The Art of Making Perfect Jambalaya: A Step-by-Step Guide

When it comes to one-pot meals, jambalaya is arguably one of the most iconic and delicious options. This classic Louisiana dish is a staple for any meal prep enthusiast, and with good reason - it's packed with flavor, texture, and a whole lot of Southern charm. In this article, we'll take you through the step-by-step process of making the perfect jambalaya, from browning those chicken thighs to adding that final dash of smoked paprika.

First things first, let's talk about browning those chicken thighs. You want to give them a little breathing room so they can brown up nicely - it's all about creating that perfect sear. That smell you're smelling? Yeah, that's what you want to see on your chicken. A nice crust or coating is key here, and don't worry if it takes a bit of time - the end result is well worth the effort.

Now, at this point, your chicken should be most of the way cooked through. It'll finish cooking in the actual jambalaya, but for now, you're about 80% of the way there. You want that color, those nice golden brown hues? That's what you're going for. So, remove it from the skillet and set it aside - we'll add it back in towards the end.

Next up, it's time to add the Cajun Trinity (that's onions, bell peppers, celery, and sometimes jalapenos). These guys are immediately going to soak up all that flavor and fond off the bottom of the skillet. They'll start to release some of their water and kind of steam up a little bit, softening up - it's like magic, folks! The aroma in here is already starting to get good.

Once those veggies are most of the way cooked down, we're going in with a couple tablespoons of garlic (fresh or minced, whichever you prefer). Don't be shy with this stuff - we want that flavor to come through. Next up, some tomato paste - we're talking about concentrated tomato goodness here, some good color, and a hint of sweetness to balance everything out.

Now it's time for the fun stuff: adding fresh herbs, Louisiana hot sauce, chicken bullion powder, and Worcestershire sauce (because, you know, that's just what jambalaya needs). Mix it all together like your life depends on it - we want that flavor to meld together seamlessly. And let's not forget the rice! We're going to toast that for a couple minutes so it gets nice and crispy - about 2 or 3 minutes should do it.

With our chicken broth, we'll bring everything up to a boil before reducing it down to a simmer, covered with a lid. This is where the magic happens, folks - let it cook for about 15 minutes or until the rice is most of the way done. Then, we'll add back in that delicious chicken and Andouille sausage until they're fully cooked.

At this point, all that's left to do is season to taste and serve. You can add some Cajun seasoning right here if you like - just a little something extra to give it that kick. Now, let the rice absorb all that flavor and steam the liquid will start to evaporate, and before you know it, you'll have a perfectly cooked jambalaya.

And finally, we're adding in some diced green onions for that final touch of color and flavor. It's like the cherry on top - what more could you ask for?

As we fetch out those bay leaves (they've done their job), this is the moment to take a step back and admire your handiwork. The rice has absorbed all that goodness, everything is perfectly cooked... well, almost. The last thing left to do is taste it.

Brace yourself for the money shot, folks - it's time to dig in! Take a big ol' spoonful of that jambalaya and experience the true meaning of comfort food. With this recipe, you'll be cooking like a pro in no time - all it takes is a little practice and patience. And remember, as with any great recipe, the key is in the details - so don't be afraid to experiment and make it your own.

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"WEBVTTKind: captionsLanguage: enwhat's up guys welcome back I've been seeing a lot of you guys have a lot of fun at Marty gr this past week on social media and it had me thinking about my favorite New Orleans inspired recipe today I'm going to show you how to make this delicious jumbalaya in my opinion this is the ultimate one pop meal it's loaded with flavor we got chicken we got and Dey sausage the Holy Trinity but before we get into the recipe please take a quick second to subscribe to the channel make sure you hit that Bell toate with notifications as well all right guys meet me in the kitchen let's make it happen first thing first let's take a look at these ingredients nice and simple stuff today we've got the Holy Trinity which is comprised of onion bell pepper and celery I like to throw a little Jalapeno in the party to spice things up a little bit that's totally optional for the protein we've got chicken I'm using boneless skinless chicken thighs but chicken breast would work here as well and I have and dewy sausage for the pork Patrol out there you can use a chicken or turkey variety they even have beef options for you all right guys so for this recipe I like to use chicken thighs because it has a higher fat content and it's less likely to dry out during the cooking process so let's take a look at these chicken thighs I'm just going to cut them down into bite-sized pieces I'm leaving the fat on there because fat is Flavor it's going to render down and add some more flavor to the jumbalaya and help prevent the chicken from drying out you want to you know make them about Fork size bites so that's about what we're going for right there maybe a/ inch or so in size just try to make sure they're about as even as you can the thinner side the the thinner side of the chicken can be a little bit bigger because it's going to cook a little faster cuz it's thin if you want to trim some of that fat guys it's totally up to you I'm not going to be mad at you but again I like to leave it on adds flavor and moisture to the situation now as for the seasoning blend for the chicken we're going down with my Triple Threat which is my AP seasoning My Lemon Bay which is got some great cajan flavors in it as well along with my hot AP you can also use like Tony or whatever your favorite Cajun or Creole seasoning is or whatever your favorite allpurpose seasoning is this is low sodium so you can be a little bit more heavy-handed with it get some good flavor in there and some good color especially with that Lemon Bay that's going to bring the color and the flavor for sure just get in there with your hands massage that in make sure it's evenly coated and this will be ready for our Skillet momentarily now for this recipe we're using two cups of long grain white rice we're going to wash it first the best way to do that is with a mesh strainer like this one right here and just run your water over the rice about three or four times until the water runs clear as you can see that water is everything but clear so you want to just do that a couple times until it's nice and clear and you know the rice is clean it removes some of the starch it's going to make it nice and fluffy and plus you don't want to eat dirty rice all right guys so we have our Skillet warmed up over medium heat got a little avocado oil or olive oil whatever you got to that we're going to go ahead and add in about one lound of diced and dewy sausage and Dey sausage is super common in Cajun and creole Cuisine if for some reason you don't like it you probably don't like jumbalaya but you can also substitute it if you want to with a beef sausage or you know whatever you like guys it's your kitchen you can make your recipe your own but today we're going with and Dey sausage and we're doing that first that way the and Dey sausage really releases some of its flavor into the bottom of the skillet which is going to add flavor to the rest of our dish so we're just going to toast that up and brown it probably 5 to 6 minutes remove it with a slided spoon and go in with our chicken all right guys so once the Ando sausage is nice and brown like you see right here we're to go ahead and remove it leaving behind all that flavor that's why you want to use a slided spoon like this one scoop it out and then we're going to cook our chicken right in that same Skillet now to help the chicken out a little bit we're going to add a little butter cuz butter makes everything better in goes the chicken thighs try to give them a little breathing room so they can Brown up nicely man it smells good already and that my friends is what what you want to see on your chicken remember that sear is going to add color flavor and texture very important so do your best to get some nice coating or nice crust on your chicken pieces doesn't get much better than that you don't want a bunch of gray Chicken in your jumbalaya all right guys so at this point you want your chicken most of the way cooked through it's going to fully cook or finish cooking in the actual jumbalaya but we're about 80% of the way there right now got the color that we're looking for so we're going to remove it and we'll add it back in towards the end of the jumbalaya cook if you want to cook it all the way through you can but then you kind of run the risk of drying it out by the end of the recipe so just keep that in mind and now my friends it's time to add the Cajun Trinity plus a jalapeno onions bell pepper and celery going in they're immediately going to kind of soak up all that flavor and fond off the bottom of the skillet they'll start to release some of their water as well and kind of steam up a little bit soften up house is smelling good all right so once the veggies are most of the way cooked down we're going in with a couple tablespoons of garlic you can use fresh garlic minced garlic or this garlic paste don't be shy with it though followed by some tomato paste this gu has some concentrated tomato flavor some good color little hint of background sweetness to balance everything out we're going with about 2 tbspoon of that we're also going to add a couple tablespoons of fresh herbs we got some Rosemary and Thyme in there a teaspoon of Louisiana hot sauce a couple teaspoons of chicken bullan powder to amplify the flavor profile a couple teaspoons of worst word in the world sauce give that a mix now we're going in with two cups of clean rice we're going to toast that for a couple minutes so just mix that in to combine with everything allow that rice to begin to toast nicely 2 or 3 minutes and then we'll add in our chicken broth bring that up to a boil so after a couple minutes we're going in with four cups of good quality chicken broth or chicken stock going to give that a mix bring that up to a boil and then we'll reduce it down to a simmer covered with the lid for about 15 minutes or until the rice is most of the way cooked then we add back in the chicken and Andy sausage until the chicken's fully cooked season to taste and you got yourself a delicious jumbalaya all right so as you can see we're just about done approaching about the final you know 5 to 10 minutes or so once the rice is done we're going to be done but we're going ahead and adding in the sausage and the chicken no flavor left behind here just going to mix that in allow that rice to finish cooking we're going to fetch those bay leaves out of there in a minute oh man that looks good going to go down with a little smoked paprika couple final dashes of some more seasoning you can add some C Asian seasoning right here and just let it cook let the you know the rice absorb all that flavor let everything kind of come together and steam the liquid will start to evaporate the rice will absorb everything that it can and it'll get nice and tender and you're going to have a fantastic jumbalaya for your meal prep for lunch for dinner really any occasion you could add some shrimp to this if you want or some seafood totally customizable recipe doesn't get a whole lot better than that now the last thing we're going to add is about a/2 cup of diced green onion that's going to add some nice flavor and some color to the situation we're going to fetch out those bay leaves they've done their job in about another 2 or 3 minutes they'll be good to go and this is the part where I say brace yourself for a trademark money shot say it with me guys looking good the only thing left to do is get in here for a taste test but before we do that please take a quick second to subscribe to the channel make sure you hit that Bell to my notifications as well that my friends looks like the perfect bite we got and dewy sausage we got chicken we got rice what's up guys welcome back Marty Gro was recently and it had me thinking about my favorite Marty Gro was recently Marty Gro came and went and it had me thinking about Mar came and went and it had me thinking about my favorite one pot meal which is jumbal think I should mention martys it going be too latewhat's up guys welcome back I've been seeing a lot of you guys have a lot of fun at Marty gr this past week on social media and it had me thinking about my favorite New Orleans inspired recipe today I'm going to show you how to make this delicious jumbalaya in my opinion this is the ultimate one pop meal it's loaded with flavor we got chicken we got and Dey sausage the Holy Trinity but before we get into the recipe please take a quick second to subscribe to the channel make sure you hit that Bell toate with notifications as well all right guys meet me in the kitchen let's make it happen first thing first let's take a look at these ingredients nice and simple stuff today we've got the Holy Trinity which is comprised of onion bell pepper and celery I like to throw a little Jalapeno in the party to spice things up a little bit that's totally optional for the protein we've got chicken I'm using boneless skinless chicken thighs but chicken breast would work here as well and I have and dewy sausage for the pork Patrol out there you can use a chicken or turkey variety they even have beef options for you all right guys so for this recipe I like to use chicken thighs because it has a higher fat content and it's less likely to dry out during the cooking process so let's take a look at these chicken thighs I'm just going to cut them down into bite-sized pieces I'm leaving the fat on there because fat is Flavor it's going to render down and add some more flavor to the jumbalaya and help prevent the chicken from drying out you want to you know make them about Fork size bites so that's about what we're going for right there maybe a/ inch or so in size just try to make sure they're about as even as you can the thinner side the the thinner side of the chicken can be a little bit bigger because it's going to cook a little faster cuz it's thin if you want to trim some of that fat guys it's totally up to you I'm not going to be mad at you but again I like to leave it on adds flavor and moisture to the situation now as for the seasoning blend for the chicken we're going down with my Triple Threat which is my AP seasoning My Lemon Bay which is got some great cajan flavors in it as well along with my hot AP you can also use like Tony or whatever your favorite Cajun or Creole seasoning is or whatever your favorite allpurpose seasoning is this is low sodium so you can be a little bit more heavy-handed with it get some good flavor in there and some good color especially with that Lemon Bay that's going to bring the color and the flavor for sure just get in there with your hands massage that in make sure it's evenly coated and this will be ready for our Skillet momentarily now for this recipe we're using two cups of long grain white rice we're going to wash it first the best way to do that is with a mesh strainer like this one right here and just run your water over the rice about three or four times until the water runs clear as you can see that water is everything but clear so you want to just do that a couple times until it's nice and clear and you know the rice is clean it removes some of the starch it's going to make it nice and fluffy and plus you don't want to eat dirty rice all right guys so we have our Skillet warmed up over medium heat got a little avocado oil or olive oil whatever you got to that we're going to go ahead and add in about one lound of diced and dewy sausage and Dey sausage is super common in Cajun and creole Cuisine if for some reason you don't like it you probably don't like jumbalaya but you can also substitute it if you want to with a beef sausage or you know whatever you like guys it's your kitchen you can make your recipe your own but today we're going with and Dey sausage and we're doing that first that way the and Dey sausage really releases some of its flavor into the bottom of the skillet which is going to add flavor to the rest of our dish so we're just going to toast that up and brown it probably 5 to 6 minutes remove it with a slided spoon and go in with our chicken all right guys so once the Ando sausage is nice and brown like you see right here we're to go ahead and remove it leaving behind all that flavor that's why you want to use a slided spoon like this one scoop it out and then we're going to cook our chicken right in that same Skillet now to help the chicken out a little bit we're going to add a little butter cuz butter makes everything better in goes the chicken thighs try to give them a little breathing room so they can Brown up nicely man it smells good already and that my friends is what what you want to see on your chicken remember that sear is going to add color flavor and texture very important so do your best to get some nice coating or nice crust on your chicken pieces doesn't get much better than that you don't want a bunch of gray Chicken in your jumbalaya all right guys so at this point you want your chicken most of the way cooked through it's going to fully cook or finish cooking in the actual jumbalaya but we're about 80% of the way there right now got the color that we're looking for so we're going to remove it and we'll add it back in towards the end of the jumbalaya cook if you want to cook it all the way through you can but then you kind of run the risk of drying it out by the end of the recipe so just keep that in mind and now my friends it's time to add the Cajun Trinity plus a jalapeno onions bell pepper and celery going in they're immediately going to kind of soak up all that flavor and fond off the bottom of the skillet they'll start to release some of their water as well and kind of steam up a little bit soften up house is smelling good all right so once the veggies are most of the way cooked down we're going in with a couple tablespoons of garlic you can use fresh garlic minced garlic or this garlic paste don't be shy with it though followed by some tomato paste this gu has some concentrated tomato flavor some good color little hint of background sweetness to balance everything out we're going with about 2 tbspoon of that we're also going to add a couple tablespoons of fresh herbs we got some Rosemary and Thyme in there a teaspoon of Louisiana hot sauce a couple teaspoons of chicken bullan powder to amplify the flavor profile a couple teaspoons of worst word in the world sauce give that a mix now we're going in with two cups of clean rice we're going to toast that for a couple minutes so just mix that in to combine with everything allow that rice to begin to toast nicely 2 or 3 minutes and then we'll add in our chicken broth bring that up to a boil so after a couple minutes we're going in with four cups of good quality chicken broth or chicken stock going to give that a mix bring that up to a boil and then we'll reduce it down to a simmer covered with the lid for about 15 minutes or until the rice is most of the way cooked then we add back in the chicken and Andy sausage until the chicken's fully cooked season to taste and you got yourself a delicious jumbalaya all right so as you can see we're just about done approaching about the final you know 5 to 10 minutes or so once the rice is done we're going to be done but we're going ahead and adding in the sausage and the chicken no flavor left behind here just going to mix that in allow that rice to finish cooking we're going to fetch those bay leaves out of there in a minute oh man that looks good going to go down with a little smoked paprika couple final dashes of some more seasoning you can add some C Asian seasoning right here and just let it cook let the you know the rice absorb all that flavor let everything kind of come together and steam the liquid will start to evaporate the rice will absorb everything that it can and it'll get nice and tender and you're going to have a fantastic jumbalaya for your meal prep for lunch for dinner really any occasion you could add some shrimp to this if you want or some seafood totally customizable recipe doesn't get a whole lot better than that now the last thing we're going to add is about a/2 cup of diced green onion that's going to add some nice flavor and some color to the situation we're going to fetch out those bay leaves they've done their job in about another 2 or 3 minutes they'll be good to go and this is the part where I say brace yourself for a trademark money shot say it with me guys looking good the only thing left to do is get in here for a taste test but before we do that please take a quick second to subscribe to the channel make sure you hit that Bell to my notifications as well that my friends looks like the perfect bite we got and dewy sausage we got chicken we got rice what's up guys welcome back Marty Gro was recently and it had me thinking about my favorite Marty Gro was recently Marty Gro came and went and it had me thinking about Mar came and went and it had me thinking about my favorite one pot meal which is jumbal think I should mention martys it going be too late\n"