in raw shrimp into the jambalaya, cover with a lid, and cook for about 5-6 minutes. (Large shrimp will take a little longer and small shrimp will take a little less.)
- Garnish with a little bit of fresh parsley right before servings.
Video
Notes
- Storing: Make sure to store any leftovers in the refrigerator. You can use the same pot it was cooked in or transfer it into another air-tight food storage container. Make sure to cool jambalaya to room temperature first. Properly stored, it will be good for up to 4 days.
- Reheating: Jambalaya is good reheated too. Rice will be softer because it tends to absorb a lot of liquid but the flavors will still be there. You can reheat individual portions in the microwave or reheat the whole pot on the stove, over medium-low heat. When reheating on the stove, cover the pot with the lid and stir from time to time. If the rice absorbed too much liquid, you can add a little more chicken stock while reheating.
Nutrition
Originally published on Will Cook For Smiles in August 2020.
All images and text ©Lyubov Brooke for ©Will Cook For Smiles. Please do not use my images without prior permission. If using my posts in collections and features, please link back to this post for the recipe.
Disclaimer: Nutrition information shown is not guaranteed to be 100% accurate as most ingredients and brands have variations.
Just made this recipe for the 4th time & it NEVER disappoints. This is becoming a regular staple for my household!
Just YUM 😋
I am so glad you all like it, Monica!
Can you please tell me how much the serving size is for this recipe?
I will duck and run after I post this, but I made this vegan. I used seasoned soy curls instead of chicken, and homemade seitan “andouille”, and no-chicken broth. The seasoning was spot on, and it was a huge hit. Thank you for a simple but authentic recipe.
I am glad you were able to make it work for you and you liked it! 🙂
I MADE FOR EIGHT PEOPLE ADDING INGREDIENTS ETC. TO SCALE. WOW!! THIS CAME OUT BETTER THAN A FAVORITE RESTAURANT ( BJ’S ) EVERYONE ENJOYED IT INCLUDING MY 98 YR. OLD MOM LOL! SHE ATE SEVERAL SPOONFULS AND LOVED IT. I WAS ABLE TO FIND THE SAUSAGE AT WALMART…. THANK YOU
Wow! Thank you for the compliment! I am so glad you liked it! 🙂
This was the easiest yummiest jambalaya I have ever had! Since my husband doesn’t like food that is very spicy he loved this version and I just added some hot sauce to mine for the “kick”. Also I’ve discovered that adding a can of diced tomatoes and some shrimp really make this recipe GREAT!
I am so glad you both liked it! Thanks for stopping by to tell me! 🙂
How long does it take to cook?
Hi Rose, It takes about 50 minutes to cook.
I made this Jambalaya recipe, it was easy and delicious!! My family loved it,! I didn’t add hot sauce to it as my kids don’t like real spicy, it still had a good kick to it. I will make again. I didn’t use peeled shrimp (mistake) and I used Italian sausage as I couldn’t find andouille. I will make again!
I am glad you liked the recipe! Thank you for stopping by to let me know you liked it!
One word.
EXCELLENT
enough said…
Awe thank you so much, Mickey you’re too kind!
Just wondered, since I’ve never made jambalaya, does it matter what color bell peppers you use, green or red?
Hi Janet,
It doesn’t matter you can use whichever ones you like the best. Red does have the most nutrition if that is important to you. I hope you like them!
Just made this tonight and it was wonderful. Great recipe, so easy and so full of flavor. Thank you so much.
Hi Nina,
I am so glad you liked it! Thank you for stopping by to let me know! 🙂
Absolutely delicious! We loved it!
I am so glad you liked it!
do you have a recipe for the brown jumbalya? I’ve only had that and love it Thanks in advance
Hi Caroline,
Your looking for a Cajun Jambalaya! For that first, you would omit the tomatoes. The brown color is from searing the meat so I would first sear the sausage and take it out and put the chicken in till seared and brown, then throw the sausage back in and cook the veggies till soft, then when you pour in the stock and scrape the bottom of the pan to release all the brown bits. I would use 3 to 3 1/2 cups of stock depending on how brothy you would like it.