Quick Ham Jambalaya Skillet for 2

I’ve been making this jambalaya recipe for many years. It’s quick and easy to make, and you can adjust the ingredients and seasonings to suit your taste buds!

A quick and tasty supper for two, loaded with meat, vegetables and rice, all in one pan.

Prep Time: 15 min Cooking Time: 30 min

Serves 2

Ingredients

1 tbsp cooking oil
1/4 cup chopped onion
1/2 cup chopped celery
1/2 cup chopped red or green peppers
1/2 tsp minced garlic
3/4 cup uncooked rice
1.5 cups chicken stock
1 whole bay leaf
2 tsp Creole seasoning
salt and pepper to taste
1 cup canned diced tomatoes
1 cup cubed ham

Directions

Heat the oil in a large frying pan, on medium high
Add the onion, celery and peppers
Sauté about 5 minutes, until the onion is soft.
Then, stir in the garlic, and sauté for 1 minute
Add all the remaining ingredients, and mix well
Bring the mixture to a boil.
Lower the heat, and simmer, covered, about 25 minutes, or until all the liquid is absorbed.
Remove the bay leaf, then serve in bowls.
Optional: Top with hot sauce, for extra heat!

Recipe Notes

I’ve been making this jambalaya recipe for many years, and put it on my old food blog in April 2008. It’s quick and easy to make, with no fancy ingredients, and it always tastes delicious.

Is it an authentic jambalaya? Maybe, because in Wikipedia, jambalaya is described as “is a savory rice dish…African, Spanish, and French influences, consisting mainly of meat and/or seafood, and vegetables mixed with rice and spices.
For convenience, I use frozen vegetable mix, with diced onions, carrots, celery and red and green peppers
I also use “jarlic” instead of fresh minced garlic
If you don’t have Creole seasoning, use Cajun seasoning, or whatever you have!

Ingredients – Photo

In the photo below, the ingredients for the ham jambalaya are on the counter, and ready to go!

I usually make a couple of substitutions, based on what’s in the fridge and cupboards, and that’s what happened today.

Back row – cooking oil, frozen vegetable mix (carrots, onion, celery, peppers), Cajun spice mix, long grain rice
Middle row – canned diced tomatoes, minced garlic, cup of mixed vegetables (I added another 1/ cup too)
Front row – cubed cooked cottage roll (I trimmed off some fat before using it), bay leaves
Not shown – later, I added 1/2 cup of sliced canned mushrooms that were in the fridge

Directions With Photos

1. Heat the oil in a large frying pan, on medium high

2. Add the onion, celery and peppers

3. Sauté about 5 minutes, until the onion is soft.

4. Next, stir in the garlic, and sauté for 1 minute

5. Add all the remaining ingredients, and mix well

6. Bring the mixture to a boil.

7. Lower the heat, and simmer, covered, about 25 minutes, or until all the liquid is absorbed.

8. Remove the bay leaf, then serve in bowls.

Note: In the photo below, I was just about to cover the frying pan

8. Remove the bay leaf, then serve in bowls.

In the photo below, my serving of jambalaya is in a white pasta bowl, with steamed vegetables on the side.

Photo – Quickies Cookbook by Monda Rosenberg

This cookbook, Quickies: Ten Quick Ways with Everyday Foods, was published in 1997, and I’ve been using it ever since then!

It’s the first Quickies book in the Chatelaine Food Express series, and I’ve got several other cookbooks from that series too.
In 1997, author, Monda Rosenberg, had been Chatelaine magazine’s food editor for 20 years, and she was the head of the Chatelaine Test Kitchen. She was certainly well qualified to write this cookbook!
The cookbook has 100 categories, sorted alphabetically, ranging from Apples to Zucchini, with 10 short and simple recipes for each category.
It’s perfect when you have an ingredient that you want to use up. Just go to its page, and pick one of its 10 recipes to make for supper!
The cover photo is Chicken with Dried Fruit, and that recipe is on page 46 in the cookbook

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