One of our favorite recent meals in the Konkel household has been my Weeknight Jambalaya Soup. It's delicious, healthy, warming, and comes together quickly enough to have for a weeknight dinner!
I make it with all ingredients from my pantry and freezer. I pared back on some of the ingredients to make it a little more weeknight- and budget-friendly.
Plus, my recipe serves 6, so if you have a smaller family like I do, you have plenty of leftovers!
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What Is Jambalaya?
Jambalaya is a Cajun or Creole rice dish. I used Gimme Some Oven's jambalaya recipe as a starting point. It's delicious! However, even as an experienced home cook, I have problems with certain things. I find that my rice either burns when I try to cook it on my gas stove, or it turns mushy.
So instead, I turned the jambalaya into soup/stew and serve it over rice I can cook in the Instant Pot (affiliate link). The rice stays nicely intact. Everything stays optimally delicious!
I also find that most jambalaya recipes call for Andouille sausage, plus chicken, shrimp, ham, or all of the above! Andouille sausage isn't always easy to find, and I'm not serving 3-4 meats in a single meal on a weeknight.
So, I cut out the sausage and increased the seasonings. We don't miss it! And I usually make it with just one kind of meat, to make the dish more economical and vegetable-forward.
Ingredients
Jambalaya is a rice dish, which I've broken down into steamed rice, with a soup for topping. Here's what goes in the soup:
- The Cajun/Creole holy trinity of bell peppers, onion, and celery, plus some garlic
- Cajun or Creole seasoning, which I usually assemble from scratch. More on this below.
- Tomatoes
- Broth
- Okra
- Ham
- Shrimp
- Rice
To make this more weeknight friendly, I use frozen peppers and onions. I get a big bag from BJs, or a smaller bag from the grocery store. Everything cooks down a bit, so you don't need them fresh.
Celery I do cut up fresh, but I also leave it out if I don't have it. I use minced garlic from a jar.
I add a big can of crushed tomatoes for flavor and body.
Both chicken broth and bouillon + water work fine.
Okra is traditional in gumbo, but perhaps not in jambalaya. That's ok; I like it here. The okra thickens the soup ever so slightly. I prefer frozen cut okra over frozen whole okra, but both will work fine. DO NOT try to use breaded okra.
I always add raw shrimp. This is one of the rare times I use shrimp. Be sure you get peeled, deveined, tail-off shrimp. You don't want to fish shrimp out of your soup to peel them or pull off the tails.
Ham isn't traditional, but I add it for flavor if I have it, since we skip the sausage.
You can use a Cajun or Creole seasoning in this recipe if you have it. I don't, so here's what I combine to make it:
- Smoked paprika
- Paprika
- Thyme
- Oregano
- Black pepper
- Celery seed
- Cayenne
- Salt
Instructions
Time to make your jambalaya soup! Pull out your shrimp to thaw if you haven't already, but it'll be ok if they're still a little frozen when you get to that step.
- Saute peppers, onion, and celery.
- Add garlic, spices, tomatoes, broth, and okra. Bring to a boil, then simmer briefly.
- Stir in the ham (if using), and the shrimp. Simmer until the shrimp is pink and curls up. Don't boil, or your shrimp and ham will be tough! Shrimp in this picture is on its way, but not fully cooked.
- Serve over rice, and enjoy.
Hint: If your shrimp is still frozen, don't worry. It'll just take a few extra minutes to cook. Simmer it gently, and focus on how the shrimp looks (pink and curled up), rather than how long it has cooked.
Substitutions
Don't have or want to use frozen peppers and onions? Use 3 fresh bell peppers and 1 onion instead. If you don't have fresh peppers, you can use jarred roasted bell peppers.
You can omit celery if you need to.
Want to use premade Cajun/Creole seasoning? Omit all the spices, and add 2 tablespoons of premade seasoning to start. Taste the finished soup before adding more. Premade seasoning blends often have a lot of salt, so I recommend using low-sodium broth.
You can use 4 teaspoons bouillon + 4 cups water instead of broth.
If you don't have okra, you can use extra celery or green beans to add extra vegetables to the soup. I've done so in the past.
I add ham because I often have a little left over, especially if I've bought decent ham for sandwiches. Omit it if you want, and add extra smoked paprika for flavor.
If you don't want to or can't use shrimp, you can simmer 1 pound of diced or thinly sliced chicken in the soup instead. Cook for about 10 minutes, or until the chicken is done. As with the shrimp and ham, be careful not to boil or it may become tough.
Storage
Store the jambalaya soup and the rice separately. They'll last in the refrigerator for at least 3 days.
I usually reheat the rice and the jambalaya soup separately. I sprinkle a little water on the rice in a bowl and microwave it for 30-60 seconds. Then, I top it with the soup and microwave it for another minute, or longer until it's hot.
If I'm taking transporting it for lunch, I add the rice to the soup in the morning before I go to work.
FAQ
Jambalaya is usually a one-pot rice dish, while gumbo is a thick stew served over rice. Gumbo is usually thickened with a roux (paste) made of fat and flour. My Jambalaya Soup (this recipe!) is served over rice like gumbo, but is not thickened.
Other Weeknight Meals
Looking for other delicious meals, perfect for weeknight dinner? Try these!
Interested in other recipes? I save and share recipes I like or want to try on my Pinterest page - follow me there! You can also check out my Facebook page for more recipes and helpful tips. I'm also happy to try to help troubleshoot my recipes there.
Have you tried this recipe? Or have a question about it? Rate it or leave a comment below! (PS: rating my recipes helps other people find them, too!)
📖 Recipe
Jambalaya Soup
Ingredients
- 14-16 ounces frozen peppers and onions (or 3 peppers and 1 onion, chopped)
- 1 cup celery (chopped) (about 2 ribs)
- 4 cloves garlic (minced; 2 teaspoons)
- 1 jalapeno (chopped) (optional; I skip it)
- 4 teaspoons smoked paprika
- 1 ½ teaspoons thyme
- 1 teaspoon oregano
- ½ teaspoon black pepper
- ½ teaspoon table salt
- ¼ teaspoon celery seed (ground)
- ⅛ teaspoon cayenne
- 27 ounces crushed tomatoes
- 4 cups chicken stock (or 4 teaspoons bouillon + 4 cups water)
- 16 ounces okra (chopped; frozen is fine)
- 5 ounces ham (chopped) (optional)
- 16 ounces shrimp (raw; peeled, deveined, and tail-off) (frozen is fine)
- cooked rice to serve
Instructions
- In a large pot, saute the peppers, onions, celery, and jalapeno if using, for about 5 minutes, or until peppers and onions are thawed.
- Add garlic, spices, crushed tomatoes, broth, and okra. (It's ok if your okra is still frozen.)
- Stir, then bring to a boil. Cover, reduce heat, and simmer for at least 10 minutes.
- Stir in ham, and then add raw shrimp. Reduce heat to a low simmer. You don't want to overcook the ham or the shrimp.
- Simmer the soup until the shrimp turn pink and curl up. This will take about 3-5 minutes, depending on their size. Check the bag of shrimp for the most accurate cooking time.
- Remove from heat. Serve jambalaya soup over rice.
- For the best texture of the rice, store leftover soup and rice separately in the refrigerator.
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