Vegan Jamblaya

Vegan Jambalaya

I’ve been looking to expand into a little more Cajun and Creole cooking and adding a few dishes from that region into my repertoire, so I’m very excited to be presenting this vegan Jambalaya recipe. I’ve used ingredients that get us as close to the original version as possible, such as vegan chorizo sausage and vegan chicken, in addition to the essential onion, celery and pepper that is common throughout jambalaya.

Jambalaya is a Louisiana-born dish, though there is some dispute as to its original influences. France and Spain are the most obvious, but there are also links to West Africa, due to the trans-Atlantic slave trade (Source: Wikipedia). The version I have made here is close to the Creole Jambalaya, with its use of tomatoes in the stock and the cooking method I have adopted is very similar to the Spanish Paella (stir the rice at the beginning, then leave it alone). This cooking method requires sufficient stock to allow the rice to cook thoroughly before the liquid is completely drained. It is therefore important to keep an eye on the dish during cooking and add more water as and when it is required. I added about 200ml of water to the original 1.5 litres of veg stock.


If you enjoy the recipes here, please show your support for this blog by clicking on the ads to help keep the free content coming!


This is a very exciting rice dish that is perfect for serving up when you have a small crowd of people (the recipe here will serve 6). Have it either as the main meal or as an accompaniment to something else. If there are less than 4 or 6 of you to feed then, as long as you are using ingredients that haven’t already been frozen, portion the rest out and store it in the freezer for further use.

This dish is best made in a wide and shallow frying pan, something like a paella dish. A large wok is a good alternative if you don’t have one.

What you need to make this Vegan Jambalaya:

Vegan chorizo sausage:

Fresh vegan chorizo sausage is fairly easy to get hold of now. I get mine from Morison’s. You can use frozen too, but defrost it before hand and don’t refreeze the final dish.

Vegan Chicken:

Vegan chicken is again extremely common now in supermarkets, and there are plenty of fresh versions to choose from. I went for the What The Cluck brand, more for its appearance than for any other reason. These vegan meat replacements give the jambalaya some authenticity, but if you don’t like eating them, you can switch to your favourite vegetables. Mushrooms and aubergines will work well.

Long Grain Rice:

Standard long grain rice will work perfectly for this dish. Give it a little wash first to remove some of the starch and let it drain before adding it to the pan.

Cajun Seasoning:

This spice blend is a must for a lot of Cajun and Creole cooking, but is also useful in many other dishes. You can pick up a pot at any supermarket and keep it on hand for other recipes.

Onions, Peppers and Celery:

They call these the holy trinity of Jambalaya and is common throughout most recipes.

You can easily make this recipe gluten-free by choosing gluten-free versions of the vegan meat substitutes.


ORDER YOUR COPY OF MY LATEST COOKBOOK
VEGGING OUT FROM AMAZON
AVAILABLE IN BOTH PAPERBACK AND KINDLE FORMAT


Vegan Jamblaya

Vegan Jambalaya

Prep Time 10 mins
Cook Time 1 hr
Resting Time 10 mins
Course Main Course
Cuisine Cajun/Creole
Servings 6

Ingredients
  

Easy to make gluten-free.

  • 3 tbsp olive oil
  • 8 vegan chorizo sausages cut into 2cm pieces
  • 160-200 g vegan chicken torn or diced into bite sized pieces
  • 2 heaped tsp Cajun seasoning
  • 3 more tbsp olive oil
  • 2 red onions diced
  • 3 sticks celery thinly sliced
  • 2 peppers deseeded and diced
  • 5 cloves garlic chopped
  • 500 g long grain rice washed in a couple of changes of cold water and then drained
  • 1.5 litres vegetable stock
  • 1 can chopped tomatoes
  • 3 tbsp more of Cajun seasoning
  • 2 tbsp dried oregano
  • 12 cherry tomatoes halved
  • About 200ml of additional water if required

Instructions
 

  • Using a paella dish or large frying pan or wok, heat the first 3 tbsp of olive oil and fry the vegan chorizo sausage and chicken together for about 8 minutes, or until browned. Now add the first Cajun seasoning, mix in and cook for another 2-3 minutes. Empty out into a dish to add later and deglaze the pan if needed by boiling a little bit of water in it.
  • Wipe the pan clean and heat the 2nd batch of olive oil, then cook the onions, celery and peppers for another 8-10 minutes, on a medium-low heat, until soft and just a little browned.
  • Now put in the garlic and cook for another couple of minutes, until the flavours come through.
  • Add the rice and stir in, cooking for another couple of minutes to fully coat in the oil. Pour in the veg stock and the canned tomatoes and add the 2nd Cajun seasoning, along with the oregano. Stir through to mix while it comes to the boil, then turn down to a very gentle simmer.
  • Spread the vegan chorizo sausage and chicken over the top of the rice and add the cherry tomatoes, seed side up. Cook very gently, uncovered, for about 30-40 minutes, until the rice is tender and the water has gone. Do not stir the rice at all. You can add the extra water as and when you see it running too low.
  • Allow to rest for 10 minutes before serving.
Keyword Cajun, Creole, gluten free, Jambalaya, rice, vegan
Vegan Jamblaya

WANT TO LEARN TO COOK AMAZING VEGAN FOOD?
SIGN UP TO MY MEMBERSHIP SITE RICHARD CHURCH’S VEGAN COOK SCHOOL
AND GET UNLIMITED ACCESS TO ONLINE VEGAN COOKING CLASSES


Check out my latest recipes here

Vegan Enchiladas

To veganise something like Enchiladas now is incredibly easy with the variety of ingredients available in most supermarkets. For this one I have used fresh vegan mince, along with mushrooms and onions for the chilli base. Don’t worry if you don’t like eating vegan mince, you can always substitute this chilli for my Sweet Potato,…

Spanish Lentils with Vegan Chorizo and Black Pudding

I first tried this dish about 25 years ago, when my Spanish girlfriend made it for me in a bedsit we shared in North London back in the mid-nineties. It was cooked on one of those old Baby Belling stoves that you would often see in bedsits back in those days (they might still have…

Vegan Fudge Cookies

We’ve been enjoying packets of vegan fudge in our house for quite a while now and a recent conversation with my wife got me thinking about how great it would be to have the fudge in a cookie, just like it was chocolate chip. This recipe is the product of that discussion: a very simple…

Potato, Courgette and Leek Gratin

With the products available now, a traditional gratin is very easy to turn into a vegan meal. Having good quality alternatives to butter, milk, cream and cheese are essential to giving the gratin its uniquely rich flavour. Thankfully, all of these are now easily obtainable in most supermarkets, giving us the option of having a…

Aubergine Parmigiana

The first thing you will notice when you look at this recipe for vegan Aubergine Parmigiana is that I haven’t used any vegan parmesan cheese. This was a personal choice because I thought the cheese I was using (vegan Cathedral City) had an intense enough flavour that I didn’t need it. That doesn’t mean that…

Sweet Potato, Lentil and Bean Chilli

This is a great chilli recipe for those who don’t like eating fake meat, or who want to get more beans and lentils into their diet. It is modelled very much on the chilli recipe from my book Going Vegan, but with a few variations. For example, there is no coffee in this one but…

Mini Vegan Chicken and Courgette Pies

This is a very straightforward pie recipe that you can use either as a main meal or as part of your buffet on any occasion you might be having. Mini shortcrust pastry pies filled with vegan chicken pieces, courgettes and a creamy vegan cheese sauce. These are great so serve either hot, chilled or at…

Please follow and like us:
error20
fb-share-icon20
Tweet 20
fb-share-icon20

Leave a Reply