Cajun Hambalaya utilizes my favorite jambalaya recipe as a tasty way to use up some ham leftovers as one of the meats.
Cajun Hambalaya
by Sue Lau | Palatable Pastime
One of my favorite Cajun recipes is jambalaya, delicious rice imbued with the flavors of the Cajun trinity (green peppers, celery and onion) which is a sort of American cousin to the French mirepoix which consists of carrot, celery and onion. Along with the vegetables are tomatoes and a few spices and meats of choice, My favorite meats are gulf shrimp, andouille smoked sausage and chicken. But these flavors can be change around to suit your own needs.
Vegetable Saute
Often jambalaya is served as a sauce that is served alongside the rice, but I tend to like rice casseroles where everything is baked together, such as paella or arroz con pollo for example. Maybe it’s because some of my other favorite Cajun recipes, gumbo and shrimp Creole, I serve the rice next to the sauce or as a base and just like it a little different. When you do bake it all together as a casserole, the flavors meld and make it even more tasty in my opinion.
Mixing ingredients in the casserole dish
I made this particular recipe for the Sunday Supper Movement for an event for Easter leftovers. I often have lots of ham after I bake one, since it is mostly just Bill and I at home (we are empty nesters) although occasionally a ham is all used. And while ham sandwiches are always appreciated, either as slices or in ham salad, and breakfasts absorb many leftovers of ham in ham and cheese omelets, having a variety of ways to use the extra ham up is always a plus.
Shrimp, scallions and parsley set aside
Cajun Hambalaya

Ingredients:
- 1/2 dried thyme
- 1/4 teaspoon dried marjoram
- 1/2 teaspoon sweet paprika
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes
- 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 2 ribs celery, diced
- 1 large onion, diced
- 1 green bell pepper, diced
- 2 fresh bay leaves
- 2 teaspoons chopped garlic
- 8 ounces cubed ham
- 6 ounces Andouille smoked sausage, sliced
- 2 fluid ounces dry white wine
- 1 1/2 cups uncooked long grain white rice
- 14.5 ounces can diced tomatoes (including liquid)
- 2 cups vegetable stock
- 1/2 cup chopped scallions
- 8 ounces peeled and deveined medium shrimp
- 2 tablespoons chopped Italian parsley
Method:
- Preheat oven to 350ºF.
- Stir together thyme, marjoram, paprika, salt, red pepper, and black pepper in a small bowl and set aside.
- Lightly oil a lasagna baking dish or 9×13 oven-safe casserole dish with olive oil or use nonstick cooking spray, whichever you prefer.
- Heat oil in a large skillet and add celery, onion, bell pepper, and bay leaves and saute for 5 minutes or so or until the onion becomes soft.
- Stir in the garlic, ham and sausage, and cook 1-2 minutes more or until sausage is lightly browned.
- Remove pan from heat and add wine to deglaze the pan, then return to heat and cook until the wine has evaporated.
- Place cooked vegetables, uncooked rice, diced tomatoes with liquid, vegetable stock, bay leaves, and spice mix into the casserole, stirring to mix.
- Cover pan tightly with foil or an appropriate lid and bake for 1 hour.
- Uncover pan and stir in the scallions, shrimp and parsley.
- Recover pan with foil or lid and bake 10-15 minutes more or until shrimp are pink and curled and rice is tender.
From the kitchen of palatablepastime.com

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Spring Holiday Leftovers!
Celebrating recipes that repurpose food used in celebratory Spring holiday dinners, such as Easter or Passover.
As part of the Sunday Supper Movement, I and a host of other food bloggers are pleased to present to you some of our favorite holiday leftover recipes to enjoy and prepare for you and your families and friends while being frugal and wasting less foods.
Special thanks to Liz Berg of That Skinny Chick Can Bake! and Stacy, of Food Lust People Love for graciously hosting this event and working so hard to make sure all the I’s are dotted and T’s are crossed. It’s a big group and a ton of work to keep all together! Thanks so much.
And now on to the recipes! Check out as many recipes as you would like and be sure to pin those to have for later.
Appetizers
- Bacon and Sriracha Deviled Eggs by Casa de Crews
- Jalapeño Cilantro Deviled Eggs by Our Good Life
- Savory Basque Tart by Food Lust People Love
Breakfast and Brunch
- Breakfast Burritos by Sew You Think You Can Cook
- Breakfast Enchiladas by Curious Cuisiniere
- Gluten-Free Ham Spinach & Gruyère Quiche by Amee’s Savory Dish
- Ham and Egg Hash by Whole Food | Real Families
- Matzo Brei Pancakes by Take A Bite Out of Boca
- Savory Ham and Scallion Corn Cakes by The Weekend Gourmet
Main Dishes
- Black Pepper Fried Brown Rice with Ham by Food Done Light
- Cajun Hambalaya by Palatable Pastime
- Cal-Mex Avocado and Egg Salad by eating in instead
- Chunky Healthy Egg Salad by Peanut Butter and Peppers
- Ham Fried Rice by Bobbi’s Kozy Kitchen
- Kimchi Fried Rice by Wallflower Girl
- Pan-Fried Ham with Okra and Red-Eye Gravy by Culinary Adventures with Camilla
Soups and Salads
- Ham and Corn Chowder by Cosmopolitan Cornbread
- Southern Ham Macaroni Salad by Magnolia Days
- Split Pea and Ham Slowcooker Soup by Jane’s Adventures in Dinner
Desserts
- Apple Blueberry Flip Flop by Recipe for Perfection
- Brownies with Kentucky Bourbon and Chocolate Mint Ganache by Lifestyle Food Artistry
- Cadbury Egg Stuffed Croissants by Hezzi-D’s Books and Cooks
- Cheese and Pineapple Bread Pudding by Basic N Delicious
- Easter Candy Bark by Pies and Plots
- Peanut Butter Brownie No Bake Cheesecake by Recipes, Food and Cooking
- Peanut Butter Chocolate Matzo S’mores by Desserts Required
- Sunshine Cake by The Ninja Baker
What a tasty dish, Sue! And I love that you cook it (mostly) all in one casserole for easy serving!
Thanks!
What an outstanding recipe for leftover ham! SO much flavor, so delicious!!! Hope you have a fabulous Easter, Sue!
Thank you! I hope you do as well. 🙂
Now you have me craving Cajun food at 7am and I haven’t had breakfast yet.
Jambalaya tends to do that! Thanks, Renee!
Haha, love the play on words, “Ham”balaya…this is such a great way to use that leftover ham up!
Thank you Nichole!
Very nice!!!
Thank you!
Thank you for this recipe, Sue. I’m prepping for a visit to my step-mom and 92 year old dad. They love casseroles and I’m quite certain your recipe will be no exception =)
I hope you like it! 🙂
Sounds delicious! Can brown rice be used? If so, how long would I have to cook it?
Brown rice has a different cook time than white rice so this is not a suitable recipe for brown rice.
Looks so yummy!
Thanks!
We love jambalaya, but I’ve never thought about making it home before! I love how easy this is to customize. Thanks for sharing – – we will definitely be bookmarking this one!
Thanks!
My Cajun husband would LOVE this! Definitely going to try it out!
Thanks, Valerie!
Clever name 🙂 I love cajun flavors!
Thanks!
Haha! So fun. Great idea.