Chicken and Seafood Paella – 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.
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. I even have a quick 30 minute paella recipe in my cookbook coming up.
MY LATEST VIDEOSI do want to mention that this recipe is by no means authentic, this is just my version of 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, but 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.
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 neighbors 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.
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- 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
- 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.
*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.
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Hi, I really want to try this but I only have a 12” round le crueset pan.
Do you think that will work?
Thanks
Should be fine, but because the surface is smaller, you might not quite get that crispy rice layer at the bottom, otherwise it should be fine.
Looking forward to preparing this recipe! I noticed that you soaked the clams and mussels after scrubbing. How long are they soaked? Advice is always appreciated for a great dish like this!
You can soak them for 20 minutes to 1 hour, that should be more than enough.
I’m making this today for Father’s Day. I’m thinking to split the recipe across 2 pans. I have one round 12.5inches wide with a lid but it’s only 1 inch deep maybe not enough for all the liquid. The other is 10.5 square about an inch and a half deep and I don’t have a lid that completely covers it. The round looks like a paella pan even though it’s not I just wish it was a bit deeper. The paella I’ve always had was decorated with strips of roasted red peppers so I am doing the same. Can’t wait to taste it !!
Have always wanted to make this but all the recipes I’ve found have been 2 pages with the ingredients and instructions, this looks much more practical, going to try it
Great recipe, thanks will keep this in the short rotation!
Plan to make this tonight. I’ve studied many paella recipes and yours looks the most user friendly and tasty with chicken and seafood. My wonderful boyfriend just informed me that we have an additional guest from work. I’m freaking out because I’m not sure if I have the correct sized paella pan, and I’m currently looking up rice, broth, to serving size ratios. (And, I have to make our apartment spotless now that we have a new guest I’ve never met. Men. Ugh.) I have a 42 cm/16.5 inch paella pan. We now have 5 guests…3 very hungry Dutch men, 1 American stranger, and me who will be too nervous and buzzed from pre-dinner Cava. I need help with these ratios. I assume the pan is a good enough size for my stove top. But I’m not sure if we’ll have enough to feed everyone. I apologize for rambling but I’m a ‘perfectionist’ who’s put off therapy for months…ok, years.
Your paella pan is fine, you might just have to turn it around as you cook the rice to make sure it all gets cooked evenly, and not just the rice in the middle. This recipe makes quite a lot of paella, I have fed this to 5 hungry men before (construction workers) and they were quite happy and their bellies quite full after. Let me know how it turns out.
Jo, love your recipes. I used an All Clad non stick roasting pan for a large group. It worked out fine and saved the day.
I did it. Yummy.
What should you do if you don’t have a lid for your Paella dish? I’ve tried using lids from other pots but they’re too small.
This looks delicious!
You know what, I’ve made this before without using a lid at all, so don’t worry about it. Just forget the lid.
Made this yesterday and it turned out amazing!! Used basmati rice, both chicken and veg broth and more seafood instead of chicken.
I can’t believe how FAST this was! great recipe, thank you 🙂
I’m so glad you liked it!
Hi Jo,
I plan on making your beautiful Paella recipe this weekend! I was just wondering if I could use the homemade Lobster stock I made a couple of weeks ago? It’s in my freezer currently, and I already used some to make an amazing risotto with prawns and asparagus. Just thought it might be lovely in your recipe too!
Just discovered your site today…wow you are an incredible cook!
Thank you,
Grace
Thank you, Grace! Your Lobster stock would be wonderful in this paella…let me know how it turns out!
I made this dish tonight and it was a hit! Thank you Jo! Keep on cooking!
So glad you liked it, Michelle!
Made this last night for new years eve dinner. It was a hit with everybody, even my 8 year olds! So yummy and will definitely go on traditions list! Thank you for sharing!
made this for new years eve dinner and it was great. this has been on my bucket list of cooking and was thrilled it worked out
Made it today for Christmas. We all loved it.
Greetings from Holland.
Glad you tried this out for Christmas and Prettige Kierstdaag….
Made it yesterday. Fantastic!
What size pan did you use??? I have a 15 inch pan!
This is the one I use here, it’s 13.5 inches. 15 inch should be fine as well.
Will jasmine rice work for this type of recipe?
Yeah it should be fine.