This Instant Pot Jambalaya was adapted from an authentic Creole Jambalaya recipe and has spicy andouille sausage, chicken and shrimp combined with rice, is flavored with Cajun spices and cooked to perfection. A delicious one-pot meal that you can make so quickly in the pressure cooker if you have all the ingredients ready.
** New Readers: Please read an important message about this recipe right before the recipe card! **
Nawlins. New Or-linz. New Or-leens. No matter how you pronounce it, if you’ve visited New Orleans, you have to agree that it’s one of the most historic and charming cities in the United States. I feel it’s a city that everyone should have a chance to visit.
The standout star of New Orleans is the Cajun and Creole cuisine. Cajun and Creole restaurants abound and you can literally eat your way through that city! Some of my favorite dishes include Jambalaya, Etouffee, and Gumbo.
Today I want to share this Instant Pot Jambalaya recipe. Jambalaya is a hearty one-pot meal made with rice, meat, and seafood, similar to Spanish paella.
There are two types of Jambalaya. Creole, which includes tomatoes, and Cajun, which is made without tomatoes. Creole cuisine originated in the city of New Orleans and Cajun food is traditionally associated with the French Acadian people who settled the swamps of southwest Louisiana.
My Instant Pot Jambalaya recipe includes tomatoes and is derived from a cookbook I’ve had in my possession forever, but have no idea when or where I got it! It’s a tiny little cookbook a bit larger than a smartphone, written by chef Austin Leslie of the famed New Orleans restaurant Chez Helene, which closed in the 1990’s.
I adapted my recipe to be a pressure cooker Jambalaya recipe and am super pleased with how it turned out. If you’re looking to make something different in your Instant Pot
, try it out.
, try it out.
Looking at the ingredient list, you might think it too long and be tempted to skip this recipe, but I hope you won’t! Some recipes are the ‘dump in the pressure cooker’ kind and some take a little more effort.
This one is definitely worth the little effort it takes (which is really not much at all.) The primary hands-on work requires sauteing the meats and vegetables individually before adding the rice and liquids.
Hope you get to try out this Instant Pot Jambalaya recipe. It’s a meal in one that doesn’t really need any side dish. It’s a great dish to make for a group. You might also be interested in my Instant Pot Gumbo recipe, which is equally delicious!
Click Below to Check out all my Cajun Recipes!
Tips and Substitutions
The shrimp can be cooked one of two ways:
- You can rub some Creole seasoning over the shrimp and set aside for 15 minutes, then briefly saute and add at the end (as stated in the recipe)
- You can stir in the uncooked shrimp at the end and let it cook in residual heat with the Instant Pot covered, just add a couple of extra minutes. The advantage of adding it in at the end is that the shrimp juices get absorbed into the rice and there’s less of chance that the shrimp is dried out. This is my preferred method.
Andouille is a spicy smoked Cajun sausage. If you don’t have access to it, substitute it with a Spanish chorizo or kielbasa. You can substitute Creole seasoning with Cajun seasoning, and you can also add more or less seasoning than I’ve suggested.
The quantity of salt you need will depend on the quantity and type of Cajun seasoning you use. Go easy on the salt if you are using more seasoning and/or if your Cajun seasoning is very salty!
If your Instant Pot is prone to getting the ‘burn’ error, layer the ingredients in this order. i.e. don’t saute and stir in the rice or tomatoes:
- Broth
- Seasonings/Sauces
- Sausage/Chicken
- Tomatoes
- Rice
[Also read: Everything you need to know about Instant Pot burn message]
If you’re new to the Instant Pot and aren’t familiar with how to use it, please read the Instant Pot DUO Beginner’s Quick Start Guide or the Instant Pot ULTRA Beginner’s Quick Start Guide first and then come back here to learn how to make Instant Pot Jambalaya.
Instant Pot Jambalaya INGREDIENTS
Instant Pot Jambalaya Step-by-Step Instructions
- Rub shrimp with 1 tsp of Creole seasoning and set aside.
- Press ‘Saute’
- Add oil to inner pot of Instant Pot.
- Add andouille and cook until browned, about 6 minutes. (If the sausage browns too quickly, press ‘Cancel’ until the Instant Pot cools down a bit and press the ‘Saute’ button again.)
- Using a slotted spoon, remove to a plate and set aside.
lotted spoon
- Add chicken and cook until no longer pink, about 5 minutes. (If the chicken browns too quickly, press ‘Cancel’ until the Instant Pot cools down a bit and then press the ‘Saute’ button again.)
- Using a slotted spoon, remove chicken to a plate and set aside.
- Press ‘Cancel’ to turn off heat.
- Add shrimp and stir briefly, for just a few seconds. You are not cooking the shrimp through. It will cook at the end.
- Using a slotted spoon, remove chicken to a plate and set aside.
- Press ‘Saute’ again.
- Add onions, celery, bell peppers and garlic; Saute till onion is translucent. The liquid released from the vegetables should be enough to deglaze the pan. If it’s not, add a few tablespoons of broth to deglaze.
; Saute till onion is translucent. The liquid released from the vegetables should be enough to deglaze the pan. If it’s not, add a few tablespoons of 
- Add thyme, Creole seasoning, salt, rice and stir to coat, about 30 seconds.
- Stir in tomatoes, worcestershire sauce, broth and bay leaves.
- Stir in the reserved sausage and chicken.
- Close Instant Pot Lid, and make sure steam release handle is in the ‘Sealing’ position.
- Press ‘Manual’ or ‘Pressure Cook’ and ‘+’ or ‘-‘ until display reads ‘7’ (7 minutes)
- Instant Pot display will change to ‘On’.
- Once the Instant Pot is pressurized, the float valve will go up.
- The display will count down from 7 to 0; it will switch to ‘Keep Warm’ mode and display ‘L0;00’.
- Do a Quick Release: move the steam release handle to ‘Venting’. I like to place a folded towel over the steam release handle and move it to the venting position. Remove the towel after turning the knob.
- When your Instant Pot is depressurized, the float valve will be in the down position.
- Press ‘Cancel’ and open the Instant Pot.
- Carefully stir in shrimp.
- Close the Instant Pot and allow the shrimp to finish cooking in the residual heat.
- After 10 minutes, open the Instant Pot and add parsley. Gently stir the jambalaya.
- Serve with hot sauce on the side.
January 2018: If you’ve made this recipe before, carry on! If you’re new to this recipe, please note that some new Instant Pot owners are getting the dreaded ‘burn’ message. Here are some things you can do to try and avoid a burn notice:
Deglaze really well
After sauteing onions, bell peppers, celery, garlic, turn off the Instant Pot and let it cool down for a minute or two
Rinse the rice
Add broth first
Add tomatoes and rice last (after the meats) and don’t stir, just submerge in the liquid by pushing down with a spatula
Depending on your Instant Pot, you may need to add an extra 1/2 to 1 cup of water
[Read: Everything you need to know about Instant Pot burn message]
Instant Pot Jambalaya
This Instant Pot Jambalaya was adapted from an authentic Creole Jambalaya recipe and has andouille sausage, chicken and shrimp combined with rice, is flavored with Cajun spices and cooked to perfection.
Print Pin RatePrep Time: 15 minutes
Cook Time: 30 minutes
Total Time: 45 minutes
Servings: 6
Calories: 404kcal
Ingredients
- 1 Tbsp vegetable oil
- 12 oz. Andouille sausage cut into 1/2 inch slices
- 12 oz. boneless skinless chicken thighs, cut into 1 inch pieces
- 1 lb. shrimp, peeled and deveined
- 1 cup onion chopped
- 1 cup bell pepper chopped
- 1 cup celery chopped
- 1 tbsp minced garlic
- 1 tsp dried thyme
- 1 Tbsp Cajun seasoning or to taste
- 1/2 tsp salt or to taste **
- 1 1/2 cups long grain white rice
- 14.5 oz. (1 can) diced tomatoes with liquid
- 1 tsp worcestershire sauce
- 2 cups chicken broth
- 2 small bay leaves or 1 large
- Chopped parsley to garnish
- 1/2 cup shallots thinly sliced - optional
Instructions
- Rub shrimp with 1 tsp of Cajun seasoning and set aside.
- Press 'Saute' and add oil to inner pot of Instant Pot.
- Add andouille sausage, and cook until browned, about 6 minutes. Remove with a slotted spoon and set aside.
- Add chicken, and cook until browned, about 5 minutes. Remove with a slotted spoon and set aside.
- Add shrimp and briefly saute for just a few seconds, adding a teaspoon of oil if required. Remove with a slotted spoon and set aside.
- Add onions, bell pepper, celery, and garlic. Stir until onion is translucent. The liquid released from the vegetables should be enough to deglaze the pan. If it's not, add a few tablespoons of broth to deglaze.
- Add thyme, Cajun seasoning, salt, rice and stir to coat, about 30 seconds.
- Stir in tomatoes, worcestershire, chicken broth and bay leaves. Make sure there's nothing stuck to the bottom of the pan.
- Stir in the reserved sausage and chicken.
- Cook on 'Manual' or 'Pressure Cook' setting for 7 minutes. Make sure steam release handle is in the ‘Sealing’ position.
- Do a Quick Release and open the Instant Pot.
- Carefully stir in shrimp.
- Close the Instant Pot and allow the shrimp to finish cooking in the residual heat for 10 minutes.
- Open the Instant Pot and add parsley. Gently stir the jambalaya. Garnish with shallots, if using.
Notes
- ** Quantity of salt will depend on your Cajun seasoning. If it's more salty, go easy on the extra salt.
- If any of the ingredients being sauted browns too quickly, press 'Cancel' until the Instant Pot cools down a bit and press the 'Saute' button again to restart.
- Andouille is a spicy smoked Cajun sausage. If you don't have access to it, substitute it with a Spanish chorizo or kielbasa.
- You can choose to not saute the shrimp at the beginning. Just add it in raw at the end, and the juices will get absorbed by the rice, without the shrimp drying out.
- Serve with hot sauce on the side.
- PLEASE READ NOTE ABOVE THE RECIPE CARD TO AVOID THE 'BURN' ERROR!
Nutrition
Serving: 1serving | Calories: 404kcal | Carbohydrates: 35g | Protein: 44g | Fat: 15g | Saturated Fat: 4g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 2g | Cholesterol: 192mg | Sodium: 1594mg | Fiber: 4g | Sugar: 7g
Have you made this recipe?I love seeing your photos! Tag me on Instagram @PaintTheKitchenRed hashtag #paintthekitchenred
I am not a certified nutritionist. I provide my best estimate of nutritional information merely as a courtesy to my readers. If you depend on nutritional information for dietary or health reasons, I suggest using your favorite online nutrition calculator to confirm the nutritional value of this recipe based on the actual ingredients that you use.
If you loved this recipe, please give it a 5 Star rating in the comment section below and/or share on social media using the social media share buttons at the top and bottom of this post. Thank you!
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Lisa
Really delicious. I make it several times a month!
Paint the Kitchen Red
Awesome, Lisa! I’m planning on making it next week too!
Allie
This is my go to jambalaya recipe! I make it all the time! Thanks for sharing the recipe/instructions.
Paint the Kitchen Red
Allie, you’re so welcome. Thanks for commenting!
CIARA CROUCH
I made this for family of 3 tonight and it was a big hit!! However, we prefer brown rice and as I followed the directions, the rice didn’t come out as soft as I had hoped. Has anyone tried this and figured out the rice to broth ratio? I know brown rice cooks differently
Paint the Kitchen Red
Ciara, you need to cook brown rice for about 22 to 25 minutes. So the meats and veggies would be overcooked in this scenario. I would saute the meats (fully cooked) and vegetables, remove, pressure cook rice for about 22+ minutes, and add the meats and veggies back in with the shrimp. Ratio of rice to water should be about the same as recipe. Let me know if you try it out again.
Angela
Loved this! Probably one of the best meals I’ve made in the instant pot. Followed the recipe exactly as directed, using the modified instructions for a newer machine. No burn warnings. Also used a Creole seasoning recipe found online. This recipe is a definite keeper. Thank you!
Paint the Kitchen Red
Thanks so much, Angela. I’m happy to hear you had a good experience with the recipe!
Rick
I made this in an 8qt instant pot. I followed the recipe fairly close, but probably used more veggies and much more broth. I used a quart of broth, 1 and a half green bell peppers, 1 red bell pepper, 4 sticks of celery, 1 whole yellow onion, 6 cloves of minced garlic,and a small jalapeno pepper. I also added 1/4 teaspoon of cayenne pepper. Every time I’ve tried to do something with rice I get the BURN error, but this time I didn’t. I put all the sauces, broth, and veggies including fire roasted tomatoes and mixed it well. Then I added the chicken and sausage without mixing and added the rice last ( again workout mixing). Pressure cooked it for 7 minutes with a 3 minute natural release,then added the cooked shrimp and let it sit in the pot covered for about 8-10 minutes. Served with parsley and scallions. It was quite spicy, but a big hit.
Paint the Kitchen Red
Rick, thanks for sharing your modifications. Yes, layering the rice is key to avoiding the burn error on the Instant Pot. I’m glad you enjoyed the recipe!
Laurie C. O'Neill
Such a great melding of flavors! My son made this tonight for the family and we all loved it!
Paint the Kitchen Red
Thank you Laurie – I’m glad y’all liked the recipe. And what a nice son 🙂
Christine F
Awesome flavor and so much easier to make this in the instant pot versus stovetop. Rice was perfect and flavors blended beautifully. We used “slap-ya-mama” cajun seasoning which is salty and didn’t need any additional salt.
Paint the Kitchen Red
Oh, thank you so much, Christine! And thanks for sharing your observation re: Slap Ya Mama. I use that one sometimes.
Yoges Nathan
Love this. Followed the recipe exactly including adding two teaspoons of extra red pepper powder when adding the cajun seasoning and juice of half a lime at the end.
Paint the Kitchen Red
Thank you so much! I’m really glad you liked the recipe. One of my family’s favorites too!
Gail Grasch
Love your recipe and use it all the time. I am making dinner for 10 people- can I use 1 1/2 the recipe in my 8 qt instant pot? is that a good ratio or is there a better way of figuring our the amount?
Paint the Kitchen Red
Thanks for following the blog, Gail! Yes, you could do 1 1/2 times the recipe in the 8-quart. I think that’s a good ratio. Take precautions for the ‘burn’ message.
Rebecca
Is there a way I could meal prep this and freeze to be cooked another day?
Paint the Kitchen Red
Rebecca, you can omit the shrimp and follow the recipe. Freeze and re-heat using the Pot in Pot technique by pressure cooking with shrimp sprinkled with Cajun spice for 1 minute. Hope that’s clear; if not, please let me know and I’ll try and give better instructions 🙂
Sarah
I think it would be helpful to remove all the instructions that tell us to stir since there are so many issues with the burn notice.
I was able to salvage ours from burning and put it on the stovetop. It was truly delicious! But I think it would have cooked perfectly (and without all the drama) had I not followed the instructions to stir.
Paint the Kitchen Red
Sarah, thank you for your comment. I have it on my list of recipes to update – need to retake all the photos, etc! In the meantime, I try to have many warnings in the recipe to avoid the error. Glad you liked the recipe in the end 🙂
Kathy Fletcher
Fabulous! Absolute perfection. Very generous and would easily serve 10 people by adding side dishes or increasing the proteins a tad. Leftovers were delicious too.
Paint the Kitchen Red
I’m so glad you liked the recipe, Kathy! And thanks for taking a moment to comment and rate the recipe – much appreciated.
Esther
This was delicious!! It wasnt too spicy and had just the right amount of flavorful kick I was looking for. I did use a leftover beef broth from a beef noodle soup we ate at a chinese restaurant so that probably made a big difference. Will try and see if plain chicken broth will be just as flavorful next time. This will be a regular recipe ill be using. Thank you!!
Paint the Kitchen Red
Esther, thanks so much for your lovely review! I’m glad you liked the recipe. Sounds like you had some delicious broth!
Lilli
Amazing!! I made it vegan with no chicken and vegan sausage. I used no-chicken broth as well. Came out great.
Paint the Kitchen Red
Lilli, oh wow – that’s really great to hear. And thanks for posting the details; might help out other vegan readers.
Brandy
I have not made this but I plan to. I just wanted to tell you that you did an amazing job writing out this recipe. I have been using my instapot for a while now but this recipe is great even for beginners! Thank you for taking the time to explain everything! I look forward to making this very soon!
Paint the Kitchen Red
Brandy, that’s so nice of you to share that. I’m really happy to share my recipes with new or experienced Instant Pot users, and I remember how intimidating the appliance can be! Hope you enjoy the recipe.
Courtney
Hi. Ive been planning on making this for my dad & I. We love jambalya! But we are not huge fans of rice so we would prefer to cut back on some of the rice and add more meat. If I were to use about half the rice and add more shrimp how much of the liquid would you recommend I use? Thank you!
Paint the Kitchen Red
Courtney, you can probably reduce the broth to 1 cup if you’re using 3/4 cup rice. Hope you like it!
Tonya
We’ve made this a few times and it has quickly become our family instant pot favorite!! Thank you!!!
Paint the Kitchen Red
Thanks, Tonya, for your lovely comment 🙂 !
D
Just purchased my instant pot last week and made this as my first dish. Turned out excellent. I was very impressed. Thanks so much for sharing and I can’t wait to try more of your recipes!
Paint the Kitchen Red
You’re so welcome – thanks for your comment 🙂
Evelyn Willeby
Thank you so much for a great recipe. My first time making Jambalaya, I am 70 years old. It was fantastic!
Paint the Kitchen Red
That’s wonderful, Evelyn! I’m glad you liked the recipe and thank you for taking the time to comment.
John
Excellent recipe! I made this today for myself and my parents. They loved it and so did I.
Paint the Kitchen Red
Thank you, John – I’m always happy to hear that the whole family enjoys a recipe. Perfect for Mardi Gras 🙂
LauraB
Jambalaya fans loved this recipe! My first attempt at this fine dish ( being Canadian) was a success! I did get the burn notice- and because time was short- I dumped it into a pot in the stove to finish! Required more liquid but was amazing. I’ve now read the info about burn notice and will try to adapt to those recommendations. Today I’m making it on the stove though, because my broken arm has trouble with instant pot ( size and weight) but I know it with taste amazing! Thanks for all the good insights which you’ve shared!
Paint the Kitchen Red
Laura, I’ve been thinking about changing the recipe instructions but I know many people make the recipe as written without the burn modifications… I might have to add a note to the notes section to look above the recipe.
Donna K
This was an amazing recipe! It was a perfect blend of flavors. I am a new Instant Pot user and this was by far the best recipe I have made so far! We were in New Orleans a few weeks ago and my significant other commented that this was better than anything he had in New Orleans.
Paint the Kitchen Red
Wow! What a wonderful comment – thank you so much for taking the time to give feedback 🙂
Bhupinder Siran
Looks amazing. Would this work if I half the ingredients but keep the same timings?
Paint the Kitchen Red
Hi Bhupinder, I would say yes, but with the caveat that you should have enough liquid to bring your Instant Pot to pressure. Different IPs are different and if your IP can come to pressure with about 1 cup of liquid then you should be good. Hope that helps!