Slow Cooker Chicken and Sausage Jambalaya

It’s that time of year. If you’re reading this in July, the time of year I’m talking about is winter. A time for slow cooker dinners. Makes the whole house smell so good. Nothing can beat going out and coming home to those wonderful aromas of something good in the slow cooker. I think chicken and sausage jambalaya falls into that category.

The slow cooker

Oh, we cooked slow before it, don’t get me wrong. My mother would make the stew and put it on the back burner at it’s lowest setting and let it cook all day. It was originally invented back in the 40’s to cook beans all day. It was a time when women entering the workplace still needed to prepare dinner. Here is not a place to have that discussion, but for the record I believe in equality. It wasn’t until the early 70’s when the “Crock Pot” was available on the market.

The Crock Pot became a little more user friendly. It came with the ceramic bowl insert (hence the name) that kept the heat more constant, and made clean up easier. Also, because the ceramic bowl is removable, the food became portable. It could be brought to the table to serve, or to another house for a dinner party. The original came with an on/off switch, but these days, even some of the most basic ones are programmable. It’s come a long way since cooking beans in the 40’s.

The jambalaya

Anyway, getting back to the chicken and sausage Jambalaya. Pure southern comfort food. Essentially a stew but rich in both flavor and history. Jambalaya can trace its roots from Western Europe and Africa. Some could argue that what I’m making here is more of a Gumbo. However, the spices are wrong. Gumbo contains okra and file powder. Gumbo is also a thicker stew.

So all good stews start with an aromatic base “The Holy Trinity” in Cajun cooking. Onion, bell pepper and celery. Cook over medium heat for about 10 minutes, the idea is for the vegetables to become soft and release their aromas rather than caramelize them. When done, put in the crock pot with a cup of chicken stock and turn the slow cooker on low to get it warm. When I cook in the slow cooker, I like to start heating it up as I’m prepping. Kind of give it a jump start before the real cooking begins.

The meat

Now for the meat portion. Start with the chicken thighs. Remove the skin and bone and cut into decent size cubes. Put it in the pan the veggies just came out of. I like use one pan for all the prepping. It’s easier to clean up, but also to capture all the flavors to put on the slow cooker. Brown them up, they don’t have to be cooked through. The idea is to caramelize them a little for the flavor. You may have to do this in a couple of batches, don’t crowd the meat, add oil between batches if needed. Put the chicken in the slow cooker. Now for the sausage. I usually remove the casing, but you are more than welcome to leave it on. Put them in the pan whole, brown nicely on all sides. Cut them on the bias to about 1” lengths and put them in the slow cooker.

Please note that it is very important to maintain a safe clean kitchen, please read my safe food prep post.

Now to deglaze the pan. Pour diced tomatoes into the pan, raise the heat and stir to get all the stuck on bits off the pan. Add the seasoning, bring to a boil, pour into the slow cooker. Now add stock to cover by at least 1″, there needs to be enough liquid for the rice at the end of cooking. Put the lid on, cook on low about 8 hrs, and let the magic begin. That’s about it.

When the jambalaya has been cooking all day, and about an hour before eating time, it’s time to add the rice. Turn the slow cooker to high, add 1 cup of rinsed white rice, put the lid back on and come back in an hour. Now the slow cooker chicken and sausage jambalaya is ready, albeit a little hot, so, remove the lid, turn off the cooker and allow to cool for 15 mins

Serve and enjoy, thank you for reading.