60 mins 
519 cals 
8 servsSausage & Chicken Cajun Jambalaya has all of the flavors of authentic jambalaya. It comes together easily in one pot, is gluten-free and dairy-free for a simple and healthier Cajun dinner recipe.
Cajun blood runs deep within my veins. My feet start tapping when a song I know comes on, the dance floor always calls my name, summertime means I turn a nice golden brown, and I am a HUGE fan of sea critters, jambalaya, and crawfish etouffee.
I grew up in a small town called Orange, Texas — just enough miles within the border of Texas and Lousiana to truly call myself a Texan. My mom was born and raised about 25 miles outside of New Orleans, Louisiana. My Nanny and Papa, aunt, uncle and cousins still live in the same little town where she grew up.
Every year we visit for Christmas. And every Christmas we “Texas-folk” get to experience authentic Cajun cooking. My Nanny will order in catering from this incredible Cajun restaurant down the street and we will all pig out on etouffee and sausage and chicken jambalaya. It’s truly incredible!!
Now that my husband and I live in the heart of Texas, finding true Cajun food is kind of difficult. With Mardi Gras and Fat Tuesday coming up, I start to crave comfort foods like this sausage and chicken Cajun jambalaya.
What makes this Sausage & Chicken Cajun Jambalaya so awesome?
There are a few things I absolutely love about this chicken Cajun jambalaya dish:
- This jambalaya is made in one pot!! Yup, no piles of dirty dishes to clean up afterwards.
- You can absolutely make it your own. Are you vegetarian or vegan? Leave out the meat and swap the chicken broth for vegetable broth.
- Need a recipe to feed a crowd? This sausage and chicken Cajun jambalaya make a TON of food!! It is perfect for your upcoming Fat Tuesday gathering or potluck gather.
- It makes great leftovers. Like I said above — this chicken Cajun jambalaya recipe makes a lot of food. So if you’re not having a party, you and your family can enjoy this jambalaya for days. Simply add a touch of water or broth before reheating and enjoy
- There are no hard-to-find or gluten-filled seasoning ingredients used. Most chicken Cajun jambalaya recipes call for a seasoning mix such as Tony’s. Unfortunately, most seasoning mixes contain traces of wheat. This jambalaya recipe teaches you how to mix up your own Cajun seasoning so you don’t have to go on a grocery-store-hunt!
PIN THIS CHICKEN CAJUN JAMBALAYA
Sausage & Chicken Cajun Jambalaya
Sausage & Chicken Cajun Jambalaya has all of the flavors of authentic jambalaya. It comes together easily in one pot, is gluten-free and dairy-free for a simple and healthier Cajun dinner recipe.
Ingredients
- 2 Tbsp oil divided
- 1.5 lbs chicken cut into ½-inch pieces
- 12 oz andouille sausage cut into ½-inch slices
- 1 ½ tsp salt divided
- ¾ tsp pepper divided
- 2 c onion finely chopped
- 1 c celery finely chopped
- 1 c bell pepper finely chopped
- 2 cloves garlic
- 1 tsp thyme dried
- 1 tsp basil dried
- ¼ tsp cayenne pepper
- 1 Tbsp Worcestershire sauce
- 1 6-oz can tomato paste
- 1 14.5-oz can diced tomatoes with juice
- 2 ½ c long grain white rice rinsed and drained
- 4 ½ - 5 c chicken broth
- Fresh parsley finely chopped
Instructions
- In a large pot, or Dutch oven, add 1 tablespoon oil, sausage, ½ tsp salt and ¼ tsp pepper. Cook for 2 minutes.
- Add chicken and continue cooking over medium heat for 8-10 minutes, or until chicken is cooked through.
- Remove sausage and chicken from the pot and set aside.
- Drizzle another tablespoon of olive oil into the pot and then add onion, celery and bell pepper. Cook for 6-8 minutes, or until vegetables are almost tender. Add garlic and saute for an additional 2 minutes.
- Place chicken and sausage back into the pot.
- In a small bowl combine remaining 1 teaspoon salt, ½ tsp pepper, thyme, basil and cayenne pepper. Toss to combine.
Add seasoning mix, Worcestershire, tomato paste, and diced tomatoes to the meat and veggies. Stir to combine.
Next, place rice and 4 ½ cup broth in the pot. Stir to completely combine. Over medium heat, wait for the ingredients to come to a boil. Reduce heat to low, cover with a lid, and let jambalaya simmer for 25-35 minutes.
- Check on the jambalaya at 25 minutes and see if it needs additional liquid. If you have a pot that burns, this would be a good time to give the bottom of your pot a stir to loosen up any potentially dried rice.
- Once rice is completely cooked, serve immediately with fresh parsley and enjoy!
Want more recipes like this Sausage & Chicken Cajun Jambalaya?
Baked Parmesan & Garlic Chicken Wings
Slow Cooker Chicken Curry with Coconut Milk
Roasted Pork Tenderloin with Vegetables
Black Bean & Quinoa Stuffed Bell Peppers | Vegan
Maple Pecan Oatmeal Muffins (Vegan, Gluten-Free)
Roasted Butternut Squash Soup with Coconut Milk
Ground Turkey Shepherd’s Pie | Whole30 & Keto
Where does the Worcestershire sauce come in? It is not in the instructions.
Hi Ellen! It goes in with the tomato paste and seasoning mix. Just updated the recipe to reflect this!
Step 7
I made this last Sunday for friends and everyone raved about it! I’m making it again tonight for a potluck. Thanks for sharing!
Yay!! So happy you and your friends enjoyed it 🙂 Thanks for your sweet comment!
Do you happen to have the nutritional info for a serving size of this? Looking to make this tonight, looks amazing!
Hi Katy! I do not have the nutritional info for this recipe, but if you plug in the ingredients on MyFitnessPal’s recipe calculator you should be able to get the information. I am considering including nutritional info in upcoming recipes. Thanks so much for your comment!
Hi!
Thanks so much for posting this recipe. Both husband and I wanted something different and home cooked. Decided on jambalaya and choose this recipe to try over several others because the picture looked so good and the ingredients weren’t overly complicated. It’s delicious! Definitely one to add to our favorite recipe collection. I’m trying to add more veggies to my diet and wondered what kind of beans would you recommend? I bought a can of small red beans from Goya but I’m not sure if their flavor would go well with this.
Thanks!
-Tia
Hi Tia!! I am so happy you and your husband enjoyed it. Another popular “Cajun” dish, and probably my mom’s favorite, is red beans and rice… so I think red beans would go great in the jambalaya! For more veggies, you could also add more bell pepper. Hope this helps. Thanks so much for commenting!
Hi, do I need to use a lid while it’s simmering? Thanks so much!
Thanks so much for your question, Ryan! Yes, you will want to cover the pot with a lid while simmering. I have updated the recipe to include this 🙂
I coarsley chopped squash, zucchini and mushrooms and sautéed them with the peppers and onions. It was so good!
I love how you added extra veggies to up the nutrition in this recipe. Will definitely be trying your alteration soon 🙂
Used brown rice and chicken suasage to make it a little more healthy and it was absoutely delicious!!
So happy you enjoyed it, Sara!!
Í did this dish for lunch today to surprise my wife. She went “deliciosisimo”!
It is a really nice plate, ingridients are not complicated. We will be making this again soon. Thanks for sharing!
Thank you so much for letting me know, Rene! I am so happy your wife enjoyed it 🙂
Do I use precooked sausage or fresh?
Hi Jen! I usede pre-cooked sausage, such as Aidell’s Cajun sausage. Thanks for the question!
Wouldn’t the chicken be way overcooked if you leave the chicken in the pot while the rice is simmering for 25 minutes? My chicken is hard like a rock. Am I doing this wrong?
I’m so sorry your chicken turned out hard! The chicken should absorb a lot of the liquid while cooking so it is not overcooked/hard. A couple of things I would make sure to do if you try it out again: 1) Err on the side of slightly undercooked chicken at the beginning. 2) If you’re using brown rice instead of white, it takes more liquid to cook. 3) Cut your chicken into slightly bigger cubes. 4) Make sure a lot of the chicken is not stuck to the bottom of the pan while simmering but is pretty evenly dispersed throughout the dish. Please let me know if you have any more questions! I will be making a video for this recipe soon so I will be sure to pay attention to the texture of the chicken and make any alterations to the recipe, as needed!
I made this dish again today and it came out great. Instead of chicken breast, I used chicken thigh and I put the chicken into the pot 10 minutes after I put in the rice to prevent the chicken from being overcooked too much. And I also didn’t cook the vegetables all the way. I like my veggie slightly crunchy and not soggy. Thanks for sharing your recipe. My family loves it. I think your recipe stands out against the competition because the tomato paste adds more flavor to the rice. I can’t tell if the worcestershire sauce makes any difference though. Great dish. Thanks again.
Awesome!! So happy it turned out well for you this time. Chicken thigh will definitely give the dish a lot more flavor, too. Thanks for sharing your alterations to the recipe!
Absolutely fantastic! I added shrimp while it simmered to give it more of an Cajun feel. Will make again!
Awesome!! I love the addition of shrimp… definitely gives it a more Cajun feel 🙂
I made this last night and LOVED it! What is the best way to reheat leftovers?
Yay!! So happy you loved it. For rice, I normally put it back in a skillet with more liquid (water or broth) and reheat it slowly. Microwaving will also work well with this recipe if you put a little extra liquid and cover it with a paper towel.
I made this for the first time ever and picked this recipe because a. It looked the best. B. Great ratings c. Great feedback and responses. I am so glad I did this one for my first jambalaya. It was delicious. I actually used a Creole seasoning I bought for a different recipe and it treated great. Kept everything else the same. I will be making again!
Yay!! So happy to hear it turned out great 🙂 Thanks so much for your kind words!!
Just a quick question. What kind of sausage do you need for this recipe? It didn’t really specify. Is it a ground sausage or more of an andouille sausage?
Hi Miranda! I used an andouille sausage. I will be sure to specify this in the recipe!
Thank you for getting back to me so quickly!
Put it on this weeks menu plan! I can’t wait to try it.
Yay!! I hope you love it as much as we do!
Hi,
I tried this recipe and everything turned out great except for the fact that all of my rice did not cook. I put the full amount you specified and even added more periodically (because it wasn’t cooking). Do you have any advice on this problem?
Hi Jymirah! I am so sorry it did not turn out well for you. A couple things you can troubleshoot… What kind of rice did you use? Unfortunately, even different variations of brown rice cook differently and require more liquid than others. What temperature did you have your burner set to? You definitely want to be seeing a little bubbling action (that means it’s simmering!) Lastly, did you take the lid off frequently? Every time the lid is removed liquid evaporates and the temperature inside the pot drops substantially. If you try it again try adding more liquid initially, crank up the burner temp a little bit, and don’t remove the lid until at least 30-35 minutes. Hope this helps!