When I was in college I studied abroad in Madrid and fell in love with Spanish cuisine. This might not be the smartest thing to do before a recipe blog post, but let me express that I’m in no way a professional chef. In fact, I’m not even the best cook in my household. If it weren’t for my husband, I would be living off of a diet of popcorn, King’s Hawaiian rolls, and takeout. I say all of this to let you know how easy this paella is to make! If I can do it, so can you.
So when I decided to test out a new recipe, you could say the “STEAKS” were high. Sorry, I couldn’t resist a good dad joke! But really, Will does most of the cooking, and I’m on cleaning duty so I knew I had to get this right or I’d be shunned for like a month. Thankfully, I took that first bite and could see heaven before my eyes. This paella recipe is a winner, y’all! I was so shocked I didn’t even document it the first time! 😂 Now that it’s a crowd favorite it will definitely be added to our monthly dinner rotations.
Another good thing is that it’s generally quick to make and it yields about 8 servings (dinner for the 2 of us for 4 nights). Feel free to substitute out your protein, too. Typically paella has shrimp but we had salmon for dinner earlier on that week so we decided against adding it. Minus a few spices we had at home, we spent a total of $30 for this dinner, which equals about $3.75/plate?! Not too shabby!
(1) 32 oz. low sodium chicken broth
olive oil
1 diced tomato
1 tbsp paprika
2 tsp oregano
1 tbsp red pepper (optional, for my spice lovers)
1 tbsp minced garlic
2 lbs. thinly sliced chicken breast
1 lb. peeled/deveined shrimp (not used in this recipe)
2 pack of Eckrich smoked sausage (comes with 2 links/ea, or use 1 lb. of preferred sausage)
red pepper flakes
2 cups of rice (we used 2 small boxes of Zatarain’s Jumbalaya rice)
fresh parsley
1/4 cup of lemon zest
1 diced red bell pepper
1 diced yellow onion
2 large skillets
1 serving dish
Chop your chicken and sausage into desired sizes. Then, grab a medium-large mixing bowl and place them inside. Stir in the oregano, paprika, ground red pepper, and salt/pepper (to taste). Cover it and put it in the fridge. I typically did this while preparing the rice, but I would suggest if you have the time to do it earlier on in the day to really marinate it!
Add about 2 tablespoons of olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Mix in the garlic, couple dashes of red pepper flakes, and rice for about 3-5 minutes. Once the rice has been thoroughly coated with oil, pour in the chicken broth, lemon zest, and a couple of sprinkles of fresh parsley. Bring to a boil, cover, and reduce heat to medium-low. Let it simmer for about 20 minutes. Tip: avoid the rice drying out. Remove the pan from heat once the broth is about 2-3 minutes away from being completely absorbed.
While the rice is cooking, heat 2 tablespoons of olive oil in the other large skillet over medium heat. Stir in your marinated mix of meat and add onion; cook 5 minutes. Next, add in bell pepper, tomatoes, and sausage; cook 5 minutes. If you’re cooking shrimp, add it now, turning the shrimp, until both sides are pink.
Pour your rice pan onto the serving dish, first. Top with the meat and seafood mixture. Voila! Or should I say….¡Salud!
Let me know if you try this recipe! I can’t wait to see!
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