Hairy Bikers jambalaya is a one-pan Creole rice dish with chicken thighs, chorizo and king prawns in a spiced tomato sauce. It serves 6 at 341 calories per serving and cooks in about 35 minutes.
This comes from The Hairy Dieters (2012), and Si and Dave call it “a sort of Creole paella.” The diet twist is draining the excess oil after browning, then building the sauce with just the caramelised flavour left behind. Fresh tomatoes replace tinned, and the rice cooks directly in the stock.
The Cajun holy trinity of onion, celery and green pepper forms the base. Si and Dave cook these on low heat for 8–10 minutes before adding any spice, which builds a savoury depth that quick cooking can’t match. The rice goes in last and absorbs everything.
Hairy Bikers Southern-Style Jambalaya
Course: DinnerCuisine: BritishDifficulty: Easy6
servings15
minutes35
minutes341
kcal50
minutesA one-pan Creole rice dish from the first Hairy Dieters cookbook (2012). Chicken and chorizo browned first, then the holy trinity of onion, celery and green pepper softened before the rice cooks in stock. Prawns and spring onions stirred in for the final 2 minutes.
Ingredients
6 boneless, skinless chicken thighs
100g chorizo (picante)
1 tbsp olive oil
1 large onion, roughly chopped
4 slender celery sticks, cut into 1cm slices
2 small green peppers, deseeded and cut into 2cm chunks
5 large ripe vine tomatoes (about 475g)
3 garlic cloves, crushed
1 tbsp paprika
¼ tsp cayenne pepper
1 tsp dried thyme
1 tsp dried oregano
2 bay leaves
200g long-grain rice
450ml chicken stock, made with 1 stock cube
100g cooked peeled king prawns, thawed if frozen
6 spring onions, sliced
flaked sea salt
freshly ground black pepper
Directions
- Brown the meat: Cut the chicken into bite-sized pieces and season. Skin the chorizo and slice into 5mm rounds. Heat the oil and fry the chicken for 3 minutes, add the chorizo for 30 seconds more, then transfer both to a plate.
- Soften the vegetables: Tip out the excess oil from the pan. Stir in the onion, celery and green peppers and cook on low for 8–10 minutes until well softened.
- Add the spices and tomatoes: Skin and chop the tomatoes. Stir the garlic, paprika, cayenne, thyme, oregano and bay leaves into the pan for 20–30 seconds. Add the tomatoes and cook for 5 minutes until softened.
- Cook the rice: Return the chicken and chorizo to the pan, add the rice and stir for a minute. Pour over the stock, season and simmer for about 10 minutes until the rice is just tender. The rice should still be saucy, so add more stock if needed.
- Finish: Stir in the prawns and spring onions and cook for 2 minutes until the prawns are hot. Serve straight from the pan.
FAQs
Why tip out the oil after browning?
The chorizo releases fat as it fries, which combines with the olive oil to create more grease than the dish needs. Si and Dave brown the meat for flavour, then drain the excess to keep the calorie count at 341 per serving.
The pan still has a thin layer of browned bits stuck to the base, which is where all the flavour lives. The onion, celery and pepper soften in those caramelised residues without needing fresh oil. It’s a diet technique that doesn’t sacrifice taste, and you’ll recognise it from the Hairy Bikers chilli con carne which uses the same dry-start approach.
What is the Cajun holy trinity?
Onion, celery and green pepper form the base of almost every Cajun and Creole dish, much like mirepoix does in French cooking. Si and Dave cook theirs for 8–10 minutes on low heat until properly soft.
Rushing this step is the most common mistake. If the trinity isn’t fully softened before the spices go in, the vegetables stay crunchy in the finished dish. The Hairy Bikers chicken jalfrezi uses a similar technique of building flavour in the base before adding the protein.
Why use fresh tomatoes instead of tinned?
Five large vine tomatoes give a brighter, fresher flavour than tinned. Si and Dave skin them first, which takes a minute but stops rubbery strips of tomato skin floating through the rice.
The fresh juice from the tomatoes also adds liquid that helps the rice cook. A 400g tin of chopped tomatoes works as a swap when fresh ones are out of season. Reduce the stock by about 50ml since tinned tomatoes release more liquid during cooking.
Why do the prawns go in last?
Prawns only need 2 minutes to heat through since they’re already cooked. Adding them at the start would make them tough and rubbery by the time the rice finished cooking.
Si and Dave stir them in with the spring onions at the very end. The prawns sit on top of the rice where you can see them, which makes the dish look more generous.
Can I make this ahead?
The rice absorbs liquid as it sits, so jambalaya thickens considerably if you leave it overnight. Reheat on the hob with a good splash of stock to loosen the rice back to a saucy consistency. It keeps in the fridge for up to 2 days and reheats better than you might expect for a rice dish.
Don’t add the prawns until you reheat. Stir them in during the last 2 minutes of warming through, exactly as you would when cooking it fresh. The chicken and chorizo handle reheating perfectly since they’ve already had a long cook, but prawns toughen quickly if heated more than once.
What rice works best?
Si and Dave say long-grain, and they note they “often use the easy-cook version.” Easy-cook rice holds its shape better during the 10-minute simmer and is more forgiving if you overshoot the timing slightly.
Basmati works too but cooks faster, so watch it more carefully and test it a couple of minutes early. Don’t use risotto or pudding rice as they release too much starch and turn the dish gluey. The rice should be tender but still have enough bite that each grain stays separate on the fork.
