Paella is a delicious one-pot meal that's easy and quick to make. This Spanish dish is packed with flavors and perfect for any occasion. With simple ingredients and steps, you'll have a tasty meal ready in only 30 minutes.
So grab your paella pan or your largest skillet, and get ready to impress your family and friends with this authentic paella recipe.
Table of Contents
Recipe Video
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Why This Recipe Works
What's not to love about this hearty, flavorful, and adaptable dish? You'll love this one-pot paella recipe for all those reasons, and more!
This family-style dish is loaded with chicken, chorizo, prawns, calamari, and mussels, not to mention a variety of veggies and rice. It is hearty enough to feed an army. Nobody will go hungry, but it's so delicious that everyone will want seconds.
While this dish is fulfilling, it is also complex in taste and texture. The low and slow cooking method allows the flavors to meld together, creating a rich and savory dish that everyone will love.
Another great thing about this easy paella is how easily it can be adapted. From the meat and seafood options that you can choose to the various spices that can be used, this recipe offers plenty of room for creativity.
Ingredients
Aromatics:
The onion, pepper, garlic, parsley, and tomatoes, as aromatics, set the stage for a robust and flavorful paella. You can experiment by adding other aromatics to your Spanish paella. Saffron threads are one of the signature ingredients of paella, imparting a unique floral aroma to the dish, while bay leaves are often added to infuse the paella with a subtle herbal fragrance.
Seasoning:
While this paella recipe uses seasonings such as salt, pepper, and paprika to add flavor to the dish, there are a number of other herbs and spices that you can experiment with. Consider adding thyme, rosemary, saffron, and even lemon zest to elevate your chicken and chorizo paella.
Chicken:
Chicken is a popular ingredient that is used in an authentic paella recipe. You could opt to sear the chicken before adding it to the paella. This gives the meat a more complex and smokey flavor that it imparts to the dish. In addition to chicken, pork, beef, and even rabbit are used routinely in traditional paella recipes. If you want to make vegan, vegetarian, or meatless paella, tofu, tempeh, or seitan make perfectly acceptable substitutions.
Chorizo:
Chorizo is another ingredient that you may want to sear off before adding it to the paella along with the chicken. A Spanish sausage, chorizo is a traditional ingredient in most paella recipes. If you don't have access to chorizo or simply want to eliminate it from the recipe, there are a number of alternatives that you can use instead. Sausages such as morcilla, longaniza, Italian sausage, Andouille sausage, linguica, merguez, and even kielbasa can be used in place of chorizo. For a meatless option, plant-based sausages, black beans, chickpeas, kidney beans, mushrooms, and jackfruit can all be used to recreate the flavor and texture that the chorizo provides.
Rice:
The best kind of rice for paella is short-grain rice, particularly varieties like Bomba or Calasparra. These types of rice are specifically cultivated for Spanish paella and can absorb liquid while maintaining a firm texture, essential for achieving the perfect consistency in the dish. However, if you're unable to find Bomba or Calasparra rice, alternatives such as Arborio, Valencia, sushi, medium-grain, and long-grain rice can still produce delicious results.
Chicken Broth:
An authentic paella recipe contains some type of broth, usually chicken. However, alternatives such as vegetable broth, seafood stock, tomato juice, white wine, and coconut milk can offer some fun flavor variations to experiment with.
Seafood:
While this recipe incorporates mussels, calamari, and prawns, other delights from the sea can be added to your delicious seafood paella. Clams, shrimp, haddock, cod, or sea bass fillets, scallops, lobster, and octopus can all be routinely found in traditional Spanish cuisine, including this dish. Get creative with your paella and add your favorite seafood to the mix.
Mixed Vegetables:
Regardless of whether you are using frozen or fresh mixed vegetables, you will want to ensure that they are cooked before adding them to the paella, as this recipe has you adding them at the very end. If you want to cook them directly in the paella, you will want to add your veg earlier on in the recipe. If you are using frozen, they will take less time to cook so add them in with the tomatoes. If you are using fresh vegetables, add them in with the onion, pepper and garlic. This will give the carrots and peas time to cook and meld flavors with the paella before adding the seafood elements.
Cilantro:
A sprinkling of fresh cilantro adds a vibrant burst of flavor and freshness to the paella, enhancing its aroma and providing a pop of color. However, many people find cilantro to be distasteful, so it can absolutely be replaced with fresh chives, green onions, parsley, or basil.
How to Make Paella
Step One:
Heat olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat.
Step Two:
Add onion, pepper, and garlic, and saute for 1 minute, until everything becomes aromatic.
Step Three:
Stir in tomatoes, paprika, salt, and pepper. Saute until all of the veggies are softened.
Step Four:
Add chicken thighs, parsley, and chorizo. Stir to incorporate.
Step Five:
Once the chicken is cooked through, stir to incorporate the rice.
Step Six:
Add in the chicken broth, cover, and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer until the rice is cooked.
Step Seven:
Add in the prawns, calamari, and mussels, cover, and cook for 2-3 minutes until the shrimp is pink and the muscles have opened their shells.
Step Eight:
Mix in the carrots and peas.
Step Nine:
Serve with a fresh cilantro garnish, and enjoy!
Tips
- Unlike risotto, paella is not meant to be stirred constantly. Stirring too frequently can release too much starch from the rice, resulting in a gummy texture. Instead, gently shake the pan occasionally to redistribute the ingredients.
- Once the paella is cooked, rest off the heat for a few minutes. This allows the flavors to settle and the rice to firm up slightly before serving.
- Traditional Spanish paella is often served with lemon wedges on the side. Squeezing lemon juice over the paella just before eating enhances the flavors and adds a bright, citrusy note.
What to Serve With Paella
When serving paella, it's essential to complement this vibrant and flavorful dish with accompaniments that enhance its Mediterranean flair. Start with a simple and vibrant eggplant salad to provide a refreshing contrast to the rich and savory flavors of the paella. Additionally, offering crusty bread, like focaccia, allows guests to soak up the delicious juices and sauces from the dish.
To elevate the experience further, consider serving Spanish tapas as appetizers, such as marinated olives, roasted peppers, or garlic shrimp, to tantalize the taste buds before the main course. Complete the meal with a refreshing beverage like sangria, which pairs beautifully with the robust flavors of the paella, creating a feast that celebrates the vibrant culinary traditions of Spain.
Need more ideas? Check out What to Serve With Paella for 16 delicious side dishes.
FAQs
Can I make paella without seafood?
Yes, you can make paella without seafood by using a combination of chicken, chorizo, or other meats along with vegetables. This variation is known as chicken and chorizo paella.
How long can leftover paella be kept fresh?
Leftover paella can be stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 3 days. For longer-term storage, leftover paella can be stored in the freezer for up to 3 months.
What is the best way to reheat leftover paella?
To reheat, gently warm it in a pan on the stovetop, adding a splash of broth if needed to prevent it from drying out.
More Rice Recipes
Rice is a fulfilling and versatile staple that can be the basis for a hearty meal. For more rice recipes, check out this collection of some of our favorite rice-based dishes from around the world.
Paella
Ingredients
- ¼ cup olive oil
- 1 white onion chopped
- 1 green bell pepper chopped
- 4 cloves garlic minced
- 3 tomatoes diced
- 1 teaspoon paprika
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon pepper
- 4 boneless chicken thighs chopped
- ¼ cup parsley
- 1 ½ cups chorizo chopped
- 2 cups rice uncooked
- 5 cups chicken broth
- ½ pound prawns deveined and shelled.
- 8 ounces calamari
- ½ pound mussels
- 1 cup carrots and peas cooked
- 1-2 tablespoons fresh cilantro chopped
Instructions
- Heat olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat.
- Add onion, pepper, and garlic, and saute for 1 minute until everything becomes aromatic.
- Stir in tomatoes, paprika, salt, and pepper. Saute until all of the veggies are softened.
- Add chicken thighs, parsley, and chorizo. Stir to incorporate.
- Once the chicken is cooked through, stir to incorporate the rice.
- Add in the chicken broth, cover, and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer until the rice is cooked.
- Add in the prawns, calamari, and mussels, cover, and cook for 2-3 minutes until the shrimp is pink and the muscles have opened their shells.
- Mix in the carrots and peas.
- Serve with a fresh cilantro garnish, and enjoy 🙂
Nutrition
Video
Notes
- Unlike risotto, paella is not meant to be stirred constantly. Stirring too frequently can release too much starch from the rice, resulting in a gummy texture. Instead, gently shake the pan occasionally to redistribute the ingredients.
- Once the paella is cooked, rest off the heat for a few minutes. This allows the flavors to settle and the rice to firm up slightly before serving.
- Traditional Spanish paella is often served with lemon wedges on the side. Squeezing lemon juice over the paella just before eating enhances the flavors and adds a bright, citrusy note.