One-Pan Jambalaya

One-Pan Jambalaya is an easy, nutritious, 30-minute meal of oven-roasted & seasoned sausage, shrimp, veggies, and rice. Everything gets cooked together on one sheet pan!

One-Pan Jambalaya

Let’s start with this disclaimer: we are making NO claims to jambalaya authenticity with this recipe (Try this for something more authentic.)! I mean, for starters it’s made all on one sheet pan, ha!

This isn’t meant to be an authentic, spend-all-day-on-it kind of dinner. So why call it jambalaya? It’s inspired by the flavors and typical ingredients you’ll find in an authentic jambalaya. Certain words carry emotional meanings, and jambalaya is one of them!

The whole concept behind this recipe is to create a super-simple meal, limit the cleanup (like a lot), and still have a tasty, hearty (and fairly nutritious) dinner with a kick of spice. And One-Pan Jambalaya delivers on all counts. You will not believe how easy this recipe is to make! When you don’t have the time (or energy) to make Jambalaya from scratch but are craving some of those incredible flavors and a hit of spice, this sheet pan recipe is here for you.

We’ll also tell you here, this dish does have a bit of a spicy kick. There are certainly ways to decrease the spice (more on this below), but like most jambalayas, you’ll get a good hit of spice from this recipe. 

You Can Cook Rice On A Sheet Pan?!

Yes! With a store-bought shortcut, we can have beautifully cooked rice in a matter of minutes! 

In order for this One-Pan Jambalaya to work, we need Ready Rice/Microwaveable Packaged Rice. Ready rice is a type of rice that is already cooked and just needs to be heated to warm through. Instead of heating it in the microwave, we add it to the sheet pan with the veggies, shrimp, and sausage and roast it — easy, quick, and convenient!

This type of packaged rice is typically found among other packets of rice and grains in the grocery store. There are lots of different flavors of microwaveable packaged rice, so be sure to get the plain (not seasoned) rice. We like Jasmine Ready Rice best in this recipe.

The only prep required for this type of rice is kneading the rice in the packet before opening it. This helps break apart any clumps of rice so it comes out in individual grains. If preferred, you can use (cold) leftover cooked white rice in this recipe.

Scaling Down (Or Up) The Spice Levels

When scaling down the spice, note that there will be some loss of flavor. When removing or reducing spicy seasonings, you may want to increase other spices such as salt, pepper, paprika, and the Italian seasoning.

To make this recipe milder, reduce the Creole seasoning (you can always add more at the end!) and don’t add in any red pepper flakes. Use a plain or hardwood smoked turkey sausage instead of a Cajun-style andouille smoked sausage.

To make this recipe spicier, use a Cajun-style andouille smoked sausage, add in a diced jalapeño pepper when adding in the rice, add in the optional red pepper flakes, and increase the Creole seasoning to taste.

One-Pan Jambalaya Tips

• Cut vegetables into roughly equal sizes. This ensures even roasting so there aren’t some under-cooked veggies and some over-cooked. Pay attention to the specific sizes outlined in the recipe card to ensure the veggies are large or small enough to roast properly in the indicated times.
• Use fresh, not frozen shrimp to save time. If you have fresh shrimp, you can skip thawing time which makes One-Pan Jambalaya come together that much quicker! With fresh shrimp, make sure it’s been peeled and deveined, as well, to save some time in prep.
• Shrimp cooking cues. Shrimp should curl up into a loose “C” shape when properly cooked. If they have curled up into a tight “O” shape, then they are most likely overcooked. (An undercooked shrimp will still have some grayish spots on them and form more of a flexible “U” shape.)
• Add fresh herbs. To add brightness, freshness, and additional flavor to this meal, we add fresh green onions and parsley. Select flat-leaf Italian parsley, not curly parsley, for the best possible flavor.

My Top Tip For This One-Pan Jambalaya

Use a LARGE sheet pan. The more space the vegetables, shrimp, and sausage have to cook (and the less crowded they are), the better they roast.

When vegetables overlap or crowd onto a sheet pan, they end up steaming instead of roasting, which greatly affects the end taste/texture; it also takes longer for everything to cook when there is less space.

I recommend this 15×21-inch sheet pan or using two pans to cook this One Pan Jambalaya.

More Easy One-Pan Dinners

• One-Pan Italian Sausage and Veggies with Parmesan
• One-Pan Potatoes and Sausage with asparagus and carrots
• Baked Fish and Chips with a quick tartar sauce
• Sausage Pesto & Veggies with gnocchi
• Baked Coconut Chicken with a honey-mustard dipping sauce

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4.91 from 10 votes

One-Pan Jambalaya

By Chelsea Lords

One-Pan Jambalaya is an easy, nutritious, 30-minute meal of oven-roasted & seasoned sausage, shrimp, veggies, and rice. Everything gets cooked together in one pan!

Prep Time: 10 minutes minutes

Cook Time: 20 minutes minutes

Total Time: 30 minutes minutes

Servings: 4 -6 servings

Equipment

• 15×21 inch sheet pan
• Olive oil cooking spray

Ingredients  

1x2x3x

• ▢ 3 sweet bell peppers (we use a red, yellow, & green)
• ▢ 1 medium yellow onion
• ▢ 13 oz (368g) smoked sausage Note 1
• ▢ 3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil, separated use
• ▢ 2 and 1/2 teaspoons Creole seasoning, separated use
• ▢ 2 teaspoons Italian seasoning
• ▢ 8 ounces (230g) medium shrimp, raw, peeled and deveined
• ▢ 1/2 teaspoon paprika
• ▢ 1 and 1/2 cups (265g) cherry tomatoes, halved
• ▢ Fine sea salt and pepper
• ▢ 2/3 cup (68g) sliced green onions
• ▢ 2 packages (8.5 oz.; 240g EACH) precooked jasmine rice Note 2
• ▢ Optional: fresh flat-leaf Italian parsley, 1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes

Instructions 

• PREP: Preheat the oven to 425 degrees. Lightly spritz a 15x21-inch sheet pan with cooking spray. (Everything will fit on a 15x21-inch sheet pan, but you'll need 2 smaller sheet pans if you don't have this size.) Remove the stem and seeds and chop the bell peppers into 1-inch pieces. Halve and then thinly slice the yellow onion. Slice the sausage into thin (1/2-inch) coins.
• ROAST PEPPERS, ONION, AND SAUSAGE: Place the cut peppers, onion, and sausage on the prepared sheet pan. Toss with 2 tablespoons (27g) olive oil, 1/2 teaspoon Creole seasoning, and 2 teaspoons Italian seasoning. Toss to coat everything, space out evenly (See Note 3), and bake for 8 minutes.
  
• SHRIMP: Meanwhile, prepare the shrimp. Make sure it is peeled and deveined, and fully thawed if using frozen. You can also remove the tails here if desired. Toss the shrimp with 1 tablespoon olive oil, 1/2 teaspoon Creole seasoning, and 1/2 teaspoon paprika. Cut the tomatoes in half.
  
• ROAST SHRIMP AND TOMATOES: Take the sheet pan from the oven and toss everything then space things out again into one even layer. Add the seasoned shrimp and tomatoes. Cook for another 6-8 minutes. Remove and add the packaged rice (no need to microwave or prepare it at all; just knead it a bit before opening it up), remaining 1 (up to 1 and 1/2) teaspoons Creole seasoning (to taste), and salt & pepper to taste. (I add 1 teaspoon fine sea salt and 1/2 teaspoon pepper.) Toss everything together, space out, and then return to the oven for 2 more minutes.
  
• ENJOY: Remove from the oven and sprinkle with fresh green onions and fresh chopped parsley. Enjoy immediately! Add red pepper flakes to individual plates if desired.

Video

Recipe Notes

Note 1: Sausage: Use Cajun-style andouille smoked sausage for more flavor or hardwood smoked turkey sausage (less spicy). Any smoked sausage works, but those are our two favorites to use! Be sure to used smoked sausage, since it is already cooked.

Note 2:Rice: Use pre-cooked rice such as Uncle Ben's Ready Rice (we use Jasmine Ready Rice). Alternatively, use leftover cooked rice.

Note 3: Veggies: The more space the vegetables have (aka the less crowded they are) the better they roast. When vegetables are overlapping or crowded onto a sheet pan, they end up steaming instead of roasting. This greatly affects the end taste/texture. Overlapping veggies that don't have enough room to roast will also take much longer to cook through to tender.

Nutrition

Serving: 1serving | Calories: 396kcal | Carbohydrates: 19.9g | Protein: 18.6g | Fat: 26.9g | Cholesterol: 107.5mg | Sodium: 888.3mg | Fiber: 2.5g | Sugar: 5.2g

Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.

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