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 many cups of rice to water for jambalaya?

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.

How do you keep rice from getting mushy in jambalaya?

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.

Should jambalaya be wet or dry?

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).

How to make jambalaya more flavorful?

I think the things that really gives it a good flavor is, at the very end of cooking, add 1/4 C of lemon juice. Obviously use less for less rice. Other than that, the recipe calls for kielbasa or andouille, fresh tomatoes, tomato paste, jalepeno, oregano, bay leaf, chic stock.

What's the difference between Cajun jambalaya and jambalaya?

Cajun vs. Creole jambalaya, also known as red jambalaya, contains tomatoes. Cajun or brown jambalaya does not . Jambalaya isn't thickened with roux, although some cooks do include a little skillet-browned flour.

What is the holy trinity of jambalaya?

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.

What is the trinity of jambalaya?

To make classic jambalaya, you will need: The Cajun/Creole “holy trinity”: Celery, onion and green bell pepper (although for some extra color, I've also used red and yellow bell peppers). Jalapeño and cayenne: For heat. Feel free to add more or less of either, depending on your heat preferences.

What makes jambalaya taste like jambalaya?

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.

What is the difference between Cajun and Creole jambalaya recipe?

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.

Instant Pot Jambalaya Recipe (2024)

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This Instant Pot Jambalaya recipe is a Cajun inspired one dish recipe with shrimp, andouille sausage, chicken and rice that will make a spicy dinner for your family. Using a pressure cooker makes it a quick and easy weeknight dinner the whole family will enjoy.

One of my favorite things about the Instant Pot is that it makes cooking a one dish meal quick and easy. I am always looking for ways to simplify meal planning and reduce the amount of dishes that I need to wash, and the Instant Pot lets me saute meat and vegetables and then bring it to pressure and let it all cook together.

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Looking for an Instant Pot for your family? Here are few that might be a good fit, whether you are looking for budget options or one for a big family.

What is Jambalaya?

I enjoy making recipes from different parts of the country, and Jambalaya is one that my family and I enjoy. It is a traditional Cajun recipe from Louisiana that is made with rice, peppers, onions, celery and more.

Peppers, onions and celery are considered the trinity of Cajun cooking, so they will be included in almost any jambalaya recipe. The meat included in the dish can vary, but I used traditional smoked andouille sausage along with chicken and shrimp.

In jambalaya most of the liquid used to cook the rice is absorbed by the rice, so it is not soupy like a gumbo would be.

How to makeJambalayain theInstant Pot

The first step in making the Instant Pot jambalaya is to saute the andouille sausage. This is where the Saute function of the Instant Pot comes in very handy, since you can brown the sausage in the same pot the jambalaya will cook in.

The sausage is already fully cooked, so it doesn’t really need to be browned, but doing this will add the sausage flavor to the rice and make the final dish tastier. After the sausage is browned remove it from the Instant Pot and keep it for later.

Then the chicken thighs are browned in the Instant Pot. The chicken will cook along with the rice, so this step is just to give it a nice appearance and the chicken does not need to be cooked through.

After the chicken the vegetable “trinity” of peppers, onions and celery are added, along with a bunch of garlic and the rice. These are stirred to get a little coating of oil on the grains of rice.

Then salt, Cajun seasoning and thyme are added to season the dish, along with diced tomatoes and chicken broth which provide the liquid to cook the rice.

It is important to NOT add the shrimp or sausage at this point. Some meats do not do well under pressure, and both shrimp and sausage fall into this category, so do not add them or their texture in the final dish will be unappetizing and rubbery!

Find More Instant Pot Recipes!

The pressure cooker is then brought to pressure and the rice and chicken cook along with the vegetables. It only takes 8 minutes of high pressure to cook the dish through.

After the Instant Pot has finished let it rest for 5 minutes, and then manually release the pressure. Letting the rice rest for five minutes helps keep it fluffy and not mushy.

Now it is finally time to add the shrimp and sausage, stir the Instant Pot jambalaya and replace the pressure cooker lid.

Since both the shrimp and sausage are already cooked this warms them up and infuses the dish with their flavor. The resulting jambalaya is a spicy one dish meal that is perfect for feeding the family on a busy weeknight.

Instant Pot Burn Message

A number of readers have let me know they get a Burn message when they make the recipe. This error occurs when a high temperature is detected on the bottom of the inner pot, which triggers a temperature sensor.

I recently updated the instructions to make them more specific in a few areas to try and help with this issue. Here are the most likely reasons for seeing this error on this recipe.

Food is stuck on the bottom of the inner pot after the Saute function is used. This recipe uses the Saute setting to cook both sausage and chicken, and this can leave little pieces of meat stuck to the bottom of the pot. The fix for this is to deglaze the pot with the chicken broth after the meat is browned. Make sure you use a wooden spoon or spatula to scrape any little bits of browned meat left after the chicken broth is added. Alternately you can also just brown the meat in a frying pan on the stove if you know your Instant Pot is prone to this error.
If you let the Instant Pot cool down for a few minutes after using the Saute function before bringing the Instant Pot up to pressure it is less likely to give the Burn message.
Recipes using tomatoes are more likely to burn as the Instant Pot comes to pressure. I modified the recipe to specify that the tomatoes should be added last, and not stirred into the other ingredients.
Another modification that could help is to not stir the rice into liquid, just push it down so it is covered by the liquid but not stirred in. Basically the idea is to keep the rice off the bottom of the Instant Pot. I didn’t add that to the instructions, because I haven’t actually tried it, but other people have told me this technique is helpful.

I’ve never actually gotten the Burn message on my Instant Pot, so these suggestions are based on what others have report works. It seems that some models of Instant Pot are more likely to see this error message than others.

If you have seen this error message more than once or twice I’d suggest checking out this helpful article on the Burn Message from Paint the Kitchen Red which has a comprehensive list of causes and ways to fix the issue.

Recipe Tips

The grocery store I usually use, Wegmans, always has andouille sausage, but not all stores do. If you can’t find andouille sausage Mexican chorizo or kielbasa make the best substitutes. They aren’t spiced quite the same, but they will make sure your jambalaya is tasty, even if it isn’t quite as traditionally Cajun.
Check the salt content in your Cajun seasoning. Some brands have lots of salt and some don’t, so you might need to adjust the amount of salt in this recipe depending on your personal tastes.
I strongly prefer to use chicken thighs in Instant Pot dishes instead of chicken breasts. Breast meat is more likely to dry out and doesn’t take high pressure well.
Of course you don’t need to use all three meats in this Instant Pot jambalaya. I frequently make chicken and sausage jambalaya just because shrimp is so expensive. Leaving out the shrimp is a good way to make this a more affordable meal for your family.

Find More Instant Pot Recipes

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Instant Pot Mexican Rice

4.55 from 172 votes

Instant Pot Jambalaya

Published By Anne

Make this easy one dish family meal in the pressure cooker.

Prep Time15 minutes mins

Cook Time10 minutes mins

Additional Time15 minutes mins

Total Time40 minutes mins

Servings: 6

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Ingredients

1 tablespoon olive oil
8 ounces andouille sausage
2 boneless chicken thighs
1 onion chopped
1 green pepper chopped
3 ribs celery chopped
3 cloves garlic minced
1 1/2 cup rice
1/2 teaspoon salt optional
2 teaspoon Cajun seasoning
1/2 teaspoon thyme
1 can diced tomatoes 14 oz
1 3/4 cup chicken broth use 21/4 cups for 8 quart Instant Pot
8 ounces cooked shrimp thawed
4 scallions sliced

Instructions

Note – Some readers have reported getting a Burn message when they make this recipe. I made the recipe instructions more specific in a couple areas to try and prevent this error. But some Instant Pots are more likely to get this error than others, so if you have seen this error before on any recipe I’d suggest reading the more detailed discussion right below the recipe card for ways to prevent it.

Chop the onion, green pepper, celery and garlic. Then slice the andouille sausage and cut the chicken thighs into bite sized pieces.
8 ounces andouille sausage, 2 boneless chicken thighs, 1 onion, 1 green pepper, 3 ribs celery, 3 cloves garlic
Set the Instant Pot to Saute and add the olive oil. Allow it warm up for a few minutes.
1 tablespoon olive oil
Brown the andouille sausage for about 5 minutes, until it is nicely browned. Then remove the sausage and set it aside for now. Stir so that it does not stick to the bottom of the pot.
8 ounces andouille sausage
Add the chopped chicken thighs to the Instant Pot to brown. Brown for 3 minutes.Stir so that it does not stick to the bottom of the pot.
2 boneless chicken thighs
Turn the Instant Pot off. Add the chicken broth to the instant pot to deglaze. Scrape the bottom of the container with a wooden spoon to make sure there aren’t browned bits of sausage or chicken stuck to the bottom. Bits of food stuck to the bottom might cause the BURN error once the pot is brought up to pressure, so scrape it well.
1 3/4 cup chicken broth
Add the onion, green pepper, celery, garlic,salt, Cajun seasoning, and thyme. Stir to mix the vegetables and seasoning.
1 onion, 1 green pepper, 1/2 teaspoon salt, 2 teaspoon Cajun seasoning, 1/2 teaspoon thyme, 3 ribs celery
Add the rice and mix. Add the can of tomatoes on top of the rice, but don’t stir it in, just spread it out on top. This will reduce the chance of a BURN error. DO NOT add the browned sausage.
1 1/2 cup rice, 1 can diced tomatoes
Put the lid on the Instant Pot and set it for Manual High Pressure for 8 minutes. Once the pressure cooker has finished cooking let it rest for 5 minutes, then manually release the pressure.
Take the lid off and stir the cooked shrimp and reserved andouille sausage into the Instant Pot. Replace the lid and let it rest for another 5 minutes to warm the sausage and shrimp.
8 ounces cooked shrimp
Serve sprinkled with scallions.
4 scallions

Video

Notes

Nutrition facts are estimates.

I made this recipe in a 6 quart Instant Pot. For an 8 quart Instant Pot I’d suggest increasing the chicken broth to 2 1/4 cups, but I haven’t actually tested this, so use your own judgement.

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