Jambalaya is one of those dishes that my family begs for. As a mother, it always made me so happy to serve jambalaya because it is chock-full of delicious, sautéed vegetables like green bell peppers, onions and celery. It has a complex seasoning base with white pepper, garlic powder, chili powder, bay leaves and of course, salt. Smoked sausage and cooked chicken are the proteins with a tomato and rice base. Jambalaya creates an amazing aroma as you cook it and it will pull your family together.
My oldest son walked into the house while I was making this the other night and said, “Jambalaya!!! You are taking me back to my childhood!!” Jambalaya definitely has a distinct smell and aroma. The vegetables, meat, tomatoes and spices makes this a family favorite. You will love jambalaya and so will your family.
How To Make Jambalaya
1. Begin with the proteins. You can cook your own chicken or purchase it. Did you know Costco packages rotisserie chicken for you to purchase? It has 2 lbs. of chicken that is ready to use.
Another method to get cooked chicken is to put frozen chicken breasts in your crock pot in the morning. Salt the chicken generously and turn the crockpot on low with the lid on. Cook all day. The chicken will be ready to shred with two forks.
This will soon become a family favorite!
You can also boil your own chicken and shred. Place four chicken breast in a sauce pan and add one cup of water. Salt with one tablespoon of salt. I know it sounds like a lot of salt, but chicken needs the salt to tenderize it while it cooks. Bring the water in the bottom of the pan to a boil. Once the chicken boils, reduce the heat to low and cook for 30 minutes. The water has to keep boiling for the full 30 minutes or the chicken will not cook through.
2. Cooking whole chickens is a great way too. I love to cook whole chickens in my oven and then shred the chicken once it is cooked. It produces the best chicken stock you could ever want. You can find the recipe here. Roasted Chicken is something I do about every two weeks. By cooking the chicken this way, I always have cooked and shredded chicken on hand in my refrigerator or freezer.
There are lots of ways to cook chicken. Find the one that works for you.
3. Cook the sausage in a frying pan. The smoked or andouille sausage I use is the Hillshire Farms brand. These come in a horseshoe shape. Cut the tube of sausage in half and pull from the packaging. I like to cut each tube of sausage into fourths lengthwise. Then I slice across the four pieces to make small triangles of sausage.
Place this in a frying pan and cook on medium heat. Cook until the sausage pieces have a little bit of brown on them and the grease is rendered out. You want to stir this occasionally as it cooks. The sausage will burn if not attended to.
4. While the sausage is cooking, cut the vegetables. I like to cut everything into small pieces. You want the onion, bell pepper and celery to be about the same size so it will cook evenly. Make sure to peel the small, white labels off of the peppers. I may have forgotten to do this on occasion.
The sausage is my family’s favorite part.
5. Measure the spices in a small bowl. The garlic powder, chili powder, white pepper and salt add a distinctive taste to this dish. The bay leaves are to be placed in the dish after the chicken broth and tomatoes are added.
Adding the spices to the sautéed vegetables while cooking adds another depth of flavor.
7. Once the vegetables and proteins are chopped and cooked, you are ready to begin making jambalaya. Melt the butter in a large pot. Add the chopped onion, bell pepper and celery. Sauté until the vegetables soften and become translucent. Add the rice and stir constantly for 3-4 minutes.
8. Add the chicken broth, diced tomatoes and tomato sauce. Bring to a boil. I like making my own chicken broth. Measure chicken bouillon into hot water and mix. Knorr granulated chicken bouillon is my favorite. You can find it here or in any grocery store. Chicken bouillon cubes work as well. They will completely melt and dissolve as the Jambalaya cooks. One teaspoon of chicken bouillon to one cup of hot water. You can, of course, purchase chicken broth and use that.
This comes together quickly after everything is chopped.
9. Add the cooked chicken and sausage and bring back to a boil. Add the bay leaves at the point. Then place the lid on the pot and turn the temperature to low. You want everything to simmer for 30-40 minutes. Stir occasionally to keep the bottom from burning.
Serve with any kind of bread, or make your own Homemade Dinner Rolls.
Here are a few products I like to use when making Jambalaya.
When you purchase items from the Amazon links below, I receive a small commission.
Let me know on Instagram or Facebook if you make this. Post a picture and tag me @dinasdiner.
Jambalaya
Ingredients
- 2- 14 lb. Hillshire Farms Smoked Sausage or Andouille Sausage
- 4 Tbsp. Butter
- 2 lbs. Chicken, cooked, deboned, cubed or shredded
- 1 Onion, chopped
- 2 Green Bell Pepper, chopped
- 4-6 stalks Celery, chopped
- 1 tsp. Salt
- 1 tsp. White Pepper
- 1 tsp. Garlic Powder
- 1/2 tsp. Chili Powder
- 2 C. White Rice
- 4 C. Chicken Broth
- 1- 8 oz. can Tomato Sauce
- 1- 15 oz. Diced tomatoes
- 2 Bay Leaves
Instructions
- Cook the chicken and shred.
- Cut the sausage into small pieces and cook in a frying pan.
- Chop the onion, green bell pepper and celery into small pieces.
- Place the butter in a large 4-8 quart cooking pot.
- Melt and then add the chopped vegetables.
- Measure and add the spices to the vegetables, except the bay leaves.
- Cook the vegetables until they are translucent.
- Add the rice and stir constantly for 3-4 minutes.
- Pour in the chicken broth, tomatoes, tomato sauce and stir everything together.
- Add the bay leaves, the cooked chicken and sausage.
- Once everything comes to a boil, place the lid on the pot.
- Reduce the heat to a simmer and stir occasionally while it cooks for 35-40 minutes. (The rice will burn on the bottom if you do not stir it.)
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