Seafood · Slow cooker adaptation

Sam the Cooking Guy Jambalaya (Slow Cooker)

R By Richard · Adapted from SAM THE COOKING GUY · Published 23 June 2026
👁 1.2M source views ❤️ 30.1k source likes
⏱Prep 20 min
🍲Slow cook 5 hr (Low) / 3 hr (High)
🍽Serves 4
MAKING JAMBALAYA (EASY ONE POT CAJUN DINNER) | SAM THE COOKING GUY

Source video by SAM THE COOKING GUY on YouTube. This recipe was adapted with strict source-fidelity rules and is marked for human review.

Sam builds this one-pan jambalaya the New Orleans way: sauteed peppers, onion and celery, chorizo standing in for andouille, garlic, Creole seasoning, rice, broth and tomatoes, finished with prawns and parsley. The original is a 30 minute hob recipe. Adapted here for a slow cooker, the aromatics and sausage are browned first on the hob so the dish keeps its flavour depth, then everything but the rice and prawns goes into the pot. Rice is added late so it does not turn gummy, and prawns go in for the final stretch so they stay tender.

Slow cooker notes: Original is a 30 minute one-pan hob recipe. For the slow cooker: sweat the peppers, onion and celery and brown the chorizo on the hob first (slow cookers do not brown), then transfer to the pot with garlic, Creole seasoning, broth and tomatoes. Broth reduced from 2 cups to about 350 ml because slow cookers retain liquid. Rice is added in the final 1.5 hours on Low (or 1 hour on High) so it cooks through without going gummy. Prawns are added in the final 20 minutes so they stay tender. Parsley stirred through at the end.

Ingredients

Aromatics
  • 1 cuppepper, diced into bite-sized pieces
  • 1 cuponion, diced
  • 1 cupcelery, diced
  • 3 clovesgarlic cloves, chopped
  • cooking oil
Main
  • 450 gchorizo sausage, cut into bite-sized pieces
  • 1 tbspCreole seasoning
  • 2 wholetomatoes, chopped
  • 350 mlchicken or vegetable broth
Late add
  • 1 cupwhite long-grain rice (add late)
  • 450 graw prawns, peeled, 16-20 count (add late)
Garnish
  • fresh parsley, chopped (add late)

Method

  1. Heat a splash of oil in a wide pan over a medium-high heat. Add the diced pepper, onion and celery and sweat until they have taken on a little colour and softened, about 5 minutes.

    ~5 min

  2. Push the vegetables aside, add a touch more oil and the chopped garlic, and cook for under a minute until fragrant.

    ~1 min

  3. Add the chorizo and cook for 3 to 4 minutes, stirring occasionally, so the sausage picks up colour and lets its fat into the vegetables.

    ~4 min

  4. Scatter the Creole seasoning over the pan and toast it for about 30 seconds so it blooms in the fat, taking care not to burn it.

    ~1 min

  5. Tip the contents of the pan into the slow cooker. Add the chopped tomatoes and the broth and stir to combine.

    ~2 min

  6. Cover and cook on Low for around 3.5 hours or on High for around 2 hours, until everything is fragrant and the sausage has flavoured the broth.

  7. Stir the rice through the pot. Replace the lid and continue cooking on Low for a further 1.5 hours (or High for 1 hour) until the rice is tender and has drunk up most of the liquid.

  8. Tuck the prawns just under the rice, cover and cook on High for a final 15 to 20 minutes until they are pink and just cooked through.

    ~20 min

  9. Scatter with chopped parsley and serve straight from the pot.

    ~1 min

Frequently asked

Do I have to brown the chorizo and vegetables first?
Yes. Slow cookers steam rather than fry, so the colour and depth of flavour come from the hob stage. Sam himself spends time getting colour on the vegetables and sausage before anything else goes in.
Can I use andouille sausage instead of chorizo?
Yes. Andouille is the more traditional jambalaya sausage. Sam uses chorizo in the video because he could not find andouille at the shop, so either works.
Why is the rice added late?
White rice left in a slow cooker for hours turns gummy and loses its grain. Adding it in the final 1 to 1.5 hours gives it enough time to cook through while still keeping some texture.
Can I use frozen prawns?
Yes, but defrost them fully first and pat them dry, otherwise the extra water thins the sauce. Add them in the final 15 to 20 minutes as the recipe directs.
What can I serve with this?
It is built as a complete one-pot meal with the rice, vegetables, sausage and prawns already in. A simple green salad or some crusty bread is plenty alongside.
Extraction notes (transparency): Source is a hob one-pan recipe, not a slow cooker recipe. Ingredient quantities are taken directly from the transcript (1 cup each of pepper, onion, celery; 2 tomatoes; 1 lb chorizo; 3 garlic cloves; 1 tablespoon Creole seasoning; 1 cup white rice; 2 cups broth; 1 lb 16-20 prawns). Slow cooker timings, reduced broth volume and the rice/prawn late-add structure are adaptations and are not stated in the transcript. Pepper colour not specified in transcript. Salt not explicitly added; Creole seasoning carries the salt. Oil quantity not stated.