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 (and check the 200+ reviews below to see how much everyone else loves it, too!)
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“I love this recipe!! It tastes amazing, it’s simple to make, and relatively inexpensive!! I’ve made this multiple times, swapping out the types of sausage, adding black beans, adding some greens, and it always hits. Thank you!!”
Katheryn
One-Pot Cajun Sausage and Rice Skillet
For me, this skillet is all about the smoky Andouille sausage paired with bell pepper and a bold mix of Cajun spices, just like in this slow cooker jambalaya, except it’s cooked in a skillet instead. . When everything simmers together with fire-roasted tomatoes, rice, and chicken broth, it turns into the MOST flavor-packed, easy rice dish that’sactually seasoned well and tastes amazing. And I’m always down to make a dinner that comes together in one pan…fewer dishes equals a happier me.😉
Recipe Success Tips & Suggestions
- 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.
- 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. To make this dish mild, use a non-spicy smoked sausage and skip the cayenne pepper.
- This recipe uses a half batch of my homemade Cajun seasoning without the salt, since the other ingredients already add plenty. It comes to about 1 tablespoon total. If you’re using a store-bought blend, check the label first—many are heavy on salt and won’t work well here. If your store-bought seasoning is mostly herbs and spices, I’d use about 1 tablespoon.
- Brown rice requires more liquid and a much longer cook time than white rice, so you’ll need to take these into account if you substitute the white rice for brown. 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.
- Want to double this recipe for Cajun sausage and rice? I’d use a larger skillet and double the cook time. You can also double the ingredients and split them between two similarly sized skillets (no need to alter the cook time this way).
Cajun Sausage and Rice Skillet
Cost $7.08 recipe / $1.77 serving
Ingredients
- 14 oz. Andouille sausage ($3.56*)
- 1 Tbsp cooking oil ($0.04)
- 1 bell pepper ($0.89)
- 1 tsp smoked paprika ($0.10)
- ½ tsp dried oregano ($0.05)
- ½ tsp dried thyme ($0.05)
- ¼ tsp garlic powder ($0.02)
- ¼ tsp onion powder ($0.02)
- ⅛ tsp cayenne pepper ($0.02)
- ⅛ tsp black pepper (freshly cracked, $0.01)
- 15 oz. fire roasted diced tomatoes ((1 can) $1.30**)
- 1 cup long grain white rice (uncooked, $0.62)
- 1½ cups chicken broth ($0.20)
- 2 green onions (sliced, $0.20)
Video
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 Information
Have you tried this recipe?Mention @budgetbytes or tag #budgetbytes on Instagram!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!
Brown the sausage: Slice 14 oz. Andouille into medallions and add to a skillet with 1 Tbsp 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!
Combine the ingredients: 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.
Simmer: 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!
Serve: Top the skillet with sliced green onions and serve! It’s rich, spicy, smoky, and all-around DELICIOUS.
What Else Can I Add?
This skillet meal really has everything you need, but I’ll never stop you from adding a little extra to make it your own! Here are some easy add-in ideas to try:
- Add onion and celery with the bell pepper (this is known as the Cajun Holy Trinity in cooking)
- Sauté sliced mushrooms with the bell pepper
- Mix in cooked shredded chicken at the end for a meatier dish
- Add drained canned beans (black beans, kidney beans, chickpeas, etc) with the rice and broth
- Stir in frozen peas or corn 5 minutes towards the end to heat them through
- Top with a fried egg or sour cream (as recommended by a reader!)
Storage & Reheating
This Cajun rice and sausage skillet recipe is PERFECT for meal-prepping. The flavors keep developing as it sits and becomes even more flavorful. Store your leftovers in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 3-4 days. You can also freeze this one for up to 3 months. Let it thaw overnight in the fridge before reheating. I usually reheat dishes like this in the microwave with a splash of water to avoid drying out the rice.
Try These Other Louisiana Style Recipes!
- If you’re craving bold Louisiana flavor without the fuss, my Pastalaya is the one-pot, pasta-style spin on jambalaya made for busy weeknights and big appetites.
- Louisiana Style Red Beans and Rice is the kind of cozy, budget-friendly pot that feeds a crowd, tastes even better after it sits, and sets you up with leftovers for days.
- I love this Remoulade Sauce on EVERYTHING! It’s creamy, tangy, a little spicy, and instantly elevates everything on the plate.
I really do like the recipe flavor but the rice is almost always a bit undercooked every time. I keep adding a little more water each time and the rice keeps being undercooked. Not sure if it’s user error or something with the recipe.
Made this for the first time and it is so good! Super simple and pretty much made exactly to recipe. I did use colored peppers and thought they flavored very well. Will be making again!
This was absolutely delicious! I did add onion with the bell pepper. I also had more sausage, so used the whole 20 oz. My andouille was very spicy, which I didn’t realize, so I probably didn’t NEED the cayenne, but I liked the heat. I’ll definitely be making this again!
I don’t often leave reviews but I’m still nibbling on this 4 days later.My husband and I had seconds and thirds the first night. I added black beans,celery, and onions but otherwise followed the recipe to the T and it was delicious.
Excellent recipe! I made this exactly as directed with one exception–I added about 10 shrimp to the last 10 minutes of cooking. It is so tasty and very flavorful. Just the right amount of spice. This is a keeper. So easy and quick to make. Try it!
Forgot chicken so I replaced with beef broth. But followed the rest of the recipie almost exactly. Very simple and straight forward directions and easy to follow :)
A little more on the tomatoey side for my liking but I’d recommend for a quick dinner.
This was INCREDIBLE!! My fiance and I ate the entire pan. He doesn’t like spices so I switched the cayenne pepper for chili powder, added corn, and neufatel cheese to cut the acidity of the tomatoes (I didn’t have sour cream.) even without the cheese it was incredible. Best thing I’ve cooked in a long time!! Gonna make this again tomorrow and make a huge batch to send to my family.
Very good and the right amount of heat. The smoked paprika really gives the favor depth
This is our family favorite. We have young kids so we use a non spicy sausage now but it’s yummy still! We love to add cilantro!
Its a decent base recipe but you really need to double the spices, throw in some cumin, and salt isn’t listed. Absolutely needs more seasoning and salt to taste, at least a couple tsp. Also cooked chopped onion in with the bell pepper
I cooked my green onions in with it and didn’t have thyme so I put Italian seasoning in it instead, made a side of cornbread, AMAZING
I made this in an electric pressure cooker using 1 cup of frozen onion and pepper mix, 12 oz. of sausage, a can of petite tomatoes with green chilies, and parboiled rice. I cooked it for 10 minutes and then let it sit for about 30 minutes (just because I was on the phone). It was excellent!
I could have doubled the recipe or even quadrupled it and it would easily fit into the Instant Pot.
Go to recipe in my house for easy dinner!! I make this with brown rice (cook longer + add a little more liquid), throw in a can of kidney beans for extra fiber, and it is INCREDIBLE with a little cotija cheese melted in to serve. Literally going to go make it right now.
Made this tonight on a whim since I’m so over just sausage and peppers. WOW!! Total hit from my husband and 1.5 toddler. I did it a little different – Italian sausage (what I had in the house)
Orange pepper, onion, celery, black beans. (Found in the notes of add ins) I would totally add this to me biweekly meal dish it was that good. I’m excited to have it for lunch tomorrow !
Love this recipe! Such an easy one pot meal. It’s a staple in out house. We often do it w whole grain rice and it just takes longer to cook but great all around