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Jump to recipeThis super flavorful sausage and chicken jambalaya is made extra simple because it’s baked in the oven. It’s my Louisiana-native husband’s favorite!
My family is deeply Minnesotan. Like, the cast of Fargo Minnesotan.
Now don’t get me wrong, I come from a long line of excellent cooks. My mother’s Wild Rice Soup makes me sigh audibly every time I eat it.
But “spicy” in Minnesota is Salt and Pepper.
No kidding.
So when I married my husband, who is from Louisiana, my recipe box got a little visit from flavor town.
Enter Jambalaya.
Yes, we sing the song at my house when it’s on the menu.
I have made this for more Yankees than I can count, and everyone is amazed:
First, that Cajun Food doesn’t have to be overwhelmingly spicy. (That’s what the bottle of Tabasco on the table is for). But this easy jambalaya is oh so flavorful.
And second, that Jambalaya is not soup. Yes, that’s how it’s often served in restaurants. (That’s Gumbo, folks)
Before I give you the recipe, let me just put something out there that may shock anyone reading from Louisiana:
This easy jambalaya is baked in the oven. (Gasp!)
Yes, I know that traditionally Jambalaya is made on the stovetop … with lots and lots of stirring. (We have a friend who has a gigantic cast iron pot that he makes Jambalaya in over an open fire. And it’s ah-mazing!)
This recipe is way easier. But that’s not even why I make it.
I tried the stovetop recipes. Tons of them. I just could not get the good, deep, mouthwatering flavor that this recipes provides.
I’ve fed this recipe to many native Louisianians and ended up sharing the recipe more than once. (And, this baked jambalaya gave me the idea to cook all my rice in the oven…easy peasy, no mess. It’s the only way I cook rice now!)
–> Funny story…I gave the recipe to a friend from Louisiana after I’d made if for her on a visit. Years later, my niece tried jambalaya at her house down South and asked for her recipe. “Happy to give it to you,” my friend said, “It’s your aunt’s recipe!”
Jambalaya Recipe
This recipe is so easy to customize, too. I often don’t have celery. Still tastes great. Allergic to green peppers or onions? Still tastes great. I have made this for picky eaters who don’t like ‘hunks’ of vegetables in things, so I’ll puree the celery, onion and green pepper. (In fact, that’s my standard way of making it now) Still tastes great.
For the meat, I frequently use rotisserie chicken, or I’ll cook a bunch of chicken in the crock pot to shred for recipes like this. My preferred sausage is this Roasted Garlic sausage from Costco, but Andouille is good too. But any smoked sausage you use will work fine.
A note if you decide to double the recipe, which I frequently do when we have guests (we like leftovers!): When I double it, I like to bake it in the really big foil pans from the dollar store. If you do that, set the foil pan on a baking sheet for stability. Also, you will need to about double the cooking time as well..that’s a lot of rice! I didn’t do that the first time I doubled the recipe and we ended up having time to play a game before dinner. (Thankfully we had very gracious guests over that night.)
Making it in those big foil pans is fantastic when cooking for large groups … like graduation parties, or groom’s dinners!
I like to serve this with rolls, biscuits, or texas toast and green beans or a salad. And sweet tea, of course!
Your family will want this on the regular menu rotation!
Sing the song when you serve it … maybe even gross your kids out a little and dance in the kitchen!
Chicken & Sausage Jambalaya
Ingredients
- 1 small onion (or 1/2 of a larger onion), chopped
- 1/2 - 1 green pepper, chopped
- 1 celery rib, chopped
- ½ cup butter - 1 stick
- 2 cloves of garlic - or 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1 lb. smoked sausage, cut into slices
- 2-2 ½ cups of cooked, chopped/shredded chicken
- 2 cups long grain rice
- 3 cups chicken broth
- 1 cup diced or crushed tomatoes (about 1/2 a can)
- 1 Tbsp. Worcestershire sauce
- 1 Tbsp. Tabasco sauce
- 1 Tbsp. browning sauce (optional)
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 tsp. pepper
Instructions
- In a skillet, saute onion, green pepper, and celery in butter until crisp-tender (Or combine the onion, pepper and celery in the blender/food processor and then add the mixture to your skillet with the butter and cook for a few minutes)
- Add garlic and cook about another minute
- Add tomatoes (optional: whiz the tomatoes in the blender before adding)
- In a greased 9 x 13 baking dish, combine all ingredients
- Cover tightly with foil and bake at 375 for 50-60 minutes, or until rice is tender
- Mix gently before serving
Thanks for sharing, Susan! Next time I make Jambalaya, I’m going to try your recipe. I’m sure it’s delicious!
Let me know what you think, Tammy. It has gotten Greg’s “Louisiana Native” approval!
This brought back fond memories of my Dad (Missouri by birth) dancing around the kitchen with my Mom (Mississippi by birth) singing Jambalaya. I don’t think she was cooking Gumbo or Jambalaya but my Dad made whatever meal it was fantastic. Another thing that he did was grab her around the waist from behind and sing it to her while rocking side to side. My Dad loved to dance so that was often shown in the kitchen or dining room and all of us kids loved it, just as much as he loved her. Sweet memory from a long ago childhood.
I’m so glad that I could remind you of a happy memory! 🙂
Oh my goodness Susan this looks so good. I have never had Jambalaya somehow. I grew up in the south and have avoided it at every angle…just doesn’t look appealing to me, but this one sounds amazing for some reason.
Oooo, I do hope you like it! I had never heard of it till I had it made by a Louisianian. I suspect if I tried it first from somewhere else, I wouldn’t be as enamored with it as I am. My son, who’s graduating this spring, requested it for his grad party…so I’ll be making a lot!
So I came across this recipe and Pinterest and have made it twice now. My family loves it. Both times I’ve made it I’ve had a hard time getting the rice to cook and usually have to bake for 30-45 minutes more than the directions state. Is there a tip/secret that I don’t know about or is there something I could be doing wrong?
First, I’m SO glad your family enjoys the recipe! Regarding the rice not cooking, the only things I can think of are size of the pan and oven temperature. I know when I double the recipe, I have to add cooking time. If you’re using a smaller pan than a 9×13, maybe that’s it? Or if your oven temp is different? I would try baking it at a slightly higher temp to see if that helps? If neither of those things are it, I’m at a loss. Good luck!
Hello! I am wanting to try out this recipe next week. Does the rice need to be cooked or uncooked prior to baking?
Thank you!!
Uncooked. It cooks in the oven. I hope you enjoy it!!
Has this recipe been changed? I’ve used it several times but I could have sworn that it had liquid smoke in it before.
Nope! Never had liquid smoke. The Kitchen Bouquet bottle looks kind of like liquid smoke, I think?
I can’t wait to make this,I live in NZ and have never heard of it before, however going to try it for Dinner tomorrow, will let you know how it goes, youngest grandson at school camp so only the 11 year old grandson and hubby to try it out on, fingers crossed they will love it. Hubby loves hot spicy food so should go down well. Might serve it with garlic bread. Thanks for posting it. Will let you know how it goes.
Oh I hope you all love it as much as we do! Garlic bread is a great side choice. My husband loves extra spice too, so he adds more Tabasco to his at the table.
I’m hosting a Mardi Gras party for the community I live in. How many servings will one batch make? I’m loving your idea of using an electric roaster if I need to double or triple this. How long would you suggest cooking in the roaster and at what temperature?
How fun! I tend to plan about 8 servings a batch if it’s the main thing for dinner (with bread and a veg on the side). If it’s for a potluck, I’d assume at least 12 servings. I almost always double it and make it in the big foil pan, since we like a lot of leftovers and it’s not any more difficult to double it. If you have the oven space, doing a double batch in the oven (or even two double batches in the oven) would be my choice. The roasters work, but can be a bit more unpredictable in regards to done-ness. I’ve done it at 375 in the roaster and I think it’s been a bit longer than in the oven, but it’s been so long since I’ve done it that way it’s hard to say for sure. Because it’s a direct heat, you’ll want to stir more to prevent burning (but gently, so the rice doesn’t mush). Good luck and have fun !!
Do you cook the sausage before cooking in the oven?
Nope!
I have the packaged smoke sausage. So how do we cook it before putting everything in the oven? Do we fry it? Whole or sliced? (Glad I read the comments. I was just going to slice the sucker and dump it in).
That sounds like what I use– smoked sausage. You don’t have to cook it before adding it. It’s already cooked, and it will also cook more in the oven with the recipe.
Hi! I love this recipe and make it all the time. Do you think everything could be prepped ahead of time (minus the broth) and frozen for meal prep? Or would you leave out both the broth and the uncooked rice?
Also, I’ve had great results toasting the rice to golden in a dry pan before cooking the veggies (I remove the rice and set aside). It adds even more flavor!
So glad you love it as much as we do! And YES– when I have done this for large gatherings I’ve prepped ahead and frozen.
Here’s what I do: I chop (or puree..since my fellas don’t love hunks of veggies) the onions and peppers and cook them in the butter. Then I add the tomatoes and seasonings (including the seasoning sauces) to the pan and mix it all together…off the heat. I dump that mixture into a Zip-Loc bag and freeze it. I also will put my prepared meats into another Zip-loc and store the two bags together in the freezer. I also measure out the rice for the recipe in another Zip-loc to have on hand. When you need to make it, it’s just a matter of thawing and dumping everything together into your pan and measuring out the broth. Super fast!
I want to make it with shrimp instead of chicken! Should I cook the shrimp before adding it to the rice and baking?
I wouldn’t think so. My guess is that may over cook the shrimp?
What size can of tomatoes would you use?
I use a standard size can…I think it’s 15 oz.
I was looking for an oven Jambalaya recipe, as all of my Paul’s cookbooks are at our Florida house, and I came across this recipe. Yes, Jambalaya can be baked, but you can’t put tomatoes in it and call it ‘Cajun’. Cajun cuisine comes from central Louisiana, and ingredients were originally whatever you had available. Creole is the food that is popular in New Orleans, and it is just as good as Cajun. The difference is tomatoes. 😉
I know about the tomato/cajun/creole differences. I was actually in Louisiana just this weekend and asked a friend there about it. She agreed that typically any dish that is more ‘tomato-ey’ is considered creole, but that adding some tomatoes or tomato paste to a cajun recipe to add depth of flavor is definitely a-ok. As Justin Wilson used to say… I *guarantee* that this jambalaya isn’t tomatoey at all. 🙂