Easy and delicious midweek supper for the entire family. Smoky flavours from paprika and chorizo married nicely with sweet tasting prawns. This super quick version of paella will become your go to recipe.
This recipe for Easy Prawn & Chorizo Cheat's Paella was the second recipe I have posted on my blog back in March 2017! I have meant to update the post and photos for a while now and despite me cooking it for us on regular basis I have not managed it until now! Now that I've finally done it, I hope you'll find it as appealing and easy as I do and it will become one of your favourite midweek dinners too!
Why will I love this Easy Prawn & Chorizo Cheat's Paella?
I do love Spanish food and paella must be one of my very favourite dishes! It is also my favourite dish for entertaining as it has got a wow factor and everybody loves it! When I make "proper" paella as opposed to this quick cheat's version, I use not only chorizo and prawns but also the entire chicken (portioned), perhaps some other seafood and of course saffron! I do love the rich flavour and the colour it gives to the rice. As delicious as it is, it does require a bit of time and attention. This simplified version is much quicker, cheaper and definitely less faffy yet still delivers on flavour!
Note on ingredients and how to bulk up this paella with veggies!
Chorizo is definitely one of the staple ingredients in my kitchen. If you open my fridge at any given time, even when it's pretty bare (just before weekly shop), you will always be able to spot some chorizo. It might only be half the ring but it will be there lol. Same goes for smoked paprika* and cinnamon as far as spices go (I do have vast quantities of these two). I'm digressing a bit now lol.
This delicious one-pot rice dish can be easily prepared and on your table in well under an hour and is super filling and really nutritious too! I like to jazz up my cheat's paella with substantial amount of veggies and always tend to use some kind of pepper (whatever colour I've got in the fridge at the time) and also some convenient frozen favourites like peas, sweetcorn and spinach. This dish really packs nutritional punch!
This recipe will easily feed 4 adults and as there are 2 adults and 2 kids in our family we usually have some leftovers which are perfect for reheating the next day for lunch!
Some more recipes you might enjoy
If you are a fan of one-pot meals make sure you check out this One Pot Beans & Meatballs Pasta which is not only comforting and delicious but also quick to make! Similar to this Sausage & Lentil Casserole with Cavolo Nero which is simply perfect for this time of year and also on your table in under an hour!
For those of you who can't get enough of rice my One Pot Smoked Sausage Jambalaya is a must. Not only is it quick but also super adaptable (it's my favourite, fridge clear-out dinner).
And for some extra dose of chorizo this Easy Butternut Squash & Chorizo Gnocchi would be perfect.
Homemade chicken stock would go so fantastically well in this paella. Check out my guide on How To Make Chicken Stock in Instant Pot (with instructions for hob/stovetop users too). You will never look back!
Easy Prawn & Chorizo Cheat's Paella Step-By-Step
📋 Recipe
Easy Prawn & Chorizo Cheat's Paella
Ingredients
- 1 onion roughly chopped
- 2 cloves of garlic chopped/minced
- 100 g chorizo* peeled and chopped into rough chunks
- 300 g paella/risotto rice
- 1 teaspoon (heaped) smoked paprika
- 1 red or yellow bell pepper deseeded and roughly chopped
- 1 tin chopped tomatoes
- 75 g frozen peas
- 75 g frozen sweetcorn
- 200 g frozen or fresh raw prawns defrosted if frozen
- 750 ml chicken or veggie stock from cube is fine
- 1 lemon if you wish
- 150 g frozen spinach* (optional) cooked as per packaging instructions, drained and chopped
- fresh parsley for garnish
- cayenne pepper* optional
Instructions
- Put a glug of oil in a large lidded casserole dish and throw in your chopped onion and chorizo. Let them sweat until the chorizo starts to release its lovely juices and onion starts to soften, around 8 min. Add chopped pepper, garlic, smoked paprika and sweat for another 5 min. Pour in the stock and add rice followed by chopped tinned tomatoes and good pinch of salt and pepper and stir well. Add a little bit of water to the empty tin of chopped tomatoes, swirl it around to get all the remaining tomato goodness and add it to your dish.
- Bring everything to boil, lower the heat, pop the lid on and let it simmer for 15-20 min stirring on a regular bases as the rice will try and stick to the bottom of the pan. You might have to add a drop of water if your rice starts getting dry but is still quite al dente. Add frozen peas and sweetcorn and cook another 5 min. Add spinach (if using) and stir well.
- Mix defrosted prawns in bowl with a bit of salt, pepper and rapeseed or olive oil and pan fry them in a dry non-stick pan (couple of minutes on each side until they turn pink in colour).
- Serve your paella topped with prawns, sprinkled with freshly chopped parsley and a squeeze or two of lemon juice. Enjoy!
Notes
- Nutritional information is approximate and meant as a guideline only.
- Feel free to use either cooking chorizo or dried version. I find dried chorizo quicker and easier to work with and as tasty as fresh equivalent.
- Feel free to use couple of handfuls of fresh baby spinach instead. Simply add it couple of minutes before the end of cooking only to wilt it.
- If you like a bit of spice, a sprinkle of cayenne pepper over your serving will do the trick.
Nutrition
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I’m linking my Easy Prawn & Chorizo Cheat's Paella recipe with the following pages:
Cook Blog Share hosted this week by Jacqui at Recipes Made Easy
Cook Once Eat Twice hosted by Corina at Searching for Spice
Fiesta Friday hosted by Angie and Judi at cookingwithauntjuju.com
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Judith A. Graber says
Two ingredients always get my attention in a recipe; shrimps and chorizo! I love them both - never made a paella before but your recipe sure has all the important ingredients for a great dish. Good to see you again at Fiesta Friday and thank you for sharing one of your favorites with us!
joskitchenlarder says
Thank you so much Judith for your kind comment! 🙂 Prawns and chorizo always get my attention too and as even my kids are huge fans this easy paella appears on our table on regular basis! I'm glad you like it!
Michelle Frank | Flipped-Out Food says
Yaaaaaassss...I love cheater recipes for delicious meals like this that still produce a meal that's chock-full of flavor. These are just gorgeous photos—I also have numerous recipes on my blog that I've been trying to steadily re-photograph. Kudos! I want to lick my screen!
joskitchenlarder says
Thanks Michelle! 🙂 Rephotographing old recipes can be a bit of a chore and I do struggle to fit it in with all the new ideas I have in my head that need executing, but sometimes needs must and this one was a definite MUST! lol
Jessica says
Hi Jo,
I haven't tried cooking paella even if this is my favorite dish. I would love to give this a try, this time though. I thought it was so complicated. Love that you shared this recipe. 🙂
Cheers,
Jessica
joskitchenlarder says
Thanks Jessica! This cheat's version is super easy so I hope you'll give it a go! 🙂 Let me know how it went if you decide to try it.
Corina Blum says
This sounds delicious and like you, I always have some chorizo in the fridge, often more than one variety! It's so good for adding extra flavour to dishes like this. Thanks for sharing with #CookOnceEatTwice!
joskitchenlarder says
Thanks Corina! Absolutely, chorizo is my favourite fridge staple and if I ever feel at a loss regarding dinner plans, it is bound to come to the "rescue" lol
Monika Dabrowski says
Lovely dish, and so easy to make too, I think people underestimate the convenience of frozen vegetables. They are full of goodness and flavour and sometimes I even prefer to use frozen to fresh!
joskitchenlarder says
Thanks Monika! I love using frozen veggies both for convenience and flavour too and peas and sweetcorn are my absolute favourites!
jacqui Bellefontaine says
I love how just a small amount of chorizo can really ad richness and flavour to a dish. Thank you for sharing this recipe on #CookBlogShare. It looks delicious
joskitchenlarder says
Thanks Jacqui! With chorizo a little goes a long way although I always prefer more of it than just a little lol 🙂