Kent's Jambalaya with Shrimp and Sausage

This is one of Kent's favorite meals to make and I love getting a day off from the kitchen! I do love to cook, but it's really nice that he also doesn't mind cooking on the weekends sometimes. Usually our oldest son helps him while they watch a game on TV and I get to relax. 🙂

Kent said that there are a ton of jambalaya recipes online and people put all sorts of different foods in theirs because it used to be a clean-out-the-fridge kind of meal. So just use what you have.

I love Kent's jambalaya with shrimp and sausauge–his version is loaded with protein and veggies and it tastes amazing! If you're eating low-carb, just omit the rice.

Print Recipe

Kent's Jambalaya with Shrimp and Sausage

This is Kent's specialty, it has the perfect amount of heat and great flavor!

Servings: 6 people

Ingredients

Rice

3 cups rice (I use this kind)
4.5 cups broth (chicken broth is what we use)
2 Tablespoons butter
1/2 Tablespoon sea salt

Jambalaya

1/2 cup butter
1 onion, diced
3 stalks celery, diced
2 bell peppers, diced (we like to use 2 different colors)
1/4 teaspoon cayenne powder (add more to your own heat preference)
1.5 teaspoon sea salt
3/4 teaspoon pepper
2 teaspoons garlic powder
2 teaspoons onion powder
1 Tablespoon Italian seasoning (or use fresh herbs if you have them)
1 teaspoon thyme powder
2 14.5 ounce cans stewed tomatoes
1 can organic tomato paste
1 can organic tomato sauce
2.5 pounds smoked kielbasa sausage, sliced
2 pounds shrimp, thawed (wild, raw, peeled, deveined, tail-off, no preservatives)

Instructions

Rice

Prepare rice according to the package directions. (Bring all ingredients to a boil, then move to a small burner to simmer on low for 20-25 minutes. Taste to make sure it's soft. Timing may vary depending on the pan you use.) Keep covered until ready to serve.

Jambalaya

Add butter, onion, and celery to a big pan. Sauté until vegetables are soft, about 4 minutes. Add peppers and cook another 2 minutes or so. (We use my favorite big SS pan for this recipe.)
Add in the rest of the ingredients except the sausage and shrimp, stir it all around well and then add the sausage and shrimp last, cook until it's all hot.
Important: taste-test to see what else it needs according to your taste. More sea salt? Pepper? Garlic powder? Cayenne?
Serve over rice. Kent presses the rice into a one-cup sized bowl and flips that onto each person's plate (so it looks nicer) and spoons the jambalaya over that. Enjoy!