The Forgotten Once Jambalaya

My wife loves having jambalaya when we are in New Orleans. It’s usually one of the first meals she’ll order. If it’s not the full order of the famous rice dish, it’s one of those ‘Taste of New Orleans‘ deals most restaurants offer – you know, the one where you get jambalaya, red beans and rice, and gumbo.

On our most recent trip, after checking into the hotel, we took the short walk over to the Chartres House on Chartres Street and Toulouse Street in the French Quarter. I ordered the red beans and rice that was served with grilled smoked sausage, Southern fried chicken strips, and a crusty French bread while she enjoyed their ‘A Taste of New Orleans‘ meal that included red beans and rice, chicken and andouille gumbo, and jambalaya. You could also add a fourth option: Crawfish Étouffée.

In the past, we have ordered jambalaya at the Gumbo Shop and thought that theirs was worth going back for. In fact, the Gumbo Shop is one of my favorite restaurants in NOLA. That had me thinking, who has the best jambalaya? My wife and I recommend the Chartres House and the Gumbo Shop.

Here are some other options to check out in New Orleans for the best jambalaya:

Coop’s Place

Order the Rabbit & Sausage Jambalaya. This traditional Creole dish is simmered with tomatoes, onion, bell pepper, local seasonings, boneless rabbit, and smoked pork sausage. You can make it a supreme by adding shrimp and tasso.

Coop’s Place is located at 1109 Decatur Street. Just be aware that you must be over 21 to enter as it is a bar. For more information, visit them at http://www.coopsplace.net.

K-Paul’s Louisiana Kitchen

Order the Cajun Jambalaya. They make it with onions, bell peppers, celery, tasso, sausage, chicken, tomatoes, jalapenos, and garlic in a rich stock; everything is simmered for hours. The rice is then folded in. The jambalaya is served with Sauce Piquant.

K-Paul’s is located at 416 Chartres Street. For more information on the restaurant, visit them at http://www.kpauls.com.

Napoleon House

Order the jambalaya with spicy rice, chicken, and sausage.

The Napoleon House is located at 500 Chartres Street. For more information, visit them at http://www.napoleonhouse.com.

Bon Ton Cafe

Order the Bayou Jambalaya.

The Bon Ton Cafe is located at 401 Magazine Street. For more information, visit them at http://www.thebontoncafe.com.

Jacques-Imo’s

Order the Creole Jambalaya.

Jacques-Imo’s is located at 8324 Oak Street. For more information, visit them at http://jacques-imos.com.

Chartres House

Order the Blackened Shrimp and Cajun Jambalaya or the ‘A Taste of New Orleans’ dinner with the jambalaya, red beans and rice, and gumbo. I really liked their red beans and rice. The Southern Fried Chicken Strips went well with the beans.

The Chartres House is located at 601 Chartres Street. For more information, visit them at http://www.chartreshouse.com.

Gumbo Shop

Order the jambalaya. It’s cooked with smoked sausage, shrimp, and chicken. I enjoyed their red beans and rice with smoked sausage. They also offer a Creole Combination Platter that is excellent. With the platter, you get their jambalaya, red beans and rice, and Shrimp Creole.

The Gumbo Shop is located at 630 Saint Peters Street. For more information, visit them at http://www.gumboshop.com.

Jambalaya is one of the most popular meals in New Orleans, but most New Orleanians don’t go out to a restaurant to order jambalaya – maybe Coop’s Place is an exception. Most will tell you that the restaurant versions of jambalaya are served up just for the tourists. Jambalaya is a home cooked meal and best served there. While reading different discussion boards online about the topic of cooking jambalaya, most talking said that anyone can make a pot of jambalaya that will taste better than what any restaurant has to offer.

Though I think that the jambalaya is excellent in New Orleans, perhaps the only reason I think that it is so good is that we are in New Orleans eating it. They could be serving boxed Zatarain’s for all I know.

Back in 2012, after a trip to New Orleans, I put together a slow cooker jambalaya recipe. That recipe (the one below that you probably just skipped to and missed all of this) was shared all over the place – even the Huffington Post shared it as part of a slow cooker recipe roundup article. To this day, it is still getting pinned, shared, and talked about. If this recipe is the reason that you are here to my website – hello and welcome! Please check out my other recipes! I hope that you leave a comment below on what you think of this jambalaya recipe. So far, I have gotten thousands of comments, emails, and messages telling me about how this recipe was made for parties, work functions, church gatherings, or simply for the family on a weekday night and how loved it is. It still amazes me and I love reading each message.

As a warning, this recipe has some bite to it with the Rotel with chilies, hot sauce, and red pepper. If you like your jambalaya on the milder side, don’t add the hot sauce and lower the red pepper – you can always adjust the heat level at the end by offering the hot sauce at the table. And that’s one of the best parts about this meal, not only is it easy to put together and the convenience of it cooking in the slow cooker all day is that it brings the topic of New Orleans back up to our dinner table. My wife and I talk about the Chartres House or the Gumbo Shop while we eat this. We talk about our time in the Crescent City and it brings hope that we’ll be back there sooner than later.

Undoubtedly, she’ll be ordering the jambalaya again at one of the restaurants listed above and she’ll rave how it’s the best ever, but deep down inside, I’ll know that serving jambalaya at my home, at our dinner table – even though it’s not in New Orleans – still tastes the best.

I hope that you enjoy this recipe as much as my family does. Be sure to leave a comment in the section below on what you think of the it along with where your favorite spot is to get jambalaya is in New Orleans. Thanks again!

Here’s how I make this slow cooker jambalaya:

Mix together the Rotel tomatoes with chiles, chicken broth, tomato paste, and the seasonings. Then add the diced trinity to the Rotel mixture.

The boneless chicken thighs go in first.

Then the smoked sausage.

It’s all topped off with the Rotel and trinity mixture. Cover and cook on HIGH for 8 hours.

(Cook longer if you plan on using frozen chicken)

Once the slow cooker was done, I used a ladle and took out as much of the liquid as I could. I then – very carefully now – used oven mitts and took out the stone insert and drained out the remaining liquids.

I drained the liquids from the slow cooker through a strainer to catch the bigger chucks; but as you can see, there were 2 cups of liquid from the slow cooker.

I used the liquid from the slow cooker to cook the rice. Check the directions on the package of rice for cooking instructions.

Shred the chicken and mix the contents of the pot together. As you can see, there is no liquids in the bottom of the pot.

The rice came out perfect and is now infused with the flavors that had cooked in the slow cooker.

Add the cooked rice back into the slow cooker folding it in and making sure the all of the ingredients are well mixed.

Here you have it: Eric’s Famous Slow Cooker Jambalaya. It’s bound to be unforgettable! Just serve it with hot French bread, offer hot sauce and Creole Seasoning at the table, and enjoy!

Print Recipe

Eric's Famous Slow Cooker Jambalaya Yum

Course

Main - POULTRY

Servings

people

Ingredients

• 1 lbs boneless chicken thighs
• 1 lbs smoked sausage cut to ¼-inch rounds
• 1 10- oz can Rotel tomatoes with chiles undrained
• 1 14- oz can chicken stock
• 1 6- oz can tomato paste
• 1 onion diced
• 1 green bell pepper diced
• 3 celery ribs chopped
• 5 garlic cloves
• 2 tsp parsley flakes
• 1 tsp dried basil
• 1 tsp dried oregano
• 1 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
• 1/2 tsp hot sauce
• 1 cup uncooked rice * more options in 'Step 3'
• 1 lbs shrimp optional
• green onion for garnish

Course Main - POULTRY Servings people Ingredients 1 lbs boneless chicken thighs 1 lbs smoked sausage cut to ¼-inch rounds 1 10- oz can Rotel tomatoes with chiles undrained 1 14- oz can chicken stock 1 6- oz can tomato paste 1 onion diced 1 green bell pepper diced 3 celery ribs chopped 5 garlic cloves 2 tsp parsley flakes 1 tsp dried basil 1 tsp dried oregano 1 tsp salt 1/2 tsp cayenne pepper 1/2 tsp hot sauce 1 cup uncooked rice * more options in 'Step 3' 1 lbs shrimp optional green onion for garnish

Instructions

1. Place the chicken in the bottom of the slow cooker, then top with the sausage. In a medium-sized mixing bowl, combine the tomatoes, stock, tomato paste, and seasonings; add the diced vegetables to mixture. Pour the tomato mixture over the chicken and sausage in the slow cooker.
2. Cover, and cook 7 to 8 hours on Low, or 3 to 4 hours on High.
3. Once the slow cooker has finished, there are a couple of options with the rice: 1. Ladle out as much of the liquid out as possible - but saving the liquid. Once I have all the liquid out that I can get with the ladle, with oven mitts, I carefully pull out the insert and drain the remaining liquid. I then cook the rice, according to the package instructions, using the reserved liquids from the slow cooker. TIP: I place the container to catch the liquids in the sink and use the edge of the sink to help support the insert. I use a strainer to catch any of the bigger pieces that happen to fall out of the slow cooker while it is tilted. 2. Cook the one cup of rice separately. When the rice is done, fold the cooked rice into the slow cooker. 3. You can use instant rice with 30-minutes remaining. Make sure that the rice is well mixed with the other ingredients before covering the slow cooker.
4. {Optional Step} After the rice is added, with 30-minutes of cooking time remaining, this is the point you would add thawed shrimp to the slow cooker.
5. Garnish with chopped green onions, serve with warm French bread; offer hot sauce and Creole Seasoning at the table. Enjoy!

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Thank you for stopping by!

Keep the red beans cookin’!

Eric