Shrimp and Sausage Jambalaya is a spicy & flavorful one-pot Louisiana dish full of rice, sausage, shrimp, and veggies.
Rice is great because it's inexpensive and super versatile.
It's also a healthy whole grain if you get a whole grain option; I use brown rice in this jambalaya and it's almost impossible to notice the difference between brown or white!
Plus, rice is gluten free for your gluten-avoiding friends. Oh and it's sustainable, so clearly, rice has a place on anyone's table.
Truth be told, cooking rice really used to stress me out. The thought of not being able to take the top off of a pot just doesn't sit well with my impatient self. And then I found the perfect way to make rice and I've been cooking rice this way ever since. It's life changing.
However, there's no need to worry about rice cooking for this Jambalaya. The rice cooks right in the dish.
According to the original recipe, it states that I am not supposed to take the top off. Yeah... that's not gonna happen. I can't not take the top off when I'm cooking. I. just. can't. do. it.
Naturally, I took the top off a few times to take a quick peak and my jambalaya still turned out yummy. So, you can rest assured that if you are impatient eager like me, your jambalaya will still be amazing if you take off the top a few times while it's cooking.
While we're on the topic of keys to making this perfect jambalaya, I need to tell you that it's important that you don't skip the bacon. That would be a crime.
I'm not suggesting that you go cook everything in bacon grease, I just really think that the teeny tiny bit of bacon grease used to cook this giant pot of goodness is worth it. Two teaspoons of bacon to make 10 cups; that's it.
The original recipe calls for just shrimp, but I like a combination of shrimp and sausage because I think the sausage helps bring out a little extra bacon flavor and it adds yummy spiciness to it.
I used chicken andouille style sausage and used just a little bit.
And that's it. Jambalaya is a crowd pleaser and it freezes well. Plus, it's even better as leftover.
I serve mine with some hot sauce because it's the right thing to do. Add some crumbled bacon and chopped green onions and you're in heaven.
Jambalaya
Ingredients
- 3 slices bacon center-cut
- 8 ounces andouille sausage
- 2 medium onions about 2 cups, diced
- 1 medium green bell pepper about 1 cup, diced
- 4 stalks celery about 1 cup, diced
- 4 cloves garlic minced
- ⅜ teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon paprika
- ½ teaspoon red pepper flakes
- ¼ teaspoon garlic powder
- ¼ teaspoon cayenne pepper
- 15 ounce can no salt added diced tomatoes
- 8 ounce can no salt added tomato sauce
- 1 cup water or unsalted chicken broth
- 1 ½ tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
- 1 ½ cups brown rice uncooked
- 1 ½ lbs peeled shrimp
- 2 green onions chopped
- hot sauce for serving
Instructions
- Put bacon in a dutch oven and cook over medium heat about 10 minutes. Remove bacon and set aside.
- Add sausage to bacon grease and cook until lightly browned, about 8 minutes. Remove sausage and set aside.
- Add diced onions, bell pepper, and celery to dutch oven. Sauté for 5 minutes; do not brown veggies.
- Stir in garlic, salt, paprika, red pepper flakes, and cayenne pepper. Stir for 30 seconds and add in tomatoes with their juices, tomato sauce, water or broth, Worcestershire sauce, and rice. Stir well. Bring to a boil and reduce heat to a simmer. Cover and simmer for 20 minutes.
- Stir in shrimp and sausage. Cover and simmer another 20-60 minutes, until most of the liquid has absorbed and the rice is cooked.
- Serve with crumbled bacon, chopped green onions, and hot sauce if desired. Enjoy!
Notes
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Meme
Christina @ The Beautiful Balance
Cooking rice like pasta is the only way I will cook rice, ever. I've been doing it for years and when people find out they think I'm crazy. SO happy to see others believe in that method too!
Deanna Segrave-Daly
Oh boy - you know how I feel about Louisiana cooking - this jambalaya is most definitely calling my name!
Serena
I'm a lover of old cookbooks too...and they do have a zillion rice recipes.(: A good thing!
Brenda B
I make this ALL the time. One of my favorites dinners. My boyfriend loves it. He has an aversion to leftovers but this is one of the few things he will eat heated up. When I travel on biz I can leave him this in individual portions in the fridge and he can heat it up himself and at least I know he is eating