Recipes

Easy Spanish-Style Paella

Flavoured with regular and smoked paprika, this light and easy take on a classic Spanish rice dish is made with chicken and garnished with hard boiled eggs.

Prep Time:
10 min
Cook Time:
40 min

Ingredients

  • 4 hard boiled eggs, sliced or quartered
  • 3 tbsp ( 45 mL ) olive oil, divided
  • 1 lb ( 0.5 kg ) boneless skinless chicken breast, cut into 1/2-inch (1 cm) strips
  • ½ tsp ( 2.5 mL ) each salt and pepper, divided
  • 1 onion, diced
  • 1 sweet bell pepper, diced
  • 3 cloves garlic, minced
  • 1 1/4 cups ( 315 mL ) paella rice
  • 1 tbsp ( 15 mL ) paprika
  • ½ tsp ( 2.5 mL ) smoked paprika
  • Pinch saffron
  • 3 cups ( 750 mL ) reduced-sodium chicken broth
  • 1 cup ( 250 mL ) canned diced tomatoes
  • 2 bay leaves
  • ¾ cup ( 175 mL ) frozen peas
  • 2 tbsp ( 30 mL ) finely chopped fresh parsley

Instructions

  1. Heat 1 tbsp (15 mL) oil in large skillet set over medium heat; cook chicken, and half of the salt and pepper for 5 to 8 minutes or until browned and cooked through. Remove from skillet; set aside.

  2. Heat remaining oil in skillet; cook onion, sweet pepper and garlic for 3 to 5 minutes or until softened. Stir in rice, paprika, smoked paprika, saffron and remaining salt and pepper. Cook for 2 to 3 minutes or until rice is well coated.

  3. Stir in broth, tomatoes and bay leaves; bring to boil, then reduce to simmer. Cook for 20 minutes. Stir in peas; cook for 5 to 10 minutes or until rice is tender and most of the liquid is absorbed. Remove and discard bay leaves.

  4. Arrange chicken strips over paella. Cover and let stand for 5 minutes. Garnish with hard-cooked eggs and parsley.

Notes

• For a vegetarian dish, omit chicken and add extra sweet peppers. Substitute vegetable broth for chicken broth.

• For a party-style paella, add 1/2 lb (250 g) peeled and deveined shrimp. Cook shrimp along with the chicken in the last 2 minutes of cooking time.

• If you can’t find paella rice, substitute Arborio rice.

• Garnish with strips of store-bought roasted red peppers if desired.