Instant Pot Chicken and Sausage Jambalaya–a fast, easy, healthier, non-spicy version of jambalaya. It has so much flavor, you’re going to love it!
Get the SLOW COOKER chicken and sausage jambalaya recipe here
Instant Pot Chicken and Sausage Jambalaya
My mind has been changed. I used to think jambalaya was a spicy dish that my family wouldn’t like. I now have a recipe that I absolutely love and that my family loves too. Everybody can eat it (not too spicy) and it has loads and loads of flavor. My son literally had 3 bowls of it for dinner last night. My daughter’s 2 friends were over and they loved it too.
I chose to make my jambalaya with brown rice. In my house we are brown rice fans. I rarely make white rice. I love making brown rice in my Instant Pot. It turns out well every time and I don’t have to babysit a pan on the stove. I haven’t tried this recipe with white rice yet. But I think it would work out okay. If you want to make this recipe with long grain white rice I would make sure to cut up the raw chicken into bite size pieces. And I would use a 2 cup to 2.25 cup ratio of rice to broth. Then change the cooking time to 3 minutes with a 10 minute natural pressure release. If you do try this method, let me know how it works out!
What about the shrimp?! Many jambalaya recipes have shrimp and sadly mine does not. My husband is allergic to shrimp so I left it out. If you do want shrimp you can add it in after the food has pressure cooked. Stir the deveined shrimp into the hot rice and let the hot food cook the shrimp (lid on, no pressure, warm setting) for a few minutes, until the shrimp are pink and cooked through. For convenience sake I like buying the frozen bags of cooked shrimp. I used them for my cajun pasta recipe.
This instant pot jambalaya recipe makes a lot! I served 6 people and we still have some leftovers. And you know my son should count for about 3 people. So if you don’t want to make a ton of food you can easily halve this recipe. Halve all the ingredients and keep the same cooking time.
More Recipes You’ll Love…
Instant Pot Garlic Rice and Chicken
Instant Pot Cajun Sausage and Shrimp Pasta
Instant Pot Red Beans and Rice
What Pressure Cooker Did You Use?
To make Instant Pot Chicken and Sausage Jambalaya I used my 6 quart Instant Pot Duo 60 7 in 1*. I love this Instant Pot because it has the yogurt making function which I use almost weekly. It has two pressure settings (high and low), and there are also little slots in the handles so that you can rest the lid there instead of putting it down on your counter-top.
Instant Pot Chicken and Sausage Jambalaya
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Cook Time: 20 minutes (plus 10 minute NPR)
- Total Time: 55 minutes
- Yield: 10 servings 1x
Print Recipe
Pin RecipeDescription
A fast, easy, healthier, non-spicy version of jambalaya. It has so much flavor, you’re going to love it!
Ingredients
- 12 ounces ground sausage or cajun andouille smoked sausage
- 1 cup diced onion
- 2 cups chicken broth
- 2 cups uncooked brown rice
- 1 ½ pounds boneless skinless chicken breasts or thighs (frozen is okay)
- 1 tsp salt
- ¾ tsp black pepper
- 1 tsp dried thyme
- 1 tsp dried basil
- ¼ tsp cayenne pepper
- 1 cup sliced celery
- 1 green bell pepper, diced
- 1 Tbsp minced garlic
- 1 Tbsp worcestershire sauce
- 1 (15 oz) can diced fire roasted tomatoes
- 1 (8 oz) can tomato sauce
Instructions
- Turn your Instant Pot to the saute setting. When the display says HOT add in the ground sausage, if using. (If you are using the smoked sausage you don’t need to do this part, just slice it and add it in with the broth). Break up the sausage and add in the onion. Brown the sausage for about 5 minutes. Add in the chicken broth and scrape the bottom of the pot so that nothing is sticking. Evenly dump the rice in, don’t stir.
- Place the chicken on top of the rice. Sprinkle the salt, pepper, thyme, basil, cayenne, celery, bell pepper, garlic, worcestershire, tomatoes and tomato sauce over the chicken. Don’t stir.
- Cover the pot and secure the lid. Make sure the valve is set to sealing. Set the manual/pressure cook button to 20 minutes. When the time is up let the pot sit for 10 minutes and then move the valve to venting. Remove the lid.
- Remove the chicken and place on a cutting board. Stir the rice. Cut the chicken into pieces or shred it and then stir it back into the pot.
- Serve and enjoy!
Notes
I just used plain ground sausage. If you don’t want a lot of spice this is a good option. The cajun andouille sausage will be spicier. If you’re still nervous about spice leave out the cayenne pepper.
This recipe can be gluten free. Use gluten free worcestershire sauce.
You may be tempted to just use plain diced tomatoes instead of fire roasted tomatoes. The fire roasted tomatoes give the jambalaya so much flavor. I wouldn’t skip them!
I haven’t tried this recipe with white rice yet. But I think it would work out okay. If you want to make this recipe with long grain white rice I would make sure to cut up the raw chicken into bite size pieces. And I would use a 2 cup to 2.25 cup ratio of rice to broth. Then change the cooking time to 3 minutes with a 10 minute natural pressure release.
You can easily halve this recipe. Halve all the ingredients and keep the same cooking time.
- Category: Chicken
- Method: Instant Pot
- Cuisine: Cajun
*Karen Petersen is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to amazon.com.
Sandra says
June 11, 2019 at 11:47 amYummm, super tasty, healthy meal!! I followed the directions and it turned out amazing, I wouldn’t change a thing!! Rice was a touch al-dante, but still very edible and we devoured it! Many thanks for the reicpe
★★★★★
Karen says
June 12, 2019 at 8:04 amI’m glad you liked it Sandra!
Jillian says
June 6, 2019 at 3:42 pmHow much is a serving?
Ellen says
May 26, 2019 at 1:49 pmCan you make this with “riced Cauliflower?”
Karen says
May 28, 2019 at 6:24 amHi Ellen, I’m sure you could but the method would probably change. I really haven’t made riced cauliflower in the instant pot before and think that it would get done super fast though. Have you ever tried it?
Holly says
May 23, 2019 at 7:28 pmWhite rice would take the cooking time from 20 minutes to 3?! I just started my IP and now I’m scared!
Karen says
May 24, 2019 at 8:49 amlong grain white rice cooks very quickly. it’s a 3 minute pressure cook time with a 10 minute natural pressure release. brown rice usually takes about 22 minutes with a 10 minute natural pressure release.
Michelle says
May 22, 2019 at 9:29 amThis sounds amazing! I can’t wait to try it! I haven’t made rice in my instant pot yet. I’m assuming minute rice is not good to use? What do you think?
Karen says
May 22, 2019 at 10:39 amNo go on the minute rice! I used brown rice and it was perfect.
Jenne says
May 21, 2019 at 11:57 amThis recipe sounds totally amazing. I cannot WAIT to try this!!
I have actually got 3 kinds of sausage in my freezer right now: One is a mild Italian ground sausage: One is a simple smoked Kielbasa kind (we have a turkey version as well), and the other we have, is the traditional mild breakfast sausage type, oh and I can’t forget, we have mild Italian sausage links right now, too.
We don’t like a lot of spice (the mild/sweet Italian sausage is about as string as it gets around here)…Out of these, which do you suggest? I plan to simply pan fry some shrimp to add to the finished recipe. I really cannot wait to try this! We are team Brown Rice as well! A+++ recipe! Thank you for sharing this with us! !
★★★★★
Jenne says
May 21, 2019 at 12:01 pm*STRONG not STRING*!
LOL…Apologies for the typo! 🥴
★★★★★
Stephanie Nemec says
May 22, 2019 at 8:12 amI’m interested to know what kind to use as well.
Karen says
May 22, 2019 at 10:37 amAll the sausages would taste great! I just used a simple breakfast sausage and it tasted great. The Italian sausage will add a lot of flavor and some spice. Yay for brown rice! Also the shrimp sounds so amazing!