Jambalaya Soup

Jambalaya is one of my favorite Cajun dishes. Since I’ve made the dish a few times, I realized that it could easily be transformed into a soup! This recipe is filled with delicious Cajun flavors. I’m fortunate to have a local butcher that makes great Cajun sausage which I used for this recipe. It’s not the same as Andouille sausage which is smoked and usually sold pre-cooked. Instead, this sausage is sold uncooked/unsmoked and is flavored with Cajun seasoning. It crumbles apart easily so it makes for a better sausage for soup. If you can find this type of Cajun sausage great, but if you can’t there’s always Andouille sausage which is tasty as well.

When I made this soup I was out of shrimp and didn’t have time to pick some up. In a pinch, I decided to use a traditional ingredient found in, believe it or not, Vietnamese cooking. The secret ingredient to this soup is…wait for it…fish sauce! I know, it sounds crazy but it really is a great way to get some of that briny/salty flavor into the stock without having to shuck and boil several pounds of shrimp shells. If you prefer to use shrimp for the stock, go for it, but this was a handy way to get that good flavor in a pinch. Not having shrimp in this soup wasn’t that big of a deal for me since I felt that all the necessary flavors were there. I served the soup with Cornbread Muffins which made a great side dish (and for dunking!)


Jambalaya Soup
(Makes about 8 Servings)
Printable Version

Ingredients:

• 1 yellow onion, chopped
• 1 tbsp butter
• 4 stalks celery, diced
• 1 lb. Cajun or andouille sausage, casings removed
• about 8-10 cups chicken stock, depending on desired consistency
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 2 green peppers, diced
• 1 bay leaf
• 30 oz. diced tomatoes
• 6 oz. tomato paste
• 1 tbsp worcestershire
• 1 tsp oregano
• 1 tbsp fresh thyme, minced
• 1 tbsp cajun seasoning
• 1 tsp brown sugar
• 2 tsp gumbo file (ground sassafras)
• 2 tbsp fish sauce (optional)
• Louisiana hot sauce, to taste
• 2 lbs. small raw shrimp, shells removed (optional)
• 2-3 green onions, chopped for garnish
• 8 servings white or brown rice (about 4 cups dried)
• 1 batch Cornbread Muffins
• salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

1.  In a large stock pot, brown the sausage, crumbling it into small pieces as it cooks. Remove the sausage and set aside.
2. In the same pot, add the butter, onion, celery and green pepper. Cook covered on medium high heat for about 5-7 minutes.
3. Stir in the tomato paste, garlic, oregano, thyme, cajun seasoning and gumbo file. Cook until fragrant, about 2-3 minutes.
4. Add the crumbled sausage, worcestershire, brown sugar, bay leaf, and diced tomatoes.
5. Pour in the chicken stock and bring the soup to a low boil. Turn down the heat and cook on low for about 30 minutes.
6. During the last 10 minutes, prepare the servings of rice (1/2 cup dried rice per serving) and transfer the cooked servings to each bowl.
7. During the last 5 minutes of cooking, add the fish sauce or uncooked shrimp to the pot. If using shrimp, simmer for about 5 minutes until cooked through.
8. Ladle several servings of the soup over the rice in each bowl. Garnish with additional fish sauce to taste, hot sauce and green onions.

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