Slow Cooker Jambalaya, with chucks of chicken and andouille sausage and lots of shrimp, is a super flavorful one dish meal. Since Mardi Gras is just around the corner, my belly has been craving all those wonderful New Orleans foods.
It’s a southern favorite that does really well in a slow cooker.
I’m especially excited about Mardi Gras this year because guess what??!!
I’m going!!
(Note: This post was originally published January 9,2017.)
I haven’t been to Mardi Gras since I was a student at Tulane University and that was over 20 years ago. It’s going to be so much fun.
Jambalaya is one of my favorite foods from New Orleans. I love making this Crawfish Jambalaya, but for years I’ve been wanting to try a Slow Cooker Jambalaya. This was my first attempt, and I was really happy with how it turned out.
This Jambalaya has so many layers of flavors.
For some tomato flavor (I like a tomato-y Jambalaya), I used both diced tomatoes and tomato paste. For the liquid, I used a can of beef broth. You could use chicken broth instead, but I like the deeper flavor that beef broth has.
For flavoring, I of course started with the Holy Trinity– onion, green pepper, and celery. Then I added garlic, bay leaves, oregano, basil, Cajun seasoning, Tabasco sauce, cayenne pepper, and Worcestershire to round out the flavors.
Recipe Tips
To prevent a mushy mess, I cooked the rice separately but used the cooking liquid from the crock pot to cook it in so that the rice soaked up all that flavor that had been simmering away in the crock pot.
Don’t overcook the shrimp. The shrimp only need to go in the slow cooker for the last 30 minutes. Overcooked shrimp have a rubbery texture.
★★★★★
What readers are saying
Delicious!! My Husband has been wanting me to try and make Jambalaya since he went to Louisiana for a work trip. I have been nervous to attempt it until I found this recipe. He loved it!!
What Size Slow Cooker To Use?
A 6-quart slow cooker is the perfect size, but a slightly larger one will work too.
How Many People Does It Serve?
This recipe makes a big crock pot full of Jambalaya. Six very large servings or if you serve it with plenty of bread and maybe a salad, you could probably stretch it to 10.
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Storage
Leftovers will keep in an airtight container in the refrigerator for 3 days. Shrimp are highly perishable and I really don’t like to keep them for longer than 3 days.
Pin this now to find it later
Pin ItMore Slow Cooker Recipes To Try
- Slow Cooker Mississippi Pork Chops
- Slow Cooker Low Country Boil
- Crock Pot Cubed Steak and Gravy
- Slow Cooker Cajun Chicken Alfredo with Sausage
More Jambalaya Recipes
- Crawfish Jambalaya
- Instant Pot Jambalaya
- Paul Prudhomme’s Chicken and Tasso Jambalaya
- Jambalaya Stuffed Peppers
- Spaghetti Squash Jambalaya
Slow Cooker Jambalaya
Ingredients
- 1 (14.5-ounce) can diced tomatoes
- 1 (14.5-ounce) can beef broth
- 1 (8-ounce) can tomato paste
- 2 bay leaves
- 2 teaspoons dried basil
- 1 1/2 teaspoons dried oregano
- 1/2 teaspoon Tony Chachere’s Creole Seasoning
- 1/2 teaspoon Tabasco sauce
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
- 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
- 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
- 1 medium onion, chopped
- 1 green bell pepper, seeded and chopped
- 2 celery ribs, chopped
- 4 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 pound Andouille sausage, or use kielbasa, cut into slices
- 2 chicken breasts, cut into 1-inch pieces
- 1/2 pound shrimp, peeled and deveined
- 1 1/2 cup white rice
- 1 tablespoon chopped fresh parsley
Instructions
- Combine 1st 12 ingredients in a 6-quart slow cookerand stir to combine.
- Add onion, green pepper, celery, garlic, sausage, and chicken. Stir to combine.
- Cover crock pot and cook on LOW 4 to 5 hours.
- Set a larger strainer/sieve over a large bowl and pour about 75% of liquid in the crock pot through strainer. You should have about 3 cups to cook the rice in. Add water to get 3 cups if necessary.
- Return all solids to crock pot. Stir in parsley and shrimp. Cover crock pot and cook on LOW 30 minutes.
- Meanwhile, bring the 3 cups of liquid to a boil. Stir in rice and cook according to package directions.
- Add cooked rice to slow cooker and mix in. Serve.
Video
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Originally published January 9, 2017.
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This is an easy and delicious recipe. My husband loves it so much that I double the recipe so we have lunch the next day.
This dish came out wonderful! Thank you for sharing this recipe!
Will a double batch fit in a 6 qt slow cooker?
My family loves this recipe! I add 2-14 oz cans diced tomatoes green onions if I have them and 1 Ilbs shrimp. This recipe does lack a few key ingredients that a true cajun flavor has so you can either purchase the ready made seasoning and add it (prob about 1 TBLS) or add the missing spices to round out your Jambalaya. Missing Ingredients: Garlic Powder Chili Powder Thyme and Sweet Basil. You’ll need to play around with the measurements as I have not taken the time to do it myself. Good luck and happy eating!
It was really tasty. One lesson learned – I cooked for 4.5 hours and added rice and shrimp. My guests arrived 3 hours delayed, by that time it was too mushy – yet very tasteful. Also, there was no liquid at all. Next time i will make sure i add cooked rice and shrimp only about 30 minutes before serving. Thank you for the recipe.
Me parece un platillo espectacular, amo preparar platos con camarones y esta receta me inspiró mucho a seguir mejorando en la cocina!!
Éxitos y muchas gracias por compartir!!
Thank you for taking the time to share this. There’s no reason to be negative on here people, she took the time to post this when you didn’t. If you don’t like it, don’t eat it….. i will continue as many other people will continue to eat this, while many of you above will continue to be a piece of $h!t
People that are from Louisiana, is not knocking the recipe they just want to include some main ingredients that was left out of this jambalaya dish. So your out of line with your comments of using the shit word. I think you should check yourself before adding comments to a post.
Pray and ask forgiveness for your ignorance .
Adjusted this for the instant pot. Using the sauté feature, I sautéed all the veggies, chicken, and sausage. I then added all the other ingredients (except the shrimp and rice) and cooked on manual for 12 mins with a quick release. I reserved 1.5 cups of liquid and turned on the sauté feature and poached the shrimp. Once the shrimp was cooked I removed the contents to another pot to set aside. I added the reserved 1.5 cups of liquid to the instant pot with 1.5 cups of uncooked rice and cooked on manual for 3 minutes. I quick released after 13 mins. Mixed the rice with everything else. The taste was on point and very flavorful. You may need to cook maybe 1/2 a cup more rice (which would require 1/2 cup more of the reserved liquid).
I fell in love with Louisiana cooking after a few months of traveling back and forth there for work. I have made this recipe several times and its always been a hit. We are planning a Mardi Gras themed family dinner this weekend and this will be the star attraction. Thanks for sharing
This was goood. I didn’t have the Cajun seasoning so I added 1/4-1/2 teaspoon of every ingredient that comes in Cajun seasoning.