Spain is famously known for their paellas, specially the popular seafood paella. However, in the world we live in today, many people are trying to stay away from refined grains. One of the healthier alternatives is quinoa. With that being said, in this post I will show you how to make the most incredible seafood paella with quinoa.
Seriously guys, this seafood paella with quinoa is out of this world good! Loaded with Spanish flavors, super easy to make and done in a little over 30 minutes. What I really love about this paella is that the quinoa adds a new dimension of textures and flavors, plus it gives it more protein and fiber 🙂 .
Even though we are using quinoa here, this is STILL a Spanish paella. Which means you need to use the correct ingredients in order to call it a paella. Like a good extra virgin olive oil, some sweet smoked Spanish paprika and the most important ingredient, high-quality saffron.
TIPS & TRICKS to make this recipe: To make this paella you can use a regular frying pan, no need for a paella pan. Make sure to rinse your quinoa before you add it into the pan, even if the package says it´s already cleaned. Remember to season your shrimp before you add them into the pan. Last but not least, make sure to fluff up the quinoa with a fork once the dish is done, this gives it texture.
Key Ingredients & Cookware I used in this Recipe:
NONSTICK FRY PAN
HIGH-QUALITY SAFFRON
QUINOA
Watch the Video Below on How to Make a SIMPLE Seafood Paella with Quinoa
How to Make a SIMPLE Seafood Paella with Quinoa
Ingredients
- 2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
- 3 cloves garlic
- 1/2 onion
- 1 tube cleaned squid
- 12 raw peeled & deveined jumbo shrimp
- 1/2 tsp sweet smoked Spanish paprika
- 1/2 cup canned tomato sauce
- 1 cup quinoa
- 2 cups fish broth
- 1/2 tsp saffron threads
- pinch sea salt
- pinch black pepper
Instructions
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Finely mince 3 cloves of garlic, finely dice 1/2 of an onion, cut 1 cleaned tube of squid into 1/2 inch by 1/2 inch squares and season 12 raw peeled & deveined jumbo shrimp with sea salt and freshly cracked black pepper (I bought mine frozen and thawed them out)
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Add 2 cups of fish broth into a sauce pan, pinch 1/2 teaspoon of saffron threads and heat it with a medium-high heat
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In a seperate burner heat a large fry pan with a medium-high heat and add in a generous 2 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil, after 1 minute season the oil with sea salt and add in the squid, mix with the olive oil, after 1 minute remove the squid from the pan and set aside
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Using the same pan with the same heat add in the diced onions and minced garlic, mix with the olive oil, 2 minutes later add in 1/2 tsp of sweet smoked paprika and mix together, then pour in 1/2 cup tomato sauce, season with sea salt & freshly cracked black pepper and add the squid back into the pan, mix together until well combined
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About 1 minute after adding the tomato sauce add in 1 cup of quinoa (I like to rinse mine under cold water first) and mix it all together until well combined, then pour in the saffron infused fish broth from the sauce pan and mix so everything is evenly divided, cook between 10 to 12 minutes
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Once there is very little broth left add the shimp into the pan, place a lid on the pan and lower the fire to a low-medium heat, simmer between 5 to 7 minutes, then remove from the heat, fluff up the quinoa with a fork and garnish the dish with lemon slices and fresh parsley, enjoy!
Recipe Notes
Get the Golden Saffron I used to make this quinoa paella
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Rick
10 . Feb . 2024Sadly, I don’t think the recipe includes enough fluids for the quinoa. After the designated 10-12 me nutes, the broth was nearly gone and the quinoa still very crunchy. Adding additional fluids and cooking for another 8-10 minutes helped, but by then the seafood was overdone
Henry
16 . Nov . 2022Awesome 👏
Spain on a Fork
Thank you! Much love 🙂
16 . Nov . 2022