isithalal.food

Halal-conscious recipe

Chicken jambalaya, Halal chorizo

One-pan Cajun chicken and rice with peppers and tomatoes, made with Halal chicken and stock and a Halal-certified beef chorizo instead of pork chorizo.

  • Cuisine American
  • Meal Main
  • Difficulty Easy
  • Yield 4 plates
  • Time 55 min
  • Last updated

Each method follows published technique for the dish, and every Halal substitution is checked against the ingredient pages we cite. Photographs come from our ingredient library rather than the finished dish.

Printable view
A bowl of jambalaya rice with sliced sausage
Photograph from our ingredient library: a bowl of jambalaya, not the finished dish.

Photo: Shoshanah · CC BY 2.0

Why Halal checks matter here

Jambalaya often includes sausage, and BBC Good Food's version uses chorizo, which is normally pork; and the chicken and stock are only Halal from Halal slaughter.

Jambalaya is a one-pot rice dish from Louisiana: meat, onion, peppers and spice simmered with rice in stock and tomatoes. It often includes sausage, and BBC Good Food's quick chicken jambalaya uses chorizo for its smoky, paprika-red fat.

Ordinary chorizo is pork, so this version uses a beef chorizo with a Halal certifier's mark; these are made by Halal-certified producers and sold as a separate product. The chicken and the stock need to be Halal too (see chicken and stock cubes). Leave the chorizo out entirely if you can't find one: the Cajun seasoning still carries the dish.

Keep the lid on while the rice simmers and resist stirring, so it cooks evenly and doesn't turn sticky.

Halal-critical ingredients

  • Chorizo Ordinary chorizo is pork sausage. Use a beef chorizo with a Halal certifier's mark, or leave it out. See Chorizo.
  • Chicken and stock Chicken and chicken stock are Halal only from Halal slaughter. Buy Halal chicken and a Halal-certified stock or cube. See Chicken and Stock cubes.

Safe substitutes

  • Pork chorizo → Halal-certified beef chorizo
  • Chicken stock of unknown source → Halal chicken stock

Allergens

none in the core ingredients (read the chorizo and Cajun seasoning packs)

Ingredients

Jambalaya

  • 15 ml (1 tbsp) olive oil
  • 2 Halal chicken breasts, chopped
  • 1 onion, diced
  • 1 red pepper, thinly sliced
  • 2 garlic cloves, crushed
  • 75 g (2½ oz) Halal-certified beef chorizo, sliced, in place of pork chorizo
  • 1 tbsp Cajun seasoning
  • 250 g (1¼ cups) long-grain rice
  • 400 g (1 can) canned plum tomatoes
  • 350 ml (1½ cups) Halal chicken stock

Method

  1. Brown the chicken. Heat the oil in a large frying pan with a lid over a medium-high heat and brown the chopped chicken for 5 to 8 minutes until golden. Lift it out.
  2. Soften the onion. Add the onion to the pan and cook for 3 to 4 minutes until soft.
  3. Add the chorizo and spice. Add the red pepper, garlic, Halal beef chorizo and Cajun seasoning and cook for 5 minutes more.
  4. Simmer the rice. Stir the chicken back in with the rice, tomatoes and stock. Cover and simmer over a medium heat for 20 to 25 minutes until the rice is tender.

How this recipe was researched

Method adapted from BBC Good Food's 'Chicken & chorizo jambalaya' (chicken breast browned, onion, red pepper, garlic, 75 g chorizo and Cajun seasoning, then long-grain rice, canned tomatoes and chicken stock simmered covered for 20 to 25 minutes). We replaced the chorizo with a Halal-certified beef chorizo and specified Halal chicken and stock. Timings follow the published technique rather than a kitchen test.

Technique and ingredient sources

  1. Chicken & chorizo jambalaya — BBC Good Food Retrieved:

    Serves 4: olive oil, 2 chicken breasts, onion, red pepper, garlic, 75 g chorizo, 1 tbsp Cajun seasoning, 250 g long-grain rice, 400 g can tomatoes, 350 ml chicken stock; simmered 20 to 25 minutes. We replaced the chorizo with Halal beef chorizo.

  2. Chorizo analysis — isithalal.food Retrieved:

    Why ordinary chorizo is pork, and how to spot a Halal beef or chicken chorizo.

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