Ina Garten jambalaya, in a nutshell? One giant pot and a bunch of hungry people. You brown andouille and chicken thighs, let rice bubble away with canned tomatoes and a splash of white wine, then shove the shrimp in at the end and squeeze lemon over the lot. Two hours, give or take. Feeds 6, or 8 if a couple of them are kids.
The recipe lives in Barefoot Contessa Foolproof, a book from 2012, so this isn’t some brand-new thing. Somebody must have reminded the internet, though. Google Trends had “ina garten jambalaya recipe” up something like 1,450% in the US this week. Funny how that works.
Quick Facts
- Total time: about 1 hour 50 minutes (25 minutes hands-on prep)
- Serves: 6 to 8 (about 2 cups each)
- Difficulty: Easy, one pot
- Key ingredients: andouille, chicken thighs, shrimp, long-grain rice, the “holy trinity”
- Make ahead: Yes, the vegetable base can be made a day early
What’s in This Article
- Why Ina Garten’s Jambalaya Works
- Ingredients and Easy Swaps
- How to Make Ina Garten Jambalaya Step by Step
- Timing Chart: What Happens in the Pot
- Ina Garten’s Two Jambalaya Recipes
- Is Ina Garten’s Jambalaya Creole or Cajun?
- Why Everyone Is Searching for It Right Now
- Common Jambalaya Mistakes
- Variations to Try
- What to Serve With Jambalaya
- Make Ahead, Storing and Reheating
- FAQ
Cook it Sunday. Eat it Sunday night, then again Monday, then probably Tuesday too (nobody complains).
RECIPE
Ina Garten Jambalaya
Ingredients
- 2 tbsp olive oil 30 ml
- 1 1/2 lb andouille sausage 680 g, sliced diagonally 1/2 inch thick (kielbasa works)
- 8 bone-in, skin-on chicken thighs about 3 lb / 1.4 kg, patted dry
- 1 tsp kosher salt for the chicken, plus 1/2 tsp black pepper
- 2 tbsp unsalted butter 28 g
- 1 1/2 cups yellow onion chopped, 1 large (about 225 g)
- 2 red bell peppers seeded and cut in 3/4-inch dice
- 2 cups celery cut in 3/4-inch dice, about 3 large stalks (200 g)
- 1 tbsp kosher salt Diamond Crystal; use 2 tsp if Morton
- 1 tsp black pepper freshly ground
- 1 (28 oz / 794 g) can whole peeled plum tomatoes drained and diced
- 2 tbsp jalapeño minced and seeded, about 2 peppers
- 1 tbsp garlic minced, 3 cloves
- 2 tbsp tomato paste 32 g
- 2 tsp dried oregano
- 1 tsp dried thyme
- 1/2 tsp cayenne pepper use 1/4 tsp for mild
- 1 1/2 tsp kosher salt Diamond Crystal; use 1 tsp if Morton
- 1 cup dry white wine 240 ml, such as Pinot Grigio (or more stock)
- 5 cups chicken stock 1.2 L, low-sodium recommended
- 3 cups long-grain white rice 555 g, such as Carolina; do not rinse
- 3 bay leaves
- 1 lb large shrimp 450 g, 16 to 20 count, peeled and deveined, tails on
- 1/2 cup fresh flat-leaf parsley chopped, plus more to garnish
- 1/2 cup scallions sliced, white and green parts, plus more to garnish
- 1/4 cup fresh lemon juice 60 ml, about 2 lemons
- hot sauce such as Tabasco, for serving (optional)
Equipment
- 13-inch (7 to 8 quart) Dutch oven or heavy stockpot with lid
- Instant-read thermometer
- Wooden spoon
Method
- Heat the olive oil in a 13-inch Dutch oven over medium heat. Add the andouille and cook, turning, for 8 to 10 minutes until browned on both sides. Move it to a large bowl.
- Season the chicken thighs with 1 tsp salt and 1/2 tsp pepper. Raise the heat to medium-high and brown them skin side down for 5 minutes, then 5 minutes on the other side. Work in 2 batches and add to the sausage bowl.
- Add the butter, onion, bell peppers, celery, 1 tbsp salt and 1 tsp pepper to the pot. Cook over medium to medium-high heat for about 10 minutes, scraping the bottom, until the onion is translucent.
- Stir in the tomatoes, jalapeño, garlic, tomato paste, oregano, thyme, cayenne and 1 1/2 tsp salt. Cook for 2 minutes, until the tomato paste darkens slightly and smells sweet.
- Pour in the wine and scrape up all the brown bits from the bottom of the pot. Add the stock, rice, sausage, chicken with its juices and the bay leaves. Bring to a boil.
- Cover, turn the heat to low and simmer for 20 minutes without lifting the lid.
- Tuck the shrimp into the rice, cover again and simmer for 5 minutes, until the shrimp start turning pink.
- Turn off the heat. Stir in the parsley, scallions and lemon juice, cover and let it steam for 10 to 15 minutes, until the rice is tender and the shrimp are opaque. The chicken should read 165°F (74°C).
- Discard the bay leaves. Garnish with more parsley and scallions and serve hot, with hot sauce on the side.
Notes
- Salt: amounts are for Diamond Crystal kosher salt. Morton is denser, so use about two-thirds.
- Boneless thighs: 2 1/2 lb (1.1 kg), cut in large chunks; brown 3 minutes per side.
- No wine: replace it with 1 cup extra chicken stock plus 1 tsp lemon juice.
- Make ahead: cook through step 4 up to 1 day ahead and chill; reheat until simmering and continue.
- Storage: refrigerate within 2 hours, up to 3 to 4 days; freeze up to 2 months (shrimp gets a little firmer).
Private Notes
Tried this recipe?
Let us know how it was!Why Ina Garten’s Jambalaya Works
I’ll be upfront. The ingredient list looks long and a little scary. But once you read through it, you see what Ina did: there’s basically one pot, and you just keep adding to it. Sausage, then chicken, then the vegetables, then everything else. You’re never juggling three pans.
The flavor comes from the bottom of that pot. Brown the sausage, brown the chicken, and you’ll see dark sticky bits stuck to the enamel. Don’t scrub them, don’t worry about them. When the wine goes in later, you scrape them up and they melt into the rice. That’s where the flavor is hiding.
Shrimp come last. Five minutes over the flame and a rest after, that’s all they get, which is why they’re not chewy. The lemon’s a weird one, I’ll admit. You’d never find it in a Louisiana grandma’s pot. I still wouldn’t skip it, it makes the whole thing taste brighter somehow.
And then the bit I like best, which is basically doing nothing. Burner off, herbs and lemon in, lid back on, and you go pour yourself a drink for 10 or 15 minutes. The steam trapped in there finishes the rice for you, and since there’s no flame under it, the bottom can’t burn.
Ingredients and Easy Swaps
You can find all of it at a normal grocery store. If something’s missing, the table below has a backup and tells you what you’ll notice if you swap.
| Ingredient | Why it’s there | Easy swap | What changes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Andouille (1 1/2 lb / 680 g) | Smoky, spicy backbone | Kielbasa or smoked turkey sausage | Milder, less heat |
| Bone-in chicken thighs | Juicy meat, rich fat for browning | Boneless thighs (2 1/2 lb / 1.1 kg) | Faster to eat, a bit less rich |
| Dry white wine (1 cup) | Lifts the browned bits, adds brightness | Extra chicken stock + 1 tsp lemon juice | Slightly flatter flavor |
| Long-grain white rice (3 cups) | Stays in separate grains | Parboiled (converted) rice | Firmer grains, very forgiving |
| Fresh jalapeños | Fresh, green heat | Extra 1/4 tsp cayenne | Heat without the fresh pepper taste |
| Shrimp (16-20 count) | Sweet, quick-cooking finish | Frozen shrimp, thawed and patted dry | No real difference |
Now, the salt thing, because it matters more than you’d think. Ina cooks with Diamond Crystal, a light, flaky kosher salt. Morton is denser, so a tablespoon of it is a lot saltier than a tablespoon of Diamond Crystal. Got Morton in the cupboard? Then use roughly two-thirds of every salt amount. My guess is that’s where most of the “too salty” complaints come from.
Onion, bell pepper and celery are what Louisiana cooks call the holy trinity of Cajun and Creole cooking. Ina chops them pretty big, about 3/4 inch, and I’d stick with that, since anything smaller kind of melts away after half an hour in the pot.
The Pot Matters More Than You’d Think
Ina calls for a 13-inch Dutch oven, which holds 7 or 8 quarts, and there’s a reason it’s so wide. In a tall, skinny pot the rice piles up deep, so the top stays crunchy while the bottom turns to paste. No Dutch oven that size? A heavy stockpot with a good lid will do the job. An instant-read thermometer is handy too, mostly so you’re not cutting into chicken to check it.
How to Make Ina Garten Jambalaya Step by Step
First time making jambalaya? Actually a pretty good place to start. The exact amounts are all in the recipe card, so think of this as me standing next to you at the stove.
Get a Real Sear on the Meat
Start the andouille in olive oil over medium heat and let it go 8 to 10 minutes, flipping now and then, till both sides look properly browned (not just a little tan). Fish it out into a big bowl. Then the chicken. Paper-towel the thighs till they’re dry, since wet skin just spits at you and stays flabby. Salt, pepper, crank it to medium-high, skin side down. Five minutes. Flip. Five more. I’d do two batches. Jam all eight in at once and they’ll just steam in their own juice.
Build the Base
Butter goes into all that leftover fat, then the onion, peppers and celery with salt and pepper. As the vegetables soften they let out water, and that’s your chance to scrape up the brown stuff on the bottom. Ten minutes or so and the onion should look kind of see-through. Now the tomatoes, jalapeño, garlic, tomato paste, dried herbs and cayenne. Only 2 minutes for this part. You’ll notice the smell go sweet and a little spicy.
Wine, Rice and the Long Wait
Pour in the wine and scrape hard, this is the flavor you worked for. In goes the stock, then the raw rice, bay leaves and the meat, plus every drop of juice from that bowl. When it’s bubbling hard, lid on, flame on low, 20-minute timer. Then leave the lid alone, seriously. Each time you peek, steam gets out, and that’s how you end up with some grains hard and others mushy.
Shrimp, Lemon, Rest
Push the shrimp down into the rice, cover again, and give them 5 minutes, just until they start going pink. Kill the heat. Stir in the parsley, scallions and lemon juice, put the lid back, and wait another 10 to 15 minutes. By then the rice is soft and the shrimp are cooked all the way through.
Before anyone digs in, stick a thermometer into one thigh close to the bone. It should say 165°F (74°C), the safe minimum for poultry. Shrimp you can judge by eye. When they’ve gone from see-through gray to pearly white, you’re good.
Timing Chart: What Happens in the Pot
Here’s the cook time split into stages, with the thing to look for at each one.
| Stage | Heat | Time | What to look for |
|---|---|---|---|
| Brown sausage | Medium | 8-10 min | Dark brown edges, fat in the pot |
| Brown chicken (2 batches) | Medium-high | 10 min per batch | Golden, crisp skin |
| Cook trinity | Medium to medium-high | 10 min | Translucent onion, bottom scraped clean |
| Simmer rice | Low, covered | 20 min | Most liquid absorbed |
| Add shrimp | Low, covered | 5 min | Shrimp turning pink |
| Rest off heat | Off, covered | 10-15 min | Tender rice, opaque shrimp, chicken 165°F |
Feeding 16? Make two pots side by side. I wouldn’t double it in one, because 6 cups of rice in a single pot gets gummy on the bottom and stays crunchy on top.
Do You Add Uncooked Rice to Jambalaya?
Yep, raw rice, right out of the bag, and don’t rinse it. It soaks up the stock, the wine and the tomato juice while it cooks, which is the whole reason jambalaya tastes like jambalaya. If you stirred in leftover cooked rice at the end you’d basically have rice with stuff on it. Still edible, sure, but not the same dish.
Ina Garten Has Two Jambalaya Recipes (Don’t Mix Them Up)
This part trips people up, and plenty of websites get it wrong. Search “Ina Garten jambalaya” and you’ll actually find two separate recipes. Ours is the Foolproof one, with chicken thighs and white wine.
The other one is Amelia’s Shrimp and Sausage Jambalaya, the one people sometimes search as “Ina Garten’s friend’s jambalaya.” Ina cooked it on Barefoot Contessa: Modern Comfort Food in an episode called “Cooking with Rice,” and Food Network credits the recipe to Amelia Durand. Smoked ham replaces the chicken, and there’s no wine at all.
| Detail | Foolproof Jambalaya (this recipe) | Amelia’s Shrimp and Sausage Jambalaya |
|---|---|---|
| Meat | Andouille + 8 bone-in chicken thighs | 1 lb sausage + 1 lb smoked ham |
| Wine | 1 cup dry white wine | None |
| Chicken stock | 5 cups | 6 cups |
| Tomatoes | 28 oz can, drained | 1 cup fresh, diced |
| Herbs | Dried oregano and thyme | Fresh oregano and thyme |
| Finish | Shrimp, lemon, parsley, scallions | Shrimp, lemon, parsley, scallions |
Which should you pick? For a hearty, saucy pot that feeds a crowd, I’d go Foolproof. Amelia’s is faster since there’s no chicken to brown, and the ham makes it smokier and a touch saltier. If you remember Ina making jambalaya on TV and there was no chicken in it, yep, that was Amelia’s. You can watch Food Network’s “Ina Garten Makes Shrimp and Sausage Jambalaya” clip on YouTube if you want to see it.
Is Ina Garten’s Jambalaya Creole or Cajun?
Creole, because of the tomatoes. People call that style “red jambalaya,” and Ina dumps a whole 28-ounce can into hers. Out in Cajun country they mostly leave tomatoes out and get the brown color by searing the meat really hard. White wine and lemon, on the other hand, aren’t Creole or Cajun. That’s just Ina being Ina.
If you like food history, jambalaya’s story splits the same way, with the red style linked to New Orleans and the brown style to Cajun country. I don’t think either one is “right.” Two traditions, two very good pots of rice.
A Louisiana-born writer cooked this exact recipe for Parade back in February 2026, and her take was that it eats more like a fancy restaurant jambalaya than something from a backyard pot. Sounds about right to me. Polished, bright, not especially smoky.
Why Everyone Is Searching for It Right Now
So why now, in fall 2026? A few things lined up.
- The search spike is real. For October 10 to 17, 2026, Google Trends showed “ina garten jambalaya recipe” as the top rising search tied to “recipe” in the US, up about 1,450%.
- It’s crowd season. Halloween’s on a Saturday this year (the 31st), Thanksgiving is Thursday, November 26, and between the two you’ll probably have people over at least once. Hence, big pot.
- Old recipe, new fans. Foolproof came out in 2012, yet tons of people are only now finding this jambalaya. And they keep asking the same three things: Creole or Cajun, which sausage, and why lemon.
Ina’s own version is still up on the Barefoot Contessa website, marked as a beginner recipe. What you get here is her method plus metric weights, the salt note and doneness checks. She has said the white wine is “key to really great flavor,” so please don’t skip deglazing.
What Are Common Mistakes When Making Jambalaya?
Short answer? Stirring, peeking, a pot that’s too small, shrimp in too early, and too much salt. I’d guess almost every sad jambalaya out there comes down to one of those five. None of them are hard to fix, luckily.
- Mushy rice. Usually it got rinsed, stirred, or crammed into a small pot. Leave the rice alone and use the big pot.
- Rice still crunchy. Probably the lid came off or the heat was too low. Pour in about 1/4 cup hot stock, put the lid on, and let it sit 10 more minutes off the burner.
- Scorched bottom. The heat was too high while it simmered. Your lowest setting really is enough.
- Too salty. Most likely Morton salt at the full amount. Cut it to two-thirds and pick low-sodium stock.
- Rubbery shrimp. They went in too early. Five minutes on the heat plus the rest, no more.
Don’t Skip the Resting Time
When the shrimp go pink you’ll want to dig in. Hold off. During those 10 to 15 minutes the rice finishes softening and drinks up the lemon. Plus you get a minute to set the table.
Variations to Try
Milder for Kids
Leave out the jalapeños and drop the cayenne to a pinch. Kielbasa instead of andouille helps too. Grown-ups can shake on hot sauce at the table.
No-Shrimp Version
No shrimp in the house, or someone’s allergic? Skip it and brown 1 extra pound (450 g) of chicken thighs with the rest. Same cook time.
Smoky Cajun-Style
Craving the bayou version? Leave the canned tomatoes in the pantry and pour in one more cup (240 ml) of stock. Let the sausage go way past golden, until the pot bottom is nearly dark brown, and toss a teaspoon of smoked paprika in with the herbs.
Lighter Weeknight Pot
Cutting it in half for a Tuesday? A 5-quart Dutch oven is big enough. Boneless, skinless thighs cook faster, maybe 3 minutes a side. Don’t shorten the 20-minute simmer or the rest though, the rice still needs that time.
What to Serve With Jambalaya
It’s already a full meal, so the sides can be lazy. I like something green and crunchy to cut the richness. A big bowl from my hearty fall salad recipes is perfect, ideally one with a sharp vinaigrette.
Cornbread is the other obvious one. My low sodium cornbread plays nicely against the salty sausage. Or just crusty bread. Coleslaw, plain green beans, whatever’s in the fridge, it’s hard to get wrong.
Make Ahead, Storing and Reheating Jambalaya
If you’re having people over, you can get a head start the day before. Cook up through the vegetables and seasonings (step 4 in the card), cool it and stick it in the fridge, along with the browned sausage and chicken. When it’s time, warm the base back up to a simmer, add the wine, and pick up where you left off.
For leftovers I go by the FoodSafety.gov cold storage guidelines. Get it into the fridge within 2 hours of cooking and it’ll keep 3 to 4 days in a sealed container. It freezes for about 2 months, though the shrimp comes out a little firmer than it went in. When you reheat, the rice will have soaked up most of the liquid, so splash in 2 or 3 tablespoons of stock per cup, cover, and warm it over medium-low until it’s steaming hot all the way through (165°F / 74°C).
FAQ
What cookbook is Ina Garten’s jambalaya in?
That would be Barefoot Contessa Foolproof: Recipes You Can Trust, from 2012. It’s also on the Barefoot Contessa website, listed as a beginner recipe that serves 6 to 8. So you don’t need the book, though it’s a good one to own anyway.
What sausage does Ina Garten use in jambalaya?
Andouille or kielbasa, according to her recipe, sliced on a slant about 1/2 inch thick. If your store has real andouille, grab it, that’s the smoky, spicy Louisiana one. Kielbasa is gentler and pretty much everywhere. Smoked turkey sausage is fine too if you’re going lighter.
Can I make Ina Garten jambalaya without wine?
Sure, plenty of people do. Just swap the cup of wine for another cup of chicken stock and add maybe a teaspoon of lemon juice so it doesn’t taste flat. You still deglaze the same way. A tiny bit less bright, maybe. I doubt anyone eating it would notice.
Why is my jambalaya rice mushy?
Probably one of three things: somebody stirred it while it cooked, it got rinsed first, or there was too much rice for the pot. Stick with long-grain white rice and a 7 or 8 quart pot, keep that lid closed, and the only time you stir is when the shrimp go in.
Is jambalaya spicy?
Ina’s is middle-of-the-road spicy. Andouille, two jalapeños and half a teaspoon of cayenne give it a kick you notice but won’t need water for. Cooking for kids? Kielbasa, no jalapeños, a pinch of cayenne at most, and a bottle of hot sauce on the table for the brave ones.
Can you freeze jambalaya with shrimp?
Yes, for about 2 months. Let it cool fast, pack it up airtight, and move it to the fridge the night before to thaw. The shrimp come out a little firmer, no way around that. If it bugs you, freeze a shrimp-free portion and toss fresh shrimp in while it reheats.
What is the difference between jambalaya and gumbo?
With jambalaya the rice is part of the dish, it goes in raw and cooks with everything else. Gumbo’s a thick, soupy stew built on a roux (or okra, or filé), and you spoon it over rice made separately. Same family, though. Both lean on andouille and the holy trinity.
Okay, Go Make It
Last tip: chop every vegetable before the stove goes on, because once the sausage is browned things move fast. If you make this, I’d love a star rating in the recipe card, and tell me in the comments which sausage you went with. Pin it to your dinner board for your next crowd night. And if you’re on an Ina kick, her truffled egg salad is a good one to try next.
