This Chicken and Seafood Paella is a classic Spanish rice dish made with Arborio rice, packed with chicken, sausage, mussels, clams, shrimp and loaded with flavor.
I have a romantic dish for you today. At least I think it’s romantic because this isn’t something you’d make every day. Not because it’s hard, trust me it’s quite easy to make this paella, but because it’s a bit more expensive. Not to mention how gorgeous this dish is. This chicken and seafood paella will sure surprise and impress your significant other or guests. I can tell you my husband loved this and ate 3 servings in one sitting. That’s about the best compliment I could get.
What Is Paella
Paella is a classic Spanish rice dish and it’s widely regarded as Spain’s national dish. Personally, I love it, especially because it’s so versatile. I make paella quite often and make it with different proteins. In my new cookbook there is a quick 30 minute paella recipe in my cookbook coming up.
I do want to mention that this recipe is by no means authentic, this is just my version of paella.
How to Make Paella
I strongly recommend using a Paella pan because it has a wider surface and the secret of paella is cooking everything evenly in a single layer and as it cooks the rice gets toasty and crispy at the bottom and that’s what you want in a good paella.
Paella is usually made with chorizo sausage, that’s why I listed chorizo sausage in the ingredients list, but I didn’t have any, so I just used some Italian sausage I had, but I would recommend chorizo if you have it.
I started with some chicken thighs I chopped up, but you could use chicken breast as well. You’ll first want to cook the chicken and sausage in a little bit of olive oil until it starts to brown and is no longer pink. Move the chicken and sausage to one side of the pan and then add the chopped onion and cook for a couple more minutes until the onion becomes soft and translucent.
You can then add the garlic, the rice and here I go again with some fire roasted tomatoes. I can’t help it, I really do love those fire roasted tomatoes. Regular diced tomatoes work just as well.
Stir everything together then you can add the broth, I used a vegetable broth which is why you see that rich dark color, but chicken broth works as well.
Now is the time to add the smoked paprika, hot sauce and saffron. Saffron is quite an expensive spice, but you really want a bit of saffron here, a little goes a long way. You can now cover the paella pan with a large lid, the only large lid I found that fits the paella pan is from my wok, but it worked great.
Cook the rice for about 15 minutes or until the rice has absorbed most of the liquid, but you’ll notice that the rice is still not cooked through.
What Seafood to Use in Paella
Shrimp, clams and mussels are the common seafood ingredients used in paella. My favorite part is arranging all the seafood. I used large tiger shrimp, deveined and shelled but I left the tail on for a nicer presentation.
Just arrange the clams, mussels and shrimp around the pan. Cover the pan again and cook for another 10 minutes or until the mussels and clams open up.
Let me just tell you your house will smell incredible, your neighbours might come and visit you. Last step is to garnish this gorgeous dish with some fresh parsley and lemon wedges and you’ve got yourself dinner.
You’ll notice that crispy layer of rice at the bottom of the pan, have to say that’s my favorite part, it’s loaded with flavor.
I made this recipe and by far it’s my favorite paella recipe. It’s easy to make and the flavors are wonderful. I think the fire roasted tomatoes put it over the top. I didn’t have the smoked paprika but substituted it with a turmeric and smidgen of liquid smoke. This will definitely be my go-to paella recipe. Thanks for sharing.
If you love this recipe, try these!
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Chicken and Seafood Paella
Ingredients
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 4 chicken thighs boneless and skinless cut into 1 inch pieces
- 2 chorizo sausages cut into 1 inch pieces (I used Italian sausages)
- 1/2 tsp salt or to taste
- 1/4 tsp pepper or to taste
- 1 large onion chopped
- 6 cloves garlic minced
- 1 1/2 cups arborio rice*
- 14 oz diced fire roasted tomatoes (1 can)
- 4 cups vegetable or chicken broth low sodium
- 1 tbsp hot sauce such as Tabasco or Sriracha
- 2 tsp smoked paprika
- 1 tsp saffron
- 1 lb large shrimp shelled and deveined but keep tails on
- 1 lb mussels scrubbed and soaked
- 1 lb clams scrubbed and soaked
- fresh parsley for garnish chopped
- 1 lemon cut into wedges
Instructions
- In a large paella pan heat the olive oil over medium heat. Add the chicken and sausage, season with salt and pepper, then cook for about 5 minutes until the chicken is no longer pink.
- Move the chicken and sausage to one side of the pan, then add the onion to the other half, season with a bit of salt and pepper and cook for 2 minutes until the onion becomes translucent and soft. Add the garlic and cook for another minute.
- Add the arborio and fire roasted tomatoes to the pan and stir well. Let the rice cook in the sauce from the tomatoes for about 5 minutes, you will notice it will start to brown on the bottom, which is what you’re looking for. Add the broth, hot sauce, smoked paprika, saffron and season with salt and pepper if needed. Stir everything together and cover with a large lid. Cook for about 15 minutes or until most of the liquid has been absorbed by the rice. The rice will not be cooked through at this time.
- Turn down the heat and stir the rice around a bit, you will notice the crust on the bottom of the pan, that’s what you’re looking for. Arrange the shrimp, mussels and clams over the rice, cover with a lid again and cook for another 10 minutes or until the mussels and clams open up.
- Turn off the heat and garnish with parsley and lemon wedges.
Recipe Notes
- *Arborio rice is an Italian short-grain rice.
- I used vegetable broth here, that’s why the color of the broth is so rich and dark, if you use chicken broth it will be a lot lighter in color.
- If you don’t have a paella pan, a large skillet will work just as well.
- Any type of sausage will work for this recipe.
- You can use chicken breast instead of thighs.
- Please keep in mind that nutritional information is a rough estimate and can vary greatly based on products used.
Nutrition Information:
I am loving your recipes.. what makes it so much better, is that you are local. I live in NE Calgary.. never checked Langdon out though I drive fairly close.. going from Calgary to Carsland to board my dogs. It is always great to find a local poster/blogger. PS we dispatch Langdon Fire too 😁
Thanks, Maggie! Langdon is really cool, a small hamlet, but everyone is so friendly. 🙂
This is our favorite paella recipe, and we’ve tried a lot! We use chicken chorizo and change up the seafood every time for some variety-last night we used scallops, shrimp, clams and lobster tails. YUM! The flavor is outstanding and cooks to perfection! Highly recommend!
I’m so excited to try this recipe when my paella pan arrives! Jo, I have been baking a storm on my end and following all your recipes! Thanks so much!! Ive been doing some research and I’ve noticed that a lot of paella contain wine, just wanted to know if you can replace 1 cup of stock with 1 cup of wine?? Thanks!
Absolutely you can! If you don’t want to use the wine, chicken stock is the perfect option!
Jo this recipe was amazing! I finally got the try it! I wanted to ask, what do you use to measure the rice? Is it a jasmine rice cup or a baking measuring cup?
I also made it over a gas element and it burnt on the bottom at the necessary heat temperature! Just wondering if you can give me a suggestion on how to prevent this next time?
I’m not sure what a jasmine rice cup is, but you use just a regular measuring cup. Keep in mind that the bottom of the rice should be crispy/crunchy for a paella. If it’s too burnt I would simply turn down the heat a bit.
Omg!!! I’ve never made paella before, but you explained it so simply that I worked up the courage to give it a shot. Well I ROCKED!! 😂🤣 This recipe is so easy, I made it in 20 minutes. I bought the tiny, cheap, frozen, seafood bag in case I ruined it, it wouldn’t hurt me as much🤦🏻♀️ This was delish!! I wish I could show u a pic of how beautiful it turned out. THANK YOU!
** btw I didn’t have saffron, so I substituted with turmeric AMAZING!!
So glad you liked the recipe!
My first attempt at a Paella and the family loved it, thank you, great recipe.
Absolutely delicious! I had made paella only once many years ago. This recipe is better, so flavorful. I used shrimp and scallops for the seafood and also used the chicken thighs. I don’t like the seafood so I ate just the chicken. My husband is crazy about seafood and really enjoyed this.
This was my first time making Paella. It was one of the best dishes I’ve made. Thank you for the receipe!
My pleasure, so glad you enjoyed it!
I love this recipe! I didn’t have a big enough pan so I used a medium pot with a nonstick lining, took a little longer to cook everything but it came out perfect! I made it with spicy Italian sausage and fresh mussels, shrimp, and scallops. Used cayenne instead of hot sauce and 2 cups of rice. Easy to make and tastes so good!
I’m so glad to hear it!
I’ve been cooking this paella for years at deer camp! I use a 14″ cast iron skillet and cook it on a 22′ Weber grill. It’s amazing how similar our two paellas are. Instead of hot sauce, I put in one whole uncut jalapeno pepper for each person. Being uncut it does not add heat to the paella. I dice plum tomatoes instead of using fire roasted tomatoes. It’s almost the same because the paella is cooked on a grill which imparts a natural smoke flavor throughout. I use linguica portugese sausage because everyone liked it better than the chorizo I tried. The cast iron skillet also made great a crust on the bottom which like you everyone loved scraping it off the bottom. Everything else is the same except I finish with sliced asparagus and peas on top. I’m glad so many ppl like your recipe.
I’ve never made this and am excited to do so. I am not a big fan of chorizo or clams. Am thinking of,Italian sausage (beef or pork?) or kielbasa. Could I do lobster or scallops instead of clams/mussels – which aren’t easy to,get in AZ. Jo your recipes are the best and make up half of my weekly menus. Thank u.
You can add whatever works best for you! No harm in customizing a recipe to make it your own!
Hello! I would like to make this wonderful sounding Chicken and Seafood Paella recipe next weekend for a family party, Would you recommend another seafood in place of clams and mussels?
You can use some scallops or cubed pieces of fish!
I’ve made many great versions of chicken chorizo seafood paella, including the much heralded America’s Test Kitchen dutch oven version that was my favorite. That is until now. I made this recipe, but subbed the bivalves (mussels/clams) with sea scallops. Got rave reviews by my guests and hubby. I found my new fav version for making paella in the future. Thanks for this much easier and quicker version of a dinner party favorite!
I made this dish as a request for Father’s Day. I am not a cook nor do I like to cook but I made this dish with love and it was well received. My husband and father in-law loved it! I wish I could include a picture because it really turned out well.
listen im a Puerto Rican for new york my father and my grandfather and my great grandfather use to make this dish right before my eyes andi loved it then and i love it now still well to make a long story short i left new york at a very young age but i could remmeber forgetting what that dish was called and for many years from east to west coast i would ask alk these people i would run intoand no one new what iwas talking about until i seen it i went out to the market bought every thing double made it tasted it and started to cry like a baby cause not only did i miss that taste but all the memory of my family hit at once anyway its a great dish thank you for taken me home
This is the first time I cook paella and I followed the recipe as stated and may I say say oh my god it was the best paella I’ve ever tried this was better than restaurants in Spain.
So glad you enjoyed it!