We Improve on One Pan Jambalaya · Monday April 20, 2026 by colin newell
I am a big fan of spicy food. Dishes like Texas chili, nachos with blazing hot salsa, enchiladas, most any Thai cuisine and especially South Asian… Punjabi spices – loaded with fragrant spice blends.
You will find many of these recipes on my blog.
While not for everyone, degrees of spice give us variety in our daily cuisine. I mean, you cannot live on meat and two veg forever… well, I guess some do.
Not me – I like my taste buds challenged… something with a kick. And this recipe ticks a lot, if not all, of those boxes.
Good old Jambalaya is an easy one pot – one pan dish for those that can have it any which way they want to swing.
Ingredients…
▢ 1 Tablespoon oil, (vegetable or canola oil)
▢ 1 pound Andouille sausage, cut into ¼ inch thick slices
▢ 1 1/2 pounds boneless skinless chicken breasts, cut into bite-size pieces
▢ 2 Tablespoons all-purpose flour
▢ 2 Tablespoons butter
▢ 1 yellow or white onion, chopped
▢ 4 green onions, chopped
▢ 4 cloves garlic, finely minced
▢ 3 ribs celery, chopped
▢ 1 green bell pepper, chopped
▢ 1 1/2 teaspoon dried basil
▢ 1 1/2 teaspoon Cajun seasoning
▢ 1 teaspoon kosher salt
▢ ½ teaspoon fresh ground black pepper
▢ 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper, optional, add more for spice, if desired
▢ 14.5 ounce can diced tomatoes
▢ 2 1/2 cups low-sodium chicken broth
▢ 1 1/4 cup long-grain white rice
Directions…
In a large skillet with a fitted lid, add the oil over medium high heat.
Once hot, add the chicken and cook, flipping once or twice to brown on all sides (don’t cook chicken completely through).
Remove to a bowl.
Add sausage and cook until browned on both sides. Add to the bowl with the chicken.
Reduce heat to medium and add butter and flour to the pan and stir well, scraping up any leftover browned bits from the pan.
Add onion, garlic, celery, and bell peppers and sauté for a 3 minutes.
Add basil, Cajun seasoning, diced tomatoes, salt and pepper and stir well to combine.
Add chicken broth and rice bring mixture to a gentle boil.
Add reserved meat to the pan. Reduce heat, cover pan with fitted lid and cook for 20 minutes.
Remove from heat, and rest with the lid on for 10 minutes. Then gently fluff with a fork and rest again for 5 minutes before serving.
Colin Newell is a Victoria B.C. resident and long time coffee expert… his rambling has appeared everywhere from the New York times to the Wall Street journal, CTV Newsworld and in-flight magazines from carriers like Air Canada to Air Transat… he has been doing this blog thing since the dawn of internet time…
