New Orleans Jambalaya

This scrumptious New Orleans jambalaya recipe has been on my mind all month long! This weekend I’m packing my bags. On Monday morning I’m flying out to New Orleans!!! I feel so blessed to have been invited to mastermind with a wonderful group of creative women in one of the most festive cities in the USA. While I’m there I look forward to enjoying some authentic New Orleans jambalaya for dinner followed by a little bag of beautiful puffy beignets for dessert. I am so darn excited!

This yummy jambalaya recipe is a fabulous taste of New Orleans. What you’ll love most about preparing New Orleans jambalaya is that it’s an easy one-pot meal. I know that you and I are on the exact same page in looking for ways to free ourselves up so we can spend more quality time with our families. Life is fast-paced and hectic, so it’s more important than ever to find quick and easy recipes that will allow us to sit down at the table with our families and enjoy a delicious meal together. Spending time connecting with one another after a busy day keeps families bonded and tight, and encourages the doors of communication to remain wide open.

A traditional New Orleans Jambalaya recipe includes onions, garlic, Cajun seasonings, a bevy of bright colorful bell peppers, chicken, shrimp, and delicious smoked sausage.

For this mouth-watering New Orleans jambalaya recipe I use Eckrich Original Skinless Smoked Sausage. It’s naturally hardwood smoked with a true smokehouse taste. On other occasions you can mix things up with Polska Kielbasa Skinless Smoked Sausage, Original Natural Casing Smoked Sausage, and Polska Kielbasa Natural Casing Smoked Sausage. With all of these awesome choices available, it’s easy to make versatile family meals that are quick, satisfying and downright scrumptious.

Here are all the ingredients you’ll need to make a spectacular New Orleans jambalaya: olive oil, celery, red onion, bell peppers (I use a colorful blend of green, red, yellow and orange), garlic, jalapeno, boneless/skinless chicken breasts, Eckrich Smoked Sausage, shrimp, okra, chicken broth, crushed tomatoes, long-grain rice and spices.

Because a store-bought jar of Cajun spices is not available everywhere, I love making my own homemade Cajun spice blend. It gives me the opportunity to dial up the heat when cooking for teens and adults that love spicy foods, or dial things down for family dinners with small children. My special Cajun spice mix includes easy-to-find spices that you may already have on hand: paprika, sea salt, black pepper, oregano, thyme, garlic powder, onion powder, and cayenne pepper. I also use two bay leaves for this jambalaya recipe.

To make this New Orleans jambalaya a quick one-pot meal, I do a little prep work the night before. I chop up the celery, bell peppers, and onions and refrigerate them in a zippered plastic bag. I chop up the chicken, slice the sausage, remove the shrimp tails and put them each in a separate container. The next evening when I’m ready to prepare my quick and easy New Orleans jambalaya recipe it’s a snap to get dinner made, on the table, and ready to enjoy with the family.

Start by adding 2 tablespoons of oil to a large cast-iron pan that has a lid. If your cast-iron pan doesn’t have a lid you can use a Dutch oven or another type of large, heavy pan.

Add in the celery, onion, bell pepper, garlic, and jalapeno.

Saute the veggies over medium-high heat until they just start to become tender. On my gas stovetop this process takes about 4 minutes flat.

Sprinkle the chicken pieces with salt and pepper. Add the chicken and smoked sausage to the pan with the veggies. Continue to saute everything until the chicken is no longer pink and looks like it’s almost completely cooked. Ahhh…the delicious savory smells rising from your stovetop and floating through your kitchen will get everyone excited about eating jambalaya for dinner!

Add chicken broth, crushed tomatoes, rice, seasonings and two bay leaves. With a wooden spoon, stir everything together until well combined. Cover the pan with a lid, turn down the heat to medium-low and allow the ingredients to simmer, stirring every five minutes until the rice is tender and cooked. On my stovetop this takes 25 minutes. The reason I stir the rice often is to make sure it doesn’t start sticking to the bottom of the pan and burn.

Once the rice is done, fold the shrimp and okra into the mixture. Cover the pan again and allow the shrimp to cook until it’s no longer pink. This only takes about five minutes.

Your scrumptious jambalaya recipe is now complete! It’s time to garnish your jambalaya with a few sliced green onions, fresh parsley, and if you’d like – a few colorful slices of bell pepper.

Take a moment to stand back and truly admire your beautiful, festive New Orleans jambalaya! Soon it will be enjoyed by your family and you’ll be receiving a lot of compliments. If your family is anything like mine, there might not be any leftovers for the following day. But hey, that’s okay! The important thing about dinnertime with your family is having the opportunity to converse with one another in a meaningful way. My family likes to share stories of what happened that day, brainstorm ideas and problem solve, celebrate accomplishments, and basically just feel the love that expands between all of us around the table.

During the fall and winter seasons jambalaya is a warm, cozy, hearty meal that your family will absolutely love. This evening after my husband served himself a bowl of my yummy New Orleans jambalaya and took his first bite, he said “this is really great – I especially love the sausage!” I just smiled to myself because I knew the secret ingredient that makes this New Orleans jambalaya so incredibly special. It’s the inclusion of time-honored Eckrich Smoked Sausage.

For more recipe inspiration and easy 15- to 35-minute meal ideas, be sure to visit Everyday Meals by Eckrich.

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