Less Meat Spicy Jambalaya
This is one of my absolute favorite recipes. Its spicy and flavorful, with a well rounded ingredients list so you feel really full but also like you ate really healthy. One sausage stretches across 6 servings, and beans fill in for the rest of the protein in this less meat and no seafood Jambalaya. Tony Chachere’s Creole Seasoning is the star of the show here, and pretty much the only seasoning you need for this dish. It can be made vegan/vegetarian by subbing the turkey sausage for a plant based one!
Ingredients
- 2 cans Black Beans
- 1 can Dark Red Kidney Beans
- 1 bunch of Green Onions, green bits separated from the white, roots removed
- 1.5 tbsp Tomato Paste
- 3 cups Reduced Sodium Vegetable Stock
- 1 Green Bell Pepper
- 1 Red bell pepper
- 1 Orange Bell Pepper
- 1 (13 oz) Smoked turkey sausage
- 2 tsps Salt
- 2 tbsp Olive Oil
- 3 Medium Carrots
- 4 Stalks of Celery
- 1.50 tbsps Creole Seasoning (Tony Chachere’s Creole Seasoning)
- 6 cloves Garlic
- 1.33 cup Dry Jasmine Rice
- Cooking spray
- Cut your sausage into your desired size (I like cubes to get a little bit of sausage in every bite, but you can do medallions if that is your preference). Spray the bottom of a large pot (you will want to use a large pot for this because the rice will double in size and there are lots of veggies) then brown the sausage over medium heat. When they are well browned, take the sausages out and set aside. Don’t wash the pot because we want to use the sausage fat for flavor.
- Separate your green onion parts from the white onion. Finely dice the white part and set aside. Chop the green onions and set aside.
- Mince your garlic and add that to the white onion parts.
- Dice your celery, bell peppers and carrots. You can cut the bell peppers larger than diced if desired.
- in the same pot you used for the sausage, saute your bell peppers, carrots and celery with the olive oil,scraping any bits of sausage brown bits as you go. Sweat your veggies for 5-15 minutes, depending on how soft you want them. I prefer them tender so I do the full 15, but If you like the celery and carrots crunchy you can do 5 minutes. When those are to your liking, add the minced garlic with the whites of the green onions and cook for another minute. Mix thoroughly over medium heat.
- Rinse your rice and add that into your pot. Add your creole seasoning and mix well, then add the vegetable stock. Bring this to a boil then turn to low heat and cook for about 18 minutes or until the rice is tender. Monitor towards the end to avoid any burning on the bottom.
- After the rice is fully cooked, add in the beans, tomato paste, sausage and the chopped green onions. Mix well and serve. If desired, sprinkle more Tony Chachere’s on top for more spice and saltiness.
Substitutions: I like my dishes to be colorful so I add a variety of bell peppers, but you could honestly add whatever bell peppers you like, as long as you have 3. The red variety can be more expensive, so sometimes I don’t get that one unless it’s on sale. If you’re feeling like an extra spicy dish, throw in a scotch bonnet pepper (de-seeded and dice) with the rest of your peppers!
Make it Vegan! Just substitute your favorite plant based sausage for the turkey sausage. The nutrition info will change, the one I use in this recipe is 700 kcal, 42g fat, 35 g carbs, 63g protein across 6 servings (117 kcal, 7g fat, 6 g carbs and 11 g protein, rounded up)
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