We are still going strong with the Instant Pot cooking over here! This Paleo, Whole30 + Keto Instant Pot Jambalaya is a new cajun inspired meal, cleaned up with lower carb cauliflower rice and Whole30 compliant sausage! It’s an easy weeknight dinner or meal prep recipe!
Easy In The Instant Pot
This Instant Pot Jambalaya is great because you get to use some of the versatility offered with an Instant Pot, specifically the sauté function! If you’ve never used it before, it helps to lock in the juices when you’re cooking chicken and meat in it. For this recipe, we use the sauté function to cook the chicken, and then add the rest of the ingredients and cook on high pressure for just 3 minutes. We let the pressure release naturally for 15 minutes and then call it good! It’s easy, stress free and you should have dinner ready in under an hour, with only about 20 minutes of active prep/cook time. The rest will just be letting the Instant Pot do its thing!
Some Whole30 Compliant Sausage Options
We know it can be hard to find clean, minimally processed sausages (especially Andouille sausage). In fact, we’ve only found two brands of clean Andouille sausage without sugar – Teton Waters Ranch Spicy Andouille Sausage (one of our favorites) and Wellshire Farms Smoked Andouille Sausage (turkey or regular). However, this recipe is packed with flavor and spices, so most flavors of sausage will fit in well with this Instant Pot Jambalaya. Here are some other Whole30 compliant options we recommend:
Teton Waters Ranch
Pederson’s Farms
- Old World Kielbasa
- Smoked Kielbasa
Mulay’s
- Italian – Original & Killer Hot
- Bratwurst
Applegate
Aidells
The Leftovers Are Even Better
You know how sometimes you just like the leftovers of a meal even better than freshly served? It feels like this is one of those meals that gets better with a little extra time. The juices get more soaked into the cauliflower rice and it feels even less like cauliflower rice the next day. The flavors marry together so well, and you’ll be looking forward to the lunch leftovers!
A Great Seafood Option
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Some Other Instant Pot Recipes To Try
Your Turn To Try Our Instant Pot Jambalaya
Ready to take your Instant Pot skills to the next level? Make this Instant Pot Jambalaya! Leave a comment below and let us know how it goes. Also, take a pic to share on Instagram. Tag us @realsimplegood, and give us a follow if you don’t already! We’d love to stay connected!
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Instant Pot Jambalaya (Paleo, Whole30 + Keto)
Ingredients
- 2 tbsp ghee, (or coconut oil for dairy free)
- 1 lb boneless chicken thighs, cut into bite-size pieces
- 1 onion, diced
- 1 bell pepper, diced
- 1 cup celery, sliced
- 4 cloves of garlic, minced
- 1 can fire roasted diced tomatoes, undrained, (14.5 oz)
- 1/2 cup chicken broth
- 1 medium head of cauliflower, riced, (about 6 cups cauli rice)
- 12 oz andouille (or other pre-cooked) sausage, cut into 1/4 inch thick slices, (about 4 large links) See blog post for some W30 compliant options
- 1 lb shrimp, peeled and deveined
- diced green onion or parsley, (optional topping)
For the seasoning:
- 1 tsp smoked paprika
- 1 tsp chili powder
- 1 tsp oregano
- 1 tsp parsley
- 1 tsp sea salt, omit if using a salty chicken broth and just taste and add salt at the end
- 1 tsp pepper
- 1/2 tsp thyme
Instructions
- First, prep all ingredients as noted. Prepare seasoning mix by add all of the seasonings to a small bowl and mixing well.
- Press the sauté button on the instant pot and add ghee. Once hot, add in the chicken pieces, onion and bell pepper. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the chicken is mostly cooked through and the onions and peppers start to soften, about 7-8 minutes. Press cancel on the instant pot.
- Add the chicken stock and scrape up any bits from the bottom of the pan.
- Add all of the remaining ingredients to the instant pot. Pour the seasoning mix over everything and give it a quick stir with a spoon.
- Secure the lid on the instant pot and close the pressure valve. Press the “manual” button (or “pressure cook” button) and set the time to cook for 3 minutes at high pressure. Once the time is up, let the pressure naturally release for 15 minutes and then release any remaining pressure.
- Remove the lid from the instant pot. Give the contents a stir to mix. Taste and season with any additional salt and pepper as desired. Ladle into bowls for serving. Top with optional garnish if desired and enjoy.
Notes
Been making this recipe for years. It’s a favorite that I make often. Our 5 year old loves it too!
Happy to hear that Kristin! We love hearing that our recipes are family favorites 🙂
Best jambalaya I’ve ever made or had! I replaced chili powder with creole seasoning and added steamed cauli-rice (from frozen) at the end. Added chicken broth to leftovers and had another feast the next day and another 4 days later! Making again for friends in a few days!!
Happy to hear that, thanks for coming back to leave a review!
This was by far the best jambalaya I have ever had. I substituted creole seasoning for chili powder and accidentally used a whole teaspoon of thyme but it was perfect!! Wowza!!!
Love hearing that! Thanks for coming back to leave a review, we appreciate it 🙂
I have made this several times (Whole 30 and not) and it’s been a success each time. Thank you!
You’re very welcome! Thanks for coming back to leave a rating and review, we appreciate it 🙂
I made this recipe today for the 2nd time and it turned out very good both times. Speaking as one with ADHD as with all recipes it was difficult for me to keep all of the ingredients at hand and to make sure they all made it into the instapot at the correct time.
Both batches turned out awesome! This is my favorite dish!
Love hearing that Doug, glad you enjoyed the recipe!
Cooking right now…question…my pressure cook time still hasn’t started…is that cooking time factored in? Do I still wait 15 minutes at the end? And I should have read the comments ahead of time…definitely will add shrimp in after next time!
Hi Sue – Hopefully this worked out for you. Yes, the time to pressurize is factored in.
Thank you! We loved it! Going into our rotation!
As always, Justin and Erica have perfected both the directions and the seasonings! This was delicious and whole30.
Thank you Peggy! I’m very happy to hear you enjoyed this recipe 🙂
Hi! What size instant pot do you use? Had trouble fitting everything in the 6 quart version!
We have a 6 quart also and it was pretty full. You could try a little less cauli rice next time if it helps.
Have you made it with frozen cauliflower rice? Should I steam the cauliflower first?
We made it with fresh cauliflower but frozen would probably work in a pinch. It might end up more watery though. You’ll have to let us know how it goes if you try it.
Can I cook all of this without the cauliflower rice then serve on it later? My husband isn’t crazy about the cauliflower rice so I was going to serve his on regular. Just wasn’t sure what that would do to the cook time.
Hi Kathleen – We haven’t tried it, but you could probably omit the cauli rice and cook that separately. I’d keep the cooking time the same for the other ingredients. Let us know how it goes!
Is the shrimp in the recipe thawed or frozen? I used thawed and I think they were overcooked.
Thanks
Hey – I think we’ve done both and raw/frozen probably works best to avoid over-cooking. We’ll update the recipe card to reflect that. You could also add in already cooked shrimp after the IP finishes cooking and stir it in and let it heat through by putting the lid back on for a few minutes. Hope that’s helpful!
Can this be made with frozen, peeled and fully cooked shrimp?
Yeah, you could, but don’t cook them even more in the pressure cooker. I’d just thaw them in advance and warm them up by throwing them in once the IP is done cooking. Let them heat up by stirring them in and closing the lid until they’re heated. Let us know how it goes.
This is a weekly meal for us now. We love the flavor combination. I use more chicken bone broth so it is a bit more like soup. I do not have an instant pot so I cook it in a regular pot on the stove. Rich & so flavorful. Thank you for this wonderful recipe!
So happy you are making this work for you! We love the idea of more of a soup, glad you are enjoying this frequently 🙂
My first Instapot recipe and it was fabulous!!! Made a few adjustments according to the likes of my family and still so delicious!!!
So happy to hear that, glad the family enjoyed the recipe 🙂
This really shouldn’t be an Instant Pot meal. The flavors are good but cooking it that way made the shrimp and sausage mushy.
Next time I will cool it on the stove, adding the shrimp at the end.
That’s weird, we didn’t find the shrimp or sausage mushy at all (you can see in the pictures). Did you cook it for only 3 minutes as noted with a 15 min natural release?
Wellshire Farms (sold at Whole Foods) is also Whole30 compliant, but Very Spicy!
Thanks, I knew I was probably missing a brand in the list!
Do you think this recipe is possible in a slow cooker?
You could but I’m not sure on the cooking time because we didn’t try it. You could do step #2 in a pan and then transfer the chicken to the slow cooker. Add everything else as the recipe states to the slow cooker (except the shrimp). I’d start by cooking on high for 1 hour and then checking the chicken. If it’s done to your liking you are good – if not cook it longer. Add in the shrimp after the chicken is ready and cook for 15 minutes or so (or until the shrimp is cooked). Hopefully this helps and please report back if you try it!