This is a weeknight staple in my house. It has plenty of bold flavor and some heat which you can adjust for your taste. Prep everything for this recipe first because once you start cooking, it comes together very quickly!
A few recipe notes: For the smoked sausage, use your favorite. Any type of kielbasa or smoked sausage will work (pork, beef, or turkey). Andouille is also great if you can find it. I love Pederson’s Natural Farms Uncured Kielbasa. It can be hard to find but it is so good! I like to use small to medium sized shrimp for this dish and slice them in half lengthwise so you get more bites of shrimp throughout the dish. I use a red bell pepper and a poblano pepper (because I don’t like green bell peppers!). Feel free to use any combo of peppers that you like. For the rice I use pre-cooked frozen jasmine rice that I buy at Trader Joe’s. Not having to cook rice first keeps this a quick, one pan meal. You can use brown rice, quinoa, or a combo of grains and it would be delicious. When you are adding the cayenne and the Tabasco, start with less and then add more at the end of cooking if you want more heat. I usually use about 1/4 of a teaspoon of cayenne and several shakes of Tabasco for medium to low heat. You will need a large, non-stick, deep frying pan for this as it makes a big batch. I have a 14 inch non-stick pan that I use and it is perfect. A large pot will do the trick if you don’t have a pan big enough.
Jambalaya Fried Rice
Equipment
- Large, deep non-stick pan
Ingredients
- 12-16 ounces Smoked Sausage, cut into bite size pieces Such as Kielbasa or andouille. You can use any fully cooked beef, pork, or turkey sausage.
- 1 pound shrimp, rinsed, patted dry, and halved lengthwise
- 1-2 tbsp olive oil
- 2 tbsp butter
- 1 medium onion, chopped
- 3 stalks celery, chopped
- 1 red bell pepper, chopped
- 1 poblano or green bell pepper, chopped
- 4 garlic cloves, minced
- 2 tbsp tomato paste
- 1 tsp dried oregano
- 1/2 tsp dried thyme
- 1 tbsp smoked paprika
- 1 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
- 1/4 -1 tsp cayenne pepper (to taste)
- 1 – 2 tsp Tabasco (to taste)
- 6 cups cooked rice I use one box of Trader Joe's frozen organic jasmine rice that I thaw ahead of time.
- salt and pepper to taste
- 1 bunch green onions, chopped
- 1 bunch fresh Italian parsley, chopped
Instructions
- In a large, deep, non-stick frying pan over medium heat, brown your smoked sausage. Depending on the fat content in your sausage, you may need to start with some olive oil in the pan. With a pork sausage, you don't need to add the oil first. Once the sausage has browned, crisped up, and rendered most of the fat (this should take about 5 – 10 minutes), remove it from the pan and set aside for later. Remove all but 2 tbsp of fat from the pan.
- If you have enough oil from your sausage left in the pan, no need to add any. If you don't, add a little olive oil and then add the shrimp. Season the shrimp with salt and pepper, and cook for about 3-5 minutes or until cooked through, then remove from the pan and set aside for later.
- Check again to see if you need to add a little oil to the pan and do so if there isn't much left. Add the butter and heat until melted, then add the onion, celery, and peppers and sautee until the veggies are tender. Add some salt and pepper while the veggies are cooking (about a tsp of salt and plenty of fresh ground pepper). Add the garlic and cook another minute or two. Add the tomato paste, thyme, oregano, paprika and Worcestershire and mix well to incorporate all of the tomato paste. Next add your Tabasco and cayenne pepper to taste and mix well. Start with less…you can add more later.
- Add all of the rice to the pan with the veggies and stir to combine all of the ingredients. Season with a little more salt and pepper to taste and cook until the rice is heated through. Remember that your sausage will add some saltiness to the dish so don't over salt…you can always add more at the end. Add the cooked sausage and shrimp back to the pan and the chopped green onions and parsley (save a little to garnish after serving) and mix well to incorporate everything together. Taste for seasoning then serve with more Tabasco for the heat lovers.