Easy Spanish Paella Recipe (2024)

It's that time of the year! Time for fall dinner parties with lots delicious food and wine and friends, and I think that calls for a Spanish Paella!

I love Paella for many reasons... let's count the ways. 1 - everything is made in 1 big paella dish so that keeps thing semi-tidy. 2- you can pick and choose all sorts of different proteins to add into the paella. It can be just seafood, seafood and chorizo, seafood and chicken, we could go on and on. 3- once the Spanish Paella is ready, it actually gets served in the same pan you cook it in. 4- all that you need on the side area few bottles of wine and then you're set.

Mine has been evolving over the years and these days it consists of chicken, shrimp, mussels, clams and a really smoky chorizothat highlights some of the spices! If you were feeling extra special and decadent you could add some lobster to this too! All you need is a paella pan - here's my favorite! I've been using it for years! Now all that's left is to secretly plot a trip to Spain so I can have it in its home country alongside a bottle or two of Spanish wine! Paella recipes can more commonly be with seafood/pork, if you are looking for a similar dish with chicken, try arroz con pollo.

Love Seafood? Try these other seafood recipes?

All my Seafood recipes
Shrimp Fajitas
Seafood Pasta
Grilled Shrimp with Cilantro Pesto
Seafood Paella

Check out some of my favorite Shrimp Recipes here:

Avocado Shrimp Tostadas
Creamy Goat Cheese and Shrimp Pasta
Summer Corn Risotto with Shrimp
How to Cook Perfect Shrimp Every Time!
Shrimp Scampi with Couscous
Shrimp and Crab Seafood Rolls
Arugula Pesto Pasta with Garlic Shrimp
Avocado Shrimp Quinoa Bowl
Grilled Shrimp with Cilantro Pesto
See Also
Slow Cooker French Dip Recipe Easy Eggplant Lasagna Recipe 9 Simply Delicious Dutch Oven Recipes for Beginners Vegetarian Taco Soup Crock Pot Recipe « Running in a Skirt
The Ultimate Garlic Shrimp Scampi

Easy Spanish Paella

Author: Gaby Dalkin

5 from 1 vote

My Paella recipe has been evolving over the years and these days it consists of chicken, shrimp, mussels, clams and a really smoky chorizo that highlights some of the spices! If you were feeling extra special and decadent you could add some lobster to this too!

Print Recipe Pin Recipe Review Recipe

Prep Time 1 hour hr 15 minutes mins

Ingredients

▢ 1 teaspoon smoked paprika
▢ ½ teaspoon oregano
▢ 2 boneless skinless chicken breasts, cut into 1-inch chunks
▢ ¼ cup olive oil
▢ 2 Spanish chorizo sausages thickly sliced on a bias
▢ 1 yellow onion diced
▢ 4 garlic cloves chopped
▢ 1 bunch flat-leaf parsley leaves chopped
▢ 1 can 15-ounce fire-roasted diced tomatoes
▢ 1 ½ cups medium grain Spanish rice
▢ 3 cups water
▢ generous pinch saffron
▢ 10 littleneck clams cleaned
▢ 10 mussels cleaned
▢ 10 medium shrimp peeled and deveined
▢ ½ cup frozen sweet peas thawed
▢ lemon wedges for serving
▢ sea salt and freshly cracked black pepper to taste

Instructions

Combine the paprika and dried oregano in a small bowl. Rub the paprika mixture all over the chicken and marinate chicken for 1 hour in the refrigerator.
Heat the oil in a 15-inch paella pan over medium-high heat. Add the chorizo to the pan and sauté the chorizo until browned. Remove and reserve chorizo.
Add chicken to the pan and brown on all sides, turning with tongs until fully cooked. Season with salt and cracked pepper. Remove from pan and reserve. In the same pan, sauté the onions, garlic and parsley for 2 or 3 minutes on medium heat.
Add the fire-roasted tomatoes and cook over medium heat for about 4 minutes to let the flavors come together. Add the rice and stir to coat the grains in the mixture. Add the water and simmer for 10 minutes, slowly stirring the rice. Add chicken and chorizo back to the pan along with the saffron. Add the clams, mussels and shrimp, tucking them into the rice. Continue to cook until the rice has absorbed all of the liquid, the shrimp is cooked and the mussels and clams have opened, about 15 minutes more.
Add the peas and toss to combine. If any of the clams or mussels do not open, discard them before serving. When the paella is done, turn up the heat to high and toast the rice on the bottom of the pan for 30 seconds. Remove the paella from the heat and let it rest for 5-10 minutes. Serve with the extra lemon wedges and season with Sea Salt or Cracked Black Pepper to taste if needed.

Notes

Seafood is the classic paella protein but you can use any sort of protein you prefer.

Nutrition Information

Tried this Recipe? Tag me Today!Mention @WhatsGabyCookin or tag #whatsgabycooking!