This Classic Spanish Paella rivals any restaurant Paella!
A handed down recipe for a classic seafood Paella, one of the most popular dishes to come out of Spain! Complete with the toasty, crispy, golden crust on the bottom (Soccarat) and amazing traditional flavours, our authentic recipe is versatile so you can easily alter the recipe to suit your own tastes! Feel like a qualified chef when you’re done.
Because WHO doesn’t love a GOOD PAELLA?
Paella
This paella recipe is being handed down for you from my mother, one of the best Paella cooks I know. There are MANY different types and styles of Paella and each region in Spain has their own way of making it. This one is our favourite seafood paella recipe complete with chicken pieces, fire roasted peppers and beautiful flavours infused into the rice while it cooks!
Don’t be afraid to cook Paella at home. You don’t need any fancy equipment or Paella pan to make it! Just use what you have in your kitchen!
Seafood You Need For Our Paella Recipe
- Mussels
- Calamari rings
- Shrimp — with or without shells
Tips To Make Paella At Home
- The seafood suggestions in the recipe are optional. Don’t like Mussels? Don’t add them. Love clams? Add them instead! Don’t like shrimp? Replace with something else. Adapt it to your own taste and preference. It’s an extremely forgiving recipe.
- If you don’t like seafood, you can replace it with 2 large chicken thigh fillets, or more depending on how many people you are serving.
- Most or all of the chicken can be replaced with pork if you prefer.
- Use fresh vine ripened tomatoes for the BEST flavour.
- We make our own fire roasted peppers by placing them on direct flame over a gas cooker or stove top, until they char and the skin begins to crease and peel. If you’re not comfortable doing this, store-bought is fine to use.
What Kind Of Rice Do You Use To Make Paella?
We love using medium grain or jasmine rice. You can also use Spanish rice if you can find it. The short, round grains are perfect for Paella and absorb liquid really well, which makes it the ideal rice for Paella. Do not use Arborio rice. You want the end result to yield separate grains when done, not a creamy texture like risotto.
Love seafood? Try these recipes!
Jambalaya
Steak & Creamy Garlic Shrimp (Surf & Turf)
Creamy Garlic Scallops
Classic Spanish Paella
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 large onion chopped
- 6 cloves garlic large, finely chopped
- 1 small red bell pepper diced into small pieces
- 4 large boneless skinless chicken thigh fillets cut into bite-sized pieces
- 4 large tomatoes chopped
- ½ cup dry white wine sauv blanc, pinot gris - optional
- 1 pinch salt to taste
- 1 pinch pepper to taste
- 10-12 mussels scraped and cleaned properly
- 8 ounces calamari rings
- 3 ¾ cups low sodium chicken broth or stock, or homemade fish stock
- 2 cups medium grain rice or jasmine rice
- ½ cup frozen peas
- 1 teaspoon saffron powder or saffron threads
- 1 teaspoon paprika sweet or smoked
- ½ teaspoon garlic powder
- ½ teaspoon onion powder
- 21 ounces shrimp
- 2 tablespoons fresh flat leaf parsley chopped
- 1 tablespoon fire roasted bell peppers strips capsicum strips
Instructions
- Heat oil in a large sized non-stick pan or well seasoned skillet (or a paella pan if you have one), over medium heat. Fry onion, garlic and capsicum together; cook until onion is transparent (about 3 minutes).
- Sauté chicken until golden on all sides. Add in the chopped tomatoes, salt and pepper to taste. Cook for 5 minutes until they release liquid and the tomatoes begin to create a sauce.
- Add the wine, mussels and calamari rings. Allow to cook for a further 5 minutes; allow the wine to evaporate to half the quantity, then pour in the stock (or broth), rice, peas and saffron. Mix all ingredients until well combined.
- Bring to a boil; reduce the heat and cover to allow MOST of the liquid to absorb into the rice, while stirring occasionally to prevent rice from sticking and burning to the pan underneath. (Cook until the rice is ALMOST cooked through.)
- Add in the prawns, mixing them through the rice, and cover again to allow the prawns and rice to cook completely.
- Once cooked, sprinkle with the parsley. Place capsicum strips over the top of the paella for enhanced flavour to serve. Drizzle with a small amount of olive oil over the top before serving.
Notes
Chicken: Substitute with pork if desired.
Rice: Medium grain or jasmine rice yield the best results.
Fire roasted peppers: Make your own by placing them on direct flame over a gas cooker or stove top until they char and the skin begins to crease and peel.
Ashley says
Amazing recipe! I made this last night and my husband loved it!
Sfowler says
Made this last night. Truly delish. I used chicken thighs as well as shrimp and mussels. Luckily found saffron. Made a big difference. Next time I will use jasmine rice. I used brown because that’s all,I had. Will do again.
Bill MacIntyre says
Hi, I have used a few of your recipes and never been disappointed. Yesterday, 21st June, I made your paella for my daughter’s birthday, it was superb ! Everyone loved it and kept saying so.
I seldom leave reviews but I couldn’t not do so on this occasion.
Well done.
Dee says
Hummm! That’s a bummer, Connie. I’ve been using Karina’s recipes for about 3 years and have never had an issue printing them on any printer that I’ve used. I hope you’re able to print them cause it’s so worth every bite of the finished product. Anytime I need/want a recipe Karina at CafeDelites is my go-to. She never disappoints!
Everything Karina is easy and OH SO DECICIOSO!!!
MICHELLE H PAULING says
Wow – easy and delicious- just follow the recipe! Used chicken thighs (whole) and large peeled and deveined shrimp. Delicious. Couldn’t tell when to add in the garlic and onion powder and paprike, so just added with the saffron – added the peas with the shrimp so they wouldn’t get dark and overcooked – this was the most delicious paella ever! thanks for the recipe!
Emma Candalija says
I would say it’s a good recipe, the only bit is the moving of the rice. In Spain they let the bottom bit burn. All my family fight for the lovely burnt crispy bit at the bottom
Rose says
They let it BROWN, not burn traditionally. If you read above the recipe she mentions this for beginner cooked who need play by play directions!