Jump to Recipe
Instant Pot Jambalaya is an easy pressure cooker rice dish that makes a great meal for any busy weeknight.
This one pot recipe uses chicken and sausage along with the holy trinity and homemade creole seasoning for amazing flavor.
Like all recipes on Happy Mothering, this Instant Pot Jambalaya is gluten free.
Easy Instant Pot Jambalaya Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
- 1 pound boneless skinless chicken breasts - cubed
- 12 ounces Andouille sausage - sliced
- 1 cup onion - diced
- 1 cup green bell peppers - diced
- 1 cup celery - diced
- 4 cloves garlic - minced
- 1 tablespoon cajun seasoning
- 2 cups jasmine rice - well rinsed of excess starch
- 2 cups homemade chicken stock - or cold water
- 14 ounce canned diced tomatoes
- 1 bay leaf
- Green onions - optional
Equipment
- Fine mesh strainer
Instructions
- Turn your Instant Pot onto the Saute setting and add the extra virgin olive oil to the inner pot. Once warm, cook the sausage slices until lightly browned.
- Add the diced onion, green pepper and celery to the pot and cook for about 2 minutes.
- Add the garlic and chicken, then cook for about a minute and turn off the heat.
- Add the cajun seasoning and stir well to combine.
- Stir in the chicken stock and bay leaf, using your spoon to scrape the bottom of the pot so there are no browned bits or anything stuck to it. Do not skip deglazing the pot or you could get a burn notice.
- Add the rice and gently press it down under the liquid without stirring.
- Pour the tomatoes over the top of the pre-rinsed rice (don’t stir).
- Cook on High Pressure for 5 minutes, allow the pressure to release naturally for 10 minutes, then quick release the remaining pressure and open the lid.
- Gently stir to combine the ingredients.
- Serve your chicken and sausage jambalaya topped with sliced green onions in a bowl for a hearty meal.
Notes
Nutrition Information Per Serving
Tips for Making the Best Instant Pot Jambalaya
1. What’s the holy trinity?
In cajun and creole food, you’ll often see a reference to the “holy trinity,” which is simply a combination of green bell peppers, celery and onions. These 3 veggies along with cajun seasoning is what really makes this authentic Instant Pot Jambalaya recipe taste so great.
2. Do I have to use chicken stock?
I find that using chicken broth instead of water when making rice in the Instant Pot is key to rich flavor. You can use filtered water instead, but you’ll lose some of the classic cajun flavor.
3. Can I use chicken thighs?
Absolutely, chicken thighs do have more flavor than breasts and they’re a bit moister. Either cut is delicious in this cajun jambalaya recipe.
4. How to add shrimp?
Classic jambalaya does have shrimp in it, but I like the convenience of using chicken and sausage since we always have some in the freezer.
If you want to add shrimp to your pressure cooker jambalaya, you want to wait until the end so they don’t end up chewy.
- Simply stir raw shrimp into the jambalaya once it’s done pressure cooking.
- Place the lid on the pot for 5 minutes to allow the shrimp to cook through using residual heat.
- Open the lid, stir and check that the shrimp are cooked.
Alternatively, you can sauté them on the stove top and stir them in at the end, just before serving.
5. Can I use basmati rice?
If you don’t have jasmine rice, you can use another long grain rice. If you use basmati rice, I find that it absorbs more liquid than jasmine, so you may need to add more chicken stock.
6. Can I substitute brown rice for white rice?
No, brown rice has a much longer cooking time and the rest of the ingredients would become mushy if you cooked them for that long.
7. Can I use a store bought cajun seasoning?
Yes, while I always have a quart of my homemade cajun seasoning in the spice cabinet, store bought works well too. Some popular brands are Tony Chachere’s, Louisiana, Slap Ya Mama and Zatarain’s.
8. What hot sauce goes well with jambalaya?
For extra spicy jambalaya, we use Louisiana Hot Sauce.
9. Where to buy groceries online?
We buy a lot of groceries online and keep the freezer and pantry stocked. Learn where I buy produce online and order meat online for extra convenience.
Pin this recipe to your Instant Pot or Gluten Free Dinner boards!
