Chicken and Sausage Penne Jambalaya
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This Chicken and Sausage Penne Jambalaya is my delicious personal take on a classic recipe, loaded with chicken and Italian sausage that will be ready in only 30 minutes!
Chicken And Sausage Penne Jambalaya
One of my favorite dishes to order whenever I go out to a restaurant is jambalaya. I used to only ever order it out because I thought it would be complicated to make, but I couldn’t have been more wrong! This recipe is so simple and tasty to whip up and the best part is it’ll be on your table in only 30 minutes.
This is a recipe recipe from my book, a favorite of mine, a penne jambalaya with chicken and sausage. This is a perfect dish to make at home after a busy day at work, because it’s a no fuss recipe, all done in one skillet.
What Is Jambalaya?
Jambalaya is a Louisiana origin dish with lots of Spanish and French influence. It consists mainly of meat and vegetables mixed with rice. Traditionally, this dish always includes sausage of some sort such as andouille, along with other meat or seafood.
One bite of this super easy jambalaya and you’ll forget about ever ordering it out again. If you want to kick this recipe up a notch, use spicy Italian sausages, after all, jambalaya is meant to be spicy. Some good Italian sausages will really take this jambalaya over the top.
- Chicken – I used breast for this recipe but thighs would work just as well.
- Seasoning – Salt, pepper and chili powder are all we’re going to need.
- Sausage – I’ve made this dish with Italian sausage, andouille sausage or any smoked sausages but feel free to try others such as chorizo, andouille, or even kielbasa.
- Aromatics – Fresh onion and garlic are our aromatics for this dish. If minced is all you have on hand just keep in mind that 1 teaspoons is equivalent to one fresh clove.
- Veggies – Bell pepper, any color you please, and canned diced tomatoes.
- Broth – Low sodium chicken broth is best as we want to control our sodium content.
- Pasta – I used penne as we want something that really hold onto our sauce but any larger shaped pasta will do. If you’re not feeling pasta this dish is beautiful served over rice.
- Hot sauce – Feel free to use your favorite! If you’re scared of the heat opt out of using any.
- Garnish – Fresh sliced green onion and cilantro to sprinkle liberally on top!
This is an incredibly easy jambalaya recipe that you can whip together in just 30 minutes, so let’s get started.
To start, you need to season your chicken with chili powder, salt and pepper. Once your chicken is properly seasoned, add it to the skillet along with the sausage and cook it for about 6 minutes until the chicken and sausage start to brown.
Next, you’ll need to add the onion and bell pepper to the skillet and cook for about 2 minutes until the onion gets a bit translucent. Now, stir in the garlic and cook for just another 30 seconds or so until fragrant.
Now, we can basically add the rest of the ingredients to the dish and finish cooking. To do so, add the diced tomatoes, chicken broth, penne, hot sauce and stir really well. Bring to a boil, then you’ll need to lower the heat to a simmer and cook for about 15 minutes or until the pasta is al dente. You’ll need to stir occasionally to avoid the pasta from sticking to the skillet.
To complete this dish I like to garnish it with some fresh green onions and cilantro or parsley and it’s all ready to serve and enjoy.
What Else Can I Use In This Jambalaya?
Chicken and sausage are a staple in traditional recipes, but so is shrimp! Feel free to add as much shrimp as you like to this dish, tails on, to really punch up this dish.
The traditional recipe just calls for onion, celery, bell pepper, and in some cases tomato. But seeing as this is a one pot dish feel free to add any veggies you’d like! Carrots, diced potatoes, and zucchini are all delectable additions.
Expert Tips
- This dish is amazing served over rice if you don’t have pasta on hand!
- Now there are 2 types of Jambalaya and those types are creole or cajun. My version today is Creole as it uses tomatoes, but you can axe this ingredient for a Cajun dish.
- If you’d like to make your own creole spice blend just mix: garlic & onion powder, paprika, cayenne, dried oregano, thyme, and basil. It’ll send this recipe to the moon!
Different Sausages To Use For Jambalaya
- Jambalaya is great with a Mexican chorizo sausage.
- Andouille sausage which is a smoked sausage made from pork.
- You can also use Kielbasa which is a Polish sausage. It’s flavoured with caraway seeds and made with pork. It’s delicious!
Leftovers
This recipe will last well in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 3 – 4 days. If you’d like to freeze this recipe you may want to only make the sauce and store for up to 3 months, thaw in the fridge over night and make the pasta fresh as needed.
30-Minute One-Pot Meals
For more quick and easy delicious recipes, you can order my “30-Minute One-Pot Meals” book at:
Other Delicious Pasta Recipes To Try
- Roasted Red Pepper And Pecan Pesto Penne
- Baked Penne With Italian Sausage
- Crack Chicken Penne
- Tomato Basil And Spinach Penne
- Penne With Prosciutto Tomatoes and Zucchini
- Italian Pasta Salad
- Cajun Chicken Pasta
- One Pot Creamy Parmesan Pasta
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Chicken and Sausage Penne Jambalaya
Video
Ingredients
- 6 ounce chicken breast ((1 breast) skinless boneless, cut small pieces)
- ½ teaspoon chili powder (mild)
- ½ teaspoon salt (or to taste)
- ½ teaspoon pepper (or to taste)
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 2 links Italian sausage (cut in 1 inch pieces)
- 1 small onion (chopped)
- ½ medium bell pepper (chopped)
- 3 cloves garlic (minced)
- 28 ounces diced tomatoes ((1 can) juice included)
- 1 cup chicken broth (low sodium)
- 8 ounces penne (uncooked)
- 1 tablespoon hot sauce
- 2 green onions (chopped)
- 4 sprigs cilantro (or parsley, chopped)
Before You Begin! If you make this, please leave a review and rating letting us know how you liked this recipe! This helps our business thrive & continue providing free recipes.
Instructions
- Season the chicken with chili powder, salt and pepper.
- Heat the olive oil in a large skillet. Add the chicken and sausage to the skillet and cook for 6 minutes just until the chicken and sausage start to brown.
- Add the onion and bell pepper to the skillet and cook for 2 minutes until the onion is translucent. Stir in the garlic and cook for another minute until fragrant.
- Add the diced tomatoes, chicken broth, penne and hot sauce to the skillet; stir well.
- Cook for 15 minutes until the penne is al dente, stirring occasionally.
- Garnish with green onions and cilantro.
Equipment
Notes
- Feel free to substitute the Italian sausage with kielbasa, chorizo or smoked sausage.
- If you don’t like cilantro then you can substitute with parsley for garnish.
- This recipe will last well in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 3 – 4 days. If you’d like to freeze this recipe you may want to only make the sauce and store for up to 3 months, thaw in the fridge over night and make the pasta fresh as needed.
Nutrition Information
Notice: Nutrition is auto-calculated for your convenience. Where relevant, we recommend using your own nutrition calculations.
This was delicious and so easy to make! I added a little bit of chopped shrimp and used andouille sausage and that took it over the top. Made it in 30 minutes, right after work. It’s going in the rotation for sure!
Adding shrimp and andouille sausage to the jambalaya sounds fantastic! It’s great to hear it was easy and quick to make, perfect for a post-work meal. Thrilled it’s joining your meal rotation! 🍤🌶️🍚👍
Hi Joanna! I started using this recipe a couple of years ago and fell in love with how quick and tasty it was. I loved it so much I started adding to the flavor by adding celery, and gumbo seasoning when I added chicken wings (which I cooked a little and after seasoning with chili powder, salt and pepper), and shrimp. Then when the wings were ready, I added my slightly cooked shrimp. By this time, I have to transfer to a bigger pot and add more chicken broth I also don’t use the penne pasta. I cook a separate pot of rice. It’s always delicious.
Glad you like the recipe!
Hi Jo! I made this twice within the past year and both times it came out soupy. Do you have any insight on how to make it less of that consistency? Unless it’s supposed to be that way. Either way, it’s delicious!
Interesting, no, it’s not supposed to be soupy. I suppose it could be the pasta you use, try using less broth, that should solve your problem. 🙂
Hi jo gonna make this tonite you mentioned shrimp that and sausage is what I got in the fridge when do I put the shrimp in? it is already cooked tails on. I don’t cook it same time as sausage do I? Thank you so much for your help and recipes.
Nope, you add it at the very end, they only need a couple minutes probably to warm up since they’re already cooked.
This was such a delicious recipe! A big hit for our guests and their kids too. Thanks Jo!!
My pleasure, Lisa!
Tried this w/ variations. I used what I had available. Used Chicken thighs, saziza , cochietta pasta.
That sounds wonderful! It’s always fun to experiment.
Thank you for the recipe! We wanted to replace the penne with rice. Is it the same cooking time? And the same amount of rice as you would measure out for the penne?
It will depend on the type of rice etc. If you use the same amount of rice as pasta, you might have a bit more rice. Use your best judgement!
I tried this recipe with a few tweaks based on what was in my cabinet. I must say it was delicious! My sigO is not a ‘leftovers person,’ but he ain’t all of this With no fuss. I can’t wait to make it again.
I can’t wait to try this recipe! Just to clarify, is it 1 can of 14oz diced tomatoes or 1 14oz cans? I haven’t seen a can that has 28oz before.
I used a 28 oz can, if you can only find 14 oz cans you can use two of them.
Very nice recipe! Directions were perfect, and for a quarantine Cinco de Mayo, was just the right dinner. Make sure you use a very large skillet!
So easy to make and my family loved it. Added a little more chicken broth so I could add a little more pasta. Fantastic
Question for you: Can I use frozen onion and peppers as I don’t have fresh on hand and want to make tonight?
Of course!
Will be making this tomorrow. Can’t wait. I love that you put pictures of ingredients! I am a visual person, so I looked at the ingredients and could look and say “check”, got it. Had them all. So excited to make. This is the first comment I’ve ever made.
Let me know how it turns out!
Wow wow wow! This was absolutely delicious & so simple to make… leftovers are incredible too.
Made this last night and it’s so good and easy!
After working on your site, I have so many recipes bookmarked LOL. Garlic & lemon drumsticks up next!
That’s so awesome to hear! Let us know how your cooking adventures go 🙂