Spanish Paella Recipe
With simple ingredients like rice, saffron, veggies, chicken, and seafood, you can cook a delicious, real Paella–the most popular dish in Spain–in your own kitchen. If you enjoy cooking international cuisine, you will adore this comfortable recipe!
What exactly is Paella?
Paella (paieiuh) is a traditional Spanish rice meal that is cooked and served in one pan with rice, saffron, veggies, chicken, and seafood. Although paella originated in Valencia, it is now acknowledged as Spain’s national dish, with numerous variations. Chicken paella, seafood paella, and mixed paella (a combination of seafood, meats, and vegetables) are the most popular forms of paella.
Ingredients:
Rice, saffron, chicken, and veggies are the main ingredients in every paella recipe. Ingredients vary based on the style of paella and location of origin. This simple paella recipe calls for the following ingredients:
- Produce: onion, bell pepper, garlic, tomatoes, parsley, frozen peas.
- Spices: bay leaf, paprika, saffron, salt and pepper.
- Saffron: this may be the most important ingredient, so it’s best to buy high quality. If your grocery store doesn’t carry it, try an International food market, or Amazon. If necessary, substitute 1 teaspoon saffron powder.
- Seafood: jumbo shrimp, mussels, calamari.
- Chicken thighs: I prefer thighs to breasts in the recipe since they don’t dry out as easily during longer cook times.
- Olive Oil: Spanish olive oil , or any good quality olive oil.
- White wine.
- Spanish Rice: See my notes below about the rice, and possible substitutions.
- Chicken Broth: Authentic paella would include making your own fish stock from the discarded shells of seafood. I usually substitute chicken broth, for convenience.
How to Make Spanish Paella:
- Heat olive oil in a pan over medium heat. Sauté the onion, bell peppers, and garlic until the onion is transparent. Add the tomato, bay leaf, paprika, saffron, salt, and pepper to taste. Cook for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally.
- Pour in the white wine. Cook for a total of 10 minutes.
- Combine the chicken and rice. Cook for 1 minute after adding the chopped parsley.
- Pour in the broth. Pour the broth slowly around the pan, jiggling the pan to ensure a uniform layer of rice. (Do not continue to stir the mixture!). Bring the liquid to a boil. Turn the heat down to medium-low. During cooking, gently shake the pan back and forth once or twice.
- Cook uncovered: Cook paella uncovered for 15-18 minutes, then nestle the shrimp, mussels, and calamari into the mixture, sprinkle peas on top, and simmer for another 5 minutes (without stirring). Keep an eye out for most of the liquid to be absorbed and the rice on top to be nearly tender. (If your rice is still raw, add 14 cup additional water or broth and continue boiling).
- Cover and set aside to rest. Remove from the heat and cover with a lid or tinfoil. Cover the lid with a kitchen towel and let aside for 10 minutes.
- Serve. Garnish with lemon slices and fresh parsley. Serve.
Paella rice recipe:
Spanish rice (also known as “bomba” rice, calaspara rice, or arroz redonda) is traditional in Paella and is what I propose. Short grain rice absorbs more water than conventional rice without becoming mushy. Spanish rice can be purchased from Amazon, World Market, or an international food market.
Substitution for Spanish rice: If necessary, medium grain rice, such as Calrose rice, can be obtained at Walmart or most grocery stores. Reduce the chicken stock in the recipe to 3 34 cup total. (I don’t advocate Arborio or long-grain rice for Paella).
We don’t want to wash the rice before cooking since we want the outer coating of starch to remain.
Cook the rice without stirring! The socarrat, or crusty, delicious rice layer, is cooked at the bottom of the pan in traditional paella. The socarrat is an essential ingredient in traditional paella. Stirring the rice will also turn it mushy.
What to Know About Seafood for Paella:
If you don’t like shellfish, omit it and replace it with more chicken and vegetables. You can use any combination of your favorite seafood, such as clams, scallops, or chopped fish. If you don’t live near the water, frozen fish is an excellent option. (In their freezer department, Costco sells a terrific mixed seafood bag containing shrimp, mussels, clams, scallops, and calamari.) Before using frozen fish, allow it to thaw in the refrigerator overnight.
When purchasing fresh seafood, make careful to smell it to ensure that it is fresh. It should not smell strongly like fish. The majority of the seafood utilized here will smell either like nothing or like the ocean (slightly salty). Make sure to thoroughly clean it (remove “beards” from mussels if necessary).
Nutrition
Calories: 535kcal Carbohydrates: 59g Protein: 37g Fat: 15g Saturated Fat: 3g Cholesterol: 260mg Sodium: 1159mg Potassium: 805mg Fiber: 3g Sugar: 3g Vitamin A: 1408IU Vitamin C: 58mg Calcium: 125mg Iron: 4mg
