Chicken and Prawn Paella

What to expect

Taste

Deeply savoury from the reduced sofrito and the toasted socarrat, with saffron's distinct, slightly medicinal floral note running through the rice, smoked paprika adding a gentle smokiness, and sweet prawn and chicken meat throughout.

Aroma

Sweet cooked onion and pepper, deep reduced tomato, a rounding smokiness from the paprika, and, right at the end, the toasted, nutty smell of the socarrat forming on the base.

Texture

Dry, separate grains of rice with a slight bite, a crisp base where the socarrat has formed, tender chicken and prawns, and crisp green beans throughout.

Sound

A hard, rolling boil for the first stage, settling to a gentler simmer, and a distinct, audible crackle against the metal in the final minute as the socarrat forms.

How the flavour moves

The savoury depth of the sofrito registers first, saffron's distinct floral note builds through the middle, and the toasted, nutty flavour of the socarrat is what lingers longest, alongside the sweetness of the chicken and prawns.

Serve it

Served hot, straight from the pan, and rested briefly under foil before serving to let the rice finish absorbing any remaining moisture.

Goes with

A wedge of lemon squeezed over at the table, and little else — the dish is built to be a complete meal on its own.

Cook's notes

Difficulty

Moderate — the technique of not stirring and judging the socarrat by smell both take some getting used to.

Cost

Moderate to high — chicken and prawns together, plus saffron, add up more than a plainer rice dish.

Equipment

The widest, shallowest pan available, ideally 38-40cm, since depth is the main enemy of a good paella.

When to make it

A weekend lunch, in keeping with the dish's traditional serving time.

Best season

None; every ingredient is shelf-stable or standard fresh produce available year round.

You know it is done when

The rice should sit dry with no standing liquid once cooked, the chicken skin should stay visibly crisp having been kept proud of the liquid throughout, and the base should show a light golden crust once the socarrat has formed.

And it feels like

The rice should be tender with the faintest bite remaining at the edge of the pan, dry and separate rather than creamy or clumped together.

Food safety

The chicken must reach a safe internal temperature, which the combination of initial browning and the full simmering time in the pan should achieve; check the thickest piece if there is any doubt. The prawns are added only in the last four minutes specifically so they do not overcook.

Where it goes wrong

• Using a deep pan instead of a wide, shallow one, which steams the rice rather than letting it dry out and crust properly.
• Stirring the rice once the liquid is added, which rubs starch off the grains and makes the dish creamy rather than dry and separate.
• Overcooking the prawns by adding them too early, which makes them rubbery.
• Leaving the pan on too long chasing a socarrat, which turns from toasted to burnt within under a minute.

If it does go wrong

Creamy, risotto-like texture rather than separate grains: the rice was stirred after the liquid went in. Soggy, undercooked middle: the pan was too deep or too narrow for the quantity of rice. No socarrat forming: the final high-heat stage was cut short, or the pan was not listened to closely enough at the end. Rubbery prawns: they were added too early rather than in the final four minutes.

Making it ahead

The sofrito base can be made ahead and reheated, but the rice itself should be cooked fresh and served immediately for the best texture.

Keeping it

Keeps for up to two days refrigerated, though the socarrat and the rice's separate texture do not survive being reheated in the same form.

Reheating

Reheat gently in a covered pan with a splash of water or stock; a microwave tends to make the rice gluey.

Freezing

Not recommended — the rice's texture and the crisp chicken skin both suffer badly on thawing.

Leftovers

Edible reheated, though best treated as a different, softer dish rather than expecting the same texture as fresh.

Scaling it

Scales with real care needed for pan size — a wider pan is required for a larger quantity rather than simply using more liquid in the same pan, since the rice depth is what the whole method depends on.

Substitutions

Bomba or calasparra rice are specifically chosen for their ability to absorb around three times their volume in liquid without splitting, which is what allows a fixed-ratio, no-stirring method to work; ordinary long-grain or risotto rice will not behave the same way.

Dietary swaps

Contains crustaceans. Naturally free of gluten, milk, egg and nut allergens as written.

Shopping for it

Genuine bomba or calasparra rice, and real saffron rather than a substitute colouring, both matter considerably to the final result.

Keeping the cost down

Using chicken thighs rather than a whole chicken and a modest quantity of prawns keeps the cost more reasonable than an all-seafood version.

Sustainability

Worth checking the sourcing of the prawns specifically, since shrimp and prawn fishing and farming practices vary considerably in their environmental impact.

Nutrition

A good source of protein from both the chicken and prawns, with a moderate amount of fat from the chicken skin and olive oil.

Worth it?

A dish where the single rule not to stir does more for the final result than any other piece of technique, and one worth practising specifically to learn to judge the socarrat by smell.

Where it comes from

Origin

The Albufera lagoon region south of Valencia, Spain.

Also called

Paella; this specific combination is more precisely called arroz a la marinera or arroz de marisco y pollo by many in Valencia.

Said out loud

pah-EH-yah.

What the name means

Paella is the Valencian word for the wide, shallow pan the dish is cooked in, from the Latin patella — the dish is named for its cooking vessel rather than its ingredients.

History

Paella took its present form during the 19th century in the rice-growing country around the Albufera lagoon, originally as an outdoor field lunch cooked by agricultural workers over vine clippings. The traditional Valencian version is built on rabbit, chicken, beans and snails; combining meat with shellfish, as this recipe does, is genuinely contested within Valencia as to whether it deserves the name paella at all, with many preferring the terms arroz a la marinera or simply arroz for such combinations.

Why it matters

One of the dishes most associated with Spain internationally, and Sunday and holiday food across the Valencian Community specifically, almost always eaten at lunch.

When it is eaten

Sunday and holiday meals, traditionally cooked outdoors, and now eaten throughout Spain at any point during the week.

The traditional way

Cooking in a wide, shallow pan without stirring once the liquid is added, and forming a socarrat — a toasted crust on the base — in the final minutes of cooking.

How it changed

The addition of seafood alongside meat, as in this recipe, is a departure from the traditional Valencian rabbit-and-chicken version and remains a genuine point of debate over whether the result should be called paella.

Regional variations

The traditional Valencian version uses rabbit, chicken, snails and beans with no seafood at all; seafood-only and mixed meat-and-seafood versions are more commonly found outside Valencia or are given different names within it.

How this version differs

This recipe combines chicken and prawns, which is not the traditional Valencian combination and is a version some in Valencia would not call paella at all.

Sources and credit

No individual is credited with inventing paella; it developed among agricultural workers in the Albufera region rather than through any documented single origin.

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