A healthy, EASY Spanish seafood paella recipe made with the freshest wild caught shrimp, lobster tails, mussels and clams. Plus just a little chicken andouille sausage for extra flavor.
Pronounced “ pa-e-ya “ , with the “ e” as in “ met” , a meal of very humble origins from Valencia, Spain, it is one of the most popular dishes in the world today.
Large wild shrimp and lobster tails are mandatory, especially If you are looking to make a show stopper dish to impress. Don’t let me see any little baby shrimps in there, okay? You want them big and succulent and fresh!
What rice to use for paella ?
Traditionally the Calasparra (<–amazon) short grain rice is used, but I chose to go for some forbidden light and fluffy white rice I had in the pantry instead, tough risotto rice works fabulous in this recipe as well. Then I cooked it in a saffron infused broth while working on the shellfish and sausage.
What is the best paella pan ?
Correct answer: the one you are going to use the most! True story! 😉
I actually used two cast iron pans, it is so much easier to work with at home on the stove top than a huge traditional pan. Trust me on this one!
The secrets to the best paella ?
- Season your shellfish very well with plenty of garlic powder, sea salt and Spanish smoked paprika. (<-amazon)
- Cook it quickly in the drippings from the chicken andouille. Magic happens in that pan.
- Don’t forget the Saffron! It is was gives the rice that beautiful golden color and exquisite flavor. A pinch of this La Mancha Saffron (<-amazon) is all you need.
Note: Pairs perfectly with a crisp dry white wine!
A healthy, easy Spanish paella recipe made with the freshest wild caught shellfish, a little chicken andouille sausage, and infused with exquisite saffron flavors. Easy to make at home in no time!
- 2 c Calasparra, risotto or forbidden white rice (organic)
- 1 spanish onion diced
- 3 cloves garlic grated
- 2 links chicken andouille sausage sliced
- 1 lb wild large shrimp (tails on)
- 2 lobster tails (cut in half lengthwise)
- 1/2 lb black mussels
- 1/2 lb manilla clams
- 1 tsp sea salt + more to taste
- 1 tsp smoked Spanish paprika
- 1 tsp red pepper flakes + more to taste
- 1 tsp garlic powder
- 1/2 tsp ground coriander
- 5 tbsp extra virgin olive oil + more as needed
- 1 pinch saffron threads
- 3 c shrimp stock or vegetable stock
- 1/2 c steamed green peas (optional)
- 1/4 c flat leaf parsley (roughly chopped)
- 1 lemon cut into wedges
- 3/4 c dry white wine
- 1/2 c green olives (optional)
Using the kitchen shears cut the lobster tails lengthwise. Rinse and pat them dry, the transfer to a bowl together with the shrimp.
Drizzle with a lug of olive oil and season generously all over with the sea salt, black pepper, garlic powder, coriander, red pepper flakes and smoked paprika. Set aside to rest at room temperature.
Warm up the shrimp or vegetable stock and season to your taste with sea salt. Add the saffron threads, cover with a lid and allow it to steep while you start the paella.
- In a large deep skillet heat up 3 tbsp of olive oil.
- Add the diced onion with a pinch of sea salt and sauté until translucent. Add the garlic and give it a good stir making sure not to burn it.
- Stir in the rice making sure it coats nicely in the olive oil.
- Add half of the white wine and let it simmer until almost evaporated. Stir in the saffron stock and bring to a boil. Cover with a tight lid, turn the flame down to low and cook for 20 minutes. Turn off the flame and allow the rice to sit covered for 5 minutes without peaking.
- In a different skillet heat up a lug of olive oil and sear the andouille sausage until golden.
- Add the lobster tails and give everything a nice toss in all the oils.
- After about one minute add the shrimps and stir to coat. Cook for about 3 minutes until the shrimps curl up and the lobster tail shells turn red. Transfer on top of the paella rice.
- In the same pan that the lobster and shrimp has cooked in, add the clams and mussels. Hit them with the remaining white wine and cover with a lid.
- Allow them to cook for a few minutes until they open and release the sea water. Transfer them on top of the paella together with the sausage, shrimp and lobster.
- Reserve the juices the clams have cooked in to spoon over the paella.
Serve your paella sprinkled with the green peas, the parsley and garnished with lemon wedges.
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I love paella. It always reminds me of holidays, watching men cook it in pans the size of dustbin lids. Your version with lobster in sounds amazing!!!
I always preferred the coastal versions with seafood and chicken rather than the mountainous versions with rabbit and little birds.
The addition of the ground coriander is inspired! I bet it adds the perfect savoury depth!
Yum!!!!
Thank you, that must have been a wonderful sight to watch the men cook it in those gigantic pans. I am not a fan of rabbit, not in my pot anyways, I do hear from people that it is delicious !
I LOVE that you’ve used andouille sausages in these, the proper way!! YEE HA! I LOVE andouille sausages, totally obsessed. 🙂
Ha, well you know that the andouille alone adds so much flavor to a dish that i gots to have it 😉
What a gorgeous dish to create and serve to people you love!
You are invited Maureen 🙂
I have been DYING to make this with cauliflower rice for a LONG LONG LONG TIME!!!! JUMP ON IT GIGI!
Exactly !! And report back on that because I haven’t been all that amazed with my executions of cauliflower rice.
I hate hate hate coyotes! We had a pack that lived very near our last house and I was always so worried when we would take our Dolce outside. She tried to go head to head with one once, thankfully we saw it coming before it got close enough to jump our fence. *shudder* I’m glad your baby came out okay.
The paella looks fantastic!!! Your recipes have so many “home” flavors for me, it makes me happy.
thanks so much for stopping by, so glad you enjoy the recipes. Yes coyotes are not my favorite, they sure can make your heart stop. How big is Dolce ? My mastiff Tesla I’m never worried about as she would easily handle 2-3 coyotes at once, but my little Peluci, I couldn’t handle it if anything happened to my little guy.
This looks so good Florentina!! This is coming to my dinner table soon! Love your site!!
Thank you Tez, can’t wait for you to try it. Paella is a tradition for us at Easter time and this one is always a winner with all my guests !
We made this paella for Easter last year and came back for the recipe because we are going to make it again ! Everyone loved it including the kids. The smoked paprika is a must.
That’s awesome, we are all crazy about paella around here!
How many people does this really serve? I want to make it for Christmas this weekend and have 15 adults – this is my 2nd dish (we have turkey as well)
I would really suggest you double it If you have 15 adults. Usually people have seconds and thirds during the holidays so I would think about that. Happy Holidays!
I doubled the shrimp and you were right – nothing left! This was amazing… easy to make and there was nothing left. I doubled the shrimp to add more protein. We had this for Christmas dinner. Great dish and I will make it again.
🙂 Happened to me too ha!
It look absolutely divine! Great job!
I love a good paella and I agree you need large prawns for the showstopper effect
Pinning this for later it is a must try.
We are huge fans of paella and yours looks stunningly delicious. We especially love your use of a lower fat sausage option; very nicely done!
What a stunning dinner! As you said, a total showstopper. Love that you made it super healthy. Yum!
Oh wow! This looks so so good! Thinking of how amazing the list of ingredients will aste together is making my mouth water! Yummo!
Hi I am making this on Monday for my book club and I’m very excited. I have a couple questions so please bare with me. In step six when you say Stir in the rice, the rice is uncooked correct? You cook it in step seven with the white wine and the saffron infused vegetable broth correct? You cook the lobster tail abc the shrimp in step 9 & 10 correct? Sorry. Do you have a you tube video Showing how to make this but if you don’t your replies will make sure I don’t mess it up. Not sure why my brain is a little wonky reading this but want to get it perfect.
Hi Maria:-) ! Book club dinner sounds so exciting! YES the rice is uncooked, it toasts with the onion, garlic and the olive oil then continues cooking from the white wine and the broth. YES you cook the lobster tails and shrimp in all the drippings from the andouille sausage, then you add the clams and mussels. (You can also just do shrimp if you wanted to keep things simple).
Sorry no youtube video yet, but it is on the list. I’m sure you will do a fabulous job with this 🙂 ~Florentina
Fabulous!! Thank you for the reply!!! So excited to make it. I’ll let you know what the girls say!
This was the best dish I have ever made!!! I made it as a new dish to make with my sister. We had so much fun making it together and it was so easy. Once you have everything prepped, just follow the recipe! It was so luscious and flavorful! I made it using risotto, but I ordered the Calasparra rice from Amazon for next time. I just have to try it! Florentina, how did you learn how to make this Spanish dish? It’s a winner!
Woohoo doing the happy dance because your comment made my day! Sooooo Happy you loved it! Truth be told it has been trial ad error for years with this recipe, just wanting to keep things easy, using a pan I already had and my undeniable obsession with Smoked Paprika. That’s how this paella happened ~ Florentina Xo’s
This was amazing… easy to make and there was nothing left. I doubled the shrimp to add more protein. We had this for Christmas dinner. Great dish and I will make it again.
Florentina this recipe was amazing. I’ve been wanting to make paella for years and have always hesitated because I know it is best made for a large crowd. To try to make it for two never seemed appropriate. But this weekend we had mussels in the frig that needed to be used, and a lobster tail left over from NY Eve. So I gave it a shot and am so thankful I did. I basically cooked all the rice, and trimmed back the quantities a little on the meat/fish. Substituted Italian sweet sausage for the andouille ’cause that’s what we had (I think kielbasa would be excellent!) and I skipped the clams – sausage, lobster, shrimp and mussels was plenty! I also did not use peas (not a peas guy) but I DID use spicy green olives sliced in half purchased at the local olive bar and THAT added lots of flavor. I also am not aware of any dish with which a crisp white wine goes better. For anyone who was intimidated by the prospect of trying paella, this recipe was the bomb. Go for it!
WooHoo! Happy Dance for You! Thank you Dennis 🙂
This is going to be part of my Feast of the Seven Fishes dinner on Christmas Eve. Wish me luck.