What is Jambalaya?
Jambalaya is a creole dish of rice with meat, seafood and spices and it’s delicious! It’s name comes from a word that means “a mix up” or “mash up” and that describes Jambalaya perfectly. It does usually contain meat and that meat usually includes a spicy sausage of some kind. From there, you’ll find lots of variations of meats included – chicken, shrimp, crawfish, pork. There are probably as many versions of this dish as there are cooks. That gives you free rein to swap the meats and seafood in this recipe for whatever you’d like.
Instant Jambalaya
The beauty of this recipe for Jambalaya is how quickly you can pull it together. Once you’ve browned the meats, the dish cooks in the pressure cooker for 5 minutes, that’s all! Then, you release the pressure from the pressure cooker using a quick release method and stir in the shrimp. The residual heat from the piping hot rice is enough to cook the shrimp through – just make sure they are defrosted before you add them to the pot. Cooking the shrimp this way ensures that they stay tender.
This looks yummy! I just need some clarification, please. When do you add in the browned meats to finish cooking? Am I reading the shrimp will cook by the heat, in/by the covered pot, after all the other ingredients finished PC and quick released? Thanks so much
Hi Patti,
The browned meats go into the pot just before pressure cooking. Then, yes, the shrimp cooks from the intense heat right after you quick-release the pressure. It sits in there for 8 minutes and comes out perfectly.
Instapot would not make pressure after I completed step #3. After about 10 minutes the ” burn ” message came on. I opened pot, stirred and tried again. Ply built up pressure but never started timer. Quick release after 15 minutes. Put shrimp in for 8 minutes per recipe. Jambalaya turned out great. I put the chicken and sausage in after step #3. When should I have put it in? Maybe that’s the problem?.??
Hi Charles,
The browned meats do go back in in step 3, so you did that right. What might have gone wrong is the time you set. This only cooks for 5 minutes, not 15 minutes. Then, the shrimp goes into the mix and cooks with the residual heat.
Quick, easy, and delicious! All of Meredith’s recipes that I’ve tried so far have been this way.
Everything was good except the rice. We followed the instructions, but used the Ninja Foodie instead. Had to put everything back in for an additional 5 minutes with slow release.
Hi Dudley, did you by chance use brown rice instead of white rice? Brown rice takes about three times as long to cook than white rice and could have been the trouble.
I have your cookbook and this was almost exactly like the gumbo and rice recipe only the recipe in the cookbook called for four cups of stock (beef) instead of two. The rice had completely absorbed the stock and was perfect. I’m not sure that two cups of stock would have been enough. For me, I’m going to keep doing it as the cookbook called, with four cups. I also left off the shrimp (the hubby is allergic). I will definitely make this again!!!
Made this tonight and it was amazing!! Super easy and so much flavor!! Thank you so much, I didn’t change a thing!! Husband gave it 5 stars!
Great recipe. Easy to follow. Amounts worked great for me. I got the burn message also. I just figured I missed the timer beeping. Shrimp cooked perfectly.
I made this last evening and it was delicious. The shrimp cooked perfectly. For those who are getting a burn notice it is because you forgot to deglaze the pan after browning the sausage and chicken. I used 1/4 cup out of the 2-cups of chicken broth or maybe you could use the diced tomato juice to dissolve all those delicious brown pieces stuck to the bottom. Give this a try we all had seconds!!
Hi Meredith, can you give instructions for cooking on stove top as i do not have a pressure cooker…..am afraid of them as one exploded with my mom cooking with it when i was little and that stayed with me. If there is an alternate cooking, please give it to me! Thanks!!!
Hi Zita. If cooking on the stovetop, use a straight sided sauté pan with a lid. Follow steps 1 and 2, but increase the chicken stock to 2¾ cups. Cover with the lid and simmer on the stovetop for 20 minutes without lifting the lid. Then, check the rice for doneness. Then add ¼ cup of stock and the shrimp, nestling it into the rice and continue on low heat with the lid on for another 5 minutes.
Meridith, how would this be cooked stovetop? I do not have an Instapot, only slow cooker & recently an air fryer because I see so many of your recipes for air frying. I bought a small one. I do have a dutch oven. Thank you.
If cooking on the stovetop, use a straight sided sauté pan with a lid. Follow steps 1 and 2, but increase the chicken stock to 2¾ cups. Cover with the lid and simmer on the stovetop for 20 minutes without lifting the lid. Then, check the rice for doneness. Then add ¼ cup of stock and the shrimp, nestling it into the rice and continue on low heat with the lid on for another 5 minutes.
This recipe is so yummy! Husband brought left overs to work and everyone said it smelled so good! Really like using only one pan to make a complete meal.
I did this last night, was lovely but found it needed a little extra stock once it was stirred as was slightly “claggy”. Only added approx. 100ml but that did the trick x
Can I half this recipe and make it in my 3 qt mini instapot? Would it be the same time frame? I so want to try this! 😊 Thank you!
Hi Theresa. Yes – the timing would be the same regardless of how much you make. Halving the recipe should work in your 3 qt. mini.
ML