Jambalaya is a great dish that is traditionally a mix of chicken, sausage, shrimp in a tomato base with cajun spices. I originally created this crockpot version for a football party because I wanted to get all the work out of the way before my guests arrived. I decided to make the rice separately so that my guests could decide on how much they wanted to include in their individual serving. You can actually add the cooked rice to the pot before serving. Or if you prefer the more traditional version, you can add one more cup of chicken stock to the crockpot recipe and add the uncooked rice about an hour before serving. The rice will cook in the crockpot and soak up all the spicy juices. However you make it, I think you’ll really enjoy the flavors.
To get started, there’s lots of chopping of vegetables and herbs. You want a uniform dice of everything. I put them all in separate bowls for my video, but you can just toss them into the crockpot if you like.
The chicken is the only thing that you have to do a little extra prep work with. Cut about 1 1/2 lbs of boneless skinless breast and thigh meat into uniform 1″ pieces. Then, sear the pieces in a hot saucepan with 1 tablespoon of olive oil. You can transfer them to the crockpot with a slotted spoon.
The rest of the ingredients go right into the crockpot, except the shrimp. Because it cooks so quickly, that will go in just before serving.
Once everything is in, give it a good stir and put the top on. I set my crockpot to low and gave it 6 hours to cook.
About 30 minutes before serving, make the rice. I used chicken stock instead of water for the rice. It just gives it a bit more flavor.
About 5 minutes before serving, add the shrimp. It cooks in minutes.
The finished looks like this. And, as I mentioned, you can add the rice into the pot if you like at this point. Give it a few minutes to soak up as much liquid as possible. But, I serve the rice separately and let my guests ladle on as much of this tasty goodness as they want.
Crockpot Jambalaya
Ingredients
1 tbl Olvie Oil
1.5 lb Chicken (combo of boneless skinless breasts and thighs)
1/2 tsp Salt
1/2 tsp Pepper
1 lb Andouille Sausage
1 lg White Onion, chopped
1 med Green Pepper, seeded and chopped
1 med Red Pepper, seeded and chopped
3 Green Onions, chopped
2 Celery Stalks, split lengthwise and chopped
2 cu Chicken Stock
28 oz can Petite Chopped Tomatoes
2 tsp Fresh Oregano, minced
1 tsp Fresh Thyme, minced
2 Bay Leaves
2 cloves Garlic, minced
2 tsp Cajun Seasoning
1 tsp Chili Powder
1/2 tsp Louisiana Hot Sauce
1 lb Shrimp, shelled and deveined
1/2 cu Chopped Parsley, for garnish
Ingredients – Rice
2 cu Uncooked Long Grain White Rice
2 cu Chicken Stock
2 cu Water
1 tbl Butter
1/2 tsp Salt
Method
Trim away any excess fat on chicken and then chop into 1” pieces. Season with salt and pepper. Pour olive oil into a saucepan over medium high heat. Add chicken and cook until chicken is just opaque. Transfer chicken to a crockpot using a slotted spoon. Add the remaining jambalaya ingredients from the list above except the shrimp and parsley. Stir, cover and set crockpot to low and cook for 6 hours. Add shrimp to crockpot and continue to cook for an additional 15 minutes until shrimp is cooked through.
30 minutes before serving, place rice, chicken stock, water, salt and butter in a large pot and bring to a boil. Stir, reduce heat to a simmer and cover with a tight lid. Simmer for 15 minutes. Remove from heat but keep lid in place for an additional 5 minutes. Fluff rice with a fork and transfer to a serving dish.
Serve jambalaya over rice and top with fresh parsley.