Cheap Paella Recipe

This simple Spanish Paella recipe delivers amazing flavor from chorizo, shrimp, and traditional paella ingredients. It’s quick and easy enough for a weeknight family meal, but impressive enough for dinner guests!

Traveling is not really my thing – I’m quite happy being a homebody, plus I hate flying. But there are some countries on my bucket list to visit, including Spain. Mainly to experience authentic Paella. Is that weird? It’s their most beloved dish and too many American restaurants screw it up.

Not at all surprising how much I love paella…because RICE. Give me a big bowl of my Cilantro Lime Rice, Spanish Rice, and Rice Pilaf, and I am happy!

Spanish Paella Seasoning And Spice Mix

Paella is an iconic rice dish of Spain and practically synonymous with Spanish cuisine. It’s a colorful mixture of flavored rice and various meats or seafood, getting its name from the paellera, the flat, round pan in which it’s cooked.

While it’s incredibly easy to make, it’s also easy to get it wrong. There are 4 elements that separate it from just any ‘ol rice dish.

For real authentic Paella, yes. A true paella pan is large, round, and shallow with two looped handles. The emphasis is on diameter, rather than height. The flat bottom ensures the rice cooks in a thin layer and is what helps develop that awesome socarrat that I mentioned above. The pan is actually so important that it’s where the name comes from – the word “paelle” means “pan.”

Authentic Spanish Seafood Paella Recipe

If you don’t have a paella pan, an acceptable alternative is a skillet. Use one that is stainless-steel or aluminum. Stay away from cast-iron (which retains too much heat) or nonstick pans (which will never give you the socarrat we’re after.) Try to use a heat source that can accommodate the whole paella pan or skillet. If your burners are a bit spaced out, you’ll need to move and rotate the pan a bit while cooking to evenly distribute the heat.

Interestingly enough, true authentic paella, dating back to the 1800’s, usually consisted of rabbit, snails, chicken, maybe some eel, and lima beans. Sounds delicious, right? Not. Luckily, that list is in the history books and not typically used today. But purists will argue anything other than those ingredients and you’ve simply got arroz en paella (rice in a paella pan.) But I say if you stick with the 4 elements I talked about, it’s Paella!

Now that I’ve probably scared you off from making this paella recipe, make it anyway! LOL. The fact is, paella, while super easy, does take practice to get it right, and I still bungle it from time to time. Even if you don’t have the right size pan, or burners close together, or accidentally use too much liquid, or stir it one too many times, this is still a delicious dish!

Quick And Easy Paella

I simplified the steps and ingredients to make this easy and a great option for any weeknight meal. You’re going to love it!

I hope you love this delicious and simple recipe – be sure to give it a review below! Also don’t forget to follow Belly Full onFacebook, Instagram, Pinterest, andYouTube!

This simple Paella recipe has amazing flavor from chorizo, shrimp, and traditional paella ingredients. Made easy enough for a weeknight family meal!

Easy Seafood Paella Recipe (full Tutorial)

Calories: 457 kcal | Carbohydrates: 49 g | Protein: 28 g | Fat: 16 g | Saturated Fat: 5 g | Cholesterol: 211 mg | Sodium: 1366 mg | Potassium: 474 mg | Fiber: 3 g | Sugar: 4 g | Vitamin A: 1466 IU | Vitamin C: 10 mg | Calcium: 138 mg | Iron: 5 mg

Nutritional information given is an automatic calculation and can vary based on the exact products you use and any changes you make to the recipe. If these numbers are very important to you, I would recommend calculating them yourself.

Subscribe for free to receive new weekly recipes and instantly get a week’s worth of family meals that are quick, easy, and inexpensive to make!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.

Try Our Easy Weeknight Paella Recipe

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.

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!

Spanish Style Paella Recipe: How To Make It

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!

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.

Is There Such A Thing As Perfect Paella? Try This Recipe

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.

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

Paella For A Crowd Recipe (with Video)

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.

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.

Chicken And Chorizo Paella

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.

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Easy Seafood Paella Recipe