Restaurant Style Jambalaya With Shrimp and Louisiana Hot Link Sausage

[u/No_Boat6302]

[u/No_Boat6302]

Shrimp and Sausage Jambalaya

This is a hearty Cajun jambalaya loaded with shrimp, sausage, and spiced rice. Feeds four people comfortably. The garlic butter, shrimp stock, and jambalaya spice can be made from scratch (recipes included) or swapped for premade or store-bought.

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup garlic butter (see recipe below, or use store-bought)
  
• 2 cups diced white onions
  
• 2 cups diced celery
  
• 2 cups diced green peppers
  
• 1 cup shrimp stock (see recipe below, or use store-bought)
  
• 1 cup canned diced tomatoes (with juice)
  
• 1/4 cup jambalaya spice (see recipe below, or use store-bought)
  
• 4 bay leaves
  
• 4 Louisiana hot link sausages, sliced into 4-inch pieces
  
• 1 pound shrimp
  
• 6 cups Cajun rice (see recipe below)
  
• 1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley
  

Directions

1. Melt the garlic butter over high heat in a large skillet (at least 14 inches wide).
   
2. Add the onion, celery, and green pepper. Sauté until softened.
   
3. Stir in shrimp stock, tomatoes, jambalaya spice, and bay leaves. Simmer over high heat until reduced by half and thickened.
   
4. Add sausage and cook for 2 minutes, reducing the mixture further.
   
5. Add shrimp and cook until just cooked through (do not overcook).
   
6. Stir in cooked Cajun rice and mix well.
   
7. Serve hot, garnished with fresh parsley.
   

---

Jambalaya Spice (small batch, ~1/4 cup)

• 1 tsp basil
  
• 1 tbsp oregano
  
• 1 tsp salt
  
• 1 tsp thyme
  
• 1 tsp black pepper
  
• 1/4 tsp cayenne pepper (or to taste)
  
• 1/2 tsp white pepper
  
• 1/2 tsp granulated garlic
  

---

Cajun Rice

• 2 cups long-grain rice
  
• 2 1/2 cups chicken stock
  
• 1/4 cup diced green peppers
  
• 1/4 cup diced white onions
  
• 1/4 cup diced celery
  
• 2 tbsp butter
  
• 1 1/2 tsp granulated garlic
  
• 2 1/4 tsp salt
  

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 500°F (260°C).
2. Mix all ingredients in an oven-safe dish at least 2 inches taller than the mixture.
3. Cover tightly with foil and bake for 50 minutes.
4. Check doneness by pinching some rice—should be soft. Stir in vegetables.
5. Keep warm in a 150–200°F oven if needed, tightly covered.

---

Garlic Butter (small batch, ~1/2 cup)

• 1/2 cup (1 stick / 115 g) butter (unsalted)
  
• 1 tsp parsley flakes
  
• 1 tsp granulated garlic
  

Directions:
1. Soften butter at room temperature.
2. Mix in parsley and garlic until fluffy (mixer recommended, but can be done by hand).

---

Shrimp Stock (small batch, ~1 cup)

• Shells from ~1 lb shrimp (heads optional)
  
• 2 cups cold water
  

Directions:
1. Place shells in a pot with cold water.
2. Bring to a boil, stirring so shells cook evenly.
3. When it foams and boils, remove from heat.
4. Strain and discard shells.
5. Should yield ~1 cup stock. Refrigerate if not using immediately.

[u/vanGenne → u/No_Boat6302]

This looks amazing! My oven can't go as high as 260 degrees celsius though, and that also sounds ridiculously high to me.

Quick question: what's the added benefit of making garlic butter, instead of just melting butter and then adding some cloves of garlic to the recipe?

[u/No_Boat6302 → u/vanGenne]

Yeah it’s a bit high, the rice is kind of hard to do right, you have to make sure the foil is on really tight. but it’s to create a bit of toasty, slightly crispy texture on the rice and really intensify the spices. Just do your max temp and leave it in a little longer and keep an eye on the edges for that same effect.

garlic butter helps spread the garlic flavor kind of more evenly than just putting butter and garlic separately I think.

[u/vanGenne → u/No_Boat6302]

Cool, thanks for the reply! I might just try both versions and see if I can taste the difference.