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Southern Jambalaya

A spicy shrimp and ham rice dish cooked with onions, bell pepper, celery, garlic, tomatoes, and seasonings.

From the Recipes Wiki (Fandom) · 15 ingredients
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Why it works: Onion and garlic match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 29,058 recipes. Both carry furaneol, which smells caramel, strawberry. The science ↓

Southern Jambalaya

Timeabout 15–20 minutes simmer

Ingredients

Directions

Cook the base

  1. Cook the onions, bell pepper, celery, and garlic in two tablespoons of the oil in a Dutch oven, about 3–4 minutes.

  2. Add shrimp and cook until shrimp are pink, about 5 minutes.

  3. Remove shrimp mixture and reserve.

Make the rice

  1. Add the last tablespoon of oil to the pan along with the rice and cook over medium‑high heat about ten minutes, until the rice is a light brown, stirring frequently to prevent scorching.

  2. Stir in the broth, tomatoes, salt, pepper, thyme, Tabasco, and the bay leaf.

  3. Heat mixture to a boil then cover, reduce heat and simmer, about 15–20 minutes or until rice is tender.

Finish and serve

  1. Stir in the reserved shrimp and also the ham.

  2. Cover and cook until heated through.

  3. Remove bay leaf, and serve.

Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)

950Calories
90 gProtein
33 gFat
71 gCarbs

Counts 14 of 15 ingredients. The other 1 aren't in our nutrition table and add nothing above, so the real totals are higher.

What these numbers assume: 14 portions
IngredientPortion assumedkcal
Pork100g cooked242
Rice1 cup cooked (158g) white206
Chicken100g cooked165
Olive Oil1 tbsp (14g)119
Shrimp100g cooked99
Onion1 medium (110g)44
Bell Pepper1 medium (119g)31
Tomato1 medium (123g)22
Celery1 stalk (40g)6
Black Pepper1 tsp ground (2.3g)6
Garlic1 clove (3g)4
Thyme1 tsp dried (1.4g)4
Bay Leaf1 leaf (0.6g)2
Salt1 tsp (6g)0
Saucenot in our table0

One typical portion per ingredient; the recipe's quantities are not counted. A rough guide only, not for medical or dietary planning.

Recipe from the Recipes Wiki (Fandom).

Steps grouped into stages for easier reading; the method is the source's own.

Explore the science

The flavor team

The pairs that carry this dish. Each one is judged two ways: how much their aromas overlap, and how often cooks already put them together.

  1. Onion + garlictop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together29,058 recipes

    Shared aroma: furaneol (caramel, strawberry).

  2. Garlic + olivetop 2% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together25,665 recipes

    Shared aroma: linalool (floral, citrus).

  3. Pepper + clovetop 5% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together17,451 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethyl octanoate (fruity, wine).

  4. Pepper + celerytop 5% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together16,012 recipes

    Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).

  5. Olive + ricetop 6% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together4,994 recipes

    Shared aroma: trans,trans-2,4-nonadienal (fatty, green).

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

What each ingredient does

Rice
Absorbs the broth as it simmers, becoming tender and giving the dish its body.
Shrimp
Provides the seafood protein; cooking it briefly keeps it tender and prevents toughness.
Ham
Adds salty, smoky meat flavor that seasons the rice as it heats through.
Diced tomatoes
Add acidity and liquid, contributing color and tangy flavor to the rice.
Chicken broth
Supplies the cooking liquid that the rice absorbs, carrying savory flavor throughout.
Onions
Build the aromatic base through slow softening, adding sweetness and depth.

The step that matters

Toasting the rice until light brown. Cooking the rice in oil before adding liquid coats the grains and helps them stay separate. Stirring frequently prevents scorching, since sugars and starches brown quickly over medium-high heat.

Swap the clove

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (onion, pepper, celery, garlic, olive, shrimp, rice):

  1. Parsleyfits better
  2. Thymefits better
  3. Cuminfits better
  4. Clovethe original

Fit is the average pairing score against onion, pepper, celery, garlic, olive, shrimp, rice. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.

“What each ingredient does” and “The step that matters” were written by Claude from this recipe’s own method and reviewed in samples by CompKitchen.

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