Smoked Sausage Jambalaya Buttermilk Biscuits

These mile-high jambalaya buttermilk biscuits are stacked with all the savory flavors of New Orleans’ most comforting rice dish.  These tender biscuits are absolutely stacked with Zatarain’s Cajun-Style Smoked Sausage, onions, peppers, and roasted tomatoes. We’re taking big bites of Mardi Gras this year – here’s how!

Friends, we have a bonafide tradition in the works!  As most traditions are around here – it’s DELICIOUS.  Every Mardi Gras for the last two years, I’ve baked Zatarain’s Smoked Sausage into a heavenly dough heap fit for a carnival celebration – whether we’re dancing in the streets of New Orleans or not.  Last year’s  Smoked Andouille Sausage and Cream Cheese Rolls were shockingly pillowy and the way they disappeared on Fat Tuesday – that recipe is a keeper.  Not to mention the humbly epic Savory King Cake that Will now asks for every year.  The surprise of a King Cake that would have taken top prize at our friendly annual king cake contest had I had the wherewithall to arrive on time.

This year’s offering is a flaky buttery biscuit, stacked with layers of Zatarain’s Smoked Sausage, sauteed onions and peppers, and roasted tomatoes. Think: jambalaya without the rice, extra biscuit.  Think: pocket friendly jambalaya (for all the street dancing we do).  Think: an elite Mardi Gras weekend treat.

These biscuits are inspired by a Creole-style Jambalaya like this Creole Jambalaya made with tomatoes.  If you’re more inclined to a Cajun-style like this Chicken and Sausage Cajun Jambalaya, feel free to skip the roasted tomatoes.

Here are the ingredients you’ll need to make these Jambalaya Buttermilk Biscuits:

•  Zatarain’s Andouille Smoked Sausage or Zatarain’s Cajun Smoked Sausage – perfectly seasoned and spiced pork sausage

•  cherry tomatoes with olive oil, salt, and pepper for roasting

•  yellow onion, diced

•  green bell pepper, diced

•  all-purpose flour

•  baking powder and baking soda

•  granulated sugar and kosher salt

•  buttermilk

•  cold unsalted butter, cubed

•  flaky sea salt, back pepper, and cajun seasoning

These biscuits come together in stages.  Don’t think of it for the time and dishes. Think of yourself building and layering flavors.  First layer – in the spirit of Creole Jambalaya, we’re roasting tomatoes to concentrate their juices and flavor.

Slice up the Zatarain’s Cajun-Style Smoked Sausage and mingle the rounds in a small saucepan with diced onion and green peppers.  This is IT! The onions sweeten, the green peppers have their subtle bitter bite, and the sausage adds a smoky spice inherent to a classic jambalaya.

With our jambalaya ingredients coaxed by the heat and transferred to a bowl, allow the mixture to quick chill in the freezer while we make the biscuit dough.

To bring together the biscuit dough we’ll first whisk together our dry ingredients (including a little sugar that balances the savory sausage), and add our cubes of cold butter.

I like to use my hands to break the butter down into small sheets or pea-sized butter bits.  A pastry blender is also a great tool if you don’t want to get your hands too dirty (though our hands are getting dirty as we knead the dough so don’t be shy about getting in there).

If you find whole milk buttermilk at the grocery – buy it immediately. It’s so much more lux than 2% buttermilk and these biscuits deserve it.

My best buttermilk substitutions include my favorite sub that uses milk and whole milk yogurt, so if buttermilk feels like a splurge – there are ways around it!

Whisk an egg into whatever buttermilk you have and pour it into the buttery flour mixture.

The dough will come together into a shaggy mess, to which we’ll add a bit more mess: our cooked and cooled jambalaya filling.

Dump the shaggy and loaded biscuit dough onto a floured counter.  Admittedly, this is where things get chaotic.  Flour your fingers and press the dough into a relatively cohesive rectangle.  It might take a few good sprinkles of flour but press and fold the dough into a thickthick brick.

With a floured rolling pin, roll the dough into a 1-inch thick rectangle.  We’re going to laminate the dough by folding the dough with an envelope fold. The bottom third of the dough will come up two thirds of the dough, and the top third will fold over.  Use a bench scraper to divide the dough in half and stack em!

By stacking the dough, we’re also stacking sheets of butter and flour that will create tall fluffy layers in the hot oven.  But just to be sure we’ve got our layers locked, we’ll roll and fold once more.

Again roll the buttermilk biscuit dough to 1-inch thickness and fold into thirds.  Wrap the dough in plastic wrap and chill in the freezer for 15 minutes while the oven preheats to screamin’ hot.  This chill time is key. We want the butter to re-chill so it creates those flaky lifted layers.

After the dough is chilled, roll for the last time, to a 1-inch thickness and slice into 8 large biscuits.  If you’d like smaller biscuits, you can certainly go for 12 small squares.

Place the biscuit dough on a parchment paper lined baking sheet and brush with buttermilk before sprinkling with salt, pepper, and Cajun seasoning.  Now we bake.

Bake until the biscuits are golden brown and the kitchen smells like a savory smoked sausage dream home. And just to guild the lily, we’ll brush melted butter over the warm biscuits.  Sprinkle with chives for a fresh touch.

All biscuits should be served warm, with dignity, and these are no exception.  Your instinct might be to tuck a second in your pocket and you have my full support.  If you see me in the streets come Fat Tuesday, best believe I’ll have a Jambalaya Buttermilk Biscuit in my pocket.  For sustenance because you don’t know what the Mardi Gras streets may bring.

Happy Baking, friends! Most importantly, Happy Mardi Gras!

Leave any recipe questions or comments in below.

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