This Chicken and Chorizo Jambalaya recipe is a delicious yet easy to make one-pot rice dish that I have adapted from the BBC goodfood website! You can find the original recipe here, but I have adapted and tweaked the recipe and “made it my own”, primarily just by adding more flavour (in my opinion) and heat to the dish, which you can see below!
So here is my twist on this tomatoey, spiced Chicken and Chorizo Jambalaya!
What is a Jambalaya? Easy One-Pot Wonder!
First of all, you´re probably wondering what on earth a Jambalaya is? Well, according to the source of all knowledge (aka Google), Jambalaya is a dish that originated in Louisiana (USA) and is of West African, Spanish and French influence! It´s a dish made with vegetables and meat that are mixed with rice!
This chicken and chorizo jambalaya contains both chicken and chorizo sausage (who would have guessed?!?!) as the meat component. I have also upped the veggie content of this dish by adding more onion and both a red and yellow pepper to this dish! Once you´ve cooked off the meat and the veg, the rice is added and cooked in the liquid from a tin of chopped tomatoes and some chicken stock! All you do is cover the pot with the lid and wait 20 minutes for the rice to absorb the liquid and cooked! It really could not be any easier!
Recipe alterations for this Chicken and Chorizo Jambalaya Recipe
I have made this delicious one-pot rice dish quite a few times now, making a few alterations every time to hopefully ramp up the flavour in this recipe!
For one, my version of this recipe contains a lot more onion and garlic than the original, because you can never have enough of that! When I am not cooking this Chicken and Chorizo Jambalaya for my mum and sister, who cannot tolerate ANY spice at all (they are complete wimps, haha!😉) I like to add a bit of a kick to this recipe by adding a sliced red chilli pepper or some dried chilli flakes. A thought for another day might be to add a bit of harissa paste… The recipe also uses a good amount of Cajun spice mix which really lifts the dish and takes it to the next level!
If you want to keep this dish fairly mild, just use 1 tbsp of the Cajun spice mix for flavour, and the chopped tomatoes will make for a very mild, almost sweet dish!
I also thought the original recipe did not have enough peppers and colour in it, so I have added both a sliced red and yellow pepper into my recipe below!
Finally, for the choice of rice, long grain rice is a good option which cooks in about 15-20 minutes, the perfect amount of time to make sure your chicken is fully cooked through and your vegetables are soft. You could also use brown rice for a healthier alternative, however, that might take a little longer to cook, probably more along the lines of 25-30 minutes.
More Easy One-Pot Recipes | Perfect for Students and Quick Weeknight Meals
As a student, there is nothing better than an easy one-pot recipe! Add everything to a pot, close the lid and leave to cook – easy peasy! Plus, not a lot of washing up to do and everyone owns at least one pot that they can cook it (or at least you should…). If not, very kindly ask your flatmate if you can borrow theirs… Here are some more of my one-pot recipes for you to try:
- Thai Green Curry with Chicken
- Red Lentil Dhal with Crispy Aubergine
- Grandma´s Thick Vegetable Soup
- Vegan Mixed Bean Chilli
- Curried Cauliflower and Chickpea Pilaf
- Creamy Hummus Linguine
- Lemon Chicken, Chickpea and Spinach Dish with Bulgur (okay… you´ll need a second pot for the bulgur)
Chicken and Chorizo Jambalaya | Easy One-Pot Rice Dish
Recipe
Ingredients:
- 1-2 tbsp olive oil
- 2 chicken breasts, chopped
- 2 onion, diced
- 1 red chilli pepper, sliced (or 1-2tsp dried chilli flakes)
- 3-4 large cloves of garlic, minced
- 1 red pepper, thinly sliced
- 1 yellow pepper, thinly sliced
- 100g chorizo, sliced
- 2 tbsp Cajun seasoning
- 250g long grain rice
- 400g can chopped tomatoes
- 1 chicken stock cube, dissolved in 350ml boiling water
- Freshly chopped parsley, to serve (optional)
Method:
- For this recipe, it´s best to use a large heavy-based frying pan with a lid. Heat the olive oil over a medium heat, then fry off the chicken breast until sealed (you can´t see any pink bits) and starting to brown. Remove the chicken with a slotted spoon, leaving the juices in the pan and set aside until needed.
- Gently fry the chorizo and onions in the remaining oil from the chicken. The chorizo will also release a bit of oil when cooking, but you can always use a little more if you need it. Cook for about 5 minutes until the onions start to soften. Then add the sliced chilli, garlic cloves and fry for a few minutes more.
- Next, stir in the Cajun seasoning and sliced peppers and cook for 3-4 minutes. In the meantime, dissolve a chicken stock cube in 350ml of boiling water.
- Return the chicken to the pan and stir in the rice. Add the tin of chopped tomatoes and use some of the chicken stock to rise the tin. Add all the chicken stock to the pan and stir until everything is well combined in the pot.
- Cover the frying pan with a lid and leave the jambalaya to simmer for 15-20 minutes until all the liquid has been absorbed and the rice is cooked through (if you taste the rice and it is still a little hard once the liquid has cooked away, add a little more boiling water, cover and cook for a few minutes more).
- Scatter some freshly chopped parsley over the top to serve.
