Get ready for that Spanish touch that your kitchen was looking for!
The Paella is one of those dishes that not only are delicious but they are also part of a proud culture that feels represented with Paella and let’s not forget the last but not least Socarrat!.
So we are not only giving you the recipe, we put together tips and tricks to get the Best Paella using your Instant Pot!.
Contents
What Is Paella?
Before we dive in with our Instant Pot Paella Recipe, we want to give you some background for those that are not very familiar with this Spanish dish.
Paella comes from the Valencian area of Spain and as a dish, it has some important ancient roots, traced back to the mid-19th century, in the rural area around the Albufera lagoon adjacent to the city of Valencia, on the east coast of Spain.
The People that live on the farms created this dish with everything that they have in their surroundings, it was easy and it could feed a crowd. Back in those days, the Valencians eat their Paella in the afternoon.
Now is a common dish and a popular around travelers, you can found this dish in nearly every restaurant in Spain, mainly to please the tourist. but for the Spaniards is just another delicious part of their rich culture..
There are numerous variations of Paella including Valencian paella, mixed paella, chicken paella, and also vegetable paella. Each and every paella is exquisite and unique, and you can find all the different variations in most restaurants in Spain as well.
The Paella recipe uses special Spanish rice that has a short grain. Around the world, most Paellas are served with risotto rice, and it’s almost the same taste and feel when compared.
It is flavored with strings of saffron, fish stock and also typically includes green peas, red peppers, plus the meat or fish or vegetables depending on the type of paella that you are having.
Using the Instant Pot for Paella
Although a classic paella utilizes a huge paella pan, it is simple to make your very own version of paella at home using your Instant Pot, or any other electric pressure cooker.
Paella is basically, a one-pot cooking recipe making it perfect for the Instant Pot. Another great reason to use the Instant Pot for Paella is that you can use the Sauté mode and sauté your paella first and then pressure cook it, instead of boiling it like you would have to do if you just have a frying pan.
The Instant Pot that we use for this recipe is the Instant Pot Duo, in case you would like to know more about it Here is Our Full Review.
How To Cook Paella In The Instant Pot?
For fisrt timers Paella can look preety darn complicated, when you start to research online or if you saw some video online you are probably worried at least a bit on how complex this recipe can be.
But on reality is pretty simple and straightforward, like evry recipe you need some mastering maybe at the beginging but to achieve the right tate for you its going to take some tries before.
To get the Paella right from the beginign theres some step to follow:
- Sautéing = this is when you sauté the peppers, onion, garlic, and chorizo, not only giving you the first mix but also flavoring your Instant Pot.
- Deglazing = now is when you deglaze using your Instant Pot and add the white wine, the fish stock, and some extra flavor to add to your Pot.
- Place it in! = this is the last step! when you Place the rest of the Ingredients on your pot, mix them all together, and let it cook on the Instant Pot.
As Soon As the Instant Pot is cooking, you can start to prepare the table and finish up anything around the meal because it’s not going to take long for the Paella to be ready.
How long it takes to cook Paella on your Instant Pot?
As we leave you hanging on the last paragraph the time for this paella recipe is so little that you need to be ready to serve once you play the start button.
For the Pressure time, this recipe will be done in just 6 Minutes!, Then you need to add the sauteing at the beginning and the rest of the food preparation, plus the time that the Instant pot is going to take to reach the right pressure.
Even when adding all these extra factors this recipe will be ready and done in no more than 30 minutes!
Instant Pot Paella Recipe
Course: Main Course Cuisine: Spanish Prep Time: 3 minutes Cook Time: 12 minutes Pressure Time: 6 minutes Total Time: 21 minutes Servings: 8 Calories: 467kcal
Ingredients:
- 30 g Sliced Chorizo
- 6 Large Garlic Cloves
- 1 Small Red Pepper
- 1 Small Onion
- 150 ml White Wine
- 1 Litre Paella Stock
- 1 Tbsp Olive Oil
- 3 Cups Risotto Rice
- 250 g Frozen Mussels
- 250 g Frozen Shrimp/King Prawns
- 250 g Frozen Mixed Seafood
- 250 g Diced Chicken Breast
- 100 g Frozen Peas
- 3 Strands Saffron
- 1 Tbsp Paprika
- 1 Tbsp Turmeric
- 1 Tbsp Parsley
- Salt & Pepper
Instructions
- Start by cutting the onions and the garlic into tiny bits. Deseed and cut your pepper into slices. Now include the onion, garlic, and red pepper inside Instant Pot and add the extra virgin olive oil and cook on sauté mode for about 3 mins or up until the onion is soft and tender.
- Include the chorizo, as well as cook for an additional 2 mins or till the chorizo, has included an extra flavor to the pot.
- Include the seasonings and mix well.
- Deglaze the Instant Pot and also mix any bits off the bottom with the white wine and the paella stock.
- Now is the time for the main ingredients to go in, include the chicken, rice, seafood, peas, and stir them all together for one last time.
- Place the lid on your Instant Pot, set the valve to sealing, and program the timer for 6 minutes on manual pressure.
- Once the time is done perform a quick release and plate the Paella!.
- Venga! A Comer!
Notes.
- The important thing about paella is that can feed a crowd so calculate enough for the number of people that you want to feed. The good thing that this recipe is great to reheat later. So you can easily freeze the leftovers and eat them later on.
- Some ingredients like saffron are not so easy to find or have already at home, you can use turmeric that will give a similar coloring and flavor to the rice. It is essential that you use frozen seafood because if not it will be overcooked.
- A good rule of thumb to avoid dry rice is to always have at least double down the water amount. For example, we made 3 cups of rice and use 5 cups of water for it. Along with this, we had liquid from the frozen fish and shellfish in addition to the white wine.
Related:
- Instant Pot Rice and Beans
- Instant Pot Chicken and Rice
- Pork Roast Instant Pot
