Slow Cooker Chicken and Sausage Jambalaya–an easy, healthier, non-spicy version of jambalaya. It has so much flavor, you’re going to love it!
Get the INSTANT POT Chicken and Sausage Jambalaya recipe here

Slow Cooker 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 don’t love how white rice turns out in the slow cooker so I would avoid that.
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 when there is about 30 minutes left of the cooking time. Stir the deveined shrimp into the hot rice and let it cook 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…
Slow Cooker Garlic Rice and Chicken
Instant Pot Cajun Sausage and Shrimp Pasta
Slow Cooker Red Beans and Rice
What Slow Cooker Did You Use?
To make Slow Cooker Chicken and Sausage Jambalaya I used my Ninja Auto-iQ 6 Quart Slow Cooker.* My favorite feature of this slow cooker is that it has a stove top function. This is perfect for sauteing the onions and sausage before you slow cook.


Slow Cooker Chicken and Sausage Jambalaya
- Prep Time: 20 minutes
- Cook Time: 2 hours on high
- Total Time: 46 minute
- Yield: 10 servings 1x
Description
An easy, healthier, non-spicy version of jambalaya. It has so much flavor, you’re going to love it!
Ingredients
- 12 ounces browned ground sausage or cajun andouille smoked sausage, sliced
- 1 cup diced onion
- 2 1/2 cups boiling chicken broth
- 2 cups uncooked brown rice
- 1 1/2 pounds raw boneless skinless chicken breasts or thighs, cut into bite size pieces
- 1 tsp salt
- 3/4 tsp black pepper
- 1 tsp dried thyme
- 1 tsp dried basil
- 1/4 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
- Add all the ingredients into the slow cooker and stir.
- Cover and cook on HIGH for 2 hours.
- Remove lid, fluff rice with a fork. Drape towel over the top of the slow cooker, cover with lid. Let sit for 5 minutes before serving.
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 used my Ninja Auto-iQ 6 Quart Slow Cooker.*
- Category: Chicken
- Method: Slow Cooker
- 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.
My rice and chicken thighs weren’t cooked. Putting it back in for 2.5 hours on high…
★★
My rice wasn’t done either. Did you mean uncooked rice or pre-cooked rice?
uncooked, I’m sorry it wasn’t done. Did you end up cooking it longer? Sometimes slow cookers cook differently, some hotter than others. That may have been why.
Hi! I followed just like you said, and while the flavor is wonderful, the rice isn’t done. Suggestions? Maybe it’s my crockpot.
Oh shoot! All crockpots cook differently so maybe yours cooks lower temp? I would just cook it longer maybe another hour or two.
I have had this issue with my crock pot. I cooked my rice separately and mixed it in after. I also used long grain rice. I was happy with the result.
Thank you all for the suggestions. I will let you know how it turns out the next time.
Can I substitute white rice for the brown?
I haven’t tried it with white rice. I haven’t had great success with white rice in the crockpot. It tends to get mushy.
Could this be done in the instant pot?
yes here is the IP version: https://www.365daysofcrockpot.com/instant-pot-chicken-and-sausage-jambalaya/
This was crazy easy and delicious. My 4 year old told me this is her favorite dinner and she’s like to have this as her birthday dinner in December 😂. Thank you for sharing, we’ll be having this again for sure!
★★★★★
I’m so glad to hear this. How funny about your daughter!