Hello, new favorite! I think of this Cajun Sausage and Rice Skillet kind of like “jambalaya light”. It has similar flavors and ingredients as jambalaya, but it’s a slightly scaled back, simplified version, perfect for quick weeknight dinner. And the best part? The leftovers are SO GOOD. So feel free to add this tasty skillet to your meal prep rotation!
What Kind of Sausage Do I Use?
To make this skillet meal taste the best, try to find Andouille sausage, which is a smoked pork sausage commonly used in Louisiana cooking. If you can’t find any in your area (I’m not sure how readily available this is outside the southern U.S.), you can use any smoked sausage in its place. If you want to go so far as to special order some to get the full experience, check out the selection from Cajungrocer.com.
Is Cajun Sausage and Rice Spicy?
It can be, depending on the ingredients you use. I used a “medium” heat Andouille sausage, which had a good amount of spicy heat, as well as a little cayenne pepper in my Cajun seasoning blend. If you want to make this dish mild, make sure to get a non-spicy smoked sausage, and you can skip the cayenne pepper in the spices listed in the recipe.
Can I Use Store Bought Cajun Seasoning?
The recipe below includes a half batch of my homemade Cajun seasoning, minus the salt because the other ingredients in the skillet contained enough salt that I didn’t need to add more. The total amount of spices used is about 1 tablespoon. If you’d like to use a store bought Cajun seasoning blend, first check to see how much salt it contains. Many store bought Cajun seasoning blends contain a lot of salt and are used more like a seasoning salt, or table seasoning, and probably will not work well for this recipe. If the blend you have is mostly just herbs and spices, I would use about 1 Tbsp for this recipe.
Can I Use Brown Rice?
Brown rice requires more liquid and a much longer cook time than white rice, so you will need to take these into account if you attempt to substitute brown rice for the white rice in this recipe. While I haven’t tested a brown rice version, I would probably add at least another cup of chicken broth and increase the simmer time to closer to 40 minutes.
You might also love my One Pot Lemon Garlic Shrimp and Rice!
Cajun Sausage and Rice Skillet
Servings 4 1.5 cups eachIngredients
- 14 oz. Andouille sausage* ($3.99)
- 1 Tbsp cooking oil ($0.04)
- 1 bell pepper ($0.89)
- 1 tsp smoked paprika ($0.10)
- 1/2 tsp dried oregano ($0.05)
- 1/2 tsp dried thyme ($0.05)
- 1/4 tsp garlic powder ($0.02)
- 1/4 tsp onion powder ($0.02)
- 1/8 tsp cayenne pepper ($0.02)
- 1/8 tsp freshly cracked black pepper ($0.01)
- 1 15oz. can fire roasted diced tomatoes ($1.00)
- 1 cup long grain white rice ($0.62)
- 1.5 cups chicken broth ($0.20)
- 2 green onions, sliced ($0.20)
Instructions
- Slice the sausage into ¼-½ inch thick slices. Add the sausage and cooking oil to a deep skillet or Dutch oven and sauté over medium heat until the sausage is well browned. Don't worry if the sausage begins to brown on the bottom of the skillet. That's extra flavor that will cook into the rice later.
- While the sausage is cooking, dice the bell pepper. Once the sausage is browned, add the bell pepper to the skillet and continue to sauté for about one more minute.
- Add the spices (smoked paprika, oregano, thyme, garlic powder, onion powder, cayenne, and black pepper) to the skillet with the sausage and bell pepper and continue to sauté for one minute more to toast the spices.
- Add the fire roasted diced tomatoes (with juices), rice, and chicken broth to the skillet. Stir to combine and dissolve any browned bits off the bottom of the skillet.
- Place a lid on the skillet, turn the heat up to medium-high, and allow the broth to come to a full boil. Once it reaches a boil, turn the heat down to low and let the skillet simmer for 20 minutes. After 20 minutes, remove the skillet from the heat and let it rest, with the lid on, for an additional 5 minutes.
- After the skillet has rested, remove the lid, and fold the sausage and rice to redistribute the rice and sausage throughout. Top with sliced green onions and serve!
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Notes
Nutrition
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How to Make Cajun Sausage and Rice Skillet – Step by Step Photos
This is the Andouille sausage that I used. Andouille may not be readily available in all areas, so if you can’t find any, just try to get a smoked pork sausage of some sort instead. You really want that smoky flavor!
Slice the Andouille into medallions and add to a skillet with a tablespoon of cooking oil. Sauté over medium heat until the sausage is well browned. Don’t worry if the bottom of the skillet turns brown. That’s just extra flavor that will soak into the rice later!
While the sausage is browning, dice one bell pepper. Add it to the skillet and continue to sauté for about a minute. Then add the Cajun seasoning: 1 tsp smoked paprika, ½ tsp dried oregano, ½ tsp dried thyme, ¼ tsp garlic powder, ¼ tsp onion powder, ⅛ tsp cayenne pepper, and ⅛ tsp freshly cracked black pepper. Continue to sauté the spices for another minute.
Next, add one 15oz. can fire roasted diced tomatoes (with juices), 1 cup long grain white rice, and 1.5 cups chicken broth to the skillet. Stir to combine and dissolve those browned bits off the bottom of the skillet.
Once everything is combined, place a lid on the skillet, turn the heat up to medium-high, and allow the broth to come up to a boil. Once it reaches a boil, turn the heat down to low and let the skillet simmer for 20 minutes. (Pictured: before simmering)
After simmering for 20 minutes, remove it from the heat and let it rest for an additional five minutes (with the lid on). After resting, it will look like the photo above.
Fold everything together to redistribute the sausage, rice, and bell peppers. OMG it looks so good at this point I just want to dive in!
Top the skillet with sliced green onions and serve! It’s rich, spicy, smoky, and all-around DELICIOUS.
I’ve made this recipe so many times and it’s always so easy, simple, delicious and a family favorite.
Sometimes I just add in fresh garlic, onion or frozen corn for more veggies.
This has become my signature dish and is one of my favorite recipes of all time. I’ve made it more times than i can count. Ive found I like to add extra bell peppers and will sometimes throw in a chopped jalapeno as well. You can keep all the ingredients on hand, and since packed sasuage keeps for months in the fridge it’s the perfect meal to cook when you didn’t plan anything for dinner. It’s seriously so easy and delicious!!
Thanks for this great recipe. I often make a red beans & rice recipe that is similar to this. I Added a little onion and a can of kidney beans. My family liked this one better! And I love how it’s all cooked in one pot.
If I wanted to add shrimp and crab, would you add them at the end during the boil?
Definitely at the end, since both cook very quickly and can get rubbery if overcooked.
This recipe has become a standard weeknight meal in my home. I almost always add a can of red beans (rinsed and drained) at the same time as the rice, tomatoes, and broth. Truly a one-pot wonder!
My husband and kids love this! Thank you for the recipe. One of my kids suggested adding some kidney beans to it next time, so I might try that. I was out of smoked paprika and I only had petite diced tomatoes (not fire roasted) and it still came out great! Thank you!
Can black beans be added to this recipe?
Sure!
I don’t want to assume, but simmer for 20 min with the lid on, correct?
Correct. :)
This was so delicious and so easy! Thank you so much.
This turned out great! I added a second bell pepper, some celery, and a can of kidney beans. We don’t have Andouille in our grocery store so I used Ukranian style garlic sausage. Even with the changes, it still cooked up perfectly. Will make again!
The rice wasn’t near done which was irritating because we don’t have much to be wasting 😭
This turned out great! I added a second bell pepper, some celery, and a can of kidney beans. We don’t have Andouille in our grocery store so I used Ukranian style garlic sausage. Even with the changes, it still cooked up perfectly. Will make again!
I made this last night – it was absolutely delicious!
I would encourage others to use fire-roasted tomatoes if they can; I’d consider it an essential ingredient. I’m from Texas and no stranger to Cajun food, so I was delighted with the results and heat level.
I also wanted to say thank you to Beth. I’m a beginner when it comes to cooking, and this website has made the process so much less intimidating.
The instructions are so easy to understand, and the photos are a huge help for people like me who prefer a visual guide.
It’s honestly a miracle and a testament to your clear instructions that this dish (and a few others) came out perfectly for me on the first attempt. I’d only ever cooked Minute Rice before; I have conquered my fear of rice thanks to you!
Love from your neighbor in Texas 💙
Awesome!! I’m so glad to hear that, Megan! :)
How can I add/when do I add chicken to the recipe?
Are you talking raw chicken or pre-cooked chicken like rotisserie chicken?
Made this tonight. Great. Been years since I’ve been so bowled over by the taste and ease of prep. Thank you so much.
Gil
Sooooo easy. Adding to my rotation.