Instant Pot Paella

Let’s get something straight before we go any further. Technically, this isn’t actually a paella.

It’s got chorizo in which is a no-no for true Spanish paellas and it isn’t cooked in a giant paella pan, next to the sea, on a stunning Spanish beach… Sigh… More’s the pity!

But the thing is, this Spanish-style rice dish is absolutely delicious and as I want you all to make it too, I had to name it so you could find it in the depths of t’interweb! So please try to put your outrage aside at my sacrilegious Spanish style rice dish, and just enjoy my delicious Instant Pot Paella instead!

You may have seen my original paella recipe but it too, was equally inauthentic as I shamelessly use risotto rice. As I make a lot of risotto and find with rice, once you find a brand which you like and know how to cook, you should stick to it.

If you keep paella rice in, you can use that instead of the arborio or carnaroli risotto rices that I tend to switch between. It cooks in 7 minutes like they do as it is a short grain, starchy rice which sucks up a lot of liquid – just like traditional bomba rice, which is a little harder to find in the supermarkets.

[clickToTweet tweet=”Make this delicious Instant Pot Paella tonight! ” quote=”Make this delicious Instant Pot Paella tonight! “]

A Spaniard wouldn’t add chorizo but as both Hungry Hubby and I absolutely love it, and it guarantees flavour from all the fat, garlic and smoked paprika it has, I start this dish off with it.

Paella would traditionally use up cooked meats such as rabbit and whatever seafood was the catch of the day in Spain so if you have some leftover chicken (or dare I say it, rabbit), then you can absolutely add it here. I bump up the veg with canned sweetcorn, frozen peas and jarred roasted peppers which bulk the meat and fish out nicely.

And speaking of the fish, the really important thing about this recipe is the layering. You do have to add the ingredients in the order specified and you must not stir until it is cooked so that the prawns are essentially steamed on top of the rice and veg.

Buy the biggest and juiciest ones you can afford and they will be steamed, succulent and tender – sweet little pops of seafood to make you long for summer!

I cook a lemon in with this paella so I can easily squeeze out it’s cooked, jammy juices and add flavour to this simple dish. One final word on the stock – I mix the saffron in when I make the stock (from a cube) and it really is essential to give the intensely savoury flavour of a true paella. Don’t even think about leaving it out or gasp, substituting it for turmeric!

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Instant Pot Paella

Well, really, it's more of a Spanish style rice dish than anything more authentic than that but it is absolutely delicious!

Servings: 2 People

: 815 kcal

Author: Just Jo

Ingredients

• 1/2 ring of chorizo, sliced
• 1 small red onion, roughly chopped
• 150 g risotto rice (or paella rice such as bomba)
• 1 roasted red or yellow pepper, chopped
• 275 ml chicken or vegetable stock
• Fat pinch saffron threads
• 1 tbsp chopped parsley
• 1 small can sweetcorn (about 200g)
• 100 g frozen peas
• 1-2 cooked chicken thighs, meat shredded (optional)
• 100-200 g frozen tiger prawns (shells off)
• 1 lemon, quartered

Instructions

1. Start by placing the Instant Pot onto Sauté and add the chopped chorizo and red onion. Cook until the onion starts to soften and the chorizo fat has lost its raw appearance. 

2. Add in the rice and cook until it starts to turn translucent (2-3 minutes). Stir in the peppers then the stock, saffron, and parsley. Stir very well. 

3. Pour over the sweetcorn, with any liquid in the can. Sprinkle over the frozen peas. If using the chicken, add that on top. Then scatter over the frozen prawns. Do not stir. Tuck the lemons in lightly with the cut surfaces up

4. Place the lid on, programme Manual High for 7 minutes and when done, do a QPR. 

5. Fish out the lemon and carefully give it a squeeze - I do this safely with tongs. Stir and serve. If needed, you can add a little extra stock or boiled water if it looks a little dry but there should be plenty of water from the veg and prawns to cook the rice to perfection. 

Recipe Notes

If you have some frozen squid, you can cook that in the same way on top of everything with the prawns. 

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