Chicken and Chorizo Paella (One-Pan Spanish Rice with Saffron and Crispy Socarrat)

Paella de pollo y chorizo is the easy, everyday cousin of the seafood paella most people picture: chicken thighs and cured Spanish chorizo cooked in a wide, shallow pan with short-grain rice, a slow tomato and pepper sofrito, smoked paprika and saffron. It is a one-pan dinner that feeds a crowd, needs no fish counter and comes out of the pan glowing orange, which makes it a natural fit for cool autumn evenings when you want something hot, filling and a little bit festive without much washing up.

Three things make this version work. First, the chicken and chorizo are browned properly before anything else goes in, so the chorizo's paprika-red fat becomes the cooking oil for the whole dish. Second, the grated tomato is cooked down with the onion and pepper until it is thick and jammy; that sofrito is where most of the depth comes from, so don't rush it. Third, once the stock goes in, the rice is not stirred again. Leaving it alone lets the grains cook evenly and lets a thin crust called socarrat form on the bottom of the pan, which is the best part of any paella.

You need a pan at least 30 cm (12 inches) across: a proper paella pan, a wide stainless skillet or a large shallow casserole all work. The rice should be in a thin layer no deeper than 2 cm (3/4 inch), which is why the pan matters more than any other piece of equipment here.

Ingredients

• 600 g (1.3 lb) boneless, skinless chicken thighs, cut into 4 cm (1 1/2-inch) pieces
• 150 g (5 oz) Spanish cured chorizo, sliced 1 cm (1/2 inch) thick
• 3 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 large yellow onion, finely chopped
• 1 red bell pepper, cut into 1 cm (1/2-inch) dice
• 3 garlic cloves, finely chopped
• 2 ripe tomatoes, about 200 g (7 oz), halved and grated on a box grater (or 200 g canned crushed tomatoes)
• 1 teaspoon smoked paprika (pimentón de la Vera, sweet or bittersweet)
• 1/2 teaspoon saffron threads (a generous pinch)
• 1 liter (4 1/4 cups) chicken stock, kept hot
• 350 g (1 3/4 cups) bomba rice, or another Spanish short-grain rice such as Calasparra
• 100 g (2/3 cup) frozen peas
• 1 lemon, cut into wedges
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper
• A handful of flat-leaf parsley, chopped, to finish

Instructions

1. Steep the saffron: crumble the threads into a small bowl, pour over 100 ml (scant 1/2 cup) of the hot stock and leave for at least 10 minutes while you cook, until the liquid is deep golden. Keep the rest of the stock hot in a saucepan over low heat.
2. Season the chicken generously with salt and pepper. Heat 2 tablespoons of the olive oil in a 30 to 34 cm (12 to 13-inch) paella pan or wide skillet over medium-high heat. Add the chicken in a single layer and brown for 3 to 4 minutes per side, until deep golden but not cooked through. Transfer to a plate.
3. Add the chorizo slices to the pan and fry for 2 minutes, turning once, until they crisp at the edges and release their orange fat. Lift the chorizo out onto the plate with the chicken, leaving the fat in the pan.
4. Reduce the heat to medium and add the remaining tablespoon of oil, the onion, red pepper and a pinch of salt. Cook for 8 to 10 minutes, stirring now and then, until soft and sweet with no bite left. Stir in the garlic and cook for 1 minute more.
5. Add the grated tomato and the smoked paprika. Cook, stirring often, for 5 to 6 minutes, until the tomato has lost its raw smell, darkened to brick red and thickened to a jammy paste that pulls away from the oil. This is your sofrito.
6. Add the rice and stir for 1 to 2 minutes so every grain is coated in the sofrito. Return the chicken and chorizo with any juices and spread everything into an even layer across the pan.
7. Pour in the saffron stock and about 900 ml (3 3/4 cups) of the remaining hot stock; the rice should be covered by roughly 1 cm (1/2 inch) of liquid. Taste the liquid and season with salt until it tastes properly seasoned, like a good soup. Give the pan one stir to level the rice, then bring to a lively boil over high heat and cook for 8 to 10 minutes. From this moment on, do not stir.
8. Reduce the heat to low, scatter the peas over the top and simmer for another 8 to 10 minutes, until the liquid has been absorbed, the surface looks dimpled and the rice is tender with a slight bite. If your burner is smaller than the pan, rotate the pan a quarter turn every few minutes so it cooks evenly. If the rice is still hard when the liquid is gone, trickle in a little more hot stock around the edges.
9. For the socarrat, turn the heat up to medium-high for 1 to 2 minutes. Listen for a crackling sound and smell for toasted rice, not burning, then turn off the heat. Check a spot with a spoon: the bottom should be golden brown and crisp.
10. Cover the pan loosely with a clean kitchen towel or foil and rest for 5 minutes. Scatter over the parsley, tuck the lemon wedges around the edge and bring the whole pan to the table.

Tips

• Rice matters more than anything else. Bomba absorbs a lot of liquid without turning mushy, and Calasparra behaves the same way; arborio or another risotto rice will work in a pinch but watch it closely and use slightly less stock. Do not use long-grain, basmati or jasmine rice, which will not hold together or form a crust.
• Substitutions: cured Spanish chorizo is essential for the flavor, but if you can only find fresh Mexican-style chorizo, crumble it, fry it until cooked through and drain most of the fat. No saffron? Skip it and use 1 1/2 teaspoons smoked paprika plus a pinch of turmeric for color. Boneless chicken thighs can be swapped for bone-in thighs cut in half; add 5 minutes to the browning time.
• Storage and reheating: leftovers keep in the fridge for up to 3 days. Reheat in a skillet with a splash of water over medium heat, covered, for about 5 minutes, which brings back some of the crust. Paella can be frozen for up to 2 months, though the rice softens a little; thaw overnight before reheating.
• What to serve with it: a simple green salad with sherry vinaigrette, a bowl of garlicky alioli to spoon over the rice, and a chilled Albariño, dry rosé or a jug of sangria. Crusty bread is not traditional but nobody complains.
• If you don't have a pan wide enough, split the recipe between two skillets rather than piling the rice deeper. A layer thicker than about 2 cm cooks unevenly and steams rather than crisps.
• Let the pan rest. Those 5 minutes off the heat finish cooking the top grains and let the socarrat firm up so it lifts off the pan in crisp pieces instead of sticking.

Nutrition

Nutrition information is an estimate only: about 820 kcal, 45 g protein, 35 g fat, 75 g carbohydrate per serving.