Pressure Cooker Jambalaya with Chicken and Sausage
Time for another virtual trip to the bayou!
Jambalaya, the creole classic rice dish, seemed like a natural for the pressure cooker. Sauté some chicken with the New Orleans trinity of onions, celery, and bell pepper, stir in rice, broth, and tomatoes, and pressure cook until the rice is cooked. It seems so straightforward, but it kept giving me problems.
Traditional recipes go with equal amounts of rice and broth, so that’s where I started – 2 cups of rice and 2 cups of chicken broth. No good – the rice absorbs all the water, and my Instant Pot goes into overheat mode. (That means the mixture is too thick, and the food at the bottom of the pot is sticking and burning.)
I scrape the bottom of the pot clean with my trusty flat edged wooden spoon, add another cup of water, lock the lid, set the timer, and…overheat mode again. Grr. Open the lid, scrape the pot, add another 2 cups of water…still overheating! Every time I added more water, the rice absorbed it, and the thick mixture would stick to the bottom of the pot. 2
Finally, I remembered what I learned adding pasta to the pressure cooker pot – a little goes a long way. I cut back to one cup of rice, and voila – it works the first time.
I have my jambalaya recipe, and I’m ready for Fat Tuesday!
Inspired by: Emeril Lagasse: Andouille and Chicken Jambalaya [emerils.com]
Video: Pressure Cooker Jambalaya with Chicken and Sausage (1:23)
Pressure Cooker Jambalaya – Time Lapse [YouTube.com]
Pressure Cooker Jambalaya with Chicken and Sausage
- Prep Time: 15 min
- Cook Time: 45 min
- Total Time: 1 hour
- Yield: 6-8 servings 1x
Print Recipe
Pin RecipeDescription
Pressure Cooker Jambalaya with Chicken and Sausage – A taste of New Orleans in a one pot pressure cooker meal.
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
- 1 1/2 pound boneless, skinless chicken breast, cut into 1 inch chunks
- 1 tablespoon Cajun seasoning (store bought is fine)
- 1 large onion, minced
- 1 bell pepper, minced
- 1 stalk celery, minced
- 4 cloves garlic, crushed
- 1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt (or kosher salt)
- 1 teaspoon Cajun seasoning
- 1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
- 1 pound smoked sausage, sliced 1/2 inch thick (andouille sausage is best if you can find it)
- 1 cup white wine (or water)
- 1 cup long-grain rice
- 2 cups chicken broth (or water)
- 14– to 15- ounce can petite diced tomatoes
- 1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt (or kosher salt)
- 1 teaspoon Tabasco sauce
- 1 bay leaf
- 1 green onion, sliced thin
Instructions
- Brown the chicken: Heat 1 tablespoon of olive oil in the pressure cooker pot over medium heat until shimmering (sauté mode in my Instant Pot). Sprinkle the cubed chicken with 1 tablespoon cajun seasoning, then add to the pot. Cook the chicken, without moving, until it is browned on the bottom, about 3 minutes.
- Sauté the aromatics, add everything to the pot: Stir in the onions, bell pepper, celery, and garlic into the pot, then sprinkle with 1/2 teaspoon salt and 1 teaspoon Cajun seasoning. Stir in the smoked sausage slices, then sauté, scraping the bottom of the pot with a wooden spoon to loosen any browned chicken bits, until the onion turns translucent, about 5 minutes. Pour in the white wine and bring to a simmer. Simmer the wine for 1 minute. Stir in the rice, and water. Pour the diced tomatoes on top, but don’t stir. Float the bay leaf on top.
- Pressure cook the jambalaya: Lock the lid and pressure cook on high pressure for 4 minutes in an electric or stovetop PC. Let the pressure come down naturally, about 15 minutes.
- Serve: Unlock the lid and open the pot, lifting the lid away from you to avoid the hot steam. Discard the bay leaf, then stir the jambalaya to fluff up the rice. Scoop into serving bowls, sprinkle with the minced green onions, and serve, passing Tabasco sauce at the table.
Notes
- Fits in a 6 quart or larger pressure cooker (I love my Instant Pot Electric Pressure Cooker )
- You really should get a Flat edged wooden spoon, one of my favorite kitchen tools
- Category: Weeknight Dinner
- Method: Pressure Cooker
- Cuisine: American
Pressure Cooker Jambalaya with Chicken and Sausage
What do you think?
Questions? Other ideas? Leave them in the comments section below.
Related Posts
Pressure Cooker Red Beans and Rice
Pressure Cooker Shrimp Etouffee
Pressure Cooker Chicken Gumbo
My other Pressure Cooker Recipes
My other Pressure Cooker Time Lapse Videos
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Tomatoes in jambalaya is a point of contention in Louisiana. The traditional Cajun (country) jambalaya is brown with no tomato. Creole versions found in New Orleans will often have tomatoes.
I’ve done both and like them, but the no-tomato crowd can be vociferous.
Oh, goody. Now I have both Texas “No Beans in Chili” AND Louisiana “No Tomatoes in Jambalaya” mad at me.
LOL! I’m a Texan whose parents were born in Vermont. I make my chili with beans. but i ramp up the heat and no one argues with me…. stick to yer guns dude!!!!! 🙂 trying this jambalaya. Thanks for posting it!
Do you think you can double this and still have it fit in the 6 quart IP? We want the leftovers! Thanks.
Not in the 6 quart. This recipe is already close to the max fill line.
I just made this last night and it was delicious and came out perfectly. I did cut the Cajun spice in 1/2 since my crew has more sensitive palates. It still had a kick even with that. Thank you for a ‘keeper’ in my house!
Looking forward to trying this, but I have a question…
How much liquid should I withhold if not including the rice? I want to serve this with riced cauliflower, which I imagine would disappear if cooked under pressure. I know the rice will suck up a lot of the liquid when cooked, so I’m afraid it will be too watery when leaving out the rice. Any ideas? Thanks
Try it with one cup of liquid – or whatever the minimum liquid amount is for your pressure cooker.
I made this with apple juice instead of the white wine, added okra and had a bigger can of tomatoes. Oh my gosh, this was perfect!! My family loved it. The rice was perfect! Thanks for this awesome recipe!
★★★★★
You’re welcome!
I made this today and it tastes wonderful!
If I add brown rice would I still use the same amount of water? Thank you.
Same amount of water and rice; cook for 20 minutes under pressure, like I do here: https://www.dadcooksdinner.com/pressure-cooker-brown-jasmine-rice/
Made this today and used 1 pound chicken breast, 1 pound smoked sausage and 1 pound raw shrimp. I just added the shrimp along with the sausage when the recipe called for it. Everything else was the same and it turned out great. Thank you for a great recipe.
★★★★★
Another DCD winner in our house! This is the easiest and yummiest jambalaya recipe I’ve ever made! Two thumbs up from my La.-native hubby and both our kids. Thanks for helping me love my Instant Pot.
★★★★★
This Jambalaya recipe was good. I made it for tonight for Fat Tuesday and my company loved it. Thanks for posting it.
Maybe it’s just me, the PC (pressure cooker) novice, but where do you get 45 minutes cooking time? The instructions say to cook under pressure for 4 minutes and release naturally (15 mins). Even with the sauteeing it’s nowhere near 45 minutes. So do I cook under pressure for 40 minutes, 4 minutes, or what? Thanks.
About: 3 minutes to heat the oil until shimmering, 3 minutes to brown the chicken, 5 minutes to saute the onions, 3 minutes to bring the wine to a simmer, 1 minute to simmer the wine. (Add everything and lock the lid.) Up to pressure – 5 to 10 minutes. 4 minutes cooking at high pressure. Natural pressure release of about 15 minutes. 3+3+5+3+1+10+4+15 = 44 minutes. (I rounded up to 45 minutes.)
I am the worst at actually leaving reviews, but this recipe is too good not to! Yum!! The only thing I did different was I used a 28 oz can of tomatoes because it’s what I had and I didn’t want to waste half the can. But it still turned out great and I will make this again!
Kudos to you on this *winner* recipe!! Seriously delicious. Made the recipe with tiny tweaks only. Used Hillshaire Farm hot smoked sausage (what we could get). Used Noilly Prat dry vermouth instead of white wine (what I had handy, and a few decades ago, I think Julia Child sanctioned the substitute). Cut the chicken broth to 1 1/2 cups because my green bell and onion were big. Penzeys was our Cajun seasoning.
★★★★★
I love the Julia Child substitution of dry vermouth for white wine – I’ve used it myself many times.
★★★★★
Made this tonight and quite liked it. I’m accommodating a low-sodium diet, so o skipped the salt and replaced the pre-mixed cajun seasoning with a combination of smoked paprika, garlic powder, onion powder, white pepper, ancho chili powder and oregano. All added generously by feel. Flavor came out great, the saltiness of the sausage was plenty to carry the whole dish.
I used long grain brown rice and even reducing the liquid to 2 cups it came out quite soupy. No complaints, but if you like it thick maybe stick to white rice or reduce the liquid by half.
★★★★
Made this tonight and it was perfect. So easy to make a was amazing. I did not add the extra salt and it came out great.
★★★★★