Busy week? Still need something satisfying, tasty and soul-fulfilling? Try this easy Cajun Jambalaya recipe. It is a perfect one-pot meal that is ready in about 40 minutes and leaves you the time to be doing other things while it cooks.
What to Have Ready
Full of fresh veggies and flavors, this cajun jambalaya is a dish that will be on repeat in your kitchen.
- Light extra virgin olive oil – This is what we use to sauté all of the veggies. Any neutral oil will work.
- Yellow onion – Yellow and white onions pack the most onion-y flavor. I would stay away from red onion.
- Celery – The amount of celery can easily be changed. Throwing in one more rib won’t hurt it and omitting it altogether won’t either.
- Bell pepper – I’m all for color, so I use any color of bell pepper I can find. Green bell peppers are the cheapest, but be mindful that red, yellow and orange bell peppers are generally slightly sweeter than green.
- Garlic cloves – Nothing will ever compare to fresh garlic. The jarred stuff is great for saving time, but has a sweet flavor opposed to pungent garlic.
- Uncooked minute brown rice – This is one of my time-saving recipes, so I used 2 packets of 90-second rice. Use leftovers or make it from scratch and use white rice or brown rice, short or long grained rice.
- Crushed red pepper – We like a little spice to our jambalaya, but you can omit completely if you aren’t a fan of spice.
- Fresh thyme sprigs – I love the flavor that fresh herbs add to dishes. Add them in whole, and then remove before serving.
- Bay leaves – One of the most omitted ingredients in cooking isn’t because people don’t like the flavor, they just don’t have them on hand. Dried bay leaves add warmth, depth and peppery notes to any sauce.
- Chicken broth – This is the liquid needed to cook our rice. I like to use low sodium broth to ensure the jambalaya isn’t too salty.
- Diced tomatoes – To save time, I get these in a can. Make sure they are un-drained. Of course you can also chop fresh tomatoes if you’d like.
- Andouille turkey sausage – You want to make sure this is fully cooked. You can also use pork sausage if you’d like to.
- Large shrimp – Same here, you want to make sure these are cooked, peeled and de-veined.
Make It!
In under one hour, you will have your own cajun jambalaya on the dinner table for your family to enjoy!
- Sauté veggies. Heat Dutch oven or large pot over medium-high heat. Add oil to pan, swirling to coat. Add onion and sauté for an additional few minutes. Add celery, bell pepper and garlic and continue to sauté until softened..
- Add rice, seasonings, broth and tomatoes. Add brown rice through canned diced tomatoes. Bring to a boil, then reduce to a low simmer and cover.
- Add shrimp and sausage. Fluff with a large fork or spoon, add shrimp and and sausage. Cover and continue to heat on low.
- Remove herbs and rest until rice is perfect texture. Remove bay leaves and thyme springs. Mixture will have a little bit of liquid, but not be soupy. Taste test rice, as brown rice can sometimes be finicky. Allow to rest for a few minutes uncovered before serving.
5S Philosophy 👩🏻
- Salt – Salt is something that helps bring out the natural flavors of the other ingredients in a recipe. Because chicken broth is already quite salty, I don’t add additional salt. I recommend tasting before adding more yourself.
- Seasonings – Creole food is loaded with seasonings! If you’d like to add even more to this cajun jambalaya, you can add some of our homemade cajun seasoning.
- Swaps – Instead of using sausage and shrimp, try using chicken instead. Add more crushed red pepper flakes, aleppo chile flakes, cayenne pepper or hot sauce to take the spice level up a notch.
- Senses – This recipe is spiced with the flavors of the bayou and laced with traditional French and Caribbean flair.
Sidekicks that Shine
The nice thing about jambalaya is that it’s pretty much a complete meal all on it’s own. It has all the components of a meal with the veggies, shrimp and rice.
That being said, you could absolutely pair more veggies on the side if you’d like. Something like a nice side salad, grilled broccoli or green beans would be perfect.
And if you now me, you know how much I love bread! Pairing this cajun jambalaya with a nice crusty bread or even garlic bread would be perfect.
Storage and Freezing
How to Store
Store leftovers in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 5 days. Reheat in the microwave or in a saucepan on the stove. Microwave is actually preferably in this situation.
Can I Freeze Cajun Jambalaya?
While we haven’t personally tried to freeze this recipe, there are no indicators that it wouldn’t freeze and thaw well. If you give it a shot, please come back and let us know how it was. I would store in an airtight container for no longer than 6 months.
Commonly Asked Questions
Did you know there is also a difference between the commonly interchangeable terms Creole and Cajun? My understand, which is oversimplified immensely, is that Cajun is “country” and Creole is “city”.
Cajuns are the indigenous people and therefore, locavores, using only the ingredients readily available to them. Therefore their roux doesn’t have butter, instead using oil and flour, and you also won’t find tomatoes in their jambalaya. Tomatoes don’t grow well in that climate.
Creole cooking is a mixing pot of cuisines. The city folk also had access to imported items, like tomatoes and butter. It was also more sophisticated with French and Caribbean influences.
This is a Cajun jambalaya, noted for a more rustic and basic preparation, however more jambalaya are actually creole in nature. They hail from an African rice dish and Spanish paella, where rice cooks down with stock. Tomato is added to give it flavor, moisture and balance other savory flavors.
Well, first off, they are both staples from the great state of Louisiana. Jambalaya is influenced by the West African, French and Spanish people who settled there. It is almost like a casserole or a distant relation to paella, the rice-based dish from Spain.
Jambalaya is made up of a mixture of meats, vegetables mixed with rice and stock. Everything in jambalaya is cooked in the same pot. Hence my one-pot meal comment.
Meats that are sometimes included are chicken, ham, crawfish, shrimp and smoked sausage like andouille.
Gumbo, on the other hand, is a mixture of vegetables and meat cooked in a thickened stock. Think of it more as a soup or stew.
The vegetables that are often used include okra, onions, celery, and green pepper. Meats and proteins vary by region, county, and household for that matter, but sausage, chicken, ham, crawfish, and shrimp are all very popular.
More Cajun Recipes
Easy Creole and Cajun dishes spiced with the flavors of the bayou and laced with traditional French and Caribbean flair. Perfect for easy weeknight meals or your Mardi Gras Celebration.
Cajun Jambalaya
Equipment
Ingredients
- 2 teaspoons light extra virgin olive oil
- 1 medium yellow onion chopped
- 4 inch ribs celery cut into quarter sections
- 1 cup bell pepper chopped, can be one color or assorted
- 4 garlic cloves crushed
- 2 cups uncooked minute brown rice
- 1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper
- 6 fresh thyme sprigs
- 3 bay leaves
- 1 1/2 cups chicken broth
- 1 14.5- ounce can no-salt-added diced tomatoes un-drained
- 5 links andouille turkey sausage sliced into 1/2 rounds (fully cooked)
- 1/2 pound large shrimp cooked, peeled and de-veined
Instructions
- Heat Dutch oven or large pot over medium-high heat. Add oil to pan, swirling to coat. Add onion and saute for 3-4 minutes. Add celery, bell pepper and garlic. Continue to saute for 5 minutes.
- Add brown rice through canned diced tomatoes. Bring to a boil, then reduce to a low simmer and cover. Continue to simmer for 10 minutes.
- Fluff with a large fork or spoon, add shrimp and and sausage. Cover and continue to heat on low for 5 minutes.
- Remove bay leaves and thyme springs. Mixture will have a little bit of liquid, but not be soupy. Taste test rice, as brown rice can sometimes be finicky. Allow to rest for a few minutes uncovered before serving.
- If you’ve tried this recipe, come back and let us know how it was!
Nutrition
Yummy! My family loved this zippy and filling meal. Can’t wait to have it again.
This recipe is absolutely delicious! A summer go-to for me!
This would not be Cajun, but creole jambalaya.
Cajun jambalaya would never have tomatoes.
I am sure that your recipe is great.
Thanks for the feedback!
Have cooked all my Cajun/Creole dishes with brown rice (not the minute kind) for years, and have found that brown rice does not cook well at all with tomato … this is possibly the problem with the minute rice as well. I usually statt the cooking with just the broth & other ingredients, then add the tomato-based ingredient (whether tomatoes with juice, sauce or paste) towards the end of cooking time. Also, for a more healthy version of anything, I find that a no-sodium veggie broth (rather than chicken or beef) adds TONS more flavor. Otherwise, this recipe is a good jumping off point for jambalaya which is really quite a simple dish to make.
I have to agree with you about brown rice. It really doesn’t hold any flavor or liquid the same way as white rice does. I find that I don’t want ALL of the tomato absorbed in this recipe, so it serves its purpose well. Adds flavor and texture and the brown rice keeps it a “skinny” recipe.