Spicy Cajun Chicken and Sausage Jambalaya

Submitted by SueVM

"I found this recipe in a Mr. Foods magazine and it has become a family favorite. Do use a spicy sausage for this dish as I have found using just plain pork sausage meat does not work as well."

 

• Ready In: 1hr
• Ingredients: 20
• Serves: 8-10

ingredients

• 1⁄4 cup butter (1/2 stick)
• 1 onion, coarsely chopped
• 1 green bell pepper, seeded and coarsely chopped
• 3 celery ribs, coarsely chopped
• 5 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 1⁄2 lbs shrimp, peeled and deveined
• 1 1⁄2 lbs boneless skinless chicken breasts, cut into 1 1/2-inch cubes
• 3 bay leaves
• 1 teaspoon dried thyme
• 1⁄2 teaspoon paprika
• 2 (28 ounce) cans stewed tomatoes
• 1 cup chicken broth
• 1⁄4 cup Worcestershire sauce
• 1 -3 teaspoon hot pepper sauce, to taste
• 1⁄2 lb precooked spicy andouille sausage, cut into 1/2-inch cubes
• 1⁄2 lb smoked ham, cut into 1/2-inch cubes
• 1⁄2 lb crawfish, peeled (optional)
• 1 bunch scallion, coarsely chopped
• 2 pinches salt (or to taste)
• 3 cups uncooked long-grain white rice

directions

1. In a large pot melt butter over medium-high heat.
2. Add onion, bell pepper, celery, garlic and saute 5 minutes stirring often.
3. Add shrimp, chicken bay leaves and thyme. Reduce heat to medium and cook for 10 minutes or until chicken is no longer pink inside and the shrimp is opaque.
4. Stir in paprika until thoroughly mixed with other ingredients.
5. Stir in tomatoes, chicken broth, worcestershire sauce and hot sauce until well mixed.
6. Add sausage and ham stirring well. Add crawfish (if using) and cook over medium-high heat until the liquid returns to a boil.
7. Stir in scallions, salt and rice. Reduce heat to low, cover with lid and cook 30 minutes or until the rice is tender.
8. Serve with fresh crusty french bread.

Reviews

[lazy gourmet]

Wow, this was great. The smell in the house was worth five stars alone! I used less shrimp than called for and more chicken just out of personal preference and some oregano and cayenne pepper too. I halved the recipe and still came out with way more than we could eat. This is a keeper, thanks for posting!

 

[nodjcbgs]

This is Creole, not Cajun. True Cajun dishes do not contain tomatoes.

 

[JanetteBurkes]

This is an awesome recipe! I omitted the crawfish and shrimp and added more sausage to it along with some red pepper flakes and it was delicious! I also saved some of the chopped scallions to garnish on top. It was perfect and gave it just enough added crunch. My family enjoyed it better than the normal Zatarans Jambalaya that I usually cook and it makes a lot of food! Leftovers were highly welcomed the next day!

 

[Tina A.]

This was a great recipe. Spicy and delicious. It took more time to prep than I expected. I used a hot and spicy sausage that wasn't cooked yet. I also added lime to the recipe which made it even better. I added some Cajun seasoning and cayenne to the chicken to flavor if more. Yummy!!

 

[KateL]

Very nice jambalaya, more authentic than our previous "go-to". Given the choice of 1-3 teaspoons hot pepper sauce, I used 1 tsp. Tabasco sauce, and that yielded 1-alarm spice level, much to DH's liking. This recipe used my 6 1/2 quart Le Creuset pot to advantage. I saved 2 full 2-serving dinners and 1 single serving dinner (which I had counted on!). DH requested that I cut the Andouille (Aidell's pork Cajun Style Andouille) into coins in the future so he could find them and evaluate their contribution better. We love jambalaya, so I bought Spanish Jamon Serrano for its superior taste for the smoked ham; it was easily distinguishable in its 1/2" cubes. In our house this recipe was considered an act of love. We will definitely make this again! Made for I Recommend tag game based on Karen Elizabeth's review.