I love to eat really good food. Who doesn't? Some of my favorite meals have been from amazing restaurants. When I first got into blogging I was invited to eat at many different restaurants around town. I tried it all. I've shared about my love for some of those restaurants right here on the blog. Then I got to thinking, wouldn't it be great if everyone could try these delicious meals?! The thing is, not everyone actually lives in San Diego. So, I've decided to recreate some of my favorite dishes and share the recipes with you right here. Now you can enjoy a tasty bite of San Diego, restaurant-inspired food, right at home! I'm bringing you an amazingly delicious breakfast jambalaya inspired by my latest meal hosted by Breakfast Republic.

Have you ever had breakfast jambalaya?! It is legit. I could eat rice for any meal but add those savory spices and top with gooey eggs and its even better. The breakfast jambalaya at Breakfast Republic is served with 3 eggs on top. Their jambalaya is made up of a rich and flavorful sauce that is mixed in with the tomato-based rice, Portuguese sausage, shrimp and red bell peppers.

After trying this fab dish I decided this was one I had to recreate. Breakfast Republic shared their recipe for their Breakfast Jambalaya so I could get started on recreating this powerfully flavored dish. I wanted to make it a little more kid-friendly so I adjusted it a bit so my kids would eat it. They are not big shrimp eaters so I didn't include that but you can easily add it in. I also used a little less cayenne pepper so the heat wasn't too hot for them. It turned out just as good as their dish and I have the recipe for you below!

This dish has a couple of parts that need to be done separately. Just think rice, sauce then final preparation. I recommend getting all of your ingredients out and measured before getting started. This will make the recipe come together a little quicker.

Breakfast Jambalaya

Ingredients

Rice:
1c rice
½c tomato sauce
1 bay leave
1t fresh thyme, minced
2 cloves of garlic, minced
½ onion chopped
2T vegetable oil
2c vegetable stock
Jambalaya Sauce:
12 oz fire roasted tomatoes
2T Old Bay Seasoning
½t cayenne pepper
1t fresh thyme, minced
1t fresh oregano, minced
1T salt
3 cloves of garlic
Final Preparation
1 Package Portuguese sausage
12 (Shrimp) if you'd like to add shrimp
1 red pepper, sliced
2 green onions, sliced
3 cup red rice
½ jambalaya sauce
12 eggs (3 per plate)

Instructions

Rice:
Add vegetable oil to medium saucepot and saute rice until golden brown
Add tomato sauce, onion, herbs, garlic and saute for 3 minutes
Add vegetable stock and bring to a boil.
Once boiling add lid and cook on low for 20 minutes without lifting lid
Turn heat off and wait 10 minutes before using.
Sauce:
Combined all ingredients in sauce pot and bring to a boil.
Remove from heat and blend everything, cool and set aside.
Final Preparation:
Sauté (shrimp), sausage and peppers together until shrimp is cooked on both sides or until sausage is lightly browned.
Add rice and jambalaya sauce and stir until all flavors are incorporated
Garnish with green onions and top with 3 eggs per plate.

Once you combine the sauce with the rice it creates an amazing combination of flavor. I love taste of the fresh bell peppers mixed in with the roasted tomatoes. For my first attempt I added 3 eggs to the top just like they do at Breakfast Republic. I realized that I cooked my eggs a little too long and that the dish would be way too much for my kiddos so I cooked another egg and tried it with a smaller portion of the jambalaya.

This portion was much more in line with what my kiddos would eat. My little guy tried to eat all the sausage while I was taking photos. He devoured his whole plate once it was time to eat. The little missy loved it too!

I love that this dish came together so well and was easy to adjust to kid-friendly. This recipe makes enough for 4 people and has leftover sauce. I went ahead and put my leftover sauce in the freezer so I could make it again soon! This is a dish you and your kiddos will love!

If you want to try it out at Breakfast Republic, check out their new San Diego locations whenever you're in town. Or make it for yourself at home! If you do, let me know in the comments below! Enjoy! -Bri

This post is not sponsored but I did receive a delicious meal from Breakfast Republic and loved their food. All opinions are my own.