This easy seafood paella, made with shrimp, clams and chorizo is a delicious one-pot weeknight dish! Under 30 minutes too cook!
Seafood Paella
This seafood paella with chorizo, clams and shrimp is seasoned with saffron for that authentic paella flavor. Paella, a popular dish in Spain, is a favorite in my house. It’s an easy, one-pot rice dish loaded with seafood, chorizo, and veggies. Another delicious Spanish rice dish that I love if you don’t like seafood is my mom’s Arroz Con Pollo.
Ingredients
- Seafood and Meat: cherrystone clams, jumbo shrimp, chorizo are used here. Use any seafood you like.
- Vegetables: onion, garlic, tomatoes, red bell pepper, frozen peas.
- Rice: bomba, arborio rice, short grain or medium grain rice can be used. For convenience and price, I used short grain rice.
- Saffron Threads: saffron is a red spice, which gives the paella its yellow color. Saffron can be expensive, but you don’t need much for this seafood paella recipe.
- Seasoning: Old Bay seasoning, smoked paprika, kosher salt, bay leaves, parsley
- Liquid: lemon juice, olive oil, chicken or vegetable broth
How To Make Paella
- Clean the clams and soak in cold water for 20 minutes.
- Transfer the shrimp to a bowl and season with 1/2 tablespoon lemon juice and Old Bay.
Heat a large, deep nonstick skillet over medium heat. - Add 1 teaspoon of oil and sauté the chorizo, onions, garlic and paprika until soft, about 3 minutes.
Push aside, add the remaining 1 1/2 teaspoons oil in the center and add the rice, stirring to coat with the oil. Sauté 3 minutes. - Add the diced tomatoes, broth, salt, saffron threads (crumbled between fingers) and bay leaf.
Then, mix and bring to a boil, stirring once, place the bell pepper over the rice, reduce heat to low and cover tightly, cook 15 minutes. Uncover, add the clams, shrimp and peas. - Next, cover tightly again and cook on low heat until the clams open up and the shrimp are cooked through, about 10 to 12 minutes.
- Finally, uncover the skillet, raise the heat to medium-high and cook to toast the bottom of the rice, you should hear it sizzling, about 2 to 3 minutes. Discard the bay leaf and garnish with parsley.
What is in a traditional paella?
Paella is a Spanish rice dish that originated in Valencia, Spain and is popular throughout the country. It’s generally seasoned with saffron and paprika, cooked in a large frying pan on an open flame. Paella can include a variety of proteins, including chorizo, sausage, chicken breast, chicken thighs, rabbit, mussels, clams, lobster tails, or shrimp.
Paella Pan
In Spain, paella is cooked in a special skillet called a paellera, but you don’t need a fancy paella pan to make this dish. Here I used a large skillet with a fitted lid and it worked perfectly.
Best Rice For Paella
Bomba is the authentic rice for paella. Calasparra rice is an excellent substitute if you can’t get your hands on bomba rice. Arborio Rice can work if you can’t get bomba or Calasparra. You can also use medium-grain or short grain rice if that is what you have. I would not recommend long-grain rice.
What to Serve with Paella
I like to serve this shrimp paella with a light salad and a glass of Spanish red wine. Gazpacho, a classic Spanish soup served cold, would also be great with paella.
Variations:
There are many variations of traditional paella, so feel free to use what you have on hand. You can easily substitute the clams with mussels – just be sure to thoroughly scrub the mussels first. You can also add some chicken and use less seafood.
- If you can’t find clams, use mussels or double the amount of shrimp.
- If you want to add chicken, use less seafood and add a half-pound of diced chicken breast or thigh when you add the broth.
- If you don’t have fresh bell pepper, jarred roasted peppers will work too.
Storage
Store leftovers in an airtight container 2 to 3 days.
More Rice Recipes You Will Love:
- Arroz Con Pollo
- Black Beans and Rice
- Lentil and Rice Bowls with Eggs and Bacon
- Korean Beef Rice Bowls
- Shrimp, Peas and Rice
Seafood Paella Recipe
Equipment
Ingredients
- 16 cherrystone clams
- 16 extra jumbo shrimp, peeled and deveined
- 1/2 tablespoon lemon juice
- 1/4 teaspoon Old Bay seasoning
- 2 1/2 teaspoons olive oil, divided
- 1 small cooked chorizo link, sliced thin (1.75 oz) I use Goya
- 1/2 cup chopped onion
- 3 garlic cloves, sliced thin
- 1 teaspoon smoked paprika
- 1 1/4 cups short or medium grain rice
- 1/3 cup tomatoes, finely diced
- 2 1/2 cups chicken or vegetable broth
- 1 1/4 teaspoon Kosher salt
- 1/4 teaspoon saffron threads
- 1 bay leaf
- 1/2 red bell pepper, sliced thin strips
- 1/4 cup frozen peas
- 1 tablespoon coarsely chopped parsley, for garnish
Instructions
- Clean the clams and soak in cold water for 20 minutes.
- Transfer the shrimp to a bowl and season with 1/2 tablespoon lemon juice and Old Bay.
- Heat a large, deep nonstick skillet over medium heat.
- Add 1 teaspoon of oil and sauté the chorizo, onions, garlic and paprika until soft, about 3 minutes.
- Push aside, add the remaining 1 1/2 teaspoons oil in the center and add the rice, stirring to coat with the oil. Sauté 3 minutes.
- Add the diced tomatoes, broth, salt, saffron threads (crumbled between fingers) and bay leaf.
- Mix and bring to a boil, stirring once, place the bell pepper over the rice, reduce heat to low and cover tightly, cook 15 minutes. Uncover, add the clams, shrimp and peas.
- Cover tightly again and cook on low heat until the clams open up and the shrimp are cooked through, about 10 to 12 minutes.
- Uncover the skillet, raise the heat to medium-high and cook to toast the bottom of the rice, you should hear it sizzling, about 2 to 3 minutes.
- Discard the bay leaf and garnish with parsley.
