Slimming World Jambalaya Recipe
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This Slimming World Jambalaya is an easy recipe cooked in one pot and filled with tons of smokey flavours from the Deep South. This tomato-based rice dish contains chicken, sausage, and king prawns and has a spicy cayenne pepper kick! It’s totally FREE when you are are Food Optimising on Slimming World.
I’ve got lots of great Slimming World Recipes for you to enjoy – right-click and open these other recipes in a new tab so that you can read them after this one.
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Slimming World Jambalaya
My husband made this jambalaya for dinner a few nights ago and it tastes so ridiculously good that I think it might be my new favourite Slimming World meal!
Having returned to SW at the start of 2020 we have been trying out so many recipes – some misses, but many hits!
Jambalaya is a popular rice-based dish from the Deep South of America – especially Louisianna. With a recipe that goes back generations, there is no definitive recipe for it, but many variations thereof.
Some people will use chicken, others will add seafood, and some might use a variety of different meat that they have in their kitchen.
There are two main types though – Cajun and Creole – both cuisines have roots from France, but there is more to it than that! You can read Creole vs Cajun Cooking on Spruce Eats if you’d like to learn more.
Ultimately, the difference between Cajun Jambalaya and Creole Jambalaya is the order that the ingredients are cooked in and the use of tomatoes.
Creole (the SW version I’m sharing) uses tomatoes and is sometimes known as red jambalaya. The Cajun version doesn’t use tomatoes and is a more brown colour.
Both use the “holy trinity” of ingredients (prevalent in these cuisines) – onion, celery, and bell pepper. I cannot abide celery so it was left out of our dish – however, I have included it in the recipe card at the end of the post.
Jambalaya is quite similar to a paella having been brought to the region by Spanish explorers. But instead of saffron (which is the spice used in paella), jambalaya uses cayenne pepper.
Cayenne has quick the kick so you only need a small amount – adjust to your personal spice tolerance!
This recipe for Slimming World Jambalaya serves 4 and is Free when Food Optimising.
Slimming World Food Diary Printable
If you follow Slimming World, you will know that one of the crucial things to your success is keeping a Slimming World Food Diary.
Tracking what you eat at each meal, along with your Healthy Extras, and Syns means you can monitor when things go well – and when they don’t – so can figure out how to improve next time.
I’ve got a free printable Slimming World Food Diary & Meal Planner here which now includes a diary for Extra Easy SP.
More Slimming World Friendly Recipes
Want a few Slimming World recipes to try next? Here are some of my favourites:
- Cowboy Pie Recipe – Slimming World Friendly!
- Lemon Herb Chicken Drumsticks with Smoky-Bacon Greens
- Chilli Con Carne – Slimming World Friendly
Jambalaya Recipe Tips
- Jambalaya is a one-pot recipe which means minimum fuss and less washing up!
- The original recipe called for chicken thighs, but I’m not a big fan of those so switched to chicken breast instead.
- Use either cut of chicken you prefer, but make sure it is skinless and boneless and all visible fat has been removed to make it FREE on SW.
- Traditionally, Jambalaya uses andouille sausage – not easily found in the UK (chorizo or a Polish sausage is often used as a replacement) – and not SW friendly either, so this recipe uses Slimming World Pork Sausages which are available frozen from Iceland. They will need to be defrosted first so pop them in the fridge the night before you make this dish.
- We love garlic so used 4 cloves in our pot of jambalaya. You can use the amount you prefer (recipe originally said 2 cloves).
- Similarly, use as much cayenne pepper as you like – or leave it out if you don’t like spicy food.
- I make chicken stock using OXO cubes. For 350ml that’s about 2 cubes.
- The king prawns go in raw at the end of the cooking time and are ready when they turn pink – this takes just a few minutes.
- My husband cut huge pieces of spring onion, but they are more of a sprinkled garnish, so cut them finely!
- Lime wedges are served on the side – use them on your jambalaya they add a lovely fresh zing!
- With rice, meat, and veggies this is a perfect one-pot meal so there is no need for side dishes. However, you could have a green salad on the side if you wish. (Cornbread would also be amazing, but that’s not SW friendly sadly!)
Slimming World Jambalaya
This Slimming World Jambalaya is an easy recipe cooked in one pot and filled with tons of smokey flavours from the Deep South.
Ingredients
- Low-calorie cooking spray
- 3 skinless, boneless chicken breasts, cut into chunks*
- 4 Slimming World Pork Sausages (frozen from Iceland), defrosted and cut into quarters
- 1 onion, finely chopped
- 3 celery sticks, finely chopped
- 3 green peppers, deseeded and roughly chopped
- 2 bay leaves
- 3 sprigs fresh thyme
- Salt and pepper
- 2-4 large garlic cloves, crushed
- 2 tsp sweet smoked paprika
- ½-1 tsp cayenne pepper (to taste)
- 250g dried long-grain rice
- 1 (400g) can chopped tomatoes
- 350ml chicken stock
- 150g raw peeled king prawns
- juice 1 lime, plus wedges to serve
- 4 spring onions, finely sliced diagonally
Instructions
- Spray a large, lidded saucepan with cooking spray and cook the chicken and sausages over medium-high heat for 5 minutes. Remove from pan and set aside. Cover to keep warm.
- Add more cooking spray to the pan and add the onion, celery, peppers, bay leaves, and thyme sprigs. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Fry over medium heat for 8-10 minutes, stirring from time to time.
- Add the garlic, paprika, and as much cayenne pepper as to your personal preference to the pan along with a splash of water, and cook for 1 minute.
- Add the chicken and sausage back to the pan.
- Add the rice, canned tomatoes, and stock and stir to combine.
- Bring to a simmer, then cover and cook over low heat for 20 minutes.
- Add the raw prawns and lime juice to the pan. Re-cover and cook for 3-4 minutes or until the prawns have turned pink and are cooked through.
- Discard the bay leaves and thyme sprigs.
- Scatter the sliced spring onions over the top of the dish and sprinkle with some more paprika.
- Serve with lime wedges on the side.
Notes
*You could use 6 skinless, boneless chicken thighs if you prefer.
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Nutrition Information:
Yield: 4 Serving Size: 1Amount Per Serving: Calories: 478Total Fat: 12gSaturated Fat: 4gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 7gCholesterol: 178mgSodium: 880mgCarbohydrates: 45gFiber: 4gSugar: 15gProtein: 47g
This site uses Nutritionix to provide estimated nutrition. If you need exact calories and macros, please do your own calculations. Nutritional information is always approximate and will depend on the quality of ingredients used and serving sizes.
Disclosure: We are not affiliated with Slimming World. This recipe may have been adapted from a Slimming World magazine or book. Please check with your consultant, in your member pack, or online at Slimming World’s website for full and up-to-date details about the plan, as it may be updated from time to time in line with the latest nutritional information. We are not doctors or dieticians or providing medical advice and hold no responsibility for the complete accuracy of calorie counts and nutritional information, and where applicable, Syns in Slimming World-friendly recipes. We advise you to check your own resources if you are using recipes to lose weight. All weight-loss programs should be followed on advice from a doctor.