Turkey Jambalaya

Jambalaya is a Creole/Cajun one pan rice dish, very similar to the Spanish paella, that is designed as a cheap, but wholesome dish to use up any leftovers.

This time I made it with turkey, but it can be made with chicken, chorizo, prawns or even a combination. It is such a simple recipe that is easily doubled or tripled, if you have guests, with an incredible flexibility of which vegetables to add. My standard is this one with pepper, mushroom and tomato, but spinach, sweetcorn, courgette and carrot have also regularly been used. It is often one of my end of the week dishes I make to use up any leftover vegetables. It is a bit like a hug in a bowl and I find it one of my most comforting meals. Typically the Creole version contains tomatoes, so is more saucy, whereas the the Cajun variety is made without tomatoes and tends to be drier. 

Print Recipe

Turkey Jambalaya

Keyword

Celery, Mushroom, Pepper, Rice, Tomatoes, Turkey

Prep Time

10 minutes

Cook Time

30 minutes

Servings

people

Ingredients

• 1 tsp olive oil
• 1 onion
• 1 clove garlic
• 1 chilli
• 2-3 stalks celery
• 1 pepper
• 2 turkey breast steaks
• 2 tbsp Cajun spice seasoning
• 1 tbsp tomato puree
• 125 g basmati rice
• 300 ml chicken stock
• 1/2 pack closed cup mushrooms
• 2-3 tomatoes
• 1 small handful coriander

Keyword Celery, Mushroom, Pepper, Rice, Tomatoes, Turkey Prep Time 10 minutes Cook Time 30 minutes Servings people Ingredients 1 tsp olive oil 1 onion 1 clove garlic 1 chilli 2-3 stalks celery 1 pepper 2 turkey breast steaks 2 tbsp Cajun spice seasoning 1 tbsp tomato puree 125 g basmati rice 300 ml chicken stock 1/2 pack closed cup mushrooms 2-3 tomatoes 1 small handful coriander

Instructions

To Prepare:

1. Peel and dice the onion.
2. Peel and crush the garlic.
3. Finely slice the chilli and celery stalks.
4. Add the onion, garlic, chilli and celery to a large lidded frying pan with the olive oil.
5. Slice the turkey in to thin strips and coat the meat in the Cajun spices.
6. Cut the pepper in to small dice.
7. Weigh out the rice and make up the chicken stock.
8. Have all other ingredients to hand.

To Cook:

1. Heat the frying pan over a medium heat and fry the contents for 5 minutes, stirring regularly.
2. Add in the pepper and stir well, fry for 1 minute.
3. Add in the Cajun spice coated turkey, stir and fry for another minute.
4. Add the tomato puree and stir well.
5. Pour in the rice and stir, fry for another minute.
6. Lower the heat right down, pour in the stock, stir well and cover with the lid. Leave to simmer for 20 minutes.
7. Remove the stalks from the mushrooms and cut in to quarters, more if they are large.
8. Cut the tomatoes in to eighths.
9. With 10 minutes to go on the rice mixture, add the mushrooms and tomatoes to the pan, stir well and return the lid.
10. Once 20 minutes are up, sprinkle over the coriander and divide between 2 bowls. Enjoy.

Recipe Notes

If you make this, let me know how it goes and share your photos.  I’d also love to hear how you adapt it to suit yourself.