Instant Pot Sausage and Chicken Jambalaya
Sausage and chicken jambalaya is the perfect blend of Creole seasoning, onions, peppers, celery, sausage, chicken, and rice. Use the Instant Pot to prepare this meal in less time than the stove top version. Tender meats, flavorful veggies, and perfectly cooked rice every time!
It’s rare that we make jambalaya, gumbo, or any Creole foods. Odd, too, because they are so tasty and always a hit.
Since purchasing the Instant Pot, we’ve already made this sausage and chicken jambalaya more times than I can count, and gumbo is in the near future!
Don’t get me wrong, I love simmering a large pot of food on the stove top. It makes the house smell wonderful and imparts so much flavor.
The reality is, I don’t always have time.
On those days, when we want a hearty dinner but don’t have time to babysit a pot on the stove, we use the Instant Pot. It’s quick, easy, and very low maintenance.
That’s kind of how we decided to make jambalaya, pork chops with gravy, and wild rice and mushroom soup.
John asked for the jambalaya, but we’ve been so busy lately that I didn’t think we’d have time to make it stove top.
The Instant Pot was a lifesaver. We took the usual ingredients like sausage, chicken, onions, celery, peppers, tomatoes, and seasonings, and adapted the process. It worked perfectly!
How to Make Instant Pot Jambalaya:
- This recipe involves a lot of sautéing, so start by setting the Instant Pot to sauté. Add the oil, sausage, and chicken. Stir until the chicken is white on the outside. The chicken doesn’t have to be cooked through, just cooked on the outside. It will cook the rest of the way later in the process. It only takes 3-5 minutes to cook the chicken.
- Then use a slotted spoon to remove the meat from the pan. Leave the Instant Pot on sauté and add the onions, celery, and peppers. Cook just until they’re soft then add the garlic. Be careful not to overcook the garlic, or it will become bitter.
- Add the Creole seasonings, bay leaves, and thyme.
- Carefully place the sausage and chicken back in the pot and top with rice, tomatoes, and chicken broth. Season with salt and pepper.
- Give the jambalaya a quick stir, and close the lid. Make sure the valve is set to “sealing,” and set to high pressure (manual/pressure cook) for 10 minutes.
- Allow the Instant Pot to natural release before doing a quick release.
- After the quick release, remove the lid and stir the jambalaya. Remove the bay leaves and thyme sprigs, and add additional salt and pepper if needed. Serve immediately!
Tips for a Successful Sausage and Chicken Jambalaya:
What’s the best way to avoid a burn notice?
To ensure that you don’t get a burn warning, make sure to scrape the bits from the bottom of the pot. Some brands of sausage have a higher fat content and are less likely to stick.
If needed, add a touch of extra oil in the beginning steps to keep food from sticking. Here’s a great resource that gives some tips about how to avoid a burn message.
If it looks like the ingredients are on the lower moisture side or if your Instant Pot is bad about burning rice, add an extra 1/2 to 1 cup of broth from the start. Some readers report adding the extra broth and have had great results.
Additionally, if you are making this in an 8-quart, add 1 cup of extra broth. We also recommend layering the food beginning with the sauteed vegetables, add the meat next, then the rice, pour in the broth, and pour the tomatoes in last.
This will change up the way the ingredients are cooked, and you may need to cook the ingredients in batches. It may require a touch of extra broth, too, since the broth will sink below the rice.
What’s a substitution for Creole seasoning?
If you don’t have Creole seasoning, swap it out with equal amounts of Cajun seasoning. However, the Cajun seasoning tends to be a bit spicy. We use 1-2 tablespoons depending on the spiciness of the sausage.
The important thing is to flavor it to your liking! This also goes for the other seasonings like thyme and salt.
Please use your best judgment. We used the amount that worked for our friends and family. It may not be the same for your household.
Do you add uncooked rice to jambalaya?
Yes. The rice we used was long grain white rice. It was uncooked when we put it into the Instant Pot.
Can you freeze jambalaya?
Yes. We recommend freezing jambalaya in double plastic zip bags, so it will lay flat. It will keep for about 2 months if properly packaged.
Freezing does change the texture and taste slightly.
Other Dinner Recipes to Try:
If you like this sausage and chicken jambalaya recipe, please leave us a comment and rate the recipe card. You can also find us on Facebook, Pinterest, Twitter and Instagram searching for Berly’s Kitchen!
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
- 12 ounces andouille sausage, sliced into circular pieces
- 1 pound boneless skinless chicken breasts, boneless, skinless (cut into 1 inch cubes)
- 1 white onion, diced
- 1 green bell pepper, diced
- 1 celery stalk, chopped
- 5 garlic cloves, minced
- 1 tablespoon Creole seasoning
- 3 fresh thyme sprigs, (or substitute 1/2 – 1 teaspoon dried thyme; adjust to taste)
- 2 bay leaves
- 1 (14 ounce) can diced tomatoes, with juices
- 1 cup low-sodium chicken broth
- 1 cup long grain white rice
- Salt and pepper, to taste
Instructions
- Set the Instant Pot to “Saute.”
- Add the oil, sausage, and chicken. Use a wooden spoon to turn, while scraping the bottom of the Instant Pot. Cook for 3-5 minutes or until the outside of the chicken is white.2 tablespoons vegetable oil12 ounces andouille sausage1 pound boneless skinless chicken breasts
- Remove the sausage and chicken and drain on paper towels.
- Add the onions, pepper, and celery stirring with the wooden spoon while scraping the bottom. Cook for about 3-5 minutes or until vegetables are soft.1 green bell pepper1 white onion1 celery stalk
- Add the garlic and cook for an additional 30 seconds while continuing to stir.5 garlic cloves
- Add the Creole seasoning, thyme, bay leaves, cooked sausage and chicken, rice, tomatoes, and broth. Stir to combine.1 tablespoon Creole seasoning3 fresh thyme sprigs2 bay leaves1 (14 ounce) can diced tomatoes1 cup low-sodium chicken broth1 cup long grain white rice
- Close the lid, make sure the valve is set to “sealing,” and set Instant Pot to high pressure (manual/pressure cook) for 10 minutes.
- Allow the Instant Pot to natural release for 5 minutes before completing a quick release. Remove lid and stir. Taste, and season with salt and pepper.Salt and pepper
- Serve immediately or store in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 3 days.
This recipe is a fan fave in our home, I make it at least once a month! I’m so surprised by those that say they get the burn notice, it has never been an issue. I omit the chicken and do shrimp instead. For the shrimp, I simply stir it in uncooked after everything else has finished cooking, the heat from the food cooks the shrimp right up.
This recipe is a fan fave in our home, I make it at least once a month! I’m so surprised by those that say they get the burn notice, it has never been an issue. I omit the chicken and do shrimp instead. For the shrimp, I simply stir it in uncooked after everything else has finished cooking, the heat from the food cooks the shrimp right up.
my husband and I made this last night. It was fabulous. Really hit the spot. we enjoyed it so much that we’re having leftovers tonight. I’ll freeze the rest for another great meal. The only adjustments I made was to cut down a little bit with the spices.
Good Morning Brenda, Kim and I are happy you and your husband enjoyed the jambalaya. Thank you for coming back to comment on the recipe. Have a lovely day 🙂
New to Instant Pot cooking and my husband loves Jambalaya, so I chose this recipe. I followed the recipe exactly, except for adding 1 1/2 cups of chicken broth. Turned out perfectly! Definitely a keeper. Thank you!
Thank you, Stacey! Kim and I are happy you and your husband enjoyed the jambalaya. Thank you again for coming back to comment on and rate the recipe card. Have a lovely weekend 🙂
New to Instant Pot cooking and my husband loves Jambalaya, so I chose this recipe. I followed the recipe exactly, except for adding 1 1/2 cups of chicken broth. Turned out perfectly! Definitely a keeper. Thank you!
This recipe is the best! I used chicken andouille sausage and added it 3 minutes prior to chicken so it could brown a bit. When I added all the ingredients, I mixed it BEFORE I put the rice in. I only put the rice on the top and put enough broth in to go a little over the rice. I did not have any burn issues doing that. I personally used a bit too much creole seasoning, it was still AMAZING, but a bit too spicy for the little ones. I will be making this recipe again!!
Thank you, Amanda! Kim and I are thrilled the recipe worked for you. The chicken sausage sounds like a great idea and we’re glad you didn’t have any issues with rice burning. Thank you again for coming back to comment on and rate the recipe card. Have a lovely day 🙂
This recipe is the best! I used chicken andouille sausage and added it 3 minutes prior to chicken so it could brown a bit. When I added all the ingredients, I mixed it BEFORE I put the rice in. I only put the rice on the top and put enough broth in to go a little over the rice. I did not have any burn issues doing that. I personally used a bit too much creole seasoning, it was still AMAZING, but a bit too spicy for the little ones. I will be making this recipe again!!
This recipe is the best! I used chicken andouille sausage and added it 3 minutes prior to chicken so it could brown a bit. When I added all the ingredients, I mixed it BEFORE I put the rice in. I only put the rice on the top and put enough broth in to go a little over the rice. I did not have any burn issues doing that. I personally used a bit too much creole seasoning, it was still AMAZING, but a bit too spicy for the little ones. I will be making this recipe again!!
Just finished making this. I used red and green bell pepper, a pinch of Thyme (not a huge fan) and a table spoon and a half of Cajun seasoning. Alfonso i only had kielbasa sausage on hand. Let me tell you this came out amazing! Rice was cooked just right and the flavors meshed together well. This recipe is a keeper! Thank you!
Good Morning Lillian! Glad to hear you enjoyed the recipe and the substitutions worked out perfectly for you. Thank you for commenting and I hope you have a lovely day 🙂
Sadly my instapot just broke, so I am stuck using my crockpot until I can get a new one. I’ve been dying to try this recipe. Would it be possible to make this recipe into a slow cooker recipe? If so, would I need to change any of the measurements?
Good morning, Adrianne, that’s a great question. Unfortunately, I don’t think our recipe would work in a crock pot. So, I did a little research and came up with two bloggers who have crock pot jambalaya recipes. These two bloggers are well known and we trust their recipes for our family. Both options do include shrimp, but I’m sure that can be left out or substituted if you don’t want shrimp.
The first one is from the Recipe Critic and the second one is from the Southern Lady Cooks. As I said, both of these ladies are wonderful cooks and we use their recipes for personal meals from time to time. I hope these links help and wish you a wonderful day 🙂
The Recipe Critic
https://therecipecritic.com/slow-cooker-jambalaya/
The Southern Lady Cooks
https://thesouthernladycooks.com/2019/02/11/crock-pot-jambalaya/
I actually made this with out the tomatoes. My husband forgot to pick them up at the store and I didn’t realize til I was already committed/started with all the other ingredients. So I went ahead and made it without. To my surprise it came out really good. I think the flavors actually popped more without the tomatoes and they would have with. I could readily taste all the separate flavors that I think would have been more masked by the tomato which would have given a more blended flavor. So although I think it would be great with I also think it’s a great change without.
Thank you for commenting, Ruth! Kim and I are glad it worked out well for you. Thank you again for coming back to comment on and rate the recipe card. Have a lovely day 🙂
I actually made this with out the tomatoes. My husband forgot to pick them up at the store and I didn’t realize til I was already committed/started with all the other ingredients. So I went ahead and made it without. To my surprise it came out really good. I think the flavors actually popped more without the tomatoes and they would have with. I could readily taste all the separate flavors that I think would have been more masked by the tomato which would have given a more blended flavor. So although I think it would be great with I also think it’s a great change without.
I actually made this with out the tomatoes. My husband forgot to pick them up at the store and I didn’t realize til I was already committed/started with all the other ingredients. So I went ahead and made it without. To my surprise it came out really good. I think the flavors actually popped more without the tomatoes and they would have with. I could readily taste all the separate flavors that I think would have been more masked by the tomato which would have given a more blended flavor. So although I think it would be great with I also think it’s a great change without.
Just got through making this and OMG!! It was so delicious. I’m new to the insta pot and trying different recipes. Let’s just say this one is a keeper. I put my own spin on it and it came out great. Half the pot is already gone????
Thank you, LaTasha! Kim and I are thrilled to hear you enjoyed the jambalaya. We hope you decide to try some of our other recipes as well. If not, there are tons of other Instant Pot recipe options out there. Thank you again for coming back to comment. We wish you a wonderful weekend 🙂
I loved this recipe, perfect amount of spice! I doubled the amount of rice, chicken broth and added another can of tomatoes but with green chillies! It turned out perfect! I like having leftovers for lunch for a few days and this was perfect!
Thank you, Amber! Kim and I are glad to hear you enjoyed the jambalaya. I bet the green chilies tasted great in the dish. Thank you again for coming back to comment on and rate the recipe card. Have a lovely day 🙂
I loved this recipe, perfect amount of spice! I doubled the amount of rice, chicken broth and added another can of tomatoes but with green chillies! It turned out perfect! I like having leftovers for lunch for a few days and this was perfect!