Chicken and prawn paella recipe

Paella with chicken and prawns

A hearty and flavourful paella with saffron, chicken, prawns and vegetables. Perfect for a dinner where you want to serve something warm, colourful and full of character.

Paella is one of those dishes that feels both rustic and festive at the same time. The combination of golden chicken, saffron, sweet tomatoes, peppers and juicy prawns creates a dish with plenty of depth and colour, while the rice absorbs all the flavour as it cooks.

This recipe is well suited to both cosy dinners and weekend evenings when you want to give the food a little extra attention. Once the ingredients are in the pot, the dish largely takes care of itself, and the result is a warm and inviting paella that brings people together around the table.

For this dish, a 28 cm sauté pan is an obvious choice, as it gives you plenty of room for chicken, rice and stock in the same pot. When serving, a slotted turner is handy for lifting out the chicken and prawns without crushing the rice, and an oven glove is useful to have at hand if the hot pot is going straight to the table.

Ingredients

• 1 whole chicken (approx. 1400 g)
• 4 tbsp olive oil
• 2 onions
• 2 cloves of garlic
• 500 g risotto rice
• 1 red pepper
• 500 g tomatoes
• approx. 1 l chicken stock
• ½ tsp saffron
• 500 g large tail-on prawns
• 1 handful of flat-leaf parsley to garnish

Method

1. Joint the chicken and cut each breast into 3 pieces. Separate the legs into thighs and drumsticks.
2. Heat the olive oil in a pot and brown the chicken pieces until golden. Then remove them and set aside.
3. Finely chop the onions and garlic. Sauté them in the pot, then add the rice. Continue cooking over a low heat for approx. 5 minutes, stirring.
4. Dice the pepper and tomatoes and add them along with the chicken stock and saffron.
5. Return the chicken to the pot and let everything simmer for approx. 20 minutes. Stir occasionally and check during cooking whether the rice needs more liquid.
6. Cover the pot with lids and let the paella simmer for a further 10 minutes.
7. Add the prawns and continue simmering for approx. 5-10 minutes, until the prawns are cooked.
8. Serve the paella topped with chopped flat-leaf parsley.

Serving

Serve the paella straight from the pot while it is still warm and juicy. It tastes lovely as it is, but can also be served with a fresh green salad or a little lemon on the side for a fresher contrast.

To make the presentation a little more inviting, garnish with extra flat-leaf parsley and leave the prawns visible on top of the dish. This adds both more colour and a more attractive presentation at the table.

This dish shows how much flavour you can bring together in one pot. Paella with chicken and prawns is therefore an obvious choice when you want to make something that is both filling and feels a little special.