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All Recipes, Main Dishes / April 17, 2019

The Easiest Seafood Paella Recipe with Shrimp and Scallops

    – The Easiest Seafood Paella Recipe with Shrimp and Scallops –

I grew up eating paella every sunday, it´s what you do when you´re from Valencia, Spain. Even when we lived in California, we ate paella every sunday. That being said, we almost always ate the same paella every sunday, the typical paella Valenciana with chicken and rabbit. The thing is, there is so much more to paella than just the traditional ones, like this one here. Loaded with Spanish flavors, beyond easy to make and done in 45 minutes. This is the Easiest Seafood Paella Recipe you will ever find and guarantees to be one of the best paellas you will ever taste. 

The Easiest Seafood Paella Recipe with Shrimp and Scallops

– The 3 Key Factors to Making a Paella –

First things first, make sure you use a paella pan when you´re making a paella. They are not that expensive and they cook the rice evenly and perfectly. The second thing is the rice, make sure you use round rice, very similar to medium grain rice. And last but not least the saffron, do not use imitaion saffron, use some high-quality saffron. Besides other factors, these are the 3 most important things when making a paella. Watch the video below on How to Make the Easiest Seafood Paella Recipe with Shrimp and Scallops or check out the recipe card below which you can print. Salud!

Cookware that I use:
Swiss Diamond Chef´s Knife
Swiss Diamond Pans
Wood Cutting Board

Watch the Video Below on How to Make the Easiest Seafood Paella Recipe with Shrimp and Scallops

5 from 3 votes
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The Easiest Seafood Paella Recipe with Shrimp and Scallops

Course Main Course
Cuisine Spanish
Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 35 minutes
Total Time 45 minutes
Servings 2
Author Albert Bevia @ Spain on a Fork

Ingredients

  • 12 raw peeled and deveined jumbo shrimp
  • 8 scallops
  • 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
  • 3 cloves garlic minced
  • 1/2 brown onion diced
  • 1/2 tsp sweet smoked paprika
  • 1/2 cup tomato sauce
  • 1 cup round rice
  • 2 1/4 cups fish broth
  • 1/2 tsp saffron threads
  • pinch sea salt
  • pinch black pepper
  • chives to garnish
  • lemon to garnish

Instructions

  1. Pat dry between 8-10 scallops with paper towels to remove any excess water and season them with sea salt and freshly cracked black pepper on both sides, also pat dry about 12 raw jumbo shrimp (peeled and deveined) and season with sea salt and freshly cracked black pepper

  2. Heat a paella pan with a medium-high heat and add a 1/4 cup of extra virgin olive oil, after 2 minutes add the scallops into the pan and cook for 3 minutes per side, then transfer to a bowl and cover with foil paper

  3. Using the same pan with the same heat add the diced onions and mix with oil, making sure to scrape up anything left behind by the scallops, 1 minute later add the minced garlic and mix with the onions, 1 minute later add 1/2 cup tomato sauce, 1/2 tsp sweet smoked paprika, a pinch of sea salt and some freshly cracked black pepper, mix it all together until well combined, 2 minutes later add 2 1/4 cups fish broth, pinch in 1/2 tsp saffron threads and season again with sea salt, give it a quick mix and bring to a boil

  4. Once it comes to a boil, let it boil for an extra minute to let the saffron really infuse into the broth, then add 1 cup of round rice and evenly spread it around, after this no more stirring the rice, but you can give the pan a quick shake here and there

  5. About 8 minutes after adding the rice, add the shrimp into the paella pan, 2 minutes later lower the fire to a low-medium heat, add the cooked scallops back into the pan and let it simmer, 4-5 minutes later and there is very little broth left hit it to a medium-high heat for 1-2 minutes to achieve the socarrat, then remove the pan from the heat and cover with a dish cloth

  6. After letting your paella rest for 5 minutes uncover it and garnish with lemon slices and freshly chopped chives, enjoy!

Recipe Notes

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5 Comments

  1. 13 Best Scallop Recipes – The Kitchen Community

    […] 8. Scallops with Spanish Paella […]

    15 . Jun . 2022
  2. Susan Lynne

    5 stars
    So yummy! Saffron Threads are amazing…This is an easy and impressive dish…try it!

    14 . Feb . 2021
    • Spain on a Fork

      Glad you enjoyed it! much love 🙂

      14 . Feb . 2021
  3. Anna | Once Upon A Food Blog

    I love paella and I love quick and easy – this looks like the perfect combination!

    25 . Apr . 2019
    • Spain on a Fork

      Thanks for the comment Anna 🙂 much love!

      25 . Apr . 2019

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