Cajun Style Jambalaya

I can just about bet if you’ve attended some form of party in south Louisiana, you’ve seen jambalaya at the serving table. A definite ‘go to’ anytime there’s a crowd to feed without breaking the bank! It’s popular for weddings, birthdays, tailgates, and reunions! But honestly, we love having it any old day of the week as well!

Now, I’m must confess, a dish that requires NOT lifting the lid intimidated me … at first! But once you get the hang of the principles, it’s honestly not as challenging as it sounds. Rice cooks under the same circumstance with meat or without, as long as there’s 2 parts liquid to 1 part rice, it’s simple. Trust me!!

So what makes this “Cajun Style”? Well, I AM in fact, A CAJUN … ok, well that but also because this is a brown base recipe! Our onions are going to be the coloring and flavoring point of this dish. If I were creole, we’d have tomatoes as our base … but not today. We’ll save the tomatoes for our shrimp creole 😉.

When I started making this years ago …. and I do mean YEARS ago, I’d start off with a bunch of onions cooked down very well. While the depth of the taste was great, I didn’t like how you couldn’t tell what you were eating. Then a couple of years ago, I asked some family members to send me some of their favorite recipes. I was putting together a cookbook for my daughter as a graduation gift (I had a high school friend give me that idea and LOVED IT!!). After sending out a few emails and facebook messages, I received an abundance of recipes that had me reminiscing of some pretty fantastic reunions in Bourg, LA. AHHHHH the memories!! Whoops, let’s get back to onions!

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One of those recipes happened to be a jambalaya from my cousin, David. When I saw how he cooked his onions, I just had to try it! And let me tell you, I’ve cooked it this way ever since – SERIOUSLY! I wish I had learned this trick when I first started cooking jambalaya!!

Jump to Recipe

Okay, enough small talk, dinner isn’t going to cook itself and my child is looking hungry already!

While jambalaya is a pretty simple dish (and it honestly is), there’s actually a few steps that can’t be skipped to achieve that unmistakable cajun flavor. Just trust me, every step is worth it!

Tonight I have sausage, chicken thighs with the skin and bones removed, and I found some country style ribs in the freezer that I need to use. NOTE: This is an excellent way to utilize leftover pork roast or leftover bbq chicken and sausage (without bbq sauce of course).

Do you need 3 meats? No. Will it come out amazing with only chicken and sausage? Heck yeah! Another popular and delicious pairing is shrimp and sausage. Honestly, one meat or just shrimp makes a dang good jambalaya as well!! Have fun with it, make it your own!

Since the ribs are going to take the longest to cook, let’s start with them.

Season both sides of the ribs with just salt and pepper. In a large cast iron dutch oven, heat some cooking oil (I use canola) on a medium to high heat. Once the oil is good and hot, sear the ribs on each side until golden brown. Remember not to overcrowd the pot! After they are seared, set them aside in an oven safe dish and place uncovered in a preheated 425˚ oven. By the time you get done with the next steps, these should be tender.

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In the same pot, over the same medium/high heat, brown the sausage. This should only take a few minutes as you are just rendering the oils. Once the sausage has browned, you should have a decent amount of oil. You’ll want to set the sausage aside but not remove the oil from the pot. You do want to place the sausage on some paper towels to absorb additional oil that remains though.

Season the chicken with your favorite cajun seasoning blend. Again, in the same pot, brown the chicken thighs. I use thighs, but you could certainly use breast meat as well. After this is browned, set the thighs aside with the sausage. Once the thighs have cooled, cut to desired bite size.

I find browning the meats in this order really helps reduce the amount of oil needed, stacks the flavors perfectly, and allows your time to be utilized to the fullest.

*COOKING NOTE: If you choose to use shrimp, there will be no need to brown prior to putting this dish together for it’s final cook (will make sense in a minute). However, you will want to season the shrimp ahead of time with a cajun seasoning blend – do that now if using.

Since the seasoning vegetables are going to cook down a good bit, chop them rather than dice.

Now that your pot has all the drippings from browning your meats, turn the heat down to more of a medium heat, throw in 1/2 of the onions you’ve chopped and a splash of chicken broth. You’re going to be amazed at how much flavor is actually sitting on the bottom of that pot!! And don’t worry, it’s going to be dark but shouldn’t be burnt.

You’re only adding 1/2 of the onions at this point for a reason. By doing this, it allows some of the onions to start building your base while the next addition of onions will give the presence of veggies throughout the dish. THIS is what my cousin taught me and I must say, it’s a great way to start building your jambalaya!

The initial cooking of onions should take about 15 minutes. Be sure to stir often to prevent sticking. Once they have started to brown nicely, add in the rest of the onions, celery, bell pepper, garlic and the whites of the green onions. This will take an additional 15 minutes to become tender.

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At this point, add 1 1/2 cups of chicken broth and all additional seasonings with the exception of the green part of the green onions. Cook this over medium heat for 30 minutes (or until reduced by 1/2).

During this time, check the country style ribs for doneness. The ribs should be ready roughly an hour after they have been placed in the oven. Remove and slice to desired size.

Before putting everything together, heat the chicken broth on the stove in a separate pot. This is important to help reduce the chance of over cooking the rice. Another great tip to reduce ‘sticky’ rice, rinse the rice before cooking.

Now, all that’s left is to remove the bay leaves and put everything together! Turn the heat to high and add the meats, the chopped green onion tops, the rinsed uncooked rice, and heated chicken stock. Once this comes to a boil, turn the heat to medium/low, cover and cook.

NOTE: If you were adding medium sized shrimp, this is when you’d add them to your dish. Smaller shrimp could be added 10 minutes after bringing to a boil.

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DO NOT OPEN THE LID! Let this cook for 15 minutes before checking. Removing the lid will cause the temperature to drop in your pot which will can cause the rice to be undercooked. Crunchy rice is not pleasant, keep the lid closed!

At the 15 minute mark, check only to make sure you have some remaining liquid to complete the cooking process. If it looks dry, add a small amount of liquid. Continue to cook for 3 minutes, check for the rice the be cooked through then remove from the heat.

I personally like my jambalaya a little ‘wet’. I don’t care for a ‘dry’ rice but if you do, reduce the stock by about 1/4 cup. Yes, that much makes a difference. Reducing it too much may cause scorching on the bottom.