This was a very tasty dish and the whole family loved it. We did add extra shrimp. The one problem is the cooking time. After about 5 hours on high I noticed it was almost done. If I had left it for 7 -9 as stated then it would have been mush. I had to turn it off for 2 hours and then proceed as directed with the orzo and shrimp. Keep an eye on this when cooking. Great reheated leftovers.
It was OK - not nearly spicy enough though and it lacked the flavor of traditional jambalaya even after adding extra spices. If I were to make this again I would add a spicy andouille sausage and a heap of cajun seasoning. I only ancini de pepi so I served it over the traditional hot white rice instead of orzo. My 4 and 6 year olds ate a good portion.
For a jamabalaya made in a crock pot instead of from scratch with the traditional roux it's not bad. However since I'm accustomed to the traditional ways of making Cajun and Creole dishes I'm probably not going to use this recipe all that often. There just seemed to be something lacking about the flavor. Maybe next time I'll up the amount of Cajun seasoning I used in place of the Italian.
Strange version of jambalaya. Aside from that the only part that tasted good in the end was the chicken.
we made this over the weekend and thought it could use more seasonings. very bland! we added extra shrimp and chicken!
First of all I made a couple of changes to this recipe. I used a full tsp of salt instead of 1/2 and added about a tbsp of chili powder to give it a little more kick and depth. Also I didn't have any orzo so I used instant brown rice. The pros to this recipe are that it is very easy and a great example of slow cooker "make it and forget it". The cons (in my opinion) are that even with the added salt and spices it was still kind of bland. This is more of a "mock jambalaya" simply because a true jambalaya has a lot more kick and richness created by the roux and cajun spices. However there is a lot of room for experimentation with this recipe and I will continue to use it as a base and play around with it.
I also added cajun style andouille sausage a lot more spices and some Frank's Hot Sauce to make it extra spicy. It definitely hit the spot on this nice snow day! It was pretty easy to make!
simple fast and delicious all I did was add about 2 1/2 tablespoons of Old Bay seasoning.
Delicious! I used more orzo than it called for because it seemed a little soupy without it. My husband and I both enjoyed this dish.
