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If you don’t have any shrimp you could throw in some other type of seafood instead. If you don’t like oysters (I fall in this department!) then not to worry. This is the type of dish where you can be creative and make substitutions as you see fit…and best of all enjoy the end result (and don’t forget to freeze the leftovers!).
When I recently made this dish I did not use sausage (we used bacon instead) and I did not add any of the extra black pepper or hot sauce. There is already a little red pepper in the Creole seasoning so that was the only source of heat in our dish. And to my surprise both of my girls ate (small amounts) of it when it was served. Point being – at least they didn’t hate it! When I first added the spices I took a bite and immediately thought it would be too spicy for them, but after the rice and liquids got cooking it really made the dish more palatable for those younger taste buds. So give it shot with your children before offering up a separate kid meal!
Easy Jambalaya
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons butter
- ½ pound sausage (preferably andouille (or you can use bacon instead))
- 1 large bell pepper (any color, large dice)
- 1 large onion (large dice)
- 3 ribs celery (large dice)
- 1 head garlic (peeled and minced)
- 1 teaspoon Creole seasoning
- salt (to taste)
- pepper (to taste)
- 2 large tomatoes (chopped (or equivalent quantity of cherry tomatoes))
- 3/4 pound shrimp (raw and peeled)
- 2 bay leaves
- 1 1/2 cups brown rice ((quick cooking variety))
- 2 cups chicken broth ((if you don’t have any stock you could use water instead))
- 1 cup water
- 1/2 pint oysters (shucked, with their liquor (optional))
- hot sauce (to taste (optional))
- green onions (for garnish (optional))
Instructions
- Combine the butter and sausage (or bacon) in a large soup pot over high heat. Cook for about 6 minutes stirring occasionally.
- Add the bell pepper, onion, celery, garlic, Creole seasoning, salt and black pepper to taste. Sauté over high heat for about 8 minutes, or until the veggies have browned and caramelized.
- Add the tomatoes, shrimp, and bay leaves, and stir for a couple of minutes.
- Add the rice, stir gently, then add the broth and water. Gently stir the rice again to make sure it is not sticking to the bottom of the pot.
- Bring to a boil, then reduce heat, cover and simmer for about 15 minutes (or until the rice is tender).
- Turn off the heat and fold in the oysters (if using), cover, and let sit for about 8 minutes. If not using oysters you can skip this step altogether.
- Garnish with green onions and serve.
Delicious! I was so glad I read the reviews and followed the suggestion to add the shrimp during the last 5-10 minutes. Skipped the oysters. Everything was perfect!
I am making this now, I like the flavor of it. But my daughter doesn’t like the sight of veggies….Do you think next time I can puree them (after cooking them) and maybe reduce the water some?? Then she wont see them, and we will still have the flavor and nutrition.
Hi Amber. You can certainly give it a try. Best of luck. ~Amy
What are the serving sizes??
Hi Allison. About a cup. :) ~Amy
Have you ever made this in the crock? Any vast differences when doing so?
Hi there. We’ve not tried this is a crock pot. Let us know if you do. ~Amy
I personally love love love this dish but unfortunately my family doesn’t think much of it. I will say fresh shrimp is so much better than frozen. Don’t make that same mistake like I did.
I’m gearing up for a shopping trip for our first week of this for our family of four. Meal Plan 1 indicates this Jambalaya is to be made one night then used as leftovers the next. Is this REALLY enough to feed a family of four for two nights? My 6’3″-and-growing 17 year old son is going to go into shock if all he gets to eat is a 1/2 of jambalaya for dinner. Any advice on this?
Hi Jan. You can double the recipe if you are concerned. If it is too much, you can always freeze it. Lisa has two young girls an 0 tall growing teenage boys so it is hard to compare the two. ;) ~Amy
I made this jambalaya this evening using seasoned pork sausage, cooked and crumbled, and no shrimp (my oldest is sensitive in the stomach to it). It was easy, fresh, and DELICIOUS!!! My 17 and 11 year olds loved it. My sweet husband LOVED it and after every bite said “yum, this is so good! Please make this again!” I was just recently turned on to your site, and I have printed several recipes to try. I am focused on feeding my family only nutritious, good-for-them foods. I am quite impressed with what I have learned already. Thank you!!! :)
I’ve never had Jambalaya before, but this will be a staple around here. I made it with sausage and shrimp.
Just made this for dinner and it was delicious!! Too spicy for my 11&12 year olds, but my husband and I found it very tasty. I used raw shrimp and just added it for about 10 min of the simmering at the end and it was perfect. My favorite thing about this recipe is that except for the shrimp, every ingredient is something I usually have on hand (made the Creole seasoning a few days ago so that will last me awhile). Even the sausage (we have lots of venison sausage for that!) Thank you! Great, easy, recipe.
To avoid the tough shrimp cook the shrimp for 5 mins separately. Then once the rice is cooked stir in the shrimp cover and let sit for 5 minutes to warm.
I’d be very careful about buying shrimp these days both for health and environmental reasons.
My husband and I first came across your website in December of 2012. I was trying to come up with healthier snacks to put in his lunchbox and became intrigued with the concept of eating real food. After a few weeks of back and forth we decided to take the plunge in January of 2013. This was the very first recipe we made while eating real food, and it was absolutely amazing. I firmly believe that if we had not started off with such a great recipe we wouldn’t still be eating real foods today. This recipe has found it’s way into our monthly rotation. We have continued to eat real foods to this day and have had many successful dinner’s from your recipes. We have also begun to start using more natural cleaning and beauty products. I just wanted to say thank you for everything you do in helping people starting (and continuing) this lifelong journey into eating better. If it wasn’t for you, I guarantee that we would still be eating processed and chemical filled food today. Thanks again!
Hi there. Comments like yours make our day! Wish we had to time to say thank you for every single one! :) :) :) ~Amy
LOVED it! I used local chicken andoullie sausage and left out the oysters & shrimp (we are allergic) and I also added a 1/2 cup more of the brown rice. It was amazing!! I could eat it everyday lol!
I made this for dinner last night and it was a big hit, even my hubby had second helping and he is totally not on board with the whole real food no processed idea so it was great to see him enjoying something healthy and chemical free. :) Thanks for all the great ideas
How many servings is this?
Hi Erin. I don’t have the serving info for this recipe. Jill
I just made this (And we loved it!!) and measured it so I could get a calorie count per serving. It ended up being 6.5 cups after all said and done but I only had 1 cup of rice to add instead of 1.5 and 1 tomato instead of 2.
I just made a lentil and tilapia version.
I made your jambalaya last night for dinner and we loved it. I wanted an easy dinner and it was pretty quick and easy. I have leftovers for lunch. I love all of your recipes. I can’t wait for your cookbook.
Well be on my monthly rotation. May I suggest adding the shrimp in more towards the end? Mine were overdone…I think they only need like three minutes ;)
Yes, my shrimp were quite tough as well, but I assumed it was only because I used pre-cooked frozen. I’ll definitely be making this again soon, so thanks for the tip.
Is the sausage a ground sausage or links? Also would this work in the crockpot?
Hi Katelyn – you could probably do either as you’ll need to cut it up anyways. I haven’t tried it in the crockpot, I’m not certain how that would turn out, but, give it a try if you like. Jill
Are the bay leaves left whole while cooking?
Yes. Jill
This recipe sounds great, I can’t wait to try it. Just as a quick fyi, the link in the recipe for the homemade creole seasoning is broken.
Thanks for pointing that out, Kim. I have updated the link.
Can I make this recipe with instant rice?!?! That’s all I have on hand.
Hi Erin. It actually calls for quick cooking so I think you might be ok. Jill
“All I do is win, win, win, no matter what” — that’s what this recipe sings. Protein, veggies, whole grain, deliciousness, WIN.
We just made this for the 1st time and it was a huge hit! I don’t like rice and I loved itt. Also my 4 yr old and my 21 mth old ate it up! Thanks for the recipe!
Do you have suggestions on how to choose sausage/bacon. What ingredients need to be avoided? I live in a small town that many options are not available so it would be nice to be able to eat sausage and bacon again. Thank you.
Hi Natalie. I would just suggest buying local if possible and also make sure there are no nitrates. Hope that helps. Jill
I am getting ready to make this and I do not have quick cooking rice – only short grain brown (which takes 50 min) and quinoa. Have you ever made it with quinoa? I’m thinking it might be too mushy. Would you pre-cook the rice or just let it simmer longer? Thanks :)
Oops I think I am a little late here (sorry I am behind on comments at the moment!), but I agree quinoa would be mushier than rice as a base. I hope it worked out!
I just found your website and have enjoyed every recipe I’ve made from it, but, wow, this one is by far the best. So, so good. Next time I’ll have to make a double batch, so there will be some leftovers.
what if you don’t like shrimp?
You could probably substitute another fish or maybe chicken, although, we have not tried it.
I leave out the shrimp and add cut up pieces of already cooked chicken breast
I am NOT a cook, but tried this recipe last night for my family of 5. I made my own chicken stock w/ the leftovers of the “Whole Chicken Crock Pot”. (which was fabulous, BTW) I followed this recipe exactly, but could tell when it was simmering that it was going to be way too watered down and not look like the picture. So, I cooked some extra rice seperately and that supplemented perfectly. It was very tasty, my husband LOVED it. Even my girls (8 & 10) and my 2 1/2 yr old son liked it. SCORE! Also, my 10 yr old girl helped me cook it and made for a very good lesson for both of us. Thanks!
Made this for dinner and hubby it was a 5 out of 5′ that’s pretty rare. I used regular brown rice, so I cooked the sausage first and then the shrimp in the drippings, the pulled those out, I cooked the rest according to the recipe, simmered for 50 minutes, adding the protein in during the last 15 minutes. It worked great. Tried the cornbread with it, which didn’t turn out so great, but I’d try it again (I didn’t add the cheese, and well cheese makes everything better!).
Just made it with what I had on hand-bison sausage, carrots, asparagus, onions, & red pepper–with some old bay seasoning-Delicious! I love how all your recipes are a great base & then you can simply change them a bit with what you have on hand! I also loved the one pot clean up…
Made this recipe tonight….my husband LOVED it :) I just found your website and am going crazy making everything. Thank you!
I will be trying this recipe tonight. I love this blog.
Made this two nights ago and I botched it up. The rice never cooked properly and it was crunchy to eat. So disappointing. We drove to Chipotle for back up. However, I ate it for lunch today and it was better – it seems the juices softened the rice. At least I tried it, but I won’t make it again.
Debbie and anyone else that is interested, the Nishiki quick cooking brown rice can be bought online on Amazon. Just dont take it all cause I need to order some too!
Hi Lisa, I tried this recipe last night and it came out looking totally different. Mine was VERY wet/soupy, but amazingly still yummy. I think my main issue was not being able to find organic quick cooking brown rice. At my EarthFare, there wasn’t such a thing – all in the bulk section – none were quick cooking (nothing less than 40 minutes) – same in the aisles, none that I thought would work. I left with the only “quick” anything and it was the kind that took 90 seconds to cook (i.e. I think it was already packaged mostly cooked). So, it never “bulked up” or did anything during the 15 minutes of simmering. I don’t know where else to try and get such a thing, but guessing/hoping that’s why mine looked so different. At least my son and I both liked it! Wahoo!!!
If you couldn’t find quick cooking then you probably would need to simmer it for much longer. I am glad it still tasted okay though. If you can’t find quick cooking next time then cook it for longer or soak up the liquid with some good whole-wheat bread! :)
Sounds delicious. On a seperate note, could you do a blog on what your typical shopping list looks like…..either on this site or 100 days of Real Food? It’s overwhelming to start shopping/eating this way so a quick list to get us started would be great. Thanks in advance!
Dana I will definitely do a post on that…I hope to get to it in the next couple of weeks (now that the kids are starting school again!)
I’m glad you had your kids try it. I think we’ve been hoodwinked into thinking that kids only like “kid food”, or bland, flavorless food. If kids only like kid food, I tend to think it is because it’s the only thing they’re presented with. My OB gave me great advice when my now-16-year-old was beginning to eat solid foods. I asked her what he could eat – she said “feed him anything you like to eat. Otherwise he’ll only eat macaroni and cheese.” She was so right.
I’m enjoying your blog very much.
It sounds like your OB was one smart lady…I couldn’t agree more!
Can you recommend a quick cooking brown rice? Thanks.
The one we buy is Nishiki brand and it literally says “Quick Cooking Brown Rice” in big letters across the front of the bag. I found it at Earthfare.
Okra is a favorite of mine!!! I know okra is usually an all or nothing as far as preference- it really adds a lot to gumbo. I’ve lived in Louisiana all my life, I’ve had it a few times;) I am allergic to shellfish, so I have to think outside the box for add-ins for gumbo!
Okra is a great suggestion! And we even had some in our fridge too. Oh well…next time!