Paella is a fickle food–a food that inspires questions. Lots of questions. Such as:
What kind of rice do I use? How do I achieve that perfectly crisp, but not burned rice bottom? Do I adjust the cooking time based on what I’m putting in it? Do clams release more moisture than mussels? Seafood or meat? Or both? In what order should everything go into the pan?
What if I’m a broke recent graduate with a non-profit job that’s good for humanity but crap for my bank account, and I can’t afford an ounce of saffron? What if I don’t have a paella pan? Is there other intelligent life in the universe, and if so, do they know how to make paella?
Rest easy, my friends. We have an answer to all these questions that also renders them kind of obsolete: this easy, largely fool-proof paella.
This simple chicken chorizo paella may not be the way a purist in Spain might do it, and we’re no strangers to making it the traditional way, in the special paella pan we schlepped over from Spain—lots of stirring, saffron, and anxiety-ridden hovering.
If you really want to go the authentic route, you can also order a fine carbon steel Paella Pan from Amazon. But this is the weeknight in-a-pinch version that has only 10 ingredients and won’t cause any stress-induced migraines. Also, it’s pretty legit awesome.
Check out our Chinese Cooking Tools page on getting the versatile cast iron pan found in this post or maybe getting a rice cooker and trying this recipe in that (it works fine also!) or maybe just to get some more information and some useful links to products.
For other similar but very different rice recipes with Chinese flavors, check out our easy rice cooker ribs and rice and chicken and mushroom clay pot rice.
Recipe Instructions
Ok. Get ready for the easiest paella ever. Season the chicken with salt and pepper. In a medium cast iron skillet or other wide, flat skillet, heat the olive oil over medium high heat and brown the chicken.
We’re using a cast iron skillet, which makes it easier to distribute heat evenly across your entire paella. We highly recommend cast iron pans. They’re pancake griddles, chemical-less non-stick pans, and panini presses, all rolled into one. Win!
Remove from the pan, add the onion, and cook over medium heat until caramelized.
Add the chorizo and crisp it up.
Add the tomato and cook for a minute.
Then add the yellow rice (we used Vigo brand) and toast it for a couple minutes.
Add the butter beans, chicken broth, and the browned chicken, and season to taste. Shake the pan so all the ingredients are distributed evenly. Bring the mixture to a boil.
Once boiling, lower the heat to the lowest setting and cover the pan tightly with a lid or with foil. Cook, covered, for about 25 minutes (you can peek in towards the end to see if you need to add in a little more liquid). In the last five minutes of cooking, sprinkle the peas over the top, cover, and finish cooking until the rice is tender and the peas are warmed through.
And that’s it! Done. We were originally going to call this an “Easy Chicken Chorizo Paella for 2.” But that would only be true if the two of you haven’t eaten in 2 days and are particularly ravenous. It’s more like 4 human-sized portions.
Wait…brainstorm! Would it be a bad idea to throw all the ingredients (rice, browned chicken, crisped chorizo, beans, peas, etc.) into a rice cooker and press ‘ON’? Methinks a bunch of Spaniards are probably rolling over in their graves, but it also sounds pretty painless and awesome. It could work…
If any of you decide to experiment with that, we want to hear your findings! Best idea ever…or complete no no?
Hypothesis: best idea ever.
In any case, if you’re not into all that scientific method malarky, this chicken chorizo paella is still more than easy enough for anyone. Enjoy it, and feel free to leave us a message in the comments!
Easy Chicken Chorizo Paella
Ingredients
- 8 chicken drumettes
- salt and pepper
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 small onion (chopped)
- 3 links chorizo (sliced)
- 1 tomato (chopped)
- 2 cups yellow rice (we use Vigo brand)
- ½ cup large butter beans (canned)
- 1 3/4 cups chicken broth
- ½ cup peas (fresh or frozen)
Instructions
- Season the chicken with salt and pepper. In a medium cast iron skillet or other wide, flat skillet, heat the olive oil over medium high heat and brown the chicken. Remove from the pan, add the onion, and cook over medium heat until caramelized.
- Add the chorizo and crisp it up. Add the tomato and cook for a minute. Then add the rice and toast it for a couple minutes. Add the butter beans,broth, and browned chicken, and season to taste. Shake the pan so all the ingredients are distributed evenly. Bring the mixture to a boil.
- Once boiling, lower the heat to the lowest setting and cover the pan tightly with a lid or with foil. Cook, covered, for about 25 minutes (you can check it towards the end to see if you need to add more water or cook it longer). In the last five minutes of cooking, sprinkle the peas over the top, cover, and cook until the rice is tender.
Hi – I love this blog and use at least once a week for quick recipe ideas during weeknights. Is there any way to update this recipe for rice cooker/instant pot? I feel that it is more fool-proof especially when scaling ratios (I tend to double recipe with hungry boys). I always find cooking rice on stovetop risky (I either undercook with hard/bony rice or overcook and burn the bottom). I do admit I do not use cast iron pan given large portions maybe can try a large dutch oven.
Hi Lily, I just made this recipe again the other day and remembered how much I love it, so I’m excited that you’re commenting on it now! Yes, you can adapt it for the rice cooker by simply adding the rice (1 pack of the vigo brand rice is about 2 cups, which is the equivalent of 2 2/3 rice cooker cups), and filling the rice cooker with the appropriate amount of water/stock. Then sear the chicken and the sausage separately, add it to the rice cooker, and cook the onions and tomatoes in the pan, and add that to the rice cooker, along with the butter beans.
To cook the peas, simply wait for the rice cooker to finish cooking, add the peas on top, and close the cooker for another 5 minutes to heat the peas through.
All that said, a couple days ago, I did make this recipe using the instructions in the post, and it came out great!
Would like to try one with seafood. Ideas? Recipe?
Hey Adrienne, we’ll have to come up with a recipe and get back to you!
So glad I found your site! This is the first recipe of yours that I made – delicious – big hit with the family! Looking forward to trying more of your recipes.
Awesome, thanks for the feedback Adrienne! We hope you keep cooking with us. :)
Your blog has been a life saver! I always turn to your site when I don’t know what to make for dinner. This shortcut paella is one of the many recipes that has turned into a staple in my house. I have even shared this with my sister who has also made this multiple times. Thank you guys for keeping this blog updated with new recipes, great pictures, and charming stories. I have enjoyed trying many of the Chinese recipes as well. They are all great! Thank you for providing instructions that make them so easy to whip up!
That’s awesome, Joy! This recipe doesn’t get a lot of love on the blog, because it’s one of our older ones, but I’m so glad you like it. It’s one of my favorite shortcut meals as well. :)
I just wanted to thank you for the recipe and let you know I did use a rice cooker. I seared the sliced chorizo (5 links-spicy flavoring), 1 inch cubes of raw chicken breast (2 large breasts) and the garlic, onion and peppers before putting in rice cooker. Then I added in the family size Vigo yellow rice pack (with spices) and added a little extra cumin. I omitted the tomato (because I didn’t have it) and don’t like butter beans, but did toss in canned peas at the end. I added everything to the rice cooker, added 2 cups water and 2 cups chicken broth then hit start, 45 minutes later, perfection!
Awesome, thanks for sharing, Catherine!