Instant Pot Jambalaya is a Southern-inspired one-pot meal made with chicken, spicy sausage, shrimp, veggies, and rice, and it’s brimming with Cajun spices!
12ouncesAndouille sausagesliced into 1 inch rounds
1poundboneless and skinless chicken breastcut into bite sized pieces
4teaspoonsCajun seasoningdivided
1smallyellow oniondiced
1mediumstalk of celerydiced
1smallgreen bell pepperseeded and diced
3clovesgarlicminced
1teaspoondried basil
Salt and pepper
14.5 ouncecanfire roasted diced tomatoes
1teaspoongranulated sugarto balance the acidity
1½cupslong grain ricerinsed well and drained (regular, do not use instant rice!)
1½cupschicken stocklow sodium preferred
¼teaspooncayenne or red pepper flakesoptional if you like a spicy cayenne (Cajun seasoning already contains cayenne)
1poundraw shrimppeeled and deveined but tail left on
Instructions
Set the Instant Pot on the SAUTE setting, when the message HOT is displayed add 1 tablespoon of oil. Cook the sausage for 5 minutes or until it’s golden brown. Remove onto a plate and set aside.
Add 1 more tablespoon of oil, and the chicken then season with 1 teaspoon Cajun seasoning. Cook for 5 minutes or until it’s cooked through. Remove onto a plate and set aside.
Add the onion, celery, bell pepper, and garlic and cook for 2-3 minutes.
Add the remaining Cajun seasoning, dried basil, salt, pepper, diced tomatoes, sugar, rice, and chicken stock. Stir everything together, and make sure that there’s nothing stock to the bottom of the pot from the sautéing earlier (scrub with a wooden spoon).
Cover with the lid, make sure that the valve is in SEALING position. Choose the PRESSURE COOK/MANUAL setting on HIGH. And Pressure cook for 4 minutes, then naturally release the steam for 10 minutes. Quickly release the rest of the steam.
Carefully open the lid, and add the shrimp along with the cooked sausage and chicken. Cover with the lid and let the shrimp cook from the heat of the pot (residual heat) for 5-10 minutes (the shrimp is cooked when it turns pink and opaque/no longer translucent). Lightly stir, garnish with chopped green onion and parsley and serve.
Notes
The amount of salt you add will depend on how salty your chicken stock is, to begin with. It’s always important to taste before seasoning.
Rinsing the rice may seem like an unnecessary step, but don’t be tempted to skip it! You’ll be rinsing off some of the starch, which means that your rice won’t clump and stick together once it’s cooked.
Browning the sausage, chicken, and vegetables is the key to developing a deeper flavor. That’s why we use the sauté function of our Instant Pot before we put in the rest of the ingredients. Don’t forget to scrape up all the browned bits at the bottom of the pot because that’s where your flavor is!