Healthy Jambalaya Recipe (2024)

FAQs

What is the secret to a good jambalaya? ›

Another signature of great jambalaya is the rice. There's a science to making sure it's just the right consistency: perfectly fluffy, not too wet, and not at all crispy. I've found the key is to bring your liquid, whether it's water or stock, to a complete boil to create a healthy amount of steam.

One of the biggest complaints when making jambalaya is that the rice ends up mushy. And there's two main culprits of this – choosing the wrong type of rice and over-stirring. For this recipe, you want long-grain white rice, like basmati or jasmine. Don't use short-grain rice.

The "holy trinity" in Cajun cuisine and Louisiana Creole cuisine is the base for several dishes in the regional cuisines of Louisiana and consists of onions, bell peppers and celery. The preparation of Cajun/Creole dishes such as crawfish étouffée, gumbo, and jambalaya all start from this base.

Jambalaya (/ˌdʒæmbəˈlaɪə/ JAM-bə-LY-ə, /ˌdʒʌm-/ JUM-) is a savory rice dish of mixed origins that developed in the U.S. state of Louisiana apparently with African, Spanish, and French influences, consisting mainly of meat or seafood (or both), and vegetables mixed with rice and spices.

Spices and seasonings: This chicken and sausage jambalaya is flavored with Cajun seasoning, fresh garlic, red pepper flakes, salt, pepper, hot sauce, Worcestershire sauce, and file powder. Vegetables: You'll need an onion, green bell peppers, and celery. Rice: Opt for plain white rice for this jambalaya recipe.

Extra Veggies

From mushrooms to sliced squash, the addition of veggies not only helps your proteins go farther if you don't have a lot on hand, but it also adds different textures and shapes that make your jambalaya more visually interesting and flavorful.

If you haven't got any andouille at home, you will want to substitute the ingredient with another sharply flavoured smoked sausage. Chorizo Chorizo is a good substitute for andouille's distinctly smoky flavour. Polish kielbasa is another substitute that you can use.

A cajun jambalaya, I'm reliably informed, should be somewhat dry, even slightly browned on the bottom, which rules out the soupier, wetter texture of those creole versions using tomatoes (Oliver advises cooks to aim for a “porridgey” consistency).

The main difference between these two dishes is their use of rice. Gumbo is really a soup or stew that's often served over a little rice, while jambalaya is made with the rice cooked into the dish, making the grain an integral part of it.

Should jambalaya have tomatoes? ›

Two main categories of jambalaya exist: Creole (or red) jambalaya, which is associated with the city of New Orleans and contains tomato, and Cajun (or brown) jambalaya, which contains no tomato and is more common in other parts of Louisiana. The recipe I'm focusing on here is the former, with tomato.

jambalaya. noun. jam·​ba·​laya ˌjəm-bə-ˈlī-ə : rice cooked with ham, sausage, chicken, shrimps, or oysters and seasoned with herbs.

The one ingredient that seems to be fairly constant in all Jambalaya preparations though is some kind of sausage, and preferably a smoked one. Andouille, a spicy smoked sausage native to Louisiana, is the traditional choice.

Creole jambalaya includes tomatoes—possibly a sub for paella's saffron (a once out-of-reach ingredient for southern Louisianans). Cajun jambalaya, found more frequently further outside of New Orleans, omits tomatoes, yielding distinctly cooked grains, garnished with chicken, sausage, and later, spring onions.

Cajun jambalaya usually has a brown colour due to the meat dissolving in the broth. It also has a smokier flavour because of the meat being allowed to brown first.