Crock Pot Jambalaya has juicy shredded chicken, shrimp, and andouille sausage mixed with vegetables, Cajun seasoning, and rice that are cooked together in the Crock Pot for the most delicious Jambalaya. This hearty Cajun dinner is fit for a New Orleans king or queen.
I’ve been making this Crock Pot Jambalaya recipe for over a decade now. Although this is not authentic Louisiana style jambalaya it is delicious and gives you all the flavors you find in Cajun cuisine. I first had authentic jambalaya during a work trip over a decade ago when I was in New Orleans. It was amazing. I went home to work on recreating Jambalaya only (to be honest) very disappointed that it didn’t taste as good as the one in the restaurant I had consumed a week prior.
However, my husband, parents, and in-laws LOVED the recipe. Once my taste-buds forgot about the traditional Jambalaya I was hooked on this recipe. So the moral of the story is, if you are from Louisiana you might not find this recipe super authentic. My jambalaya recipe contains tomatoes, where traditional jambalaya is a brown roux and no tomatoes. If this is your first time eating Jambalaya I think you’ll fall in love with how delicious this recipe is.
Why this Recipe Works
Prep the meat and vegetables ahead of time to save time the morning you want to cook.
This is a 2 part Crock Pot meal. The meat and vegetables cook first, then you add in the rice and shrimp.
Jambalaya in the Crock Pot can feed a large group– which is perfect for entertaining or makes for a delicious lunch the next day.
Ingredients
- Chicken – I like to use boneless skinless chicken breast but chicken thighs work too.
- Andoullie Sausage – I find this in the refrigerated meat section.
- Shrimp – I use frozen shrimp that I thaw. I like the larger shrimp but you can use the smaller salad shrimp.
- Rice – I use Ben’s Original white rice for this recipe.
- Vegetables – 1 large can of diced tomatoes with the juice, an onion, bell pepper, and celery is what you’ll need for the base of the Jambalaya.
- Seasonings – A mix of Cajun seasoning, bay leaves, and oregano are the spices you need. I also like to add in fresh parsley at the end.
- Hot Sauce – I don’t use much since my kids like to eat the Jambalaya, but a little bit of Louisiana Style Hot Sauce is what I use. If I’m not serving this to the kids I double the hot sauce. I also serve the hot sauce on the side.
How to Make Jambalaya in the Crock Pot
Prepare the ingredients for the slow cooker, chop the onion, green bell pepper, and celery stalk.
Next, cut the andouille sausage into bite-size pieces. I like to cut them into larger pieces so my kids can pick them out if they want too since the sausage can be on the spicier side.
Place the sausage, tomatoes, onion, green pepper, celery, oregano, cajun seasoning, hot sauce, bay leaves, and thyme.
Add in the chicken breast. Then mix well until the chicken is covered. Cover and cook on low for 8 hours or on HIGH for 4 hours.
This is how the jambalaya will look once it’s done cooking. Once the meat is cooked, carefully remove the liquid and reserve to the side.
PRO TIP – I cook the rice in a separate pot, but use as much of the reserved liquid as possible. This will give your rice so much flavor.
Cook the rice according to package directions using as much jambalaya liquid as possible;( 2 cups rice needs 4 cups liquid). Typically I can get 2 cups of liquid from the crock pot so I’ll use an additional 2 cups water or chicken broth.
RICE COOKER – I cook my rice in a rice cooker the normal way I normally cook rice.
While rice is cooking, stir in the thawed shrimp in the crockpot, cover and cook on high until the shrimp are cooked (about 30 minutes). Once rice is done mix into the crock pot. Discard bay leaves, add fresh chopped parsley if desired, and serve.
Recipe FAQs
Jambalaya is a stew that is cooked with rice where Gumbo is a thick stew that is served with rice. Both of these meals can have the same spices, and vegetables. The only difference is one is served on top of rice and the other is served with rice mixed in.
Typically Jambalaya has chicken, sausage, and some seafood like crawfish or shrimp.
If you don’t have or can’t find andouille sausage, you can use a smoked sausage, Italian sausage, or even brat wurst.
Tips & Tricks
Here are a few of my favorite tips and tricks whenever I make Jambalaya.
- More protein – Want more meat and less rice? Add only 1 cup of rice (with two cups of liquid).
- Draining Liquid – To drain liquid from slow cooker I use a dry 1 cup measuring cup. Push the food to the side and continue to pull the liquid from the slow cooker and pour into a liquid measuring cup until you have the desired amount needed to cook the rice. It’s okay if the liquid has some of the vegetables and or sausage. You should still have a little bit of liquid left after removing most for the liquid. If you feel that you have too much liquid you can always carefully drain and remove more.
- Hot Sauce – I use LOUISIANA Hot Sauce brand in this recipe.
What to Serve with Jambalaya
Wondering what to serve with Jambalaya? Here are a few of my favorite side dishes.
If you make this Slow Cooker Jambalaya recipe, I would be honored and love for you to take the time to leave a ⭐ star rating and comment! I spend hours developing and testing these recipes, and always love to hear feedback and user experience!
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Crock Pot Jambalaya
Equipment
- Slow Cooker
Ingredients
- ½ pound Andouille sausage diced
- 1 28-ounce can diced tomatoes
- 1 medium onion chopped
- 1 green bell pepper seeded and chopped
- 1 stalk celery chopped
- 1 pound boneless skinless chicken breasts
- 2 teaspoon dried oregano
- 2 teaspoon Cajun or Creole seasoning
- 1 teaspoon hot sauce
- 2 bay leaves
- ½ teaspoon dried thyme
- 1 pound frozen peeled shrimp thawed
- 2 cups white long grain rice
- Fresh chopped parsley as garnish
Instructions
- Prepare the ingredients for the slow cooker: dice sausage, chop the onion, green bell pepper, and celery stalk.
- Place the sausage, tomatoes, onion, green pepper, celery, oregano, cajun seasoning, hot sauce, bay leaves, and thyme. Mix well then add in the chicken breast. Make sure to cover the chicken breast before you begin to cook. Cover and cook on LOW for 8 hours OR on HIGH for 4 hours.
- Once the meat in the slow cooker is done cooking, carefully remove the liquid, and set to the side. (You will use this liquid to cook your rice in a separate pot.) Cook the rice according to package directions using as much jambalaya liquid as possible;( 2 cups rice needs about 4 cups liquid. Typically I can get 2 cups of liquid from the crock pot so I'll use an additional 2 cups water or broth.)
- While rice is cooking, shred chicken and then stir in the thawed shrimp in the crock pot, cover and cook on high until the shrimp are cooked (about 1 hour). Once rice is done mix into the crock pot (this can be while shrimp cooks). Discard bay leaves, add fresh chopped parsley if desired, and serve.
Notes
- More protein – Want more meat and less rice? Add only 1 cup of rice (with two cups of liquid).
- Draining Liquid – To drain liquid from slow cooker I use a dry 1 cup measuring cup. Push the food to the side and continue to pull the liquid from the slow cooker and pour into a liquid measuring cup until you have the desired amount needed to cook the rice. It’s okay if the liquid has some of the vegetables and or sausage. You should still have a little bit of liquid left after removing most for the liquid. If you feel that you have too much liquid you can always carefully drain and remove more.
- Hot Sauce – I use LOUISIANA Hot Sauce brand in this recipe.
Vanessa
Katie Hi! I loved this recipe. It turned out great for me twice now! I had to link it to my own cooking blog to share with friends! Thanks for the recipe!
Katie
Vanessa, I’m glad you enjoyed it and that it turned out fine for you. It’s one of our favorite slow cooker recipes!
Whitney
This sounds wonderful! Jambalaya is one of my husband’s favorite meals. Question though. Can you just put the raw shrimp in at the beginning? Why must you wait until the end?
Meredith
Just made this and it turned out great!!!! Only thing I may change next time is add more meat and use less rice. Otherwise, this will be added to the list of regulars. Thanks!!
Katie
Glad you enjoyed it Meredith!
Jessica
I want to make this tomorrow but was wondering if I need to drain the tomatoes and if I need to use pre cooked shrimp?
Katie
Hi jessica–sorry I’m just getting to this comment now. No need to drain the tomatoes and you can use raw shrimp. It cooks up fine in the slow cooker. Hope you enjoyed this as much as we do!
Amanda
Just made this, Sooo yummy! To the people who’s rice came out crunchy, if you followed the directions it will come out perfect. Get 2 cups of the juice from the slow cooker, and two cups of water to that, bring it to a boil, add your 2 cups of rice to boil, cover, an reduce heat to low. Cook rice for about 20 minutes. Add rice to Jambalaya, mix and yum. I let mine cook for an additional 15 mins on low after adding rice. This was seriously some excellent stuff, everyone in my house licked their bowls and asked for seconds!! Thank you for the recipe!!!
Katie
Amanda I’m so happy to read this! Thank you for giving the recipe a try and I’m so glad that your family and YOU loved this recipe. It’s so good!
Amanda
Hello, this looks amazing, but I noticed that you said you get about two cups of liquid from it. My question is how do you make it thicker without hurting the taste and quality of the recipe?
Katie
I use the excess liquid to cook my rice. But if you aren’t cooking rice you can just strain the juice out into a separate container. Heat it on the stove top with a couple tablespoons of cornstarch to thicken it up… add one tablespoon at a time whisking the cornstarch and liquid together until its thick enough for you. Hope that helps!
yvette
Just put everything in the crock pot! Quick question…I want to cook the rice in the crockpot, but should I add any other liquid once I add the rice?
Katie
Yvette–you typically will have enough liquid to cook the rice within the crock pot. However, I highly advise you cook the rice separately before serving. Cooking times vary when cooking the rice with the rest of the jambalaya. I cook my rice on the side (using as much of the liquid as possible to cook the rice in) and then add it back to the slow cooker.
Catherine
Do not put rice in crock pot! Mine was one big mush. Followed recipe exactly. It didn’t take 2 hours extra for rice. Rice done in less than hour on low and mush
Katie
Hi Catherine, sorry to read about our experience. I think it depends on the heating element in your slow cooker. In my slow cooker the rice took 2 hours and it wasn’t mushy at all; however, I’ve found that I enjoy making and eating this when I cook the rice on the side and straining out the liquid from the dish. Then once the rice is done I mix it all into the slow cooker and serve. I hope you’ll try the recipe again with my other option for the rice. It’s a great recipe that I make each month!
laurasmess
This looks delicious Katie! I’ve never made jambalaya before but I’ve heard of it before… sounds a little like paella (which I LOVE!)? I’ll give this a go some time soon. Good to read everyone else’s comments… seems like there’s a lot of variance in people’s cooking experiences. I’m curious to see how it all turns out.
Katie
Thanks Laura–yes, its similar to paella, except you don’t cook the rice all day long in the slow cooker (it would turn to mush)! 🙂 Hope you get to try it one day soon.
kjasus
what about brown rice? can i just add it to the crockpot with everything else and add more liquid?
Katie
Hi Kjasus, I have never tried this recipe with brown rice. I would safely say that you should cook it separately and add some of the crock pot juices to the rice that is cooking. Then mix the cooked rice in with the Jambalaya (draining any excess liquid in the crock pot). Good luck and if you make it with brown rice I would love to hear how it turned out.
Carson S.
I just made this tonight and it was delicious. To solve the rice problem though I used left-over rice I had already cooked and just mixed it in at the last minute and let the rice warm up. Worked perfectly, just if you want a thicker Jambalaya I’d recommend putting less chicken broth than is called for.
Katie
Carson, I’m so glad you enjoyed the recipe. Yes, you could definitely just mix in leftover rice (and drain some of the excess liquid from the crock pot). Thank you for taking the time out to leave a comment. It is much appreciated.
Melissa
Sounds delicious! Silly question, but do you cook the sausage first? Or will it cut nicely before cooking? I haven’t cooked often with sausage…
Katie
Hi Melissa, I make this recipe once a month! Yes, the fresh sausage cuts very easily. I always like to use a serrated knife, but any sharp knife will do. The texture of the raw andouille sausage is similar to a hot dog. Hope that helps!
Kate
Love the recipe! I made it but used ham instead of chicken. No problems with the rice – everything tasted great!
Katie
Kate–I’m so glad to read you enjoyed this recipe. I make this once a month–it’s always a favorite in our house!
Angie @ Big Bears Wife
I’ve never attempted this in a crock-pot but I love anything kind of meal that can be adapted into a slowcooker one! I’ll have to give it a try with the rice and without. Looks good, Katie!
Katie
Thanks Angie. I probably make this recipe at least once a month!
Wenceslao Moreno
I had the same problem, with the crunchy rice. It could be a quirk of my slow cooker vs. yours, but it’s not worth the risk. Cook the rice on the side, and dump it in with the shrimp. Such a shame. I’m pretty peeved, but, hey. I could eat it, but it was far from desired. Other than the unpleasantness, it is tasty. I doubled the cajun spice and hot sauce, too, but that’s me.
Katie
Hi Wenceslao, I’m sorry to read you had challenges with this recipe. I make it at least once a month for my family and we all enjoy the recipes. I’ve since made adjustments to the recipe. I almost always cook the rice separately utilizing the liquids from the crock pot. This gives the rice the additional flavoring yet it cooks quick (using a stove top or rice cooker method). I love to read when people adapt recipes. Every recipes is just based on taste and preference. If you like heat–kick it up a notch with additional hot sauce! I hope you’ll give this recipe a try again using my updated recipe.
Rachel
what kind of rice do you recommend using? I used Whole Foods white long grain (the same rice I use for stove top jambalaya). Unfortunately, your recipe did not appear to include enough liquid to properly cook the rice. I added 16 oz Miller Lite and 2 additional cups of broth and still have crunchy, inedible rice.
Katie
Hi Rachel, I’m sorry to read that the recipe didn’t turn out for you. I have used both white long grain rice and basmati. The basmati turns to mush so long grain is the best choice. I’ve never had an issue with not enough liquid. If you add the rice into the crock pot you will need at minimum 2 hours. A quicker alternative is removing the liquid from the cooked jambalaya, add the shrimp to the crock pot (cooking that on high for 30 minutes) and then using the jambalaya liquid to cook your rice on the stove top or in a rice cooker. I’ve done this a few times as well to speed up the rice cooking process. Once the rice is done then I mix it into the crock pot and serve. I hope these few pointers help you achieve a delicious tasting meal.
Lamb Animals
I got to try this one out. It seems like a similar version of the chinese dish Chao Fan or rice toppings.
Jacqueline
This looks fantastic and your photo is wonderful too. I just love jambalaya.
Jessica
gonna try it 😀
Danielle
Ive made Jambalaya in the crock pot a few times – it always comes out great! Yours looks fantastic.