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Brian has family in New Orleans and he grew up eating lots of Cajun food, so when we switched to a plant-based diet, it was one of the first things he tried to “convert” to our new lifestyle. He made his Quick Red Beans & Riced Veggies, which is still a staple of his diet, along with a really tasty Jambalaya Soup. We kept mentioning the Jambalaya in random videos, and we’ve had a LOT of requests to put out a video on it.
It’s finally here! Watch the video and check out the full recipe below.
We decided to make it into a soup because we love eating large portions of soup for lunch, and this one makes pretty regular appearances in our rotation!
To start out, you’ll need to dice up the Cajun “holy trinity” of green bell pepper, onion and celery. We used our onion chopper to dice the veggies into nice, even 1/2-inch squares.
You’ll want to cook this in a large pot or Dutch oven like the one we cleaned in our last video (and yes, it is already dirty again).
We like to use a blend of cooked brown rice and riced cauliflower. Just make sure you cook the rice before adding it to the pot. I’ve included more info in the recipe below. You’ll also want to heat up the riced cauliflower if you are using frozen. We added a can of tomato paste and a can of diced tomatoes, along with three cans of kidney beans. All of the canned products we used have “no salt added,” so try to find those if you can (no pun intended)!
You know Brian loves his mushroom powder, so of course we had to add some to this recipe. 😉 If you want to learn more about how we make it and why we like to use it, check out this post. You can also throw some fresh mushrooms in with the veggies, but if you’ve got some mushroom powder on hand, this is a great place to use it!
To spice things up, we used the “Cajun Jambalaya Creole Seasoning” from Andy Roo’s, which is Brian’s favorite brand of salt-free Cajun spice blends. I included a link below in case you want to check it out. We also like to use Cholula Hot Sauce. You can swap in your favorite Cajun or Creole seasoning and hot sauce, but just be aware that some are a LOT spicier than others. We have a fairly high tolerance for spice. Remember, you can always add more, but it’s hard to tone down the spice once you’ve added it!
This recipe comes together pretty quickly and it makes a nice, large batch. It does freeze well, so keep that in mind when planning out your meals!
I think this dish serves as a reminder that you absolutely do NOT have to give up all of your old favorites when switching to a plant-based diet. Sometimes you just need to get creative!
Get the recipe below and watch the video here!
Recipe: Vegan Jambalaya Soup
by Krocks In The Kitchen
Ingredients
- – 2 green peppers (approx. 3 to 4 cups when diced)
- – 4 stalks celery (approx. 2 cups when diced)
- – 1 large yellow onion (approx. 2 cups when diced)
- – 4 cloves of garlic, minced
- – 1 cup cooked brown rice *see notes below
- – 1 x 10oz frozen bag riced cauliflower, thawed or steamed
- – 1 x 6oz can tomato paste
- – 1 x 15oz can diced tomatoes, no salt added if possible
- – 3 x 15oz cans kidney beans, drained & rinsed, no salt added if possible
- – 1/4 cup mushroom powder *see notes below
- – 1 to 2 Tbsp of your favorite cajun or creole seasoning (we use Andy Roo’s Cajun Jambalaya Creole Seasoning; start with a lower amount and adjust to your preferred spice level)
- – 1/2 to 1 Tbsp of your favorite hot sauce (we use original Cholula)
- – 1 Tbsp smoked paprika
- – 1 tsp thyme
- – 4 cups low sodium veggie broth (we use 4 tsp of Better Than Bouillon mixed with 4 cups of hot water)
- – 1 Tbsp low sodium soy sauce, liquid aminos or tamari
- – 3 to 4 bay leaves
- – OPTIONAL: Additional veggie broth or water
Directions
- IMPORTANT NOTES:
- – Make sure you cook your brown rice before adding. We cooked ours in an Instant Pot and had it stored in our freezer from a previous batch cook. For each cup of uncooked rice, we cover with about 1.5 cups of water and cook for 25 minutes on high pressure. You could also buy frozen brown rice and use that.
- – We use a spice grinder to make our own mushroom powder using dried Portabella mushrooms. You can learn more here. You can leave out the mushroom powder or add fresh sliced mushrooms if desired.
- Dice peppers, celery & onions (approx. 1/2 inch dice).
- Heat a large Dutch oven or stockpot to medium-high. Water sauté the diced veggies for about 5 to 10 minutes, until they just begin to soften, adding a splash of hot water as needed.
- Add garlic and cook for about one minute, until fragrant.
- Add cooked brown rice and riced cauliflower. Stir to combine.
- Add tomato paste, diced tomatoes and drained kidney beans. Stir to combine.
- Add mushroom powder, cajun seasoning, hot sauce, smoked paprika and thyme. Stir.
- Add veggie broth, soy sauce and bay leaves. Stir, cover and bring to a simmer, stirring occasionally.
- Once at a simmer, reduce heat to medium-low. Cover and simmer for about 20 minutes, stirring occasionally.
- Add 1 or 2 cups of water or veggie broth as necessary to get desired consistency.
- Remove bay leaves and enjoy!
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We use an 8-quart Dutch Oven from Martha Stewart that I purchased at Macy’s.You can also check out Dutch Ovens on Amazon.
Andy Roo’s Salt-Free Cajun Jambalaya Creole Seasoning, 4 Ounce Shaker
365 by Whole Foods Market, Canned Beans, Dark Red Kidney (No Salt Added), 15.5 Ounce
Better Than Bouillon Organic Vegetable Base 16 Oz, Reduced Sodium
Mycological Dried Organic Portabella Mushrooms, 1 Ounce Package
Instant Pot Duo 7-in-1 Electric Pressure Cooker, 6 Quart
SHARDOR Coffee & Spice Grinders Electric
Mueller Chopper 4 Blade Pro Series
Talented Kitchen 134 White All Caps Spice Label Set
Aozita 36 Pcs Glass Spice Jars
Looks yummy. Can you make this in an instant pot?
The Jambalaya Soup is a hit! Just made it for my family and it got “thumbs up” from the whole gang. It is packed with great spices, flavors, and goodness. Thanks for the recipe. It is a keeper!
Also, I have been loving your YouTube show. Great interviews with the Daltons and the Campbells. You are so encouraging and uplifting. Blessings to you both on your ‘adventure’. I am so grateful for your inspiration and authenticity. Your contributions to spreading the word about the benefits of a plant-based lifestyle are so appreciated!
This was great. I might have a 6-qt Dutch oven, because mine was REALLY full! Need to use the bigger one next time, for sure, as the simmer and stir was a tad challenging.
I’m not generally a fan of riced cauliflower in lieu of brown rice, and was going to sub in more rice, but I decided to trust Brian when he says it tastes like brown rice when you use brown rice in the dish as well. He’s totally right. And it’s a great way to lower the calorie density and get in more cruciferous veggies. The proverbial win-win.
Looks so yummy! Thanks for the recipe. I will have to try it. My sister in law from New Orleans makes jambalaya. I miss it.
This was FABULOUS!! I’ve been in a slump which causes me to cheat. Trying to up my game and actually COOK something good. Well let me tell you this did it!! Oh my word! And I had to omit a few things because I grocery once a week and I already went. So I omitted the thyme and the bay leaves (just plain forgot to add the bay leaves) I made my own Cajun seasoning…found a recipe online…had everything but the thyme) and I forgot the hot sauce but I did two tablespoons of the homemade Cajun seasoning and it was DELICIOUS!! Knock your socks off good. Super flavorful and my carnivore hubby loved it and ate a bunch.
OMG! Just made this tonight- phenomenal flavored profile and 100% a repeater recipe! Thanks, Brian!
OMG! Just made this tonight- phenomenal flavor profile and 100% a repeater recipe! The hubby loved it- perfect V Day dinner! Thanks, Brian!
Love this soup! And so did my non-vegans, yay!!!
I want to pin this to my WFPB Pinterest board but can’t seem to find it on Pinterest and the Pinterest button on your page just takes me to your home page…can you please help me with this?
Thanks! And thank you for yet another delicious recipe!
This soup was great, so full of flavor! Will definitely make this again and again! Great job Brian! Thank you!
Brian, I made this last night, it was soooo good!!! I looked at 3 markets but couldn’t find the Andy Roo’s, so i found a packet called Cajun Choice at Stater Brothers market, it was pretty good. I’ll def order some for next time!!! I did add some sliced frozen okra which i added for the last 10 minutes, because jambalaya needs okra, right? But this is definitely a keeper!!!! Please keep on creating more recipes, i can’t wait to try something else!!!
Even my husband who is NOT WFPB enjoyed this soup. I use half the cajun spice for us. Really a great recipe. Thank you for all the work that you put into these recipes. Please keep the recipes coming. Your site is Very reliable when it comes to good food.
MAKE THIS SOUP! It’s hearty and the flavors are incredible! I did buy Andy Roo’s seasoning and used 1 1/2 tbs. So freaking delicious!