This light and easy Smoked Sausage and Shrimp Jambalaya will knock your socks off! You won’t miss rice anymore after trying this jambalaya made with quinoa. It’s also made with fresh, jumbo shrimp, smoked sausage, veggies, and spiced with Cajun seasoning.
JAMBALAYA WITH QUINOA
“I’m in love, I’m in love, I’m in love…”
This song plays in my head over and over every time I look at this dish. Editing these photos was excruciating because I’m all out of jambalaya and I want more, more, MORE!
Jambalaya is one of those quick and easy dishes that is perfect for a week night dinner and at the same time, it is comforting, filling, and has so much flavor, it’ll get you dancing. Of course, the spiciness is not the flavor I’m talking about. Too much Cajun seasoning will get you “dancing” but in a whole different way. (Like running around the kitchen trying to put out the fire in your mouth.) I’m talking about the rich flavors from combining smoked sausage and shrimp with bell peppers, onions, tomato base and seasoning. All together, it’s a party in your mouth.
This sausage and shrimp jambalaya is one of those fast dishes that I make for myself when I know that the baby only has a limited amount of patience left before she is hungry or sleepy. All together, it takes me about 30-40 minutes to make, depending of the kind of shrimp I get. The longest parts of this dish are peeling and deveining the shrimp and waiting for quinoa to cook.
My little girl loves “helping” me cook. Even when she is not happy in her swing, crib, or play gym, I know that I can bring her in her bouncy seat with me to the kitchen and she will be happy watching me cook. I also put on a little cooking show for her.
It’s just the kind of audience I can perform for because she is amazed at everything I do and laughs when I’m being goofy. I’m completely comfortable blabbering about cooking to her and making a fool out of myself. It’s a fun mother/daughter activity that ends with a delicious dinner.
Some More Recipes You Will Like:
Creamy Chipotle Chicken Thighs
Creamy Tortellini with Bacon Peas and Asparagus
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Smoked Sausage and Shrimp Jambalaya
Ingredients
- 1 lb shrimp raw
- 14 oz smoked sausage
- 2 tbsp canola oil for cooking
- 2 large bell peppers thinly sliced
- 1 yellow onion thinly sliced
- 2 large tomatoes diced
- 6 garlic cloves minced
- 4 tbsp tomato paste
- 5 cups chicken stock (or broth)
- 1 1/4 cups quinoa
- 2 tsp Cajun seasoning
- 1 tsp paprika
- salt to taste
- 2 tsp dry parsley (optional)
Instructions
- Peel and devein shrimp. Rinse them off, season with a little bit of salt, and set aside.
- Preheat a large cooking pan over medium heat.
- Add oil to the pan and saute thinly sliced onions and peppers until soft. I like to saute until onions start to get golden brown, it gives the dish more flavor.
- Add diced tomatoes and minced garlic. Mix and cook for a couple of minutes. Season with some salt.
- Slice sausage thinly and add it to the veggies. Mix and cook for about 5 minutes.
- Heat up stock in a microwave and mix it with tomato paste, Cajun seasoning, and paprika. Raise heat, pour warm broth mixture into the pan with veggies and bring it to boil.
- Once it starts to boil, add quinoa to the pan and stir. Lower the heat to medium, cover and cook until quinoa is just done. Stir occasionally. It should take 10-12 minutes. Taste to see if you need more salt or if you want to spice it up with more Cajun seasoning.
- Add shrimp to the pan and cook just until shrimp is cooked and turned opaque on both sides. (Time will depend on the size of shrimp.)
- You can garnish with some parsley and serve.
Nutrition
Janet Bradley says
What can I use instead of tomatoes? I DO NOT EAT THEM. Can I use tomatoes sauce as a replacement? I soooooo want to make this recipe. It truly sounds amazing.
Thanks Janet
rm says
Awful . followed recipe for 4.
Is quinoa cooked in liquid or pre-+cooked?
Mine turned out like a bowl of slop. YUK.
Liana says
Made this tonight for my husband and adult son and they couldn’t get enough. I make successful meals about 70% of the time using Pinterest recipes and this was so far the best one I’ve made. Thank you!
lyuba says
I am so happy to hear that! Thank you!
I always keep picking at it even after we’re done with dinner 😉