10 tailgate foods (and recipes) 49ers fans should try and will love

49ers tailgate food you’ll love: Jambalaya

San Francisco seemingly has a yearly tradition of playing the New Orleans Saints for some reason, so why not mix in some great Cajun cooking when the Saints come to town at Levi’s Stadium?

Jambalaya can sound like an intimidating recipe, and there are probably hundreds of different ways families make this great rice-based dish.

For me, though, I like to keep it awfully simple.

Go out and buy a box of the premade jambalaya kit. I prefer Zatarain’s, and the 8 oz box is usually enough for three people if you’re hungry. The family size is a bit larger, or you can get two 8 oz boxes to feed your bigger tailgate group with ease. The great part? The kit already comes with rice and spices, but I like to add a bit more paprika to spice it up a little more.

You might want to do some pregame prep work with the “holy trinity,” and we’ll get to that in a second. But if you are enticed by this Louisiana classic at a 49ers tailgate, read on.

Here’s what you’ll need:

• One 8 oz box of jambalaya mix kit (I like Zatarain’s)
• The holy trinity: One white onion, one green bell pepper, a few stalks of celery (enough to make 1/2 cup each)
• 1/2 lb of protein like smoked sausage, kielbasa, ham or cooked chicken
• 1/2 lb of pre-cooked, peeled and deveined shrimp (small or medium-sized)
• 3 tablespoons of butter or olive oil (divided)
• 1 teaspoon of paprika (optional)
• Green onion (optional)
• Tabasco sauce for taste

Here’s what you’ll do:

• Chop the onion, bell pepper and celery into equal portions, then slice your protein into bite-sized portions
• Pull the tails off the shrimp
• In a large pot, add 1 tablespoon of butter/olive oil and place over medium-high heat, add the holy trinity and cook down for about 10 minutes, stirring occasionally
• Add 2.5 cups of water (you brought water to hydrate, right?), the remaining 2 tablespoons of butter/olive oil and then add the jambalaya mix and paprika (if you like a little more flavor), stir well and bring to a boil
• Once boiling, cover and reduce the heat to low so it can simmer for about 25 minutes or until the rice is tender, stirring every five minutes or so
• About 10 minutes into the simmer period (or 15 minutes remaining), add your protein and shrimp, stirring well
• Remove from heat, let stand for five minutes, fluff with a fork, garnish with green onion and add some Tabasco for a little extra kick