West African famous meal Jollof Rice made with Shrimp is comfort food at its best! Flavorful shrimp with aromatic rice adorned with vibrant fresh veggies. This Jollof Rice with Shrimp all happens in one pot, it is made with pantry staples and requires very little prep time!
These are busy days! So busy that a girl who loves to cook doesn't have so many luxury hours to spend in the kitchen. Between taking care of my sweet kiddos, homeschooling, blogging and taking many necessary naps there is hardly any time for meals that take hours upon hours.
That is how I came up with this Jollof Rice with Shrimp recipe. I had to to make dinner happen but I had neither enough time nor energy. However, I had rice, shrimp, tomato sauce and spices. Boom, a meal happened!
I really hope this meal shows you how to use whatever you have on hand to create a meal because that's the principle I used here. Sometimes we don't just have the time to go to the grocery store to pick one lacking ingredient. But we always need to eat! And homemade meals are the best even when they are so simple!
One important thing to note here is I made this meal with dried spices I already had which made it really quick because I didn't have to grind or chop up any spices or herbs. I also used only tomato sauce which means I didn't have to blend any tomatoes! It is indeed a quick and easy Jollof Rice recipe.
I strongly suggest you keep a lot of dried spices and herbs on hand for quick meals like this. If you watch my kitchen tour video, you will see that I keep a lot of dried spices in my kitchen. They really make life easier.
This Jollof Rice with shrimp is quite similar to Mexican rice but with different flavors. One thing I will tell you is the flavors are big and bright. Insanely delicious!
So here is how to make Jollof Rice With Shrimp:
- Sauté some shrimp
- Sauté some onions, add some tomato sauce and cook
- Add dried spices, seasoning, rice and water to the pot. Cover and let it cook
- Fluff rice and add back the shrimp to the pot with some veggies
- Mix everything together and turn off the heat.
5 simple steps and you have a complete flavorful one-pot meal with protein, veggies, and carbs. Isn't that awesome??? One great thing about this recipe is it makes lots of servings - 8 servings! We ate and had leftovers to enjoy the next day.
Winning meal!
More Jollof Rice recipes you might love:
For more cooking inspiration check out this one-week meal prep plan.
Recipe
Jollof Rice with Shrimp
Ingredients
- 4 cups parboiled rice I use the Uncle Ben's brand
- 12 oz shrimp - peeled and deveined
- 14 oz tomato sauce
- 1 cup oil
- 1 cup diced onion
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1 teaspoon ginger powder
- 1 teaspoon curry powder
- 1 teaspoon thyme
- 1 teaspoon smoked paprika
- 1 ½ teaspoons salt
- 2 teaspoons chicken bouillon powder substitute with 2 (4g each) stock cubes
- ½ teaspoon ground white pepper
- 2 bay leaves
- 1 teaspoon chili pepper (optional)
- 1 cup diced carrots (you could use frozen)
- 1 cup sweet peas (you could use frozen)
Instructions
- Rinse shrimp thoroughly then season with a pinch of salt and ⅛ teaspoon of ground white pepper.
- Place 2 tablespoons of the oil into a pot and heat up on high heat. Add shrimp to the oil and cook on each side for about 2 minutes. Remove shrimp from pot.
- To the pot, add the remaining oil and let it up on high heat. Add the chopped onion and sauté until fragrant. Add the tomato sauce and fry in the oil for about 10 minutes, stirring constantly so it doesn't burn.
- Towards the end of cooking the tomato sauce wash the rice. I washed mine 3 times.
- Now add the ginger powder, garlic powder, curry, thyme, and chili powder (if using) to the tomato sauce. Stir so they release their flavors. Add the washed rice to the pot and stir then add 5 cups of water. Add the bay leaves, smoked paprika, salt, bouillon powder, and remaining white pepper. Stir everything together.
- Cover the pot with aluminum foil being sure to carefully wrap it around the corners (this helps to trap in the steam as the rice cooks). Place lid on the pot and turn your heat to low (that's the lowest setting). Let it cook for 30 minutes.
- After 30 minutes, fluff the rice all round with a fork then you add back the shrimp to the pot with the carrots and peas. Mix everything to combine then turn off the heat. Your Jollof Rice with Shrimp is ready!
Notes
Nutrition
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"But my God shall supply all your need according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus." Phillipians 4:19 (KJV)
Langaman says
"flavored shrimps with aromatic rice adorned with vibrant fresh veggie..." Whaaaaat? When vegetables are fresh they're appealing. But when vibrancy combines with freshness in all in one pot the effect is a stomach full of saliva.
Precious says
It is so good!
Dami says
Thank you for sharing! Great recipe 🙂 I used a blend of precooked tomatoes, bell peppers and onions instead of tomato sauce - I also fried and added some tomato paste. Still a delicious and quick recipe!
Precious says
So glad you loved it, Dami!
Lori says
I haven made it yet because 1 cup of oil seems like a lot! Can I get away with less? It sounds delicious!
Precious says
Hi Lori, you can get away with less but note that it won't turn out exactly as mine.