When I was growing up, my mom made paella once a year. Both my mom and dad are great home cooks, but this paella that my mom makes is something special. We have a family friend who lived in El Salvador for years, and my mom made paella for her every year for her birthday. Making traditional paella requires an enormous special pan, a lot of time, and a lot of ingredients. While I love traditional paella, I don’t have the time to make the dish. Also, Kevin is allergic to shellfish, which is a key ingredient in traditional paella as well. This chicken and sausage paella is a great substation with fewer ingredients and way less time to make when the craving strikes!
A lot of the ingredients in this chicken and sausage paella are probably already in your pantry and spice cabinet, making this an easy weeknight dish when you’re looking to up your flavor game. Really this dish is chicken, chorizo, and rice, but something about this is so special and takes me back to the dish my mom made when I was growing up.
This paella uses smoked paprika, which definitely has a different flavor profile than regular paprika. I recommend that you use smoked paprika if you have it, and it’s a worthy addition to your pantry as well because it’s just so flavorful. It’s one of my favorite spices and I always have it in my spice cabinet.
Traditional paella uses saffron, but since that isn’t a spice that most people have in their spice cabinet, I left it out. I don’t think you’ll miss it since this dish certainly isn’t lacking in flavor, but that’s why this paella doesn’t have the yellow color you typically see in it.
Even with the substitutions from traditional paella, I think you’ll appreciate this easy and reasonably healthy dish!
- 3 chicken breast, cut into 1-2 inch pieces
- 4 tbsp. olive oil
- 3 tsp. smoked paprika
- 1 tsp. salt
- ½ tsp. pepper
- 1 tsp. garlic powder
- 1 tsp. onion powder
- ½ tsp. chili powder
- 2 tsp. dried oregano
- 1 lb. chorizo sausage
- 1 red bell pepper, chopped
- 1 orange bell pepper, chopped
- 1 yellow onion, diced
- 3 cloves garlic, diced
- 15 oz. canned diced tomatoes
- 3 cups chicken broth
- 1½ cups rice
- Place chicken breast in a baking dish and cover with 2 tbsp. olive oil, paprika, salt, pepper, garlic powder, onion powder, chili powder, and oregano. Mix with your hands to combine, cover, and refrigerate to marinate for 4-8 hours.
- Once the chicken is done marinating, heat the remaining olive oil in a Dutch oven. Add chicken and sausage and cook until sausage is browned and chicken is golden brown. Add bell pepper, onion, and garlic and cook for a few minutes until tender.
- Add tomatoes, chicken broth, and rice and stir briefly to combine.
- Bring to a simmer and cook until the broth is almost gone. Turn off heat and cover for 10-15 minutes to allow the remaining liquid to absorb.
- Taste and add additional salt if needed.
- Enjoy!
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