We all love a one pot meal so say hello the original one pot meal - Paella and if you’ve never tried paella before - imagine it’s like a Spanish fried rice with lots of textures and aromatics !
If you have been following along this is part of a lil series I am doing where I am making plant-based versions of classic Spanish dishes. The recipe and instructions may be a little advanced but luckily I have tried to make it a very streamlined process with picture instructions to go along which can be found down below. Just don’t forget the golden rule - no stirring - it is not risotto and n paella is complete without that crispy rice left at the bottom of the pan !
What you will need:
Sharp Chef Knife
1 Large Sauté Pan
Cutting Board
Paella Pan
Paella + Vegan Chicken
yields about 4 servings / prep + cook time approx. 2 hours
Ingredients - Paella
2 tbsp - olive oil
1/2 cup - yellow onion
1/2 cup - diced red bell pepper
1/2 cup - diced tomatoes
3 tbsp - minced garlic
1 cup - paella rice ( arborio rice works too )
salt + pepper to tase
1 tsp - paprika
4 cups - warm vegetable stock mixed with 1 tsp saffron
2 - bay leaves
1 - sprig rosemary
1 tbsp - freshly squeezed lemon juice
Vegan Chicken
2 tbsp - olive oil
20 pieces - vegan chicken ( I used Gardein brand )
1/2 tbsp - minced garlic
1/4 cup - white wine
1 tbsp - fresh lemon juice
1 tbsp - vegan butter ( I used Earth Balance brand )
salt + pepper to taste
Toppings
8 pieces - quartered artichoke hearts
8 slices - red bell pepper
2 tbsp - chopped parsley / cilantro
4 pieces - Romano beans ( or something similar like snow peas )
4 pieces - quartered lemons
Instructions
Step 1 - Sauté + build the base
There is nothing worse than going to make something and realizing you don’t have the stuff ! Take this moment to gather everything.
Once you have diced the onions, peppers and tomatoes and minced the garlic its time to begin sautéing and building the base of the paella. If you have a new paella pan you may need to heat it up well to sort of “set the pan” for a lack of better words. This sort of activates the non-stick properties. Once the pan is ready drizzle a bit of olive oil and you are good to go.
Sauté the onions first, let them get some color and then add in the peppers. Let them build some color and then add in the tomatoes, do the same thing and then lastly add in the garlic. Mix this all well to combine and let all this cook down until the tomatoes get kinda jammy. After this add in the 1 cup of rice and do some stirring to allow everything to combine well and to toast the rice. Before we go in with the stock this is a great time to add in the paprika, salt and pepper.
Step 2 - Deglaze the pan with stock
Heat up 4 cups of vegetable stock and whisk in a teaspoon of saffron and pour all of this over the rice along with 2 bay leaves. Paella is not to be mixed or stirred as it messes up the final product by not allowing the rice to get crispy on the bottom and it will also make the paella sort of gummy if there is too much mixing going on. So ideally there is just one mix that happens when one pours the stock over the rice to allow all the veggies to mingle evenly. Taste the broth and season with a bit of extra salt and pepper if needed and tuck in a sprig of rosemary along with a squeeze of fresh lemon juice over top.
Once the stock is poured in, especially if the stock is warm / hot the paella will be bubbling and cooking on a high heat. At this point you want to bring the heat down to low. Watch the stock levels and let this kinda cook low n slow. Once the stock is at the same level as the rice this is when I go in adding the veg toppings like the slices of red bell pepper, Romano beans and artichokes. For an authentic paella there is no lid involved however tin foil is used to cover to steam the rice while allowing enough steam to escape. All in all as a rule of thumb is recommend cooking uncovered for about 20 minutes and then cooking on low heat covered for another 15 minutes. Make sure to let the paella rest for 5 minutes before digging in.
Step 3 - Making the chicken
For this recipe I was trying in a sense to replicate chicken breast or thighs which is why I squished the chicken with a wooden spatula. This part is very much optional. Heat up a sauté pan and drizzle a bit of olive oil and then add in the chicken strips and allow them to get some color on both sides. Once the chicken is nice and golden, add in some minced garlic, white wine and lemon juice and let this cook down a bit for the alcohol to cook out before adding in some vegan butter. Season with salt and pepper to taste and set this to the side to add on top of the paella later.
If this were to not be a vegan paella I wouldn’t cook the chicken separately. I opted to do that as steaming vegan chicken doesn’t make for as nice of a texture versus sautéing it in some garlic and butter but this is totally up to you as you could opt out on the faux chicken all together.
Step 4 - Plating + serving
Once the paella has rested, the tin foil can be removed and you can top with the vegan chicken or serve that on the side if you like. Garnish the whole thing with some chopped parsley and or some cilantro with a generous squeeze of lemon over top ! Be sure to have some lemons cut for serving as each serving is traditionally served with some lemon for extra lemoney goodness !
Paella is typically eaten family style along side other tapas like shishito peppers and patatas bravas to take a peak at those recipes if you would like to have a fully decked out Spanish table spread to feast over.
If you make it, please tag me on Pinterest or Instagram so I can see! It’s my favorite thing to scroll through stories and see what you all are making.
And of course feel free to leave any questions, comments or reviews! This is the best place to reach me, and I’d love to hear from you <3