Pressure cooker jambalaya never been easier! Using sausage with a bit of a kick you can easily throw this all together and dinner is done in just 20 minutes. It’s gluten free too!
I found this amazing sausage and fresh bell peppers at the store and I immediately thought I’d try pressure cooker jambalaya! It came out so yummy we made it two nights in a row! Packed with flavor, and a little heat, we hope your family enjoys it as much as we have. Added to our long list of easy Instant Pot recipes for you to enjoy. Special thanks goes out to Albertsons for sponsoring this post. (originally published 3/19, affiliate links present)
When I think of this dish I think of the time I spent in Louisiana.
I made it with a mild/medium heat level but you’re free to make your pressure cooker jambalaya as spicy as you’d like!
We used the most amazing hatch chili sausages found at the new Albertsons Market Street 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.
The largest Albertsons in the world in Meridian, Idaho features:
- A store that is 100,000 square feet!
- In-store made tortillas
- Fresh house-made mozzarella
- A live lobster tank & huge fish market
- Oyster bar
- Full-service bistro and bar
- Talon Tap and Spirits with an impressive list of beer, wine and liquor
- One of the largest in-store Starbucks I’ve ever seen
- And lots more……
Ingredients needed to make this pressure cooker jambalaya:
- Electric pressure cooker
- I HIGHLY suggest you get a non stick pot if you have an Instant Pot
- You can definitely use your Crock Pot Express or Ninja Foodi too
- Olive oil
- Sausage links
- Could substitute diced chicken breasts if you preferred
- Beef broth
- Rice – uncooked long grain white rice
- I have not used brown rice and cooking time would vary.
- Diced tomatoes
- Spaghetti sauce or tomato sauce – we prefer spaghetti sauce (just a bit)
- Bell peppers
- Onion and garlic could be added too
- Tons of seasoning, thyme, etc
- Cajun seasoning could be added for extra heat if desired
- 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.
To start making Instant Pot jambalaya you’re going to set your pot to saute. Add olive oil, your sliced sausage, or add chicken at this point with your diced veggies.
- Cook until browned and outsides are no longer pink. At this point the diced bell peppers and onions will have softened.
I add many of my spices during this cooking process too so everything is nicely coated. Your pressure cooker jambalaya is going to start smelling amazing at this point!
- 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
- Pour in remaining ingredients EXCEPT for your rice.
- Stir contents together and then sprinkle your rice on to the top.
- 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.
- Close lid and steam valve and press your rice button
- If you don’t have this button set to high pressure for 11 minutes
- Allow steam to naturally release for 2 minutes when done so rice puffs up using residual heat in pot.
- Then release pressure that is left, called a quick release
- Fluff up and serve!
What is the difference between gumbo and jambalaya?
Jambalaya is more like paella in a way. It’s really a super flavorful rice dish. Gumbo is usually a thickened stew or soup of sorts, typically using chicken and sausage or seafood, mainly shrimp. They’re both great and I suggest you give them each a whirl.
Do you cook rice before adding to jambalaya?
- I guess it depends what recipe you’re using and what your preference is.
- Personally I love one pot meals, thus ours has everything cooked together all at once.
- Yes you could cook this separately. Just use our white rice recipe and then make this, this minus that ingredient.
Can you add other meats into your pressure cooker jambalaya too?
- 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 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.
Once you’ve tried this you should try our simple:
- Pressure cooker sausage and peppers meal is great
- We have a ton of other Instant Pot sausage recipes here too
- Air fryer sausage and potatoes rocks!
- Our Instant Pot sausage and rice is cheesy goodness on a fork
Instructions work for either Instant Pot, Ninja Foodi, Mealthy or Crock Pot Express machines.
Enjoy our Instant Pot jambalaya my friends!
Pressure Cooker Jambalaya
Ingredients
- 3 sausage links uncooked, sliced, mild or spicy
- 1 bell pepper we used half green, half red
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 1 onion diced
- 1 tbsp garlic minced
- 1/4-1/2 tsp cayenne pepper 1/4 is mild, 1/2 will make it medium heat
- 1 tsp garlic powder
- 1/2 tsp onion powder
- 1 tsp basil
- 1/4 tsp thyme
- 1 can diced tomatoes 14.5 oz
- 1/2 c spaghetti sauce or tomato sauce
- 1.5 c white rice uncooked, not minute rice
- 1 3/4 c beef broth
- 1/4 tsp salt
Instructions
- Add olive oil, sliced sausage, diced onion and bell peppers as well as minced garlic and cayenne pepper into your pot. Set pot to saute and cook until outside of sausage pieces are cooked. Then turn pot off.
- Add garlic powder, onion powder, basil and thyme and stir together so everything is well coated.
- Pour in can of diced tomatoes, spaghetti sauce, beef broth and salt. Stir together, then sprinkle uncooked rice on top and gently push into liquid so it is submerged. Do not stir as it may cause the burn message to occur on your pot.
- Close lid and steam valve and press rice button (will auto set to 12 minutes). If you don't have a rice button set to high pressure for 11 minutes.
- Allow to naturally release steam for 2 minutes, then do a quick release, stir and serve!
Video
Great gluten free jambalaya recipe if you’re looking for that!
Lindsey says
Hi! I found this recipe this past fall and it has become a family favorite! Unfortunately, the coronavirus craze is making it really hard to find meat around here. Could I use chicken or shrimp instead of sausage and if so, how would that effect the cook time?
The Typical Mom says
You’d need the same cook time for the rice to get tender. With chicken I would dice and put on the bottom with other ingredients on top. For small/med. shrimp I might cook, then when done set on top of rice and put lid back on for 5-10 minutes to allow them to steam on the top. Those don’t take long to cook
Laurie says
Just made this amid the corona virus stay-at-home. Delicious! I used 1/4 tsp of cayenne, just enough spice and didn’t have a can of tomatoes so used a little more sauce. I have to keep myself from eating the whole batch!!! Thank you for the recipe
The Typical Mom says
Yay sounds great
Bill Krieger says
OLD DOG LEARNS NEW TRICKS DEPT.
When I turned 70 this year, I decided that I wanted to learn how to cook… but since I didn’t know anything (since my college days) … I wanted to make life easy for myself. So I got the 3 qt Instant Pot. I’ve used it three times. first to do the water test. second to make hard boiled eggs (because that seemed idiot proof,) And last night I went all in an jambalaya.
Well, it went great — and it didn’t go so well. The great part was I sauted the sausage and onions etc. I had never sauted anything before and the IP made it a breeze.
The not so good part was when I added the rice and tomato sauce and spices. I hit the Rice button and waited, and waited, and waited. My IP never seemed to pressurize. After it went to ON it soon went to warm. Then I switched over to Manual and did High Pressure for 11 minutes. Again it began well but went to warm. Then I got the dreaded BURNT message. I cancelled, vented (though nothing vented) and opened the IP. Everything was boiling, and smelled really good. I scooped out the food and it was delicious, but I had a very burnt pot. So I went on YouTube and saw a video on how to clean a burnt pot, which turned out to be super easy.
I think the recipe might have been for a 6 qt IP and my 3 qt couldn’t handle it. If anyone can tell me what else I did wrong, please do so. Meanwhile, the food was absolutely delicious.
The Typical Mom says
Yes this was made in a 6 qt. For all 3 qt users I suggest cutting all recipes you find in half. I am sure that is what the issue was, too full and couldn’t handle it.
Phil Brown says
Just checking. Did you forget to switch the pressure relief valve to pressure on the lid? I have forgotten to do that a couple of times. That would explain a couple of things. First, that it didn’t pressurize. And second, why it burnt. If you don’t turn the pressure release to pressure it will still heat and try but it will vent the steam out the valve and use all the water.
Stefanie says
Made this once and it turned out great! Have you ever doubled the recipe? I’m making it for a family gathering and I need to double. Hoping that it will work well. Oh and I add shrimp at the end! I cook it in a frying pan with some spices and toss it into the jambalaya at the end. Amazing!
Julie P. says
This was my first real Instant Pot recipe. I was a little nervous considering some of the reviewers had problems. I followed the recipe exactly and I have to say, it turned out fantastic. I didn’t have a non-stick pot but nothing stuck and the rice was perfect. I will definitely be making this one again.
The Typical Mom says
Yay!! So glad you loved it!
Kyle says
I’ve made this twice and both times had issues with undercooked rice. Added more broth and did it again but still had an issue with the rice sticking to the bottom. Came out delicious both times though!
The Typical Mom says
#1 do you have a non stick pot? If not I HIGHLY recommend you get one to prevent sticking and false burn notifications from happening. #2 are you using white rice as directed? #3 are you using your rice button or high pressure? #4 are you using an IP or another brand to make this? I haven’t ever had issues you’re stating and I have made it many times.
Bern says
This recipe was delicious and very easy to put together however I did have trouble getting the IP to come to pressure like it usually does (as if it didn’t have enough liquid?) Twice I had to open the pot and start over aand the adjusted the cook time down as the food was getting partially cooked. After it was fully cooked I found that some of the food was stuck on the bottom of the pot. Still it came out great and my family loved it. I followed the recipe exactly but I wonder should I add more broth next time? Thanks so much for your response!
The Typical Mom says
Hmmm I have made this 4-5 times and have never had that issue. I will say that some pots are much more temperamental than others and 1/4 of an extra cup of broth wouldn’t hurt and in your case may solve your issue.
Bern says
Thank you so much for such a quick response. I’ll definitely try that. Your dish was really delicious anyway!
The Typical Mom says
So glad, I would really suggest getting a non stick pot for your IP too. It will greatly reduce the burn message coming on.
Lynn says
What is a “link”? My market has many sizes of links,from 5 oz to over a pound. Could you define the amount of sausage needed in pounds please.
The Typical Mom says
“Normal” size normally found in the meat section. Johnsonville is typically the brand I purchase, comes with about 5 to a package, total weight 1 lb. 3 oz. I use 3 out of the 5 in the package so it would probably be approx. 3/4 lb.
Michelle P. says
I’m so happy to see that this is naturally gluten-free!! I need to add this one to our March meal plan for sure!
Noelle says
I love Jambalaya! Using sausage is the best way to make it 🙂
The Typical Mom says
That is our meat of choice too. So much flavor!
Gina Matsoukas says
Delicious and just 20 minutes is a huge win!