This quick version of chicken paella is just as easy to prepare as it is show stopping to serve. Roasted chicken is nestled into a bed of bomba rice flavored with a simple sofrito and then brightly studded with Spanish chorizo, sweet piquillo peppers, and petite peas. While certainly not authentic, this is my idea of perfection in a paella pan.
Ingredients for Chicken Paella
- sunflower oil (or other high heat cooking oil)
- Spanish chorizo
- onion
- red bell pepper
- tomato
- garlic
- pimenton
- bomba rice (or other short-grain rice)
- saffron threads
- bay leaves
- chicken stock
- roasted chicken
- piquillo peppers
- frozen peas
- kosher salt and fresh ground black pepper
- lemon wedges for serving (optional)
See recipe card for quantities.
Instructions
Preparing the Ingredients
Prepare the chicken stock and set it aside. Cut the piquillo peppers roughly into strips and set those aside as well.
Next prepare the ingredients for the sofrito. Finely chop the onion, red bell pepper, tomato, and garlic. Set the sofrito ingredients aside. Then cut the chorizo into roughly even slices, about an eighth to a quarter of an inch thick.
Heat the oven to 400 degrees F.
Cooking the Chicken Paella
Heat the oil in a paella pan (or other oven-safe pan that is wide and shallow) over medium heat. Add the sliced chorizo and fry for a minute or two until the oil becomes infused with its spices.
Then remove the chorizo with a slotted spoon or spatula and set it aside. At this stage, the cooking oil will have turned a vibrant orange color from the spices in the chorizo.
Next add to the pan the onion, red bell pepper, tomato, and garlic for the sofrito.
Cook the sofrito over medium heat, stirring occasionally, for about 15 minutes or until the vegetables begin to amalgamate and caramelize.
Then add to the pan the rice, pimenton, saffron, and bay leaves.
Stir the rice and the spices together with the sofrito for about a minute. Then pour the chicken broth into the pan. Give the whole mixture of broth, rice, spices, and sofrito a brief and gentle stir just to combine. It will appear soupy at this stage.
Turn down the heat under the pan to low and then arrange the chorizo, chicken, and piquillo peppers in a colorful pattern on top of the soupy looking rice mixture. Then sprinkle the frozen peas all over the top. (Or simply just stir everything gently, but thoroughly, into the rice and broth mixture.)
Finally, place the pan in the oven and cook the paella for about 25 minutes or until the rice has absorbed all of the broth and is completely cooked through.
Serve immediately with lemon wedges alongside.
Hint: The bay leaves will have to be discarded, but there is no need to disturb the presentation of the paella before it is served. Simply remove them as they are found while serving.
Serving suggestions
- To Garnish - thick lemon wedges (a generous spritz of lemon juice adds a lovely zing)
- To Drink- Rioja, sherry (fino or manzanilla), or a Spanish gin & tonic
Equipment
I use a 15 inch paella pan for this dish, but it could also be prepared in an oven-safe skillet that is wide and shallow.
Storage
Chicken paella can be stored in the refrigerator for a day or two.
📖 Recipe
Chicken Paella
Ingredients
- 3 tablespoons sunflower oil or other high heat cooking oil
- 6 to 8 ounces Spanish chorizo cut into ¼ inch slices on the diagonal
- 1 small onion finely chopped
- 1 red bell pepper finely chopped
- 1 medium tomato finely chopped
- 4 cloves garlic finely chopped
- 1 teaspoon pimenton or paprika
- 2 cups Bomba rice or other short-grain rice
- 1 pinch saffron threads
- 2 bay leaves
- 4 cups chicken stock
- 1½ pound roasted chicken torn into chunks
- 4 roasted piquillo peppers cut roughly into strips
- ½ cup frozen peas
- lemon wedges optional for serving
Instructions
- Heat the oven to 400°F.
- Place a paella pan (or other oven-safe pan that is wide and shallow) on the stove over medium heat and add the oil. When the oil is hot, add the sliced chorizo and fry it for a minute or two, until the oil becomes infused with its spices.
- Remove the chorizo from the pan with a slotted spoon or spatula, and set it aside. The cooking oil should be a vibrant orange color at this point from frying the chorizo.
- Add the onion, red bell pepper, tomato, and garlic to the hot oil in the pan to make the sofrito. Cook over medium heat, stirring occasionally, for at least 15 minutes or until the mixture has begun to meld together and caramelize.
- Then add the rice, pimenton, saffron, and bay leaves to the pan. Stir the rice and spices together with the sofrito for about a minute.
- Pour the chicken broth into the pan and give the mixture a brief and gentle stir just to combine thoroughly.
- Turn down the heat under the pan to low. Then arrange the chorizo, chicken, and piquillo peppers into a colorful pattern on top of the soupy looking rice mixture and scatter the frozen peas over the top. (Or simply just stir everything gently, but thoroughly, into the rice and broth mixture.)
- Place the pan in the oven and cook the paella for about 25 minutes or until the rice has absorbed all of the broth and is completely cooked through.
- Serve immediately with lemon wedges alongside.
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