How to Prepare Paella - Chicken Rice, Tips From Spain Style 🥘
🐨 Why Kids Love This Dish
This chicken rice recipe is a guaranteed hit with kids due to its mild and delicious flavor. You can easily customize it by swapping out the green beans for vegetables they prefer. With this recipe, even picky eaters will ask for seconds! 🎉
Tips for Perfect Chicken Rice
How It Differs from Authentic Paella
While many call this dish "chicken paella," it’s actually chicken rice, as the original Valencian paella has specific ingredients and preparation methods protected by its designation of origin. However, this rice dish is a delicious, easy-to-make alternative, perfect for enjoying with your family.
Conclusion
Chicken rice is a flavorful, traditional dish perfect for sharing on any occasion. With our complete paella kit, which includes a lid and traditional seasoning, you can prepare this recipe and many more with spectacular results.
Try cooking this delicious rice dish and make it a family favorite, especially for the kids! 🍴
Do you think all rice dishes are called "paella"? In the Valencian Community, the birthplace of authentic paella, rice dishes like this chicken rice are not referred to as paella, but that doesn’t make them any less delicious. This recipe combines simplicity and tradition, making it perfect for the whole family, especially the little ones. With the secrets I’ll share, you’ll achieve a flavorful rice dish with that coveted socarrat (the crispy, golden crust) at the end of the cooking process. Let’s get cooking!
Sear the chicken: Heat the olive oil in your paella pan and sear the chicken pieces with a pinch of salt for about 10 minutes until golden brown.
Prepare the sofrito: Push the vegetables to the edges and add the grated tomatoes to the center of the pan. You don’t need to add anything else, not even a special sofrito sold online. With paella seasoning spices, you’ll have everything you need to achieve the best paella scent & flavor.
Incorporate the rice: Add the paella seasoning spices and quickly stir to prevent burning.
If you don’t have traditional paella seasoning, you can add saffron, but you won’t be able to achieve that rich, flavorful, aroma and slightly gelatinous texture that forms on top of the finished rice.
Add the hot broth. Once it starts boiling, never stir the rice. Rice should never be stirred until it’s fully cooked and ready to serve.
To achieve the typical socarrat, increase the heat at the very last moment before turning it off for a few seconds. When you hear that signature sizzling sound, the socarrat is ready. Be careful not to burn it!
Rest with a lid: Remove the pan from the heat, cover it with the lid included in your Tips From Spain paella kit, and let it rest for 10 minutes.
This step is essential for perfect rice.
Servings 4
* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2,000 calorie diet. Your daily value may be higher or lower depending on your calorie needs.
This chicken rice recipe is a guaranteed hit with kids due to its mild and delicious flavor. You can easily customize it by swapping out the green beans for vegetables they prefer. With this recipe, even picky eaters will ask for seconds! 🎉
To ensure you always have the right amount of broth for your paella, follow this simple trick:
✔ After browning the meat, add the exact amount of water calculated based on the rice you’ll use ("1 part rice to 2.5 parts water - the best tip").
✔ Let the meat continue simmering—this will make it more tender and enhance the broth’s flavor.
✔ Mark the water level by checking where it reaches on the edges of the paella pan—as it evaporates, a visible line will remain.
✔ Before adding the rice, refill the broth (water) until it reaches that original mark—this ensures you have the exact amount of broth for proper rice cooking.
✔ Now add the rice, and you’ll never run out of liquid or end up with too much water!
This simple but effective method guarantees perfectly cooked paella every time. 🥘🔥