Fellow soup lovers, I think I may have just successfully “soupified” another one of my favorite dishes.
Check out this jambalaya soup!!
Oh my goodness, I think I may actually love this dish even more as a soup. (<– Which, ahem, wouldn’t be the first time that’s happened. Here’s lookin’ at you chicken enchilada soup, corned beef and cabbage soup, and chicken pot pie soup.) Like the others, this soup is packed with everything that we all love about jambalaya — all of those amazing and colorful veggies, cooked in a spicy tomato Cajun sauce, mixed with hearty Andouille sausage, chicken, and shrimp — but instead of being cooked in just a bed of rice, they’re simmered in a thick, flavorful, amazing tomato rice soup.
And oh my goodness, the result is mmm, mmm, good.
I will say that this soup takes a little extra time and effort to make than my usual 30-minute recipes. But this recipe makes a huge batch of soup, and the work is totally worth it.
To make the soup, simply saute up some chicken and Andouille sausage in a large stockpot until they’re mostly cooked through. (<– If you’re not into either of those, or the shrimp, feel free to just pick your favorite protein. You’ll need about 3 pounds of protein total.) Then add in your veggies, stir in some flour to thicken up the broth, add in the broth and rice and seasonings, and let the soup simmer on the stove until that rice is nice and tender. (Be sure to keep a close eye on this soup and stir it often so that the rice doesn’t burn on the bottom of the pot!) Finally, just stir in your shrimp at the end and season everything with salt and pepper to taste…
…and voila! This vibrant, flavorful, and hearty soup will be yours to enjoy!
And I do mean hearty. Similar to a gumbo, this jambalaya soup is incredibly rich and filling, so a big pot of it will go a long way.
Feel free to also customize this soup to your desired level of spiciness, too. I love my jambalaya with a nice kick, so I usually include 2 jalapenos to bring some heat. But if you like a more mild jambalaya, feel free to just use a single (or half of a) jalapeno.
Also, different brands of Cajun seasoning tend to have different flavors, and varying levels of spiciness and saltiness. So if you’re cooking with one that is new to you, I’d start by adding in just 1 tablespoon of Cajun seasonings, and then you can always add in more at the end. I love that stuff. :)
All in all, a very successful “soupifying” mission. :) Hope you all enjoy this one as much as I do!
Jambalaya Soup
Ingredients
- 3 tablespoons olive oil, divided
- 2 boneless skinless chicken breasts, cut into bite-sized pieces
- 1 pound Andouille sausage, thinly sliced into rounds
- 3 small bell peppers, cored and diced (I used a mix of colors)
- 2 ribs celery, chopped
- 1 small white onion, peeled and diced
- 1 jalapeño pepper*, seeded and finely chopped
- 4 cloves garlic, minced
- 6 cups chicken stock
- 1/4 cup flour
- 1 (28 ounce) can crushed tomatoes
- 1 cup uncooked white or brown rice
- 2 tablespoons Cajun seasoning** (add more/less to taste)
- 2 bay leaves
- 1 teaspoon dried thyme, crushed
- 1 pound raw shrimp, peeled and deveined
- salt and pepper
- (optional garnishes: chopped fresh parsley, thinly-sliced green onions, hot sauce)
Instructions
- Heat 2 tablespoons oil in a large stockpot over medium-high heat. Add the chicken and sausage, and sauté for 2-3 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add in the remaining 1 tablespoon oil, bell peppers, celery, onion, jalapeño, and stir to combine. Continue sautéing for 5-6 more minutes, or until the onion is soft and translucent, stirring occasionally. Stir in the garlic, and sauté for 1 more minute until the garlic is fragrant, stirring occasionally.
- Sprinkle the flour over the mixture, and stir to combine. Continue cooking for 1 minute, stirring occasionally.
- Gradually stir in the chicken stock, then add the crushed tomatoes, rice, Cajun seasoning, bay leaves and dried thyme. Continue cooking until the soup reaches a simmer. Then reduce the heat to medium-low, and continue simmering the soup for 15 more minutes — being sure to stir the soup occasionally (yes, more!) so that the rice doesn’t burn on the bottom of the pot — until the rice is cooked and tender.
- Stir in the shrimp and continue cooking for 5 more minutes, or until the shrimp is cooked through (it should be pink and opaque, not gray).
- Season the soup with salt and pepper to taste. Then serve warm, topped with your desired garnishes if desired.
Notes
Did you make this?Let me know how it turned out in the comments below!This post contains affiliate links.
Wow, this is it. I love a “looser” jambalaya. Made a half recipe (just 2 of us, made 2+ meals). Substituted creole spices for cajun spices, and choriso for andouille – stuff I had on hand. Cooked the chicken and sausage on the grill before hand, so slightly modified the vegetable cooking and then added the meats. Also added about 3 or 4 oz. of left over ham, chopped up. The heat was perfect for us: creole less hot than cajun, but choriso hotter than andouille. Tons of flavors. The left overs were more thick stew density. Great with a crusty bread. We’re gonna do this often, full recipe to share with friends/family.
I do not make it a habit to comment on recipe blogs, but I made this for lunch and OMG. It’s a-ma-zing. The heat is just right and the flavors are on point!
Definitely season your chicken with salt and pepper before throwing it into the pan! I don’t make a lot of Southern food, so the Cajun seasoning that I have in my pantry might not be the freshest, but it didn’t matter, because this dish still turned out bomb. Definitely adding this to my staples. I can only imagine how much of this I will be having during Fall/Winter.
Found your recipe through Men’s Health Magazine under “High-Protein Recipes” deelish! I am definitely bookmarking your site. Looking forward to trying more of your creations :)
This soup was absolutely delicious! My entire family enjoyed it. I made no variations in the recipe; seasonings were spot-on. Awesome!!
Made this as written for a group of 8. Everyone liked it and there weren’t any leftovers!
This was amazing !! Papa and my husband LOVED IT !! Thanks for another great recipe!
Great taste I substituted chicken andouille sausage and used 1/2 fish stock and 1/2 chicken stock and it was delicious. Definitely requires a longer prep time than stated, but overall a wonderful recipe.
loved this recipe!!! can you tell me what the serving size is? i’m planning to make this for 250 4oz servings and i’m trying to figure out how much to make.
This is one of my favorites! I just made it for the third time and my family loves it!
We made this tonight and my family loved it. Made it as written and may play with some tweaks next time, but there will DEFINITELY be a next time!!
I love this recipe! I use a combo of Andouille, rotisserie chicken and raw shrimp. It is fabulous! Thanks for your pin.
I am originally from North Louisiana and i make all things creole. We have literally not made the traditional jambalaya since ive stumbled across this recipe! Fantastic i just add a few louisiana touches and voila! Bon appetit!