Seafood Free Paella

If you love paella but hate how expensive it can be to make, you will love this easy poor man's gluten free paella. Full of scallops, shrimp, and calamari, your friends will never know you skimped on cost.

Paella is one of those comfort foods I will always order in a restaurant. It is naturally gluten free, and it is filled with delicious seafood and rice. I was always intimidated to try to make it. Maybe it was the fancy-sounding ingredients?

Unfortunately, paella can also be a very expensive meal to create. Shrimp, mussels, and other specialty meats and seafood prices add up really fast.

Seafood Paella Recipe

I am really excited to share this recipe with you because it is easy to make, and the cost is so low! It is a great poor-man paella and is great for those on a budget!

If you are on a budget, I have tons of easy tips to save money on gluten free. Living gluten free on a budget is easy!

Paella is a Spanish dish that originated in the 19th century on the Eastern coast of Spain. I want to share the three rules for making paella. (My recipe breaks at least one rule, so I am a bit of a rebel!

Paella Stock Photos, Pictures & Royalty Free Images

I have always thought that paella is a showstopper meal that is perfect for entertaining. It not only has a beautiful golden color from being cooked with saffron threads but having lots of seafood and meats slowly cooking in the rice adds a beautiful depth of flavor that bursts through with every bite.

Step 3: Add the thawed seafood and canned diced tomatoes. If you want to get fancy, toss in some mussels or clams. These are inexpensive and can add some pizzaz to this gluten free paella.

Step 4: Add the rice and continue to cook the paella on medium heat until it boils. Once it comes to a boil, turn the cooking temperature to low. Stir frequently.

Spectacular Seafood Paella With Minimal Effort

Step 5: the liquid will continue to cook down. When it is gone, and your rice is tender, the paella is ready to serve!

You can use a wide variety of seafood and meats in your seafood paella recipe. Chicken, sausage, mussels, fish, clams, and shrimp are most commonly used. My kids love shellfish of any kind; as long as there is no fish in this recipe, they will eat it up. (My kids are funny about fish.)

Trader Joe's sells a mixed seafood bag in their frozen section, priced really low. I love to use this instead of expensive seafood in my paella recipe.

Paella De Marisco (seafood Paella) Recipe By Pallavi Jayswal

Please know that every gluten free flour blend has a different starch to grain ratio. If you use a blend I didn't test, you may need to adjust your moisture levels in your baked goods.

Serving: 1 g Calories: 288 kcal Carbohydrates: 45 g Protein: 11 g Fat: 7 g Saturated Fat: 2 g Polyunsaturated Fat: 1 g Monounsaturated Fat: 1 g Cholesterol: 30 mg Sodium: 838 mg Potassium: 342 mg Fiber: 3 g Sugar: 4 g Vitamin A: 365 IU Vitamin C: 28 mg Calcium: 48 mg Iron: 2 mg

Nutritional information is an estimate provided to you as a courtesy. You should calculate the actual nutritional information with the products and brands you are using with your preferred nutritional calculator.

Paella Images, Stock Photos & Vectors

If you love the recipes you find on my blog, I would love for you to sign up for my newsletter (and get my free gluten free lemon dessert e-cookbook!)When I came up with this recipe, I couldn't decide if I should do all meat, vegetarian or a seafood paella; so I compromised and made what I am calling Mixed Seafood Paella.

I am notorious for being indecisive. Now you know why I frequently post “this or that” questions for you to all decide for me on Facebook so I don't have to! After 10 years together, my husband has learned to love me despite this fault, although it used to drive him crazy. When we're out to eat, he even offers to order my runner up dish when I can't decide what to chose from the menu.

I'm also a people pleaser and always worry about making the wrong decision and letting someone down. We were having friends for dinner last month and I wanted to make paella. I didn't know whether they liked seafood paella, strictly meat or a vegetarian paella so after going back and forth I took the leap and decided to throw everything but the kitchen sink into it.

Low Carb Seafood Cauliflower Paella

Paella is a traditional Spanish dish of short-grain rice, saffron and good quality olive oil. There are 3 different popular versions: seafood, vegetarian, or mixed meat and seafood. Keeping with the theme of my indecisiveness, my favorite is the mixed version The variety of seafood balances the spice of the chorizo and gives it a subtle smooth flavor. Plus it keeps me from having to chose and I get the best of all worlds!

Being grain-free, the traditional short-grain rice that is normally used is not an option to me, so I used cauliflower chopped up very finely to resemble rice grains. Once cooked, the “riced” cauliflower tenderizes and mimics the consistency of rice. Cauliflower rice is nothing new to the grain-free world, but it is extremely versatile. I use a spiced saffron cauli-rice when I make Indian food to serve under the rich sauces. You really can substitute it for any of your favorite rice dishes.  Try using it in this Cajun Dirty Rice , Vietnamese Fried Rice , or just as a simple side dish with butter and seasoning .

Never cooked shellfish before? Don't'fret. I didn't have much experience with it either before this dish but it's really simple. If you don't like seafood, feel free to make this Paella your own. Add more chicken or sausage, or replace the meat with vegetables. You will want to use the largest shallow skillet you have so the cauli-rice cooks evenly.  I use this oval skillet from Le Creuset. It's not meant to be a paella pan necessarily, but it works perfectly! 

Spanish Seafood Paella Recipe

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Paella is one of my all-time favorite dishes ever and this Cauliflower Rice Seafood Paella is right up there with the popular Spanish Seafood Paella. It offers the exact same flavors and the texture of the cauliflower rice is spot on. This paella is super healthy, easy to make and is low carb & grain free.

The combination of seafood that I used was the Spanish typical: Squid, Shrimp and Fresh Mussels. This combination is very simple yet offers an array of flavors and textures that make this Cauliflower Rice Seafood Paella Recipe an absolute stunner. If you´re looking for a low carb paella that actually taste like a paella, you won´t be disappointed with this recipe.

Mexican Style Seafood Paella

The key part to making thisCauliflower Rice Seafood Paella Recipe is to nail the texture of the cauliflower rice. The secret is to add no liquid into the pan like you would a traditional paella. Cauliflower rice does not absorb water like regular rice does, which means if you do add liquid you will end up with a mushy rice that has no texture.

In this recipe I will show you exactly how to cook the cauliflower rice so you end up with the exact paella style texture. Watch the video below on how to make this Cauliflower Rice Seafood Paella or check out the recipe card below, which you can print. Salud!

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