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Classic Paella

A Spanish rice dish cooked in a paella pan with chicken, rabbit, white and green beans, tomato, paprika and saffron.

From the Recipes Wiki (Fandom) · 13 ingredients
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Why it works: Tomato and olive are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 15,539 recipes. Both carry 3-hexenal, which smells apple, fruity. The science ↓

Classic Paella

For 4 persons
Timeabout 20 minutes to cook the rice

Ingredients

Directions

Brown the meat

  1. Heat the oil and when it is hot enough, add the rabbit and chicken (lightly salted).

  2. Fry the rabbit and chicken until lightly browned.

  3. Add the white and green beans and cook them together with the meat.

  4. While they are cooking, make a clearance in the middle of the paella pan.

Make the sofrito and add liquid

  1. Fry the chopped tomatoes until they look a little pasty.

  2. Quickly add the paprika and stir quickly.

  3. Immediately add the hot water or broth until it is almost to the top of the paella pan's edge.

  4. Cook all the ingredients for about 20 minutes over a high fire, tasting for salt.

Cook the rice

  1. After 20 minutes, add the rice, distributing it evenly and making sure the rice is covered with liquid.

  2. Keep the fire fairly high, not interrupting the boil.

  3. Cook the rice for about 20 minutes.

  4. Do not stir the rice once you have added it to the paella pan; just change its position so that the fire gets to all parts equally.

  5. All the broth should be absorbed when finished.

  6. Take the paella off the fire and let it stand for about 10 minutes, covering the top with newspaper.

  7. If the rice has been cooked correctly, the grains should be loose, not clumped together or mushy.

Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)

651Calories
45 gProtein
18 gFat
76 gCarbs

Counts 7 of 10 ingredients. The other 3 aren't in our nutrition table and add nothing above, so the real totals are higher.

What these numbers assume: 7 portions
IngredientPortion assumedkcal
Rice1 cup cooked (158g) white206
Chicken100g cooked165
Olive Oil1 tbsp (14g)119
Lima Bean1/2 cup (85g) cooked108
Green Bean1 cup (100g)31
Tomato1 medium (123g)22
Salt1 tsp (6g)0
Rabbitnot in our table0
Saffronnot in our table0
Waternot in our table0

One typical portion per ingredient; the recipe's quantities are not counted. A rough guide only, not for medical or dietary planning.

Recipe from the Recipes Wiki (Fandom).

Steps grouped into stages for easier reading; the method is the source's own.

Explore the science

The flavor team

The pairs that carry this dish. Each one is judged two ways: how much their aromas overlap, and how often cooks already put them together.

  1. Tomato + olivetop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together15,539 recipes

    Shared aroma: 3-hexenal (apple, fruity).

  2. Saffron + ricetop 2% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together629 recipes

    Shared aroma: eucalyptol (eucalyptus, herbal).

  3. Tomato + saffrontop 4% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together369 recipes

    Shared aroma: alpha-pinene (pine, turpentine).

  4. Chicken + ricetop 5% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together4,769 recipes

    Shared aroma: (e,e)-2,4-decadienal (fatty, deep fried).

  5. Rice + olivetop 6% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together4,994 recipes

    Shared aroma: trans,trans-2,4-nonadienal (fatty, green).

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

What each ingredient does

Chicken
Browns in the oil and releases flavour into the pan as the base of the dish.
Rabbit
Browns in the oil and adds savoury meaty flavour to the pan.
Chopped tomatoes
Cooked down to a paste, they add acidity and body to the sofrito.
Spanish rice
Absorbs the broth as it cooks, setting the final texture of the dish.
Sweet red paprika
Stirred in briefly to add colour and sweet, smoky aroma to the base.
Saffron
Adds golden colour and a distinctive floral aroma to the rice.

The step that matters

Do not stir the rice once it is in the pan. Stirring releases starch from the grains, which makes the rice gummy. Moving the pan instead spreads the heat evenly so the liquid absorbs without clumping.

Swap the lima beans

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (chicken, rabbit, tomato, saffron, rice, olive):

  1. Beansfits better
  2. Chickpeafits better
  3. Almondfits better
  4. Lima beansthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against chicken, rabbit, tomato, saffron, rice, olive. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.

“What each ingredient does” and “The step that matters” were written by Claude from this recipe’s own method and reviewed in samples by CompKitchen.

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