This Instant Pot Jambalaya uses chicken andouille sausage and a homemade Cajun seasoning to give the traditional New Orleans favorite a healthy twist!
Confession #142: I never thought this recipe was going see the light of day…at least on this blog. After making and loving my Instant Pot Brown Rice and Sausage Stuffing, I’ve wanted to do an Instant Pot Jambalaya that’s healthy and FIX approved.
But this recipe was trickier. First, I had the hardest time finding a clean, low enough sodium andouille chicken sausage that tasted like the real thing. I finally found this one by Brat Hans at Whole Foods, as well as one by Johnsonville. There is another one by Al Fresco, but I couldn’t find it and I wasn’t a huge fan of the Trader Joe’s version.
Once I started working with the sausage, I realized very quickly that precooked sausage does NOT do well in Instant Pot for longer than a few minutes…at least for dishes like this where we are cooking rice along with the meat. If I wasn’t writing a food blog, I probably would have used raw spicy Italian sausage removed from the casing and called it a day. But using Italian sausage in Jambalaya in the food blog world would NOT fly, so I decided to sauté the sausage first, then I removed it from the pot and cooked the shrimp. (Just an FYI – you want to grab some spicy Italian sausage for this dish – you will get NO judgment from me! #igetyou)
Anyway, precooking the sausage and removing it from the pot worked perfectly, so it was game on again! The next issue is that I bought a Cajun spice blend from my grocery store and hated it. So I whipped up a homemade spice blend which was much cheaper and I love being able to control the intensity and the salt content.
And finally, the rest of the recipe went perfectly as planned…so you all get the benefit of my many mistakes along the way.
I used diced up chicken thighs along with the rice, veggies, and broth and this withstood perfectly to the cook time.
And in the end, all I had to do was stir the sausage and shrimp back in and sprinkle on a little more seasoning and dinner was served!
Overall, I still think this is an awesome way to make Jambalaya – one pot, pretty hands off, and the rice cooks perfectly. And you can use whatever protein combo you want to use. Don’t like shrimp? Leave it out! Want to skip the sausage? Do it! Make it your own and, of course, let me know what you think!
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This Instant Pot Jambalaya uses chicken andouille sausage and a homemade Cajun seasoning to give the traditional New Orleans favorite a healthy twist!
Ingredients
For the Cajun Seasoning
- 1/2 tsp of sea or kosher salt
- 1 tsp garlic powder
- 1 tsp paprika
- 1/4 tsp black pepper
- 1/2 tsp onion powder
- 1/2 tsp dried oregano
- 1/2 tsp dried thyme
- 1/8 tsp cayenne pepper
- 1/8 red pepper flakes (optional)
For the Jambalaya
- 6 tsp olive oil, divided
- 1/2 lb chicken sausage, sliced – I used fully cooked Andouille Sausage
- 1/2 lb medium sized shrimp – I kept the tail on for pics, but it might be better with the tail off
- 1/2 lb boneless skinless chicken thighs, diced
- 1 1/2 cups brown rice
- 1 1/2 cups organic chicken stock or broth
- 1 (14.5oz) can of diced tomatoes
- 1 onion diced
- 3 cloves of garlic, minced
- 3 stalks of celery, diced
- 2 bell peppers, diced
Instructions
- Mix up the Cajun Seasoning and set aside.
- Turn IP to sauté and add in 2 tsp of olive oil. Brown sausage slices, then remove from pot. Add in an additional 2 tsp of oil. Season shrimp with 1/2 tsp of the cajun seasoning. Add shrimp to the Instant Pot and sauté until cooked through, usually just a few minutes. Remove from Pot and set aside with the chicken sausage.
- Add remaining 2 tsp of olive oil to the IP, and add in onions, celery, bell peppers, garlic and 3 tsp cajun seasoning. Stir until fragrant, then add in rice, chicken, diced tomatoes, and broth. Place lid on the IP and set to manual for 22 minutes.
- When cook time is finished, do a natural release for 10 minutes, then a quick release for any remaining steam.
- After the lid unlocked, open and stir in sausage and shrimp. Taste and adjust salt/seasoning as desired (there should be extra seasoning left over to add if you want to!)
Notes
1 Red, 1 Yellow, 1 Green, 1 tsp
Weight Watchers Freestyle Points – 9 per serving or 8 if using chicken breast instead of thighs
Nutrition
- Serving Size: approx 1 cup
Gretchen O'Brien says
Does this make the usual 4 servings? I’m planning on having this as my post workout meal for the week, and I’m wondering if I would need to double the recipe.
Katie Sior Reisinger says
I’m a little confused – chicken thighs are listed in the ingredients but not the directions (or maybe I missed it!). When are they cooked?
Nancylynn says
I’m sorry! I updated the recipe!
Charly Lynn says
This looks wonderful! How would you adjust if you were going to use an uncooked sausage removed from casing?
Nancylynn says
You don’t need to adjust the time! But you can leave it in with the broth, rice and veggies! It will enhance the flavor.
roz says
How many servings does this recipe make ? I am hoping to fill my 6 quart pot!
Nancylynn says
It makes 6 servings!
roz says
delicious. i doubled it and it fit into my 6 qt pot. used raw spicy chicken sausage instead of andouille.
Nancylynn says
FANTASTIC!!!!!!!
Alisa Vass says
Is this freezable to use for meal prep?
Nancylynn says
Yes!
Lorrie says
I am incapable of following a recipe completely. I make a cajun seasoning that I really like. So in between cooking the sausage (hot Italian) and feeding 11 pets, I made my seasoning. Browned the sausage, chopped lots of peppers and onions and garlic, diced chicken thighs… Turned it on for 22 minutes…
And realized that I had put NO seasoning in!
What a dork. I chopped the shrimp, seasoned it heavily and put it in the IP with the sausage. It’s on keep warm now… Lol!
★★★★★
Nancylynn says
You made me giggle and I have been there so many times myself!!! Glad the recipe worked out for you regardless!!
Melissa says
Have you ever made with cauliflower rice instead?
Nancylynn says
I have not! I think it would be delicious, but I would set the cook time just enough to cook the chicken – 12 minutes or so – and then add the cauliflower rice after cook time!
Robyn Giffen says
Just to clarify, it should be 1/2 lb of boneless skinless chicken thighs, not 12 chicken thighs, right?
Nancylynn says
Yes! Thank you for pointing that out.
Kathleen says
This is delicious! Thank you for this recipe! I double batched in my 8 Qt IP and it worked out beautifully. I did have a question regarding the portion of rice. The recipe calls for 1.5 cups of uncooked rice which when cooked equals 4.5 cups which then equals 9 yellow servings. Am I calculating right? Should I just reduce the amount of uncooked rice to 1 cup to follow the suggestive 6 servings? Thanks for your guidance!!
★★★★★
Nancylynn says
Hi Kathleen! Yes – if you find that your rice triples (mine brown rice doubles?) then reduce the rice and the broth to 1 cup each and keep everything else the same!! So happy you loved it!!
Andy18 says
One of the best jambalaya recipes of all time! We are obsessed. I was wondering if you could use a crockpot instead of doing the instapot and what you’d recommend doing if it is possible!
★★★★★
Nancylynn says
This makes me SO happy! Let me test it and get back to you!
Stacy says
Do I need to adjust the coon time if I double recipe?
Nancylynn says
Nope!
Alison says
Is this cooked on hi or low? I used the hi setting and my rice was mushy. I’m a novice IP user and am never sure which setting to use on manual.
Nancylynn says
Are you using brown rice?
Amy says
My family loved this recipe! Very low calorie also which makes me happy. Great taste having the 3 proteins. We ate half and froze the rest for another time. Definitely one we’ll make again. We didn’t have celery so we replaced with carrots instead; still delicious!
★★★★★
Nancylynn says
I am thrilled to hear it, Amy!