Pressure Cooker Jambalaya

Pressure cooker jambalaya with sausage never been easier! Using Ninja Foodi sausage with a bit of a kick you can easily throw this all together and dinner is done in just 20 minutes. Make this one pot meal in your Instant Pot this week.

I found this amazing sausage and fresh bell peppers at the store and I immediately thought I’d try pressure cooker jambalaya! Packed with flavor, and a little spicy, we hope your family enjoys this one pot meal too. Added to our long list of easy Instant Pot recipes for you to enjoy. (affiliate links present)

Instant Pot Jambalaya with Sausage Recipe

There are so many fresh and bold flavors in this meal. You can use any type of cased sausage you like. Kielbasa works but a spicy Italian sausage is just killer. Want it mild, no problem just use any type you want and keep the heat down.

Don’t have an IP, you can make this as an easy Ninja Foodi recipe too. As long as your machine has the high pressure function it will come out amazing. A mixture of fluffy Ninja Foodi rice, bell peppers, tomatoes and all the things….I’m getting hungry thinking about it.

Ninja Foodi Jambalaya

If you use this pot, the lid that is not attached will be used with the pressure cook button. When I think of this dish I think of the time I spent in Louisiana. We used the most amazing hatch chili sausages found at the new Albertsons here in Meridian, Idaho. Delicious doesn’t even begin to describe them. You’ll just have to taste some yourself! 

You’ll want to start with 2-3 uncooked sausage links like you see here. You can find a huge variety at this store. You’re even able to have them create custom sausage links with any variety of meats you’d like! If you live in the area you truly will be amazed when you walk inside, sausage is just one of their specialties.

You could add diced chicken in there too if you wanted a few different meats. Add together with both about the same size, bite size in nature.

Ingredients

1. Olive oil to saute in first step
2. Sausage links or kielbasa, could substitute diced chicken breasts if you preferred
3. Beef broth or stock works
4. Rice – uncooked long grain white rice, I have not used brown rice and cooking time would vary.
5. Diced tomatoes
6. Spaghetti sauce or tomato sauce – we prefer spaghetti sauce (just a bit)
7. Bell peppers
8. Onion and garlic could be added too
9. Cayenne pepper, 1/4 is mild, 1/2 will make it medium heat
10. Garlic powder and onion powder
11. Some basil and thyme

Equipment Needed

Electric pressure cooker, I HIGHLY suggest you get a non stick pot if you have an Instant Pot. You can definitely make as a Crock Pot Express recipe too. I like using a wooden spatula to move things around and not scratch my pot.

Variations

There are a lot of variations you can make to this one pot meal for sure. You can see here we used raw sausages but kielbasa pre cooked would work as well. Either way you will want all meats to be cut into bite size pieces. At the beginning you’ll saute it all just to brown the outsides. It will continue cooking later with the rice.

Half a green AND yellow bell pepper were what we used. It is up to you whether you’d like to use a variety of colors or just one. I personally like lots of color in dishes so this was my preference. You can snack on the other halves while you’re cooking too. 😉

A mixture of chicken and sausage could be used if you wanted, I would just stick with the same weight or there may not be enough liquid to pressure cook correctly. Here’s a peek at what we grabbed.

How to Make Jambalaya in a Pressure Cooker

1. To start you’re going to set your pot to saute.
2. Add ingredients; olive oil, your sliced sausage, or add chicken at this point with your diced veggies. 
3. Cook until browned and outsides are no longer pink. At this point the diced bell peppers and onions will have softened.
4. Turn your pot off and deglaze your pot using a bit of your broth. Meaning, scrape stuck on meat off the bottom of your pot
5. Pour in remaining ingredients EXCEPT rice.
6. Stir contents together and then sprinkle your rice on to the top.
7. Gently submerge your uncooked white rice into the liquid so it is under the surface
   • In the video I stir it in and has worked fine for me but a few (who don’t have the non stick pot) have said the burn notice has appeared on their pot so I suggest this method for everyone just in case.
8. Close lid and steam valve and press your rice button. If you don’t have this button cook on high pressure for 11 minutes
9. Allow steam to naturally release for 2 minutes when done so rice puffs up using residual heat in pot.
10. Then release pressure that is left, called a quick release

Then use a large serving spoon or a fork and fluff it all up together and get ready for goodness. Cajun seasoning could be added for extra heat if desired. You could alternatively add dry Sriracha, red pepper flakes or chili powder for a spicy nature.

Can you add shrimp?

Let’s talk about other types of proteins you could add beyond what we used here. I mean Instant Pot shrimp is one of our faves. I have steamed them alone in this same pot so I know it works well but they only need 1 minute so you might want to just fold those in at the end and set the top on for 5 minutes to get pink.

• I haven’t done that yet but I imagine you could. I wouldn’t add much more than the equivalent of 3 sausage links or you may need more liquid.
• Next time I plan to make this with sausage and shrimp. I will half the sausage and add 1 cup of frozen mini shrimp which I think would work well. I’ll add details when I do this.
• Choose any style sausage links you like. Just be prepared for the heat if choosing a spicy variety.

Do you need a jambalaya side dish to go with this? Personally I say no. But if you really must I would pair our pressure cooker black eyed peas recipe which can also be made in a pressure cooker. As is I’d say this pressure cooker jambalaya is a perfectly complete meal all unto itself though.

Other Instant Pot Sauage Recipes You’ll Love

1. Pressure cooker sausage and peppers meal is great 
2. Our Instant Pot sausage and rice is cheesy goodness on a fork

Instructions work for any brand of machines. Great gluten free jambalaya recipe if you’re looking for that!