RECIPE BELOW!! This dish is PLANT-BASEDDDDD 📢 BOW BOW BOW BOWWWWWWWWW!!! It’s a win in the health category and the taste category! 🎉

It’s here, y’all! Three freaking years in the making LOL! It’s taken forever, and honestly sometimes I just quit because I was frustrated with the results, but I’ve learned so much on my plant-based jambalaya journey, and I can’t wait to share this recipe with y’all!

If you don’t know, jambalaya is a STAPLE for Cajuns. It’s at weddings, birthdays, funerals, tailgates, gas stations (👈🏻yes.) , restaurants, etc. Seriously, it’s all over the place and a big pillar of the current standard Cajun diet. It’s usually made with some chicken (dark and/or white meat), sometimes pork shoulder, and some Andouille sausage (which is a pork sausage).

The Cajun method for cooking the jambalaya is a whole thing. The chicken is seasoned (sometimes floured as well for a roux base taste), then the chicken and sausage are usually browned on high heat. After, the veggies are softened in the fat from the meat. The meat, broth, and rice are added back to the pot and the entire mixture is allowed to simmer and cook until the rice is soft and the meat is cooked. It’s a super flavorful dish, and it is an event in and of itself to cook. My brother-in-law has a large outdoor multi-gallon black cast iron kettle he uses for jambalaya making for events. Usually people stand around drinking beer, visiting, and watching the jambalaya cook.

As I was creating a plant-based version, I learned quickly that a plant-based or vegan jambalaya cannot really be prepared in the same way. New cooking techniques were going to have to be used and mastered to really compare to an authentic local jambalaya.

So, here are the things I learned to help you with your plant-based jambalaya journey:

1. Tofu. For the best results for the least amount of effort, get vaccum packed super firm tofu. It’s been pressed and drained so that you don’t have to do that step. When tofu is super firm like this, it really lends itself to a meaty texture. Tofu is very bland, and so it’s the perfect canvas for flavoring like andouille sausage. Baking the tofu on higher heat and for a “longer-than-what-would-seem-normal” time is also key to this recipe. To ensure the tofu remains meat-like in texture and doesn’t become crumbly, we have to almost overbake and dry out the tofu. Then when we reintroduce liquid, the tofu can absorb some and remain meat like in texture.

2. Flavor. As explained above, a typical jambalaya basically gets is flavor from the meat. It’s seasoned with an all purpose Cajun blend most times, but the sausage in particular is center in the flavor of the dish. It’s distinct, delicious, and full of umami. SO, I had to recreate that. The recreation of it is actually pretty simple: olive oil (your fat replacement), soy sauce (salt and umami), garlic powder, black pepper, cayenne (the 3 main ingredients in andouille).

   It’s pretty crazy how similar my tofu sausage tastes like Cajun andouille sausage, especially considering how little ingredients it is and how simple it is to make. I’m really proud of that aspect of this recipe. It took a long time to develop.

3. Cooking Methods. One of the most common ways to finish cooking the jambalaya when the rice is added is to stir over a heat source (i.e. stovetop or propane flame). Even as this is the most common, I have to say in some ways it makes the least sense, especially since most times you’re making jambalaya it’s in a small pot that can fit into the oven. When you cook rice over a single heat source with the weight of meat on top, it’s prone to burning. You have to be monitoring pretty closely and stirring frequently to redistribute the rice and make sure nothing sticks and burns. Before we were plant-based I actually BURNED my jambalaya right at the very end, after 2 hours of laboring and cooking. I was legit upset LOL.. And once it’s burned, the rest of the dish is most times contaminated and tastes burned. Sometimes you can be lucky and scrape out the top portion and be ok.. but when you’re not that lucky, it’s pretty devastating to go from “i’m gunna have a great meal!” to “I just cooked for 2 hours and have nothing to show for it now.”

   My mom helped me learn the oven technique, and once I learned it and thought about it, I was like, “Well, DUH! This makes so much more sense! We’re just needing the rice to simmer and cook, and it won’t burn if it’s surrounded by even heat.” SO, that’s why I put my jambalaya in the oven to cook the rice. Anyone else do that?! Comment below because there have GOT to be more of us that what we see at parties and such!

I don’t post recipes unless I want the leftovers. I finally got the jambalaya to the point where I WANT the leftovers! Like, I’ll eat the whole pot of this and have before lol!

Now do me a favor: PLEASE stop making the “vegan cajun jambalaya” recipes you’re seeing all over online (some of them really make me cringe). Or if you do and like it, that’s cool! Just understand it doesn’t taste like a Cajun jambalaya.

A plant-based sausage alternative is NOT going to give you the same flavor as a Cajun jambalaya. This is the whole reason I started developing this recipe. Let’s cook and enjoy the Cajun flavor together!

Watch the video for a step-by-step how to make this recipe! I also talk through some things that you may find helpful!

Don’t forget to rate the recipe if you try it!

Happy eating, mes amis! A plus tard!