Crockpot Jambalaya
with Freezer Cooking Instructions
Meal planning is a real time and sanity saver in my home. Aside from writing this blog, I also work outside of the home for up to 12 hours a day. So does City Spouse. So having a meal already put together in the freezer (or a selection of meals) like this crockpot jambalaya can be a lifesaver for us.
With just a little time on a weekend and an overnight thawing, I can dump this into the Crockpot on a weekday morning and have dinner all ready to go when I get home from working all day. Plus, the house smells amazing when food is cooking and it gives me the piece of mind that I have time to tackle other things on my to-do list.
City Spouse loves jambalaya. However, his go-to recipe involved a white and red box. I’m more partial to homemade meals without the preservatives and other chemicals that they put into those boxes to make them shelf stable for long periods of time. I like using fresh ingredients, especially when I can grow my own.
Using What I Grow Myself
Every year, I store green peppers, tomatoes, and onions from my own garden. I also grow and store my own herbs. Using what I know was grown with love (and no chemical sprays or other nasties) just makes my food taste so much better.
I have home canned diced tomatoes that I use in this recipe. I also chop and either freeze or dehydrate green peppers and onions from my own garden for winter use. I love to make some of these up during the summer with fresh ingredients, and then later in the year, have everything on-hand to make it again.
Crockpot Jambalaya
Ingredients
- 3 ribs celery, chopped
- 1 yellow onion, chopped
- 1 green bell pepper, chopped
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 pkg. smoked sausage
- 2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cubed
- 1 tsp. dried oregano
- 1 tsp. dried thyme
- 1 tbsp. paprika
- 1/2 tsp. cayenne pepper
- fresh ground pepper (to taste)
- 2 pints canned diced tomatoes (or 2 15oz. cans)
- 2 cups chicken broth
- 2 cups uncooked long grain rice
Instructions
- Place diced celery, onion, bell pepper, and garlic in bottom of a 5 quart slow cooker.
- Add sliced (or half moon) sausage, chicken, and spices.
- Pour the tomatoes (and their juices) over the ingredients in slow cooker.
- Add the chicken broth.
- Stir gently to mix.
- Cook on HIGH for 4 hours or LOW for 8 hours.
- Once cooking time is completed (liquid should be boiling), add in the uncooked rice. Continue cooking on HIGH for 30 minutes or until liquid is absorbed.
- Fluff the rice, stir and serve.
- For Freezer Meal:
- Add all ingredients except rice to a gallon size freezer bag, labelled and dated. Lay flat to freeze. (Store in freezer up to 6 months.)
- To cook: Thaw in refrigerator overnight. Dump into slow cooker. Cook as directed above.
Try it?
Love it?
Let me know what you think about this and all my recipes. I love your comments!
Your Jambalaya looks fabulous, wish I had a bowl right now! Thanks for sharing your awesome post with us at Full Plate Thursday. Hope you are having a great week and come back soon!
Miz Helen
Oh wow, well I know what I’m making for dinner tomorrow! Thank you for sharing with us at the To grandma’s house we go link party! Hope to see you there tomorrow when the new party starts!
Oh man I love a good Jambalaya! This one looks great, and I love that you can totally freeze it as well to prep ahead of time.