jambalaya
Americannoun
noun
Etymology
Origin of jambalaya
1740–50; < Louisiana French < Provençal jambalaia, of uncertain origin
Explanation
Jambalaya is a Cajun dish with rice and a variety of ingredients. It has a little of everything, and it's very spicy. If you ever go to a Cajun restaurant or New Orleans, one dish to try is jambalaya. It consists of rice plus peppers, celery, and onions. There's also meat, which might be chicken or sausage. Sometimes jambalaya has fish in it too, such as shrimp. Like a lot of Cajun food, jambalaya is very spicy.
Vocabulary lists containing jambalaya
World Cuisine - Introductory
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World Cuisine - Middle School and High School
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Mardi Gras: Food
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
He has described the record as a "powder keg", as "burning diesel", and even a spicy "jambalaya" – and it's certainly harder and faster than anything the band have released over the past decade.
From BBC • Apr. 21, 2026
That includes mashed potatoes, chicken pot pie and casserole, or big pots of soup, chowder, gumbo and jambalaya.
From Salon • Feb. 7, 2026
They held regular dinner parties for friends, colleagues and students, and Morgan was renowned for her cooking, with a repertoire that included jambalaya, French beef stew, fried chicken and shrimp étouffée.
From The Wall Street Journal • Oct. 31, 2025
Gather your loved ones, fire up the stove and whip up a pot of Cajun jambalaya.
From Seattle Times • Feb. 6, 2024
“I love to fix a big pot of meatballs or jambalaya with shrimps.”
From "A Confederacy of Dunces" by John Kennedy Toole
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
