"I can't believe it's box Jambalaya"

Ya'll. Let me tell you a little secret. If you want to make enough food for a crowd, on a budget, and make it easy on yourself, get yourself a couple boxes of Zatarain's jambalaya mix. Everytime I make a big batch of Zatarain's jambalaya, I get a ton of compliments. I should lie and say I made it from scratch. People love it. Here's the scoop.

For bigger parties like our 4th of July shindig when we invite lots of friends and family over to our pool, I love to make a big batch of Zatarain's jambalaya. Sure Chad usually grills hotdogs and hamburgers too, but the jamabalaya always gets compliments. It's delicious, easy, and budget friendly so what more can you want. I sound like an ad for Zatarain's. I wish!

I usually buy two boxes of the family jambalaya mix or at least 3 of the smaller boxes. And yes, I'm almost 100% sure it's gluten free. The box used to say gluten free on it but recently I noticed they removed that. Not sure why, but the ingredients themselves look safe to me. I usually use whatever sausage I'm feeling that day, whether it's andouille or green onion. Sometime I throw in some cooked chicken breast that I cut into bite sized pieces or shredded. You can even use frozen shrimp. Then I add an onion and bell pepper and saute before adding the mix and following the directions on the box. However, USE CHICKEN STOCK. It can be from a box, can, whatever. Don't just use water. I think the chicken stock makes it more flavorful. Done in less than 30 minutes. Then I keep it warm in my instant pot for the day and it's a hands off, serve yourself, delicious bowl of NOLA goodness!