This spicy gluten free jambalaya recipe is a tasty dish to eat during Mardi Gras celebrations or any time! You can enjoy the jambalaya as is, or add it to baked potatoes for a fun twist on this spicy classic!
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One thing I miss since relocating to California is celebrating Mardi Gras. Dancing around to fabulous music, wearing bright colors, and getting cool plastic necklaces tossed at you during parades? Priceless.
In New Orleans, Mardi Gras is a major holiday. The season is celebrated during the two weeks prior to Fat Tuesday, and typically includes parades and family gatherings where food plays a major role.
Jambalaya is a Louisiana Creole meat and rice dish that has origins in both France and Spain. Some even refer to it as New Orlean's version of paella. There are several good cajun spice mixes you can buy.
What you need to make this:
- Potatoes - I highly recommend using russet potatoes for this recipe. They are the best for baked potatoes.
- Sausage - I used Aidells Andouille Sausage, but there are many brands of gluten free sausage that I talk about below.
- Onion - Use regular yellow onion or Hawaiian sweet onions.
- Bell peppers- Use any color. Green, red, orange, or yellow will all taste good in this recipe.
- Shrimp - Buy raw shrimp and make sure to peel and devein the shrimp if the ones you bought are not cleaned.
- Cajun spice - I love using Zatarain's cajun seasoning in this recipe because it is gluten free. You can use other brands but read the label to make sure they are gluten free.
- Pepper jack cheese - Use any cheese you like but I love the zing from using pepper jack in the baked potatoes.
Recipe step by step directions:
While rice in jambalaya is the classic way to make jambalaya, I am making mine rice free so it can be stuffed into baked potatoes.
Step 1: If you are going to put your jambalaya into a baked potato as we did, you will need to bake the potatoes. There are so many ways to cook your potato.
Ways to cook a potato:
There are several ways to bake a potato, in the oven, in the microwave, and on a grill. Each can lend a different flavor and texture to your baked potatoes.
- Oven: To bake your potato in the oven, use a fork to make slits in the top of the potato. Bake at 400º F for 45-50 minutes.
- Microwave: Known as the quick and easy cheat for baked potatoes, you will want to use a fork to poke holes in the top of the baked potato. This is very important so hot air will vent out of the potato. Place the potato into a microwave-safe dish. Microwave on high for 5 minutes, turn it over, add a few fork holes to this side, and microwave an additional 5 minutes until the potato feels soft.
- Grilling: Poke a few holes in the top of your baked potato. Wrap each potato in aluminum foil. Place on the grill for one hour.
- Air frying: It is so easy to air fry a potato. You get all of that delicious baked flavor in a fraction of the time. Air fry for 25 minutes at 400º F.
If you love potato recipes as much as we do, you will definitely want to try these Cream Cheese Mashed Potatoes and this Super Cheesy Scalloped Potatoes with Bacon recipes!
Step 2: While your potatoes are cooking, let's make the Jambalaya! I love using Zatarain's cajun seasoning in this recipe because it is gluten free. You can use other brands but read the label to make sure they are gluten free.
Step 3: Heat a skillet over medium heat with cooking oil and minced garlic. Add the sliced peppers and onions and sauté for 5 minutes.
Step 4: Add in shrimp, sausage, and seasoning. You can add chicken as well if you like. Cook 20 minutes until everything is cooked and the flavors all merge together.
Step 5: Slice open the baked potatoes and add the jambalaya mixture to each potato.
You can easily control the spice by how much cajun seasoning you use. The whole family will love this easy gluten free jambalaya recipe!
Expert Tips and Recipe FAQ:
For this recipe, you will want to use russet potatoes. They are larger to hold more filling, and they have a creamy taste that is perfect with the spicy Jambalaya.
You can easily freeze my easy gluten free jambalaya recipe. Put it into a freezer safe bag or container and seal it up. This will keep in the freezer up to 4 months.
This recipe should keep fresh up to 3 days in the refrigerator.
I use andouille sausage for this recipe. It has wonderful flavors. My favorite gluten free brands of andouille sausage are Aidelle's, Johnsonville, and Applegate. There are lots of other brands, but these three are the ones I find in stores most often.
More gluten free dinner ideas:
- Gluten Free Macaroni and Cheese
- Easy Gluten Free Egg-Free Spaghetti and Meatballs
- Twice Baked Kale Baked Potatoes
- Gluten Free One-Pot Italian Pasta
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📖 Recipe
Gluten Free Jambalaya Stuffed Baked Potatoes
Equipment
Ingredients
- 4 large potatoes * see note
- 1 pound uncooked shrimp * see note
- 3 Andouille sausage links * see note
- 1 bell pepper * see note
- 1 small onion chopped
- 1 clove garlic minced
- ½ teaspoon thyme
- 2 teaspoons Zatarain's Creole Seasoning
- salt and pepper to taste
- sour cream
- pepper jack cheese shredded
- scallions
Instructions
- In pan, heat olive oil on medium heat with garlic.
- Add onion and peppers and cook 3 minutes.
- Add shrimp and sausage.
- Cook 5 minutes.
- Add seasonings and cook an additional 10 minutes.
- In a microwave oven, pierce potatoes skin and cook potatoes for 8 minutes.
- Slit down the middle.
- Add jambalaya.
- Top with sour cream, pepper jack cheese and scallions.
- Serve hot.
Notes
- Oven: To bake your potato in the oven, use a fork to make slits in the top of the potato. Bake at 400º F for 45-50 minutes.
- Microwave: Known as the quick and easy cheat for baked potatoes, you will want to use a fork to poke holes in the top of the baked potato. This is very important so hot air will vent out of the potato. Place the potato into a microwave-safe dish. Microwave on high for 5 minutes, turn it over, add a few fork holes to this side, and microwave an additional 5 minutes until the potato feels soft.
- Grilling: Poke a few holes in the top of your baked potato. Wrap each potato in aluminum foil. Place on the grill for one hour.
- Air frying: It is so easy to air fry a potato. You get all of that delicious baked flavor in a fraction of the time. Air fry for 25 minutes at 400º F.
- Gluten free brands of andouille sausage I like include Aidells, Johnsonville, and Applegate.
- Try to use raw shrimp that is already peeled and deveined. If you can't find it, you will need to peel and devein the shrimp before cooking.
- You can use any color of bell pepper in this recipe.
- This gluten free jambalaya will keep up to 4 days in an air-tight container, or up to 4 months in the freezer.
Nutrition
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(*This post was updated from an older post I wrote in February 2016.)
Rebecca Hubbell
I absolutely love Baked Potatoes and this is such a fun (and tasty) way to serve them up!
Sandi Gaertner
Thank you so much Rebecca 🙂