Do you know that feeling right before your weekly shop is due when you've pretty much run out of most things? You also realise you won't be able to go shopping until tomorrow (oops) but family needs feeding! What do you make? Well it is One Pot Smoked Sausage Jambalaya in my house! It is a perfect family dinner where you can use whatever veg and meat/seafood you've got lurking in your fridge. You could really call it "Fridge Clear-out Jambalaya" instead! 🙂
Jambalaya is usually associated with Cajun or Creole flavours and you can use ready made Cajun Spice mix for this recipe if you wish. However, I do find them quite spicy due to the addition of cayenne pepper. I prefer to control the level of heat myself considering my two munchkins. Hence with this dish, we tend to use our favourite chilli sauce as a final condiment at the table and keep it "heat free" for the kids! I've based my dish around smoked paprika flavour which again isn't very authentic but I just love the stuff so there you go!
On this occasion I decided to go for brown rice when making my jambalaya just to make it a bit more nutritious and also as I have quite a stash of this lovely grain and needed to run it down a bit. 😉 I must say, it isn't the easiest rice to cook but I find my method of rinsing and cooking it in double the volume of the liquid to rice works really well. The final result is a rice with a tiny bit of bite which I find perfect. If you prefer your rice softer than by no means extend the cooking time but bear in mind you mind need to add more liquid (water or stock) as required.
You might want to consider making your own chicken stock to use here. It really couldn't be easier and you can have a nice stash in your freezer to take out and use whenever you need. Check out my guide on How To Make Chicken Stock in Instant Pot (with instructions for hob/stovetop users too)!
My recipe here wasn't planned at all and is the perfect example of "something from nothing" dish. I would recommend treating this recipe as a "template" which you can change according to your flavour preferences and of course the content of your fridge & cupboards. Feel free to play around with herbs and spices as well even if that means going away from Cajun territory of flavours lol. Perhaps you'd rather use sweet paprika instead of smoked (now that would be, in fact, authentic) and make it more herby by using mixed herbs or herbs de provence. Try using leeks instead of onions, red pepper instead of green or perhaps chorizo & prawns instead of smoked sausage. Your fridge and cupboards are your oyster, choose whatever you like or needs using up!
Some other recipes you might enjoy:
One Pot Leftover Ham and Pea Pasta
Butternut Squash & Chorizo Risotto
Easy Prawn and Chorizo Cheat's Paella
Now to the recipe itself!
One Pot Smoked Sausage Jambalaya
Ingredients
- 300 g brown rice rinsed in cold water
- 227 g pack smoked pork sausage ready to eat type (sliced)
- 1 red onion finely chopped
- 3 garlic cloves finely chopped minced
- 1 leftover broccoli stalk finely chopped optional
- 2 celery sticks sliced
- 1 green pepper deseeded and sliced into strips
- 1 bay leaf
- 1.5 heaped tsp smoked paprika
- 1 tsp oregano
- 1 tsp thyme
- 1 heaped tbsp tomato puree
- 750 mls chicken stock from cube is fine
- 100 g each frozen peas and sweetcorn or whatever frozen veg you've got to hand
- Spring onions as garnish optional
- salt pepper, oil
Instructions
- Start with chopping all your vegetables either by hand or in food processor.
- Pour a glug of oil into casserole pan with a lid and on a medium heat sweat the onion, broccoli stalk, celery and garlic until softened. Stir the veg frequently not allowing it to brown too much.
- Add sliced pepper and sausage and cook these together for another couple of minutes or so until they start to catch a bit of colour on the edges.
- Add your herbs and spices (bay leaf, smoked paprika, thyme and oregano) and cook for another minute or so until they release their lovely fragrance.
- Add rinsed brown rice and stir well.
- Follow with tomato puree and chicken stock.
- Bring everything on to boil, lower the heat and simmer covered for about 40 minutes.
- Keep checking on your rice now and then and give it a bit of a stir. You might have to add a bit more stock/water towards the end depending on how al dente you like your rice.
- Approx 5-10 minutes before the end of cooking add your frozen vegetables, stir well and cook (still covered) until the remaining time is up.
- Check and adjust seasoning to your taste (salt, pepper), sprinkle over some spring onions if using and serve.
- Enjoy!
Pin For Later!
I’m linking my One Pot Smoked Sausage Jambalaya with the following pages:
Cook Blog Share hosted this week by Kirsty at Hijacked By Twins and by Jacqui at Recipes Made Easy
Cook Once Eat Twice hosted by Corina at Searching for Spice
Brilliant Blog Posts hosted by Vicki at Honest Mum Blog
Michelle Frank | Flipped-Out Food says
Haha, I love the one-pot "clear-out-the-fridge" strategy. I'm also a big fan of Cajun food, so this is happening in the near future! Isn't it great to be able to pull together something out of nothing from your pantry?! Brilliant! #CookOnceEatTwice
joskitchenlarder says
Aw, thanks Michelle! 🙂 Something out of nothing is definitely a great strategy especially if you try to limit waste. It is also super satisfying and I feel very smug every time lol x
Kirsty Hijacked By Twins says
My lot would love this for dinner! I am definitely going to bookmark to try. Thank you for sharing with #CookBlogShare x
joskitchenlarder says
Thanks Kirsty! It is a perfect family feast indeed. x
jenny walters says
I love this and feel inspired to give it a go. My son is so picky it is so hard to cook things that he likes. He dreads tea times as much as I now! It makes me sad!!But he does like rice so I'm going to try it with normal sausage,one of his faves,fingers crossed!!xx
joskitchenlarder says
It's not easy with picky eaters is it! My boys change their likes and dislikes almost daily (well the youngest one does) which drives me potty cause when I finally think I got him sussed he then completely changes his mind. I really hope my jambalaya work for you and your boy! Good luck and please report back! xx
Eb Gargano | Easy Peasy Foodie says
This recipe is just brilliant - love the flavours...and love that it can be used to clear out the fridge at the end of the week! Makes a nice change to stir-fry which is my go to fridge clearer. Totally agree with you about leaving the spice mix out and adding extra spice for the grown ups at the end...I do that a lot. I usually add my own spice blends up to the level my kids can cope with and then the grown ups can add extra chilli if required (though to be honest, my kids do so well now, they've pretty much got up to my level!!) Eb x
joskitchenlarder says
Thanks Eb! We do jazz things up with noodle stir fry as well if we don't fancy rice. It's so cool you've build up your kiddies spice threshold lol. My 6 year old is pretty good I must say but my little one struggles. He says something is spicy even if it really isn't so definitely work in progress with him 🙂 x
Corina Blum says
This sounds delicious and it is a great way to use up any extra items lurking in the fridge. I always have chorizo in the fridge and as you say, that would go really well too. Thanks so much for sharing with #CookOnceEatTwice x
joskitchenlarder says
Thank you! 🙂 Chorizo was my second choice as had it in the fridge as well but settled for smoked sausage for a little change. It's such an adaptable dish. x