Vegetable Jambalaya (Quick & Easy Recipe) - Southern Plate (2024)

FAQs

What is the secret to a good jambalaya? ›

Use the Right Ingredients: Authentic jambalaya typically includes ingredients like andouille sausage, chicken, shrimp, bell peppers, onions, celery, and tomatoes. Use these traditional ingredients for the best flavor. Season Liberally: Cajun and Creole seasoning blends are essential for flavoring jambalaya.

How To Serve Jambalaya. Immediately divvy your pot of hot jambalaya into individual bowls, or serve it at the table family-style in a large serving dish. Top it with fresh sliced green onions, chives, or chopped parsley. If you'd like, add hot sauce and a loaf of warm, crusty bread.

Add 2 cups white rice and cook, stirring frequently, until the rice is opaque and toast-y smelling, about 3 minutes. Add the liquid and meats. Pour in 2 1/2 cups water or chicken broth and bring to a boil.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Most jambalaya recipes don't call for thickeners like roux or okra, though some people use cornstarch as a thickener if the dish needs it. Most of all, the role of rice distinguishes gumbo and jambalaya. You serve rice in gumbo, but the rice cooks in a separate pot.

White rice: Long grain is traditional, but short grain white rice also works. Okra: Fresh or frozen; we will use this to help thicken the jambalaya. Salt and Black Pepper: Very important! Don't forget to taste and season with salt and pepper to taste at the end.

Stir in the rice and simmer for 10 minutes, then turn the rice once, cover with a tight lid, turn down the heat and steam gently for 15 minutes. Remove the chicken and add the prawns and sausage, turn the rice once, then replace the lid and leave to sit for 10 minutes.

Why is my rice still hard in my jambalaya? ›

Maybe you didn't add enough liquid to begin with. Whatever the case, if your rice is looking dried out, or the texture is still hard or crunchy when all the liquid has been absorbed, add up to ½ cup water and return to a simmer with the lid on.

If the heat is too high, the water evaporates before the rice has a chance to fully cook. If you don't add enough water, the rice ends up dry and crunchy.

Unlike many famous New Orleans dishes, which are served over white rice, the beauty of jambalaya is that the rice goes into the pot with the meat and spices. Add the rice and andouille at the same time, stirring to toast the grains in the fat, about 15 minutes, before any liquid goes in.

I recently asked John Maxwell, New Orleans native and owner of the Ragin' Cajun food truck about the different versions of jambalaya. He said the dry version was the Cajun version made in the rural areas surrounding New Orleans. The wet version is Creole, or the fancy style found in the city.

Problem: Complicated to make, jambalaya is usually overcooked and underseasoned. The dish is an unappealing mixture of rubbery shrimp, dry chicken, and gummy rice bound in a thin, watery tomato base. Goal: We wanted fluffy rice with perfectly cooked and seasoned chicken, shrimp, and sausage.

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.

One of the primary differences in Cajun jambalaya as opposed to the Creole variant is the absence of tomatoes. Instead, it relies on a dark roux (which is a cooked mixture of flour and fat) to achieve a deep, smoky flavor. Country meats like andouille sausage, tasso ham, or game meats take center stage.

Spruced this up even more by using shallot, celery, bell pepper, and adding sausage and shrimp. I added peas and green onion, celery leaf just before finishing. Easy, semi-homemade, delish!

The main difference between Creole and Cajun seasoning blends comes down to the ingredients: Cajun seasoning features an array of ground peppers—black, cayenne, and white—while Creole seasoning is more herbal, with recipes often containing oregano, thyme, rosemary, and paprika.