Amazing Shrimp Jambalaya

Cajun-Creole shrimp jambalaya made the easy way: everything goes into the rice cooker at once. The rice cooker steams the rice, simmers the holy trinity of celery, onion, and bell pepper, and gently poaches the shrimp all at the same time. Twenty minutes after you push the button, dinner’s done.

The Rotel is doing the seasoning work. That single can carries diced tomatoes plus green chiles, salt, and aromatics into the pot, which spares you the long list of separate Cajun seasonings most jambalaya recipes call for. Beef stock instead of chicken or seafood gives the dish a deeper, meatier base that holds up next to the assertive tomato and chiles.

The shrimp goes in raw. They cook through in the steam during the rice cycle, picking up flavor instead of getting rubbery the way pre-cooked shrimp do.

Kitchen Tips

• Use medium-grain or long-grain white rice. Brown rice needs longer cooking and won’t time out with the shrimp
• Stir occasionally as the recipe says to keep the rice from sticking to the bottom of the cooker
• Add a pinch of cayenne or hot sauce if you like more heat. Rotel is mild on its own
• Let the jambalaya rest 5 minutes after cooking. The rice finishes absorbing the liquid

Variations

• Add a half pound of sliced Andouille sausage at the start for a more traditional Louisiana-style jambalaya
• Swap beef stock for chicken or seafood stock for a different flavor base
• Stir in a cup of sliced okra during the last 10 minutes for a thicker, gumbo-style finish