Flavorful Slow Cooker Jambalaya
This flavorful Slow Cooker Jambalaya recipe is super easy to make, and full of bold Cajun flavors that everyone will love!
Whether you’ve got a busy weeknight ahead or you’re needing a crowd pleasing meal for game night, everyone needs a super tasty, but also super easy meal that they can throw together and forget. This oh so flavorful slow cooker jambalaya is totally that dish!
I kept things pretty traditional with shrimp, chicken, classic cajun seasonings and the rich, savory smoked sausage. Love a good smoked sausage to really take the flavor up a notch! Something that can get a little tricky with this recipe is getting your rice perfectly cooked. Based on reader feedback, the recipe was revised slightly to allow for the rice to cook longer. The video below, shows adding in the rice after some cooking, but brown rice, in particular, needs a longer cook time.
3 Steps for Perfect Slow Cooker Brown Rice
- Use a large, wide slow cooker. As much as I love my smaller slow cooker and my Instant Pot, you don’t want to use either for this recipe. You need a six-quart or larger slow cooker that allows proper absorption and evaporation. One with an oval or oblong crock is best.
- Boil the water/broth to jumpstart cooking. You’ll need to bring the water to a boil before adding it to the slow cooker. Starting the rice in cool water could cause it to cook up gummy.
- Cover the rice with parchment as it cooks. This isn’t a must, but it will ensure that the water evaporates slowly over the entire cook time. Adding a layer of parchment paper directly over the water and rice mixture slows evaporation and makes sure every single grain is perfectly cooked.
Love this Flavorful Slow Cooker Jambalaya? Try these other cozy meals too!
Clean Eating Creamy Chicken Enchilada Soup (slow cooker option)
Healthy Taco Soup {Super Easy}
I’d love to know if you make this (or any) recipe! Tag @kimscravings on Instagram and be sure to subscribe to our mailing list to receive more healthy delicious recipes straight to your inbox.
This flavorful recipe is super easy to make, and full of bold Cajun flavors that everyone will love!
- 1 (14 oz.) package smoked sausage
- 1/2 lb. (about 2.5 cups) shredded chicken (I used rotisserie chicken)
- 1 green bell pepper, diced
- 1 red bell pepper, diced
- 1 yellow onion, diced
- 2 cups low sodium chicken broth (start with 2 cups and add up to 2 1/2 cups more as rice cooks, to prevent it from becoming hard - see instructions below)
- 1 (28 oz.) can crushed tomatoes
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 2 teaspoons Cajun seasoning
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon pepper
- 1 1/2 cups uncooked brown rice*
- 1 lb. uncooked shrimp, peeled and de-veined
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Spray crockpot with cooking spray. Slice sausage into 1/4 inch thick slices.
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Add the sausage along with all other ingredients, (except for shrimp), to slow cooker. Stir to combine.
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Cover and cook for 3-4 hours on high. Check to see if rice is cooked and tender. Add more chicken broth or water, as needed, if rice mixture is getting too dry. You may need to add 2 to 2 1/2 cups more of broth, to prevent rice from becoming hard.
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In the last 20 minutes of cooking and once rice is tender or seems close to being cooked completely, remove tails from shrimp and place into crockpot. Cover and cook for another 15-20 minutes, or until shrimp turns pink and is cooked through. Stir everything together, sprinkle with chopped parsley if desired, and enjoy!
Please note: the video shows adding the rice after cooking for 3-4 hours. Based on reader feedback, I've revised this recipe. The brown rice will need longer to cook and should be added with all other ingredients to the slow cooker.
Tips for cooking brown rice in the slow cooker:
3 Steps for Perfect Slow Cooker Brown Rice
- Use a large, wide slow cooker.
- Boil the water/broth to jumpstart cooking.
- Cover the rice with parchment as it cooks.
*Feel free to use white rice, which will yield a shorter cook time. Probably closer to 2 hours on high, in the slow cooker.
Did you make this recipe?
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This sounds and looks amazing! I really need to get the ingredients and make this asap!
Oh my goodness I need to try this! it sounds like it would taste absolutely delicious and I bet it is just full of flavour with the mix of meal and shrimp.
Yum, I think I’d really enjoy this. I would be a fan of all the various flavors. Plus I love when I can use my slow cooker.
OMG! This looks fantastic! My mouth was watering and I don’t even eat Jambalaya. If only I had a slow cooker…
My son was dancing his little butt off to the music in your video.
I love jambalaya it is so flavorful and I really love that you can add anything you want and make it your own with more veggies more protein or whatever you want.
This sounds like the perfect recipe for our new Instant Pot! We like a little bit of spice in ours, so may add a dash or two of some hot flavoring/spice. Thanks for sharing and keep the yummy recipes coming!
I love slow cooker recipes, It´s kinda like just throw everything in there and let magic begin, this jambalaya here is a BIG winner! everything about sounds delicious, thanks for the recipe 🙂
YUM! Slow cookers are the BEST… I honestly don’t know what I did before having one. You are an amazing food photographer, by the way!
This looks so perfect for a cold night. Anything with shrimp is good in my books plus it is so simple to make as well. Thank you saving this one.
I am a vegetarian but would love to try this recipe with Paneer. I must say your photography is beautiful! This was a good read for me on a Saturday evening 🙂
looking at your photos make me hungry! my partner loves cooking this type of food and i showed this to him, we are now both excited to try! thank you!
Jambalaya is so good, and crockpot jambalaya sounds even better haha. I’ll have to dive it a try as I’m currently in my Winter Crockpot Meal Phase.
OMG, I about fell out of my chair when I saw the picture!!! This looks so yummy! I have already printed and pinned the recipe, and I can’t wait to try it!
I am always looking for new recipes to make in my slow cooker. I will have to give this jambalaya recipe a try. I am sure it will be a big hit.
That jamalaya looks amazing. Now it makes me want to go to NOLA.
This Flavorful Slow Cooker Jambalaya looks so good! I bet it was tasty! Thanks for the recipe!
This looks so good!! I am using my slow cooker less and less now, but this has inspired me to pull it out again!
This is really mouthwatering!! I love a good slow cooker recipe!! I will surely try it sometime!!
I like your jambalaya it is attractive to the eyes and appealing to the taste buds. Cajun seasoning added to mixture of shrimp and chicken added smoked sausage ensures a taste that is heavenly
This does look delicious. And I always love some good jambalaya. I will have to try this out. I usually make my jambalaya in a pot, but this would be such a convenience to do.
Me too, but this was super easy and I was able to just forget about it for a few hours! It was really convenient for me to throw some things in, do some work on my laptop, and come back to it to add the rice, leave it for another hour and a half, and then come back and add the shrimp. It was so simple!
I cant have tomatoes. Do you think I could sub pumpkin?
You could try that. I’m not sure, though. It would definitely change the flavor. Or you could just leave them out altogether, but you may need to add more broth or water. Good luck!
It was super flavorful, however, when I added the rice it didn’t cook. After an hour I increased the heat to high and it still didn’t cook. It was in for 2 1/2 hours. Not sure the problem.
I’m so sorry for your trouble. I think I had a typo in the instructions when both rice and shrimp were mentioned. I’ve edited to hopefully be more clear and hopefully result in fully cooked rice. Thanks for your message!
The sausage is not good. It’s very soft and has a weird mushy texture. But, I know she used this sausage because she teamed up with the company for this recipe. I would recommend a different brand/type. It’s not a good meal to cook with the intentions of having leftovers because the rice becomes too soft to refrigerate and then microwave. It wasn’t overly soft when it first finished cooking, but after being in the fridge and microwaving it was. I would alter the recipe to make less next time. I noticed that the recipe used rotisserie chicken – I just put in chunks of raw boneless skinless chicken thighs and it turned out wonderful for it. The taste was great, the sausage just had the texture issue. Otherwise, the recipe was great I would just change the sausage and make way less!
This looks great! Might be a dumb question but do you cook the chicken before putting in the crockpot or put the chicken in raw?
I’m not sure because I’ve only tried using already cooked rotisserie chicken. Let me know if you give it a try!
I just noticed that in the reader comments, someone did try using raw chicken and it worked just fine. Good luck!
Hello! This recipe looks absolutely delicious! I was wondering if it was possible to cook this recipe on low so I can leave it on all day while I’m at work. I wasn’t sure if that would be bad for the rice. Does anyone think that’s possible?
Here’s what I would do – Cook the recipe as directed (on low) all day, but leave out the rice. When you get home add in the shrimp and cook the rice. Once the rice is cooked mix it in with everything else before serving. Another (easier) option is to use already cooked rice and then you don’t have to hassle with it. I love these and I think it would work well in this recipe – https://www.seedsofchange.com/food/rice-grains I get them at Kroger in the healthier food section. If you do use already cooked rice, use about 3-5 cups, depending on your preference. Enjoy!
Thankyou!!
I like the comment Kim left about cooking rice separately. I intend to make this recipe with everything except the rice but, then serve separately with freshly made cauliflower rice. This would be both healthy and allow me to use the Jambalaya mixture for several days w/o the rice portion becoming to soft. Just another twist on the separate rice cooking idea!
Would the cook time double if the ingredients are doubled?
I would recommend my tips for using already cooked rice and then I think you could keep cooking time the same. Be sure you’re using a very large slow cooker. Enjoy!
Looks delicious!! How many servings does this make?
Thanks! This will make about 8 large servings. Enjoy!
HOW MUCH RICE? It isn’t even mentioned as an ingredient(!) Sorry, but I’m kind of a cooking novice; the other commenters seem quite experienced. Thank you!
It is actually listed in the ingredients. You must be overlooking it. 1 1/2 cups.
Hey Kim! We followed the directions exactly, but the brown rice turned out still pretty hard at the end of four hours. Any idea what we might’ve done wrong, or a way I could avoid it next time? Thanks!
Hi AJ, sorry you had issues. Did you add the rice in with all other ingredients at the beginning of cooking? Brown rice definitely takes longer than white.
I just realized we are out of broth! What should I add to the water to keep the flavor?
Hi Katie, If you have a cube of bullion, that would work. But if not, just make as directed and once everything has cooked, taste and adjust seasonings. Please note that brown rice has a much longer cooking time than white and some readers have had problems with the rice cooking all of the way. I would use white rice or preboil brown rice, as discussed in the recipe notes. Enjoy!
Hello,
Would this be freezable so I can have it throughout the week? Or will the rice get hard and gross?
I’ve never tried freezing it, so I’m not quite sure, but I think it will last just fine in the fridge for a week.
Do you know what is the measurement of a serving?
I’m so sorry, but I did not calculate this when I first made the recipe. Next time I make it I will. If you make it, it’s probably close to 1 to 1 and 1/4 cup.
I sneak in finely chopped carrots so the kids get an extra veggie. I put onion, celery & carrots in on high w/a bit of oil alone for about 15/25 minutes to make sure they get soft. It’s about the time I get every thing else prepped.
I make 5 minute insta rice separately & scoop mixture over it.
I have made it w/no tomatoes & it’s fine.
Also, I always just throw raw chopped chx in it.
Thanks so much for leaving this feedback, so super helpful! I love that you added shredded carrots – such a great idea! So glad you enjoyed!
This is a great slow cooker recipe Jambalaya, just what I was looking for! Folks should keep in mind the 28oz can of crushed tomatoes adds a lot of liquid. I sauteed my smoked sausage first to give it a little browning. I might have added a little too much extra chicken stock so next time I’m going to monitor the rice even more than I did the first time. Thank you Kim!
I really appreciate your feedback! Glad you enjoyed!