July 16, 2019

Grilled Jambalaya – Deconstructed Dinner

Conquer the barbecue with Easy Grilled Jambalaya!

One of my most favorite places in the whole world is New Orleans, Louisiana. The atmosphere has to be experienced to be believed, and the music, drinking, French Quarter and FOOD! should be on everyone’s bucket list.

Pat O’Brien’s in NOLA’s French Quarter serves up one heck of a Hurricane – which is what I would serve while cooking this fabulous recipe. Sipping a nice cold one while the various components of this deconstructed main course are cooking is most definitely the way to go.

Grilled Jambalaya is happily influenced by New Orleans.

We have another recipe on site for regular Jambalaya, and it is fabulous. But we’re mid-stream summer now and trying to mix up the grilling fare a smidge. We are using the Weber Grill (affiliate links follow) constantly, and although I adore burgers and hot dogs, sometimes you have to eat something a little different. That’s what we’re doing here. We’re grilling all the components and adding a super simple sauce to the mix.

Grilled Jambalaya is perfect for entertaining.

To make the sauce, prepare Cajun Seasoning as described, but do NOT add the Kosher salt.

Cajun Seasoning Mix

Course: Condiment

Cuisine: American

Keyword: Cajun seasoning

Fresher than the grocery store. Excellent on meat, red beans & rice and veggies.

Print Recipe

Ingredients

2 tsp Kosher salt
2 1/2 tsp Paprika
1 tsp Freshly Ground Black Pepper
1 tsp Ground Red Pepper (cayenne)
1 tsp Onion Powder
1 tsp Dried Oregano
1 tsp Dried Thyme, rubbed
1/2 tsp Red Pepper Flakes
1/2 tsp White Pepper

Instructions

Combine all seasonings in airtight container. Shake well to mix.
Keeps well for up to 3 months in airtight container.

I have a confession to make: when I make this seasoning mix, I often times skip the white pepper. I don’t usually have it on hand, so I sub in some additional black and red pepper. And I sometimes swap out the thyme for poultry seasoning in a pinch. Keep it to yourself.

Combine tomato sauce, butter and water before adding the salt-free Cajun Seasoning mix.

After you add the seasoning to the sauce, add 1 to 1-1/4 teaspoons of kosher salt to the remaining mix. Sprinkle that on all the meat and all the veggies.

Prep the onions and peppers just like we do in the Rainbow Veggie Skewers, keeping each veggie on separate skewers. We use Metal BBQ Skewers so we don’t need to soak them. If you use the wooden/bamboo ones, soak them for about an hour before skewering anything. Skewer the shrimp as well.

Then let the grilling commence!

Shrimp, peppers and onions on grill in prep for Grilled Jambalaya

Grilled Sausage and Shrimp in preparation for Jambalaya

Grilling sausage and chicken for Grilled Jambalaya

Bert cooks the veggies first and pops them onto the top rack of the grill once they’re ready. Grill the sausage and chicken until cooked through. The shrimp cooks for the last few minutes, until pink. Use an instant read meat thermometer on the chicken and make sure it reaches at least 160 degrees before you take it off the heat.

A note about the sausage:

Traditionally, this is made with andouille sausage, and if you can get it, by all means use it. Here in Erieland, it’s not always available. Use whatever type of sausage you like. If you substitute a raw sausage, I’d recommend cooking it for a few minutes in water before grilling it to make sure it is cooked thoroughly.

We subbed in kielbasa (naturally) and it was fabulous. It also comes completely cooked, so we didn’t have to do anything to it before we added it to the Grilled Jambalaya.

I like to serve the Grilled Jambalaya in a big family style platter with the sauce in a little bowl on the side. Everyone can add as much (or as little) spice as they like. Add a bowl of rice and some Tabasco Sauce and you have a full meal – fast!