Name: Paella
Cook time: 25 minutes
Total time: 45 minutes
Yield: 4 servings
Ingredients: 5 Tbsp. olive oil; 1 large onion, finely chopped; 2 garlic cloves, crushed to a paste or finely chopped; 2 tomatoes, peeled and chopped; ½ tsp. sugar; Kosher salt; 1 tsp. pimentón dulce (or sweet paprika); A good pinch of saffron threads; 4 cleaned small squid, bodies sliced into ¼-inch-wide rings, tentacles left whole; 2 cups medium-grain Spanish paella rice or risotto rice, such as Arborio or Carnaroli; 3 cups fish or chicken stock, plus more if needed; 1 cup dry white wine; 12 jumbo shrimp in their shells, deveined; 16 mussels, scrubbed and debearded; Lemon wedges and chopped parsley (for garnish, optional)

Paella with shrimp and mussels in a pan.

Photo by Joseph De Leo, Food Styling by Rebecca Jurkevich

Active Time
25 minutes
Total Time
45 minutes

This classic Valencian paella recipe (arroz a la marinera), from cookbook author and food historian Claudia Roden, makes a celebratory seafood paella full of shellfish and flavored with saffron and paprika. Like most traditional paellas, it starts with a sofrito—a flavorful sauté of onion, garlic, tomato, and other seasonings—and is made with short-grain rice. If you can find bomba rice (a Spanish variety), use it; otherwise, look for carnaroli or arborio rice (Italian varieties with a similar texture).

While this version calls for shrimp, squid, and mussels, paella Valenciana is a flexible dish. You could swap in other seafood, such as scallops or clams, or add diced vegetables like green beans, artichokes, or red bell peppers. Paella ingredients vary from place to place in Spain—Roden notes that cooks in many parts of the country add meat to their seafood paellas (chorizo or chicken thighs are popular additions, as are pork, rabbit, snails, or duck sausages). Once you get comfortable with the base recipe, this is a rice dish you can play with.

The key to making an authentic paella, with the coveted crispy layer of rice on the bottom of the pan known as socarrat, is to use a proper paellera (a paella pan), but you can make do with a similar large skillet or carbon-steel pan. If the pan you’re using is too big to fit on a single burner, cook the paella over two burners, rotating the pan every few minutes to distribute the heat evenly.

This recipe was adapted from ‘The Food of Spain’ by Claudia Roden. Buy the full book on Amazon.

Ingredients

4 servings

5 Tbsp. olive oil

1 large onion, finely chopped

2 garlic cloves, crushed to a paste or finely chopped

2 tomatoes, peeled and chopped

½ tsp. sugar

Kosher salt

1 tsp. pimentón dulce (or sweet paprika)

A good pinch of saffron threads

4 cleaned small squid, bodies sliced into ¼-inch-wide rings, tentacles left whole

2 cups medium-grain Spanish paella rice or risotto rice, such as Arborio or Carnaroli

3 cups fish or chicken stock, plus more if needed

1 cup dry white wine

12 jumbo shrimp in their shells, deveined

16 mussels, scrubbed and debearded

Lemon wedges and chopped parsley (for garnish, optional)

Preparation

Step 1
Pour the oil into a 16-inch paella pan set over medium-high heat. Fry the onion until soft, stirring often. Stir in the garlic, and before it begins to color, add the tomatoes. Add the sugar, pimentón (or paprika), saffron, and salt to taste, stir well, and cook until the tomatoes are reduced to a jammy sauce and the oil is sizzling. Add the squid and cook, stirring, for a minute or so. Add the rice and stir well until all the grains are coated. (You can prepare the dish to this point up to an hour in advance.)
Step 2
Bring the stock and wine to a boil in a saucepan. Pour over the rice, bring to a boil, and add salt to taste (even if the broth tastes a bit salty, it will not be salty when it is absorbed by the rice). Stir well and spread the rice out evenly in the pan (do not stir again). Cook the rice over low heat for 10 minutes, moving the pan around and rotating it so that the rice cooks evenly. Lay the shrimp on top and cook an additional 8 to 10 minutes, turning the shrimp when they have become pink on the first side. Add a little more hot stock toward the end if the rice seems too dry and you hear crackly frying noises before it is done. When the rice is done, turn off the heat and cover the pan with a large piece of foil.
Step 3
Bring ½-inch water to a simmer in a saucepan with a tight-fitting lid. Add the mussels and steam, checking every 3 to 5 minutes. As soon as they open, they are cooked. Throw away any that do not open after 10 minutes. Arrange the mussels on top of the paella. Garnish with chopped parsley and lemon wedges for squeezing, if using.

Editor’s note: This recipe first appeared on Epicurious in June 2011. Head this way for more of our best rice recipes →

Cover of The Food of Spain by Claudia Roden featuring a variety of figs.

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Reviews (29)

I made this recipe down to the pinch. It definitely needs more paprika and additional spices as others said. We used shrimp and scallops. I would suggest peeled and deveined shrimp. Also, try grilling the shrimp and scallops and adding at the end with a pinch of salt. I will definitely make again but make some changes.
- Blake
- Houston, Tx
- 3/12/2024
This was delicious but I made some changes in response to comments left by other reviewers. My seafood was scallops and shrimp. I sauteed a few andouille links and some chicken thighs and the scallops and then removed them before proceeding with the recipe as written. I used 2 tsp of paprika (one was smoked and one was sweet). I also added about 1/2 tsp of red pepper flakes. I used saffron threads in the saute with the tomatoes, and also in the simmering broth. I used a Le Creuset skillet and I think my layer of rice wasn't thin enough, so there was some burn. Ended with lemon juice and lemon zest. Will make again. May even invest in a paella pan.
- Sarah Chicago
- Chicago, IL
- 10/16/2023
This is a great recipe Paella With Seafood , had fun making it over the weekend. Recreated the meal that I get from <a href="https://www.flexpromeals.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer ugc">https://www.flexpromeals.com/</a> delivered. Good quality and fresh.
- Vadim
- 9/30/2023
Love the video with 3 levels of chefs. Very clever and informative. Bravo! Thank you!
- Paul Kogan
- NYC
- 8/11/2022
Solid baseline Paella. I always come back and then add my own variants. This time we used a .8 lbs of scallops and crawfish with a link of chorizo sausage. Cook it up in a 12 inch cast iron skillet. Have to mess with the chicken stock levels a bit, but it always comes out delicious and well cooked.
- Jonasty42
- Clinton, NJ
- 3/4/2021
Added pieces of hammour instead of chicken and a handful of peas. Generous with saffron and paprika. It was delicious and sadly no leftovers.
- Reyna
- Dubai, UAE
- 1/6/2020
Absolutely delicious! I didn't have a large enough pan so I cooked it in a pot and it turned out brilliantly! Many people are saying that there wasn't enough liquid for the rice, but personally I didn't have that problem. I used extra squid in mine and it turned out great, wasn't too rubbery or anything. I wouldn't recommend adding too much salt, the recipe does say that it would taste very salty while it's still cooking but, it was still too salty in the end. Otherwise, absolutely brilliant and would make again!
- emilywoodward1128053
- Wicklow, Ireland
- 12/20/2019
This was fantastic! I didn't use squid or clams, but small lobster tails, shrimp, scallops and a link of smoked chorizo because I had those items on hand. I precooked the seafood and added it and the chorizo at the end just to reheat. I added the saffron to the wine and broth to be sure it dissolved properly. As others suggested, I used more sweet paprika than called for and added a dash of smoked paprika and a pinch of red pepper flakes to punch up the flavor of the tomato mixture. Just before serving I added a generous squeeze of lemon juice, about a teaspoon of lemon zest, and garnished with minced parsley. My husband loved it so I'll definitely be making this again!
- LynnHughes157
- San Francisco, CA
- 9/15/2019
This was amazing! I took the suggestions of others and used twice is much paprika using half sweet and half hot spanish. I also used a lot more salt and put paprika on the shrimp before adding it. It was really good. The two of us would have eaten the whole thing if I left it on the table!! Timing of things was good and I would tweak things going forward as far as the ingredients.
- randibee
- Hilton, NY
- 1/11/2019
This recipe is great base, but far too bland, as others have stated. Next time I’ll try adding a few red pepper flakes. Also, cooking the rice took at least 10 minutes longer than stated.
- nhulberg
- CA
- 4/22/2018
Bland! I've had to completely reformat the recipe so my seafood wouldn't be wasted. Way too much rice and no acid at all So disappointed
- hegabriel0018003
- Cleveland, Ohio
- 3/20/2017
Agreed. This recipe is a good start but I've had to make adjustments. We make this every year for our Christmas party in an 18" paella pan. I also double the paprika and used half smoked and half sweet. I just tried sautéing the calamari separately for only about 5 minutes and adding at the end--perfect! When we leave it in the pan for 20-30 minutes it gets too tough. I also add artichoke hearts, roasted peppers and peas. You have to add salt with the stock and be sure to salt and pepper each seafood. I never did before and the seafood was so bland. We add grilled half lemons near the end to add flavor (pan is too big for our stove or oven). I would also top with chopped parsley. After all that, our guests raved! I'll be sure to make it at least twice a year now.
- irasteg
- Boulder, CO
- 7/30/2016
A good start. My first attempt at paella and it worked with some modifications. I had to use arborio rice and that just takes more liquid than the recipe recommends. Increase the stock to 4 cups and the dry white wine to 1 1/2 cups. You might want to add chorizo sausage at the time you are browning the onions. Will definitely do this again.
- frego
- San Antonio
- 8/1/2015
I am upset that I wasted my time on this recipe. Having travelled to Spain extensively in my younger years and truly enjoyed paella this was not what I expected - and I am being kind. Unless you are using parboiled/boil-in-a-bag precooked rice this recipe simply does not have enough fluid in the rice cooking stage. Maybe a step was missed out in the directions or the quantities were wrong -maybe cover the rice/liquid mixture and let it soak after adding the rice - I know it states you can prepare the dish and set it aside for up to an hour - it cannot absorb fluid that isn't there . Extremely disappointed. I was able to salvage a meal from it but it took a whole bunch of work to do so. 1 star is being generous.
- bmwisetta
- Upstate, NY
- 3/21/2015
I make my own sofrito. I never pre-cook the rice. add sofrito with wine with the rice in a paella pan. Gotta have a paella pan. add shell fish and bake until fish is opened and liquid has aborbed. you get socorate (crunchy part of rice on bottom of pan). Delicioso
- lecook
- new jersey
- 4/22/2014