Vegan Jambalaya – A Louisiana inspired dish loaded with vegetables, rice, vegan sausage and big flavor! Easy to make in 1 pot.
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Jambalaya is usually made with meat, but I’ve swapped vegan sausage for animal proteins and created a simple yet incredibly delicious recipe that the whole family will love! Comfort food made in 1 pot.
Tips for the best jambalaya
- Fresh vegetables: For best results, use quality fresh vegetables instead of frozen.
- Vegan Sausage: Use a vegan sausage you like. My favorite brand is Field Roast Italian Sausages. Tofurky is pretty good as well.
- Use a quality cajun seasoning blend: This may be the most important of all, since this is where the majority of flavor will come from. I used Slap Ya Mama brand, ordered from Amazon, and I highly recommend it! The only catch is there is salt added, so if you are watching your salt intake for any reason, look for a salt free seasoning.
- Add more water, as needed and stir your rice as it cooks. You don’t want your rice to dry out, and every pot cooks a bit differently, so add additional water as needed and stir every 5 minutes once the rice is added.
How to make Vegan Jambalaya
- Sauté sliced vegan sausage with a little olive oil and cajun seasoning. Transfer to a clean plate and set aside.
- Back in the pot, cook the veggies, then add the spices and stir.
- Now add the crushed tomatoes, rice and water. Bring to a boil, then lower heat and simmer for 25-30 minutes until the rice is cooked through.
- Add the okra, sliced sausages and stir in.
That’s it! Serve with chopped fresh parsley and green onions and enjoy!
More vegan southern style recipes
- The Best Vegan Cornbread
- Jackfruit Pulled “Pork”
- Vegan Biscuits and Gravy
- Chocolate Vegan Sheet Cake
- Vegan Pot Pie
- Vegan Peach Cobbler
Vegan Jambalaya
Vegan Jambalaya - A Louisiana inspired dish loaded with vegetables, rice, vegan sausage and big flavor! Easy to make in 1 pot.
Ingredients
- 3 tablespoons olive oil, divided
- 1 package vegan sausage (13 oz), sliced *I used Field Roast Italian
- 1 large yellow onion, chopped
- 1 green bell pepper, diced
- 1 red bell pepper, diced
- 3 stalks celery, chopped
- 6 cloves garlic, minced
- 2-3 tablespoons cajun seasoning ,divided
- 1 teaspoon salt (omit if your cajun seasoning contains salt)
- 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper, may omit
- 1 teaspoon dried thyme
- 14 ounce can crushed tomatoes
- 2 teaspoons vegan worcestershire sauce
- 1 1/2 cups long grain white rice, uncooked
- 2 3/4 cup water
- 1 cup okra, thinly sliced, optional
- fresh chopped parsley and green onion, for serving
Instructions
- In a large pot or pan, add 2 tablespoons of olive oil and warm over medium-high heat. Add the sliced sausages and 1 tablespoon of the cajun seasoning and sauté for 3-4 minutes, until browned and warm. Transfer to a clean plate and set aside.
- To the same pot, add the last tablespoon of olive oil and the chopped onion, bell peppers and celery. Sauté for 5-7 minutes, stirring frequently. Now add the garlic, 1 more tablespoon cajun seasoning, salt (omit if your cajun seasoning has salt!), cayenne pepper and thyme. Stir and cook for 1 more minute.
- Now add the crushed tomatoes, worcestershire sauce, rice and water to the pot. Stir well, bring to a boil, then lower the heat to a simmer (covered) and cook for 25-30 minutes, until the rice is cooked. Stir every 5 minutes to make sure the rice doesn't burn and stick to the bottom of the pot. Add a little more water as needed if the mixture starts to dry out.
- Stir in the okra, if using. Add the sausage back to the pot and mix well. Taste; season with another tablespoon of cajun seasoning, if desired and add more salt and pepper to taste. Remove from heat.
- Serve sprinkled with chopped parsley and green onions, and enjoy!
Notes
- Leftover jambalaya will keep for 3-4 days in the refrigerator. It can also be frozen.
- I love Field Roast brand of vegan sausage, but there are a few other brands you can use. Make sure to check ingredients for eggs or milk, to ensure vegan.
- Gluten Free: Unfortunately, vegan sausages aren't typically gluten free, but you could sub kidney beans or even chickpeas instead of vegan sausage to make the dish gluten free.
- You probably could make this with brown rice instead of white, but you would need a bit more water (probably 3 cups) and it will take much longer to cook (40-45 minutes).
Nutrition
Serving: 1serving | Calories: 286kcal | Carbohydrates: 49g | Protein: 16g | Fat: 8g | Saturated Fat: 1g | Sodium: 560mg | Potassium: 441mg | Fiber: 4g | Sugar: 6g | Vitamin A: 1995IU | Vitamin C: 50mg | Calcium: 62mg | Iron: 2mg
Did you make this recipe?Mention @nora_cooks_vegan_ or tag #noracooks!
*Recipe inspired by Cooking Classy.
really super tasty! YUMMY! I would triple the amount of okra next time. I love okra and 1 cup wasn’t enough for me 🙂 Other than that, the recipe was perfect.
I’m so glad to hear that!
This dish was so yummy and fresh. I couldn’t get any okra, so I added extra green onions and parsley at the end. I think I will experiment with some different cajun seasonings and try the one recommended in the recipe. This is a great dinner to make with cornbread and the best thing is the leftovers! Thanks for the great recipe!
You’re welcome!!
Great recipe full of fresh veggies. I used Beyond Regular Brats, which brought a cool depth of flavor to the dish and great texture. (The rest of the dish was so healthy I didn’t feel too bad about it. 🙂 )
Two tips for anyone else trying it: 1) Make sure your Cajun Seasoning is solid. I didn’t realize mine had expired in 2017, and I couldn’t figure out why the dish tasted like veggies with tomato rice instead of jambalaya. Added fresh seasoning to the leftovers. Problem solved. 2) The rice really does stick to the bottom quickly. Recommend a nonstick bottom pan so if you do find yourself chasing down a mischievous 2-year-old (for example) for more than 3-5 minutes, it’s easier to unstick the rice you neglected when you go back for the next stir.
Thanks so much for the feedback! I haven’t tried the Beyond Brats, I’ll have to soon!
just what i like, easy and fast,plus delicious
This Recipe is absolutely delicious could not get over how much flavor there was amazing love it
Hi Nora!
Do you recommend substituting veggie broth for water? Also, what size pot did you cook this in for 6 servings? Thank you!! Making this tomorrow and very excited.
I hope you love it! Sure, you could use veggie broth instead, but watch out if your cajun seasoning is salted, the dish might become way too salty with broth. I have used my cast iron pan that is 12.5 inches as well as a soup pot that I believe holds 6 or 8 quarts, with plenty of room. Hope that helps!
This recipe was SO yummy, just like each recipe I’ve used from this site 🙂 I used with Beyond Sausage and added lemony kale as a side. Next time I may use veggie stock instead of water for even more flavor.
I’m so glad it was delicious!
You have some killer good tofu recipes but this one tops them all. Fantastic! Perfect! And the sauce it fabulous too! Thank you for this recipe!
You’re welcome!
I have never been to this website before or made Jambalaya before so I have never commented on it before.
We used already cooked rice as we had enough leftover to use in the dish. It worked fine and we thoroughly enjoyed this dish. We’ve never had jambalya before but if this is what it tastes like, we love it. We also used our homemade vegan Italian sausage and it worked out great. We like Field Roast but, I’m very salt sensitive so now I make my own. i also had homemade Cajun seasoning which I used for this dish as I had used it in other Louisiana dishes. Thanks for the recipe.
You’re so welcome!
Absolutely fabulous!
Our favorite recipe! Our meat eating parents came over for a dinner party and loved it! We have used both tofurky and field roast vegan sausage and can’t tell a huge difference due, both have good consistency.
Yum! Just made this tonight with a homemade Cajun spice mix and it was excellent!
It’s so good and easy to make. It is a little bit spicy but that can be adjusted. Definitely recommend trying it
Thanks so much for the comment!
fantastic as always!! i grew up eating lots of non-vegan jambalaya so i was excited when you posted this. perfectly spiced and delicious :))
I’m so glad to hear it was delicious!!
This was amazing. Nora you don’t ever cease to disappoint 🙂 grateful for your contribution to the community
Thanks so much for the great comment!!
This recipe is delicious! I was able to use a little less oil which I try to limit personally, I didn’t need much to brown the vegan sausage to my liking. Also I did use brown rice and just kept a close eye on things, adding more water when needed, probably about an hour simmering total. I’ve recently started liking okra so I made sure to add that too.
It is so so tasty! I do feel like having a good quality Cajun spice mix is key, and I also recommend a no salt one so you can add as much as you like without making the dish too salty. I will definitely make this again!
So glad to hear you liked it!
This was so good! I’ve made other jambalaya recipes before and had no desire to make again. But I will with this one. Your website is a trusted source, I am always making something from here and know it will be good! 🙂
That’s so great to hear! Thanks so much!!
Another winner! You make being vegan so easy and delicious!!!
Wow, thanks so much for the great comment!
This is fantastic! I did use brown rice and followed your recommended adjustments for that. 45 minute simmer was perfect. I used the Mexican Chipotle Field Roast sausages, and they’re plenty hot! It was good! I did not have okra, but hope to add that next time I make this… So easy! Thank you!
You’re welcome! I’m so glad you liked it!
My daughter and I are cooking together every Thursday night while we are navigating our way through the pandemic. So far, every recipe has been a hit. Tonight we made the vegan jambalaya with your cornbread recipe. It was all delicious and we can’t wait to keep trying more of your delicacies. Thank you so much for what you are doing. We will continue to share your website with friends.
You’re so welcome! Thanks for the great comment. Happy cooking!
Do you need to cover the rice while it’s cooking?
Yes, thank you for bringing that to my attention. I updated that detail in the recipe!
Thanks! I’m planning to pick up vegan sausage on my shopping trip this week to try this. I’ve never actually had vegan sausage before but I know if I’m going to like it it’ll be in something like this!
SO AMAZING! I’ve never made jambalaya before and this was so good! I did add mushrooms to it and I couldn’t find okra so I did some broccolini instead! 10/10 will be making this again, it made 6 large portions that lasted my boyfriend and me three meals. We did a good cup and a half each over a bed of spinach which was a delicious way to get some more greens in! Thank you!
That sounds fantastic, I’m so glad you enjoyed it!
Made this today! Amazing! Definitely going into my recipe card box!!
So glad to hear that!
Hi Nora,
I can’t find vegan worcestershire sauce near me, what could I use in its place?
You can just leave it out, no problem.
This recipe is awesome! My non vegan family members loved it too! Easy and really good. I added extra veggies and made my own Cajun seasoning bc I didn’t have it on hand!
I’m so happy you and your family enjoyed the jambalaya! Thank you!