A casual visitor to Louisiana could assume that gumbo and jambalaya are interchangeable, but the key difference between the two is how rice is used in each dish.

Gumbo is a stew served with rice — cooked separately — while jambalaya is a one-pot dish incorporating rice.

Gumbo has a thick, viscous texture and is served over a bed of rice, with the meat and vegetables nestled on top.

In gumbo, a roux — a mixture of flour and fat cooked until it turns a caramel color — thickens the broth before other ingredients are added. Some use okra or filé powder instead.

With jambalaya, rice is added to the pot during cooking, along with a broth. The rice absorbs all the delicious flavors, becoming slightly caramelized at the bottom of the pot.

There is no addition of thickener with jambalaya because the rice acts as a de-facto thickener when it releases the starch.