10 minutes of prep, chock full of flavour and a complete meal in one pan. This quick paella is a fast midweek meal made using every day ingredients.
Spaniards will probably turn their nose up at this dish. A real Paella is loaded up with seafood and made with homemade fish stock. I only make that on special occasions. I especially love to make a huge pan of it on the outdoor grill because it’s a great way to feed a lot of people. And it’s something a little different to the usual steaks on the grill :).
This is a midweek Paella. Which means it’s easier and much faster to make than the “real thing” plus I’ve snuck in spinach to make it a complete one pot meal.
The key to this flavour packed meal is the chorizo. All the other ingredients and flavourings are based on the assumption that you use chorizo so if you don’t use it, you will need to adjust the quantities of other flavourings (I’ve included this in the notes). I really do encourage you to use chorizo though. You can get it at all supermarkets nowadays. Obviously the better the quality, the better the flavour of this dish. Good chorizos have a very intense flavour and when you fry them up, they release the flavoured oil which then flavours all the other ingredients you cook with it and forms the base of the flavour of the whole dish.
I make my quick paella using Spanish paella rice which is called Calasparra. It is a short grain rice with low starch and high absorption. If you don’t have this, substitute with normal medium grain rice. The next best substitute is long grain rice (typically used in salads and pilafs because they don’t stick together), then short grain rice (used in sushi because it is sticky). Risotto arborio rice should only be used as a last resort as it will make the paella creamy and……well, risotto like! The recipe assumes you use Calasparra rice so if you don’t, please refer to the notes because you will need to make a slight adjustment to the amount of rice you use (Calasparra and risotto rice are more absorbent than other rices).
The other big benefit of this quick paella dish is that it is great eaten the day after – unlike risotto which is pretty horrid (unless you turn it into Arancini Balls which I’m sharing soon!) The photo at the top was taken straight off the stove. The photo above was taken the day after. I refreshed it by sprinkling on fresh parsley, a light sprinkle of paprika and a drizzle of olive oil.
Love to hear if you try it!
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Mid Week Paella
Ingredients
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 350 g / 12 oz chicken thigh fillets , cut into 8 pieces
- 180 g / 6oz chorizo , the best you can afford. I like to use a spicy one. (Note 3)
- 1 small brown onion , diced
- 1 small red capsicum / bell pepper , roughly diced
- 2 cups (packed) shredded spinach (optional - see Note 1)
- 2 garlic cloves , minced
- 1 can (400g/14oz) crushed tomato
- 1 1/2 cups chicken stock/broth
- 1/3 cup frozen peas
- 1 tsp paprika
- 1 cup spanish calasparra rice (Note 2)
- 1 1/2 tbsp parsley , finely chopped
- Salt and pepper
Instructions
- Cut chorizo into quarters vertically, then slice into 0.5cm / 1/3 inch pieces.
- Season chicken with salt and pepper.
- Heat olive oil in pan over high heat. Add chicken and sear each side until golden brown, but not cooked through. It will finish cooking with the rice. Remove chicken from the pan onto a plate and set aside.
- Place garlic, onion and chorizo in pan. The chorizo will release oil so you don't need extra oil. Stir and cook for 1 minute until the chorizo starts to brown.
- Add capsicum, then stir and cook for 1 minute until chorizo is dark golden brown.
- Add rice and stir until coated with the oil.
- Add chicken stock, tinned tomato, spinach, half the peas and paprika. Stir gently to mix, bring to simmer then turn down heat to medium high so the stock remains at a gentle simmer.
- Place the chicken into the pan, mostly submerged.
- Cook, without stirring, for 10 minutes. Then scatter the remaining peas over the top and continuing cooking for a further 5 minutes until most of the liquid is absorbed and the rice is cooked but it should still be slightly firm (al dente).
- Remove from heat and let stand for 5 minutes. Any residual liquid will be absorbed while it is resting.
- Scatter with parsley and serve.
Recipe Notes:

Nutrition Information:
Can you use chicken fillets. If so what changes do you need to make
Nagi you are brilliant.
This was divine. I sprinkled a bit of chilli powder through to add a little oomph. Restaurant standard food again and it took less than 30 minutes from start to plate.
Thanks! N x
Hi, Nagi,
I cooked this for dinner last night and it was great! My smaller kids wouldn’t have liked chorizo so I substituted the bacon instead as you suggested and reduced the paprika, and also omitted the capsicum (no one likes it). I followed the recipe apart from that, and the flavour was wonderful! I will definitely be making this again. Thank you for giving our family another keeper recipe, and for expanding our repertoire!