Slow Cooker Jambalaya
Rain! It has been pouring in the middle of winter. I have a swimming pool in my backyard where snow is supposed to be. Sorta funny! That brings me to want to make a recipe that is both a hearty and spicy comfort food to enjoy – slow cooker Jambalaya is on the menu for supper tonight.
I went to the grocery store early this morning because the forecast states that our rain will soon turn to snow. I don’t know about you, but anytime we get bone chillin’ rain or snow, I turn to a recipe with a little spice to her to warm the insides.
Ingredients
1 pound skinless, boneless chicken breast halves – cut into 1 inch cubes
1 pound andouille sausage, sliced
1 (28 ounce) can diced tomatoes with juice
1 large green bell pepper, chopped
1 large onion, chopped
1 cup chopped celery
1 cup chicken broth
1/2 teaspoon chicken seasoning
2 teaspoons dried oregano
2 teaspoons dried parsley
2 teaspoons cajun seasoning
1 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
1 pound frozen cooked shrimp without tails
Cooked rice if desired
Directions:
In a slow cooker, mix the chicken, sausage, tomatoes with juice, onion, green bell pepper, celery, and broth.
Season with oregano, parsley, Cajun seasoning, poultry seasoning, cayenne pepper, and thyme.
Cover, and cook 7 to 8 hours on Low, or 3 to 4 hours on High.
Stir in the shrimp during the last 30 minutes of cook time.
Stir in some cooked rice as desired or just serve over cooked rice
Let’s Getting Cooking:
Gather all your ingredients.
Open and dump the tomatoes into the crock pot, no need to drain them. I normally watch for sales and end up grabbing the petite diced tomatoes when they are on sale. You need 28 ounces but if you happen you get two of the smaller cans, they come in at 29 ounces.
Add all the spices. Season with oregano, parsley, Cajun seasoning, chicken seasoning, cayenne pepper, and thyme.
Slice 1 pound andouille sausage and add it to the mix. Chef Gordon Ramsay would not be impressed with my chopping efforts.
Chop the celery, onion and green peppers and add them to the crock pot. You will only see the chopping of the celery for this recipe because I chop, bag and freeze all my onions and green peppers over the garden season.
If there is a sale on green peppers or onions or you grow your own – save time & money and chop all the produce at one time. Bag them and write if it is a half an onion or full onion and put the date on the bag.
I pull what I need from the freezer and dump them frozen into the crock pot.
At this stage if you have fresh chicken breast, you should cube the chicken into 1 inch cubes.
I don’t know about you, but for me, things don’t always go as planned. Most of the time, I believe I am doing one thing and the universe kicks me a different direction.
I don’t pull my chicken breast from the freezer unless I am ready to cook them. Otherwise, it seems that meat goes to waste in situations where supper plans have to change. I dislike waste, so unless I need them, they stay in the freezer. In this recipe, I threw the chicken breast on top and waited until it thawed.
Add 1 cup of chicken broth. I used my slow cooker chicken stock.
Cover, and cook 7 to 8 hours on Low, or 3 to 4 hours on high. I like cooking this recipe on low, all day, the meat comes out moister and the mixture juicer.
If you are in the same boat as me and used frozen chicken breasts, remove them at about the two hour mark and chop them into one inch cubes. Stir the mixture and continue cooking.
The last half hour add 1 pound frozen cooked shrimp without tails to the mixture. I decided to use my petite shrimp that are normally used for my lunch salads. I still like using medium shrimp in this recipe much better, but you use what you have.
The house smells heavenly at this point! Before you are ready to serve, you can make rice and place the mixture over the rice or add rice directly into the Jambalaya.
Besides smelling heavenly, it tastes heavenly! It is a little on the spicier side but that is needed to warm the soul on a cold day.
Enjoy!
