Lighter chicken and seafood paella
60 min · 54 g protein · 579 cals / serving
Saffron-gold rice cooked in one wide pan with browned chicken, prawns and tender squid, sweet red pepper, green beans and peas, all soaking up a smoky paprika and tomato sofrito. Left alone at the end, the bottom turns into the crackly, toasted layer Spaniards fight over. Squeeze lemon over it and eat it straight from the pan.
Ingredients
- 1 tbsp olive oil, divided
- 2/3 lb chicken thigh, in 3 cm (1 1/4-inch) pieces
- 1 tsp salt, divided
- 2/3 lb squid (calamari), cleaned tubes, in rings
Sofrito
- 1 cup white rice, bomba or other short-grain, not rinsed
- 2 3/4 cups + 2 tbsp chicken broth, hot
- 3/4 lb green beans, flat or regular, in 4 cm (1 1/2-inch) pieces
- 1 1/3 lb shrimp, large, peeled, tails on
- 1 cup cooked frozen green peas
To serve
- 2 tbsp fresh parsley, chopped
- 2 tbsp lemon juice, from 1 lemon in wedges
Steps
- Heat 1 teaspoon of the oil in a 13–15 inch paella pan or your widest skillet over medium-high heat. Season the chicken with a pinch of salt and brown it all over, 5–6 minutes. Push it to the edges.
- Add the squid to the centre and stir-fry 2 minutes until it turns opaque. Push it to the edge with the chicken.
- Add the rest of the oil, the onion and pepper and cook 5 minutes until soft. Add the garlic for 1 minute, then the grated tomato and paprika, and cook, stirring, for 4–5 minutes until the tomato darkens into a thick paste.
- Stir in the rice to coat it, then pour in the hot broth, the saffron water and the remaining salt. Scatter in the green beans, give one last stir to spread everything evenly, and from here do not stir again. Simmer briskly for 10 minutes, then lower to medium-low and cook 8 minutes more, turning the pan now and then so it cooks evenly.
- Press the prawns into the rice and scatter over the peas. Cook 5–7 minutes more, until the liquid is absorbed, the rice is tender and the prawns are pink and opaque through (145°F); the chicken is long cooked through (165°F). Turn up the heat for the last minute until the bottom crackles and smells toasty, without burning.
- Take the pan off the heat, cover with a clean towel and rest 5 minutes. Scatter with parsley and serve with lemon wedges.
Good to know
Which rice should I use?
Bomba or Calasparra is ideal: it drinks up the broth and stays separate. Italian risotto rice or Japanese short-grain rice work too; avoid long-grain, which goes soft and loses the crust.
Why not stir it?
Stirring releases starch and makes it creamy like risotto. Paella should be dry and separate, with a toasted crust underneath (the socarrat).
Can I add mussels or clams?
Yes. Tuck 1/2 lb of scrubbed mussels or clams into the rice with the prawns, hinge side down, and discard any that stay closed.
Alternative
Per
- Calories
- 88
- Protein
- (39%)
- 8 g
- Fat
- (17%)
- 2 g
- Carbohydrates
- (44%)
- 10 g
- of which sugar
- 2 g
- Fiber
- 1 g
- Sodium
- 285 mg
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Computed from the ingredients with our published formula, not yet kitchen-tested. How
As written, 2315 kcal goes into the pot and 3414 g of ingredients comes out as about 2620 g of food: 88 kcal per 100 g. Cooking moves water and energy density is the score's biggest lever, so the dish is scored as cooked, not as an average of its parts. Every ingredient links to its food page, with the same data and score. The label's percentages are each macronutrient's share of the calories. The full formula.