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Chicken & Sausage Paella

January 19, 2020

For busy week nights, it's nice to have a few dishes in your back pocket that come together quick, use only one pan, and act as protein, main dish & side dish all together. Paella is one of those things for me, and I love how versatile it is.

Paella is traditionally a seafood dish, made with shrimp, clams, mussels, squid - really any number of things a fisherman might have left over from trying to sell the day's catch. But for my kids, they're keen on chicken, and I always toss a few clams in or myself.

Chicken & Sausage Paella
Print Recipe
5 from 1 vote

Chicken & Sausage Paella

An easy dinner made in one pan that eats as a complete meal all by itself. Also it's super good.
Prep Time30 minutes
Cook Time30 minutes
Course: Main Course
Cuisine: Spanish
Keyword: dairy free, gluten free, paella, rice
Servings: 8

Equipment

  • 3.5 Qt Cast Iron Casserole with Glass Lid
  • Cutting Board
  • Miyabi Evolution 8in Chef's Knife
  • Flat Wooden Spatula

Ingredients

  • 1 medium yellow onion chopped
  • 1 red bell pepper chopped
  • 1 pasilla pepper (or green bell pepper) chopped
  • 4 cloves garlic finely chopped
  • 2 links Spanish chorizo (or smoked sausage) sliced
  • 3 boneless skinless chicken thighs diced
  • 1.5 Tbsp smoked paprika
  • 1-2 tsp saffron threads
  • 3 cups medium grain rice Spanish Bomba, or Italian Arborio
  • 14oz can fire roasted diced tomatoes
  • 1 cup clam juice
  • 3.5 cups chicken stock unsalted
  • 1 medium lemon cut into 6 wedges, seeds removed
  • 1 lb clams little neck or Venus
  • 1/2 cup Italian parsley roughly chopped
  • olive oil
  • salt
  • pepper

Instructions

  • Place your cast iron skillet or paella pan on medium heat. Add about 2 Tbsp olive oil and bring to temperature. Add the onion, peppers, garlic, and a couple pinches of salt and black pepper. Saute until the onions begin to turn transluscent.
  • Add another 2 tsps of olive oil. Then add the sausage and chicken, cook until the chicken is almost cooked through. Add the paprika and saffron, season again with a few pinches of salt and pepper and toss together.
  • Add the rice, stir and cook for 2-3 minutes. Add the canned tomatoes, clam juice and chicken stock. Stir together, season again with salt and pepper and add the lemons.
  • Bring to a boil, reduce heat to medium low and cover. Simmer 5-10 minutes, then add the clams and cover again. Simmer for 20-25 minutes until all water is absorbed. Let sit for 5 minutes, then add the parsley on top. Serve warm and enjoy!

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  1. I am Latina and I'm not offended by this dish being called a Paella. It's nice to see different adaptations of dishes from around the world to fit your specific dietary needs/restrictions. I'm going to try this later on this week! I love how the rice is perfectly cooked (which to me is when you see each individual grain). I'll report back how mine turned out :)

  2. Isn’t Julia grain free? Im also grain free and I’d love to see a version of this recipe with some sort of norgrain - like cauliflower rice and how it changes the recipe.

    1. When I make this for Jules, I cook all the ingredients in a pan together, the cauliflower rice in a separate pan, and just toss them together before serving. That helps get rid of any excess moisture and gives the final dish its best texture.

  3. Well I don’t care what is right or wrong about the name of this recipe, it looks amazing and I can’t wait to try it! I’ve wanted a different kind of recipe to make for Valentine’s Day- this is perfect! Thank you ❤️

  4. Paella is also made with chicken in certain areas of spain. And also, “mar y Tierra” which is a mix of see food with chicken.
    Your paella looks yummy but is not the traditional from Spain, it is very Americanized!

  5. This must be American paella! Not Spanish for sure! Sausage? Sorry guys I am very supportive with everything you do but... this is a no no! ???????????????????? i can send you the real recipe if you want me to! Or... just translate the recipe from a Spanish website! ???????????????? but this is like burning our flag in the middle of a square. ????????

      1. I don’t mean it in a bad way, although my heart is aching ???????? I hope I instilled in you the curiosity to try the real thing. It’s even easier. I promise!

        There is a guy on ig Ilovepaella.jm he ships the ingredients from Spain if you want to have a look (and you go to Jamaica) ????????

        In the meantime enjoy your rice ????

    1. Your comment is so overwrought. No, this is not a traditional Spanish paella (most telling is the use of a dish that's too deep and and too heavy-bottomed to achieve a good socarrat), but it's a fairly typical Americanized version. There's nothing new about rice dishes like this being referred to as "paella" in the US. Share some helpful tips or links to different recipes (or a link to a good paella pan), but your metaphor about flag-burning is patently absurd.

    2. I love Chrus's simple americanized version but would also love your authentic s pi anish version if you donot mind sharing!

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