Easy Jambalaya
In honor of Fat Tuesday and the Mardi Gras festival 🎉🎭🎊, which is February 25th, here’s a one pot Jambalaya!
This recipe was inspired because too often I buy Zatarain’s Jambalaya and I wanted to see how easy it was to create Jambalaya from scratch and boy was it ever!! Yes, I know I often preach, “cook from scratch ❤️” versus buying processed food, but shamefully I purchase Zatarain’s from time to time because it’s an easy and a set-it and forget-it work meal.
But guess what? This too is a set-it and forget-it meal, plus it is a one pot dish 😉. I mean, who doesn’t love a one pot meal 👍? After discovering how easy it was to make Jambalaya from scratch, I might never buy the box version again, cheers to that 😂! A few simple steps and you have NOLA in a bowl.
Simple brown the sausage in some butter…
Then add the mirepoix (aka holy trinity of Cajun and Creole cuisine) to the smoked sausage…
Add the rice to the saucepan and give it time to brown slightly…
Then the tomato sauce, seasoning, chicken stock and set-it and forget-it. Voila, Jambalaya deliciousness in 30 minutes…
I hope you enjoy this one-pot Jambalaya and cheers 🍻!
Some Notes
- This recipe is a quick and easy Jambalaya and not your typical labor of love Jambalaya. I will say while this is a quick and easy Jambalaya, it is absolutely delicious and worth the try if you love ❤ Jambalaya!
- I only included smoked sausage in this recipe, but you could easily add chicken and/or shrimp to the dish if you want to create a more traditional Jambalaya. If you do, I would cook the chicken and shrimp prior to cooking the smoked sausage. Once they are cooked, remove from the heat and set aside. In the final few minutes of cooking time, add the chicken and shrimp back to the saucepan.
- I used my Instant Pot Chicken Stock for this recipe, but any chicken stock should be suitable.
- Long grain rice is best for this recipe. The typical water to rice ratio is 2:1 and I added slightly less stock due to the moisture from the tomato sauce. In the final few minutes of cooking time, check the rice to see if additional stock or water is needed.
- Jambalaya has heat and flavor and this recipe is no different. You could eliminate the hot sauce, but I wouldn’t suggest that 😉. Embrace the heat and flavor ❤!
- I didn’t have any green onions or parsley in the house when I made this, but you could certainly garnish with green onion and/or parsley.
Since Fat Tuesday is around the corner, here’s some other NOLA themed recipes from my site to inspire your festivities…
- BBQ Shrimp – These shrimp are NOLA classic with their spicy Creole butter sauce. And don’t forget the bread to scoop up that delicious butter sauce.
- Muffuletta Pinwheels – This is a favorite finger food our house and has all the fixings of a Muffuletta Sandwich!
- Chargrilled Oysters – Again, a classic!
- Muffuletta Panini – Speaking of a Muffuletta Sandwich, try a panini using my Olive Salad, provolone cheese, ham and salami.
Easy Jambalaya
Ingredients
- 2 TBS unsalted butter
- 1 smoked sausage, cut into slices diagonally
- 2 celery stalks, chopped
- 1 bell pepper, chopped
- ½ cup red onion, chopped
- 2 cloves garlic, smashed and chopped
- 1 cup long grain rice
- 1 cup crushed tomato sauce
- 2 TBS Creole Seasoning
- Couple dashes hot sauce, I used Louisiana Hot Sauce
- 1 tsp Worcestershire Sauce
- 1⅔ cup chicken stock
- 1 bay leaf
- salt & ground pepper, if needed
Instructions
- Begin by melting the butter in a large saucepan on medium heat.
- Add the smoked sausage and allow the sausage to brown.
- Now add the celery, pepper and onion (i.e. mirepoix) to the sausage and cook for a few minutes.
- Once the onions become slightly translucent, add the garlic.
- When the aroma of garlic fills the kitchen, add the rice and allow the rice to brown a bit.
- Add the tomato sauce and stir together with the mixture.
- Now add the Creole seasoning, hot sauce, and Worcestershire sauce and stir together with the sausage, mirepoix and rice.
- Add the chicken stock and the bay leaf and bring the mixture to a light boil. Then reduce the heat to low, cover and simmer until the rice is almost fully tender, about 20 – 25 minutes.
- Remove the cover at the 20 minute mark and see whether you need any additional stock and the texture of your rice. Also taste the rice and adjust the flavors as needed (i.e more hot sauce for heat or salt to enhance the flavors). Finish cooking the Jambalaya and don't forget to discard the bay leaf.
- Serve warm and cheers 🍻!
