Quick and Easy Dinner-
If you have had a busy day, this One Pot Chicken and Sausage Jambalaya is so easy to prepare and cooks in one pot. Hooray for fewer dishes to wash! You will even make your own spice blend, so there is no need for store bought creole seasoning.
Some days, it’s nice to have something to cook for dinner that checks off all the boxes: easy, filling, quick cooking, minimal cleanup. This recipe does all that! Sometimes you just have one of those days. You know the kind I’m referring to. The one where you just want to order takeout. In the amount of time it takes you to decide what to order and wait for it to be ready for pickup you can have this on the table! With two kids around the house, sometimes things get a little out of hand and before I know it, I have to make dinner. I like having a few quick cooking dishes in my arsenal, and this one is terrific.
The richness of the chicken thighs pairs nicely with the smoked sausage, and there are enough veggies to have some in every bite. This is just the kind of meal I like to have at the end of a hectic day that I may not be in the mood to whip up something extravagant. It’s also a nice meal after a not so busy day.
The Spice Blend
This is easy to make yourself, and you likely have all of these spices in your kitchen already. I have two children who are not big into spice, so I have made this fairly mild. If it were up to me, this would be spicy enough to blow the top of my head off. If you want it hotter, just increase the amount of cayenne pepper a bit and you should be good to go. The amount of ingredients used is enough for one recipe (this yields around one tablespoon of spice blend, just enough for one recipe), but you can always double or triple this to have extra on hand if you know you’ll make this again soon.
Recipe Tips
You shouldn’t substitute the chicken thighs for breasts. The thighs hold up really well to braising, and don’t have the tendency to dry out the way chicken breasts can.
You can use andouille sausage instead of the smoked sausage, especially if you would like more heat.
If you don’t have any chicken stock, you can use water instead but the flavor of the overall dish won’t be quite the same.
You can certainly try substituting brown rice for the white, but it will likely increase the cooking time.
To save even more time, you can chop the vegetables and prepare the seasoning blend ahead of time.
If you can find fire roasted crushed tomatoes, definitely use them here. They provide more depth of flavor than the regular variety.
Serving Suggestions
I like to serve this with a nice green salad and some cornbread. My favorite cornbread recipe is Perfect Corn Muffins from Smitten Kitchen. If you want to make this Jambalaya vegetarian you can try replacing the chicken and sausage with extra vegetables, and use vegetable broth. This reheats quite well if you find yourself with some leftovers. The Jambalaya yields four very generous servings, but if you are serving a side or dessert you can get six servings.
I hope this recipe is one you add to your rotation of easy meals. For another great easy meal idea, try my Easy Beef and Rice Skillet with Fresh Guacamole. This recipe is also featured on CookBlogShare, hosted by Chloe at Feast Glorious Feast. If you liked this, please let me know and share with your friends. We all love easy recipes! Enjoy, and Happy Cooking!
One Pot Chicken and Sausage Jambalaya
Ingredients
For the Jambalaya
- 3 boneless skinless chicken thighs
- 1 tbsp avocado oil
- 1 tbsp salt, divided
- 2 1/2 tsp pepper, divided
- 1 pound smoked sausage, sliced
- 1 medium onion, diced large
- 1 large red bell pepper, diced large
- 2 celery stalks, sliced
- 2 cloves garlic, chopped
- 2 cups chicken stock
- 1/2 cup canned crushed tomatoes
- Seasoning blend, recipe below
- 1 cup dried long grain white rice
For the Seasoning Blend
- 1 1/2 tsp dried oregano
- 1 tsp paprika
- 1/2 tsp dried thyme
- 1/4 tsp onion powder
- 1/8 tsp cayenne pepper
Instructions
- In a large dutch oven, heat the oil on medium high heat. Use 1 teaspoon of the salt and 1 tsp of the pepper to season the boneless skinless chicken thighs. Cook thighs until browned, about 3 to 5 minutes each side.
- While the chicken is browning, combine all spices for the seasoning blend in a small bowl and set aside.
- Once chicken is browned, remove from the dutch oven and put on a plate and wrap tightly with foil and set aside.
- Add the onion, red bell pepper, celery, smoked sausage, chopped garlic, remaining salt and pepper, long grain rice, and seasoning blend to the pan and saute until onion is translucent and sausage begins to brown and the spices are fragrant, about 5 minutes.
- Add the chicken stock, crushed tomato, and chicken thighs to the dutch oven and bring to a boil. Cover the pot, reduce heat to medium and cook for 15 to 20 minutes (check after 15 minutes), until the rice has absorbed the liquid. Once it's done cooking, use two forks to shred the chicken thighs before serving. It's that easy!
Notes
For extra heat, more cayenne may be added or andouille sausage can replace the smoked sausage.
Nutrition Information:
Yield:
6Serving Size:
1Amount Per Serving: Calories: 437Total Fat: 29gSaturated Fat: 9gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 17gCholesterol: 117mgSodium: 2115mgCarbohydrates: 17gFiber: 2gSugar: 5gProtein: 26g
All information presented and written within this site are intended for informational purposes only. I am not a certified nutritionist or registered dietitian and any nutritional information should only be used as a general guideline. Statements within this site have not been evaluated or approved by the Food and Drug Administration. Nutritional information is provided for recipes contained on this site. This information comes from online calculators. Although The Copper Table attempts to provide accurate nutritional information, these figures are only estimates.
Total yum! I love jambalaya and plus you make it in one pot–thank you! I love to cook but the clean up is not my kind of thing to do. 🙂 One pot dishes are a win-win for me.
Thank you Gina! I love one pot meals as well, especially the clean up part 🙂
Love this! Jambalaya is one of my favourite things to eat. I’m definitely going to try your spice blend too – I’m not a lover of store-bought blends – they can be overly spicy sometimes.
I agree Veronica! It is so much easier to control the flavor when you make your own spice blend, and I find that most store bought blends contain quite a bit of salt.
Love the flavours and that it’s a one pot wonder! Lovely and warming comfort food.
Thank you Carrie!
You’re speaking my language! I love a one-pot recipe and this is a cracker!
Thank you Janice! I love one pot recipes as well!
Sounds delicious – I’m adding smoked sausage to my shopping list now!
I hope you enjoy this recipe Chloe! Its a favorite of mine!
That looks absolutely divine! I’m featuring you when the next To Grandma’s house we go Wednesday link party starts – thanks for sharing with us!