Jambalaya in the Crockpot

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What's the difference between jambalaya and gumbo? Jambalaya has the rice incorporated into the recipe and gumbo is served over a bed of rice. I very loosely based this off of a gumbo recipe but made many changes, one of which was to add the rice to the pot while it was cooking.

I haven't been using my crockpot as much lately and it was great to put this on in the afternoon and not have to scramble to make dinner at 6:00 (or, make scrambled eggs for dinner which I've done recently). It's not the most earth-shattering recipe ever and I liberally doused mine with tabasco, but it was easy, healthy, and filling. Next time I'd add some more veggies (bell pepper or okra?). I loved how the chicken was shredding and falling apart by the end of the cooking time.

If you cook this longer on low, you'll have to play around with it depending on how your crockpot cooks. Maybe 6-7 hours on low. Mine was done in about 4 hours (3 1/2 on high, last half hour on low and I could have turned it off earlier because the rice was almost over done).

Chicken Jambalaya - serves 4

1/2 pound boneless skinless chicken thighs cut into 1 inch pieces
1/2 pound fully cooked smoked sausage, chopped (I used chicken andouille from TJs - I'd choose something spicier next time)
1 c. chopped carrot
1 c. chopped celery
1 c. chopped onion (TJs sells a Mirepoix which is already chopped carrot, celery & onion in this proportion)
1 14oz can diced tomatoes, undrained
4 c. water
1 chicken bouillon cube
2 tsp cajun seasoning
2 tsp dried thyme
1 tsp paprika
1/2 tsp cayenne
more hot stuff - tabasco, red pepper flakes - if you like
3/4 c. uncooked rice (I used jasmine)


Saute the carrot, celery and onion for about 5 minutes or until soft. Dump into the crock pot. Brown the chicken thigh pieces in the same pan and put in the crockpot. Add all of the ingredients except the rice and cook for 3 hours on high or 5-6 hours on low. Add the uncooked rice to the pot, reduce the heat to low, and cook for 30 minutes - 1 hour more or until the rice is done (mine took about 45 minutes).

If the notes on timing are confusing, use your judgment and the meat/veggie part is done when the chicken is cooked through and everything is hot and bubbly. Then, make sure the rice goes in about 45 minutes or so before you want to eat it. Check the rice a few times to see if it's tender and add more water if you need to / want to. It's hard to mess up.