How to Make Authentic Spanish Paella (Properly)

This is how we make traditional Spanish paella — explained step by step, and in English. I’m a Spanish chef, and in this video I’ll show you how to make paella from scratch, just like we do back home.

I have made paellas for up to 100 people and I use different ingredients every time. Authentic Paella in Spain is NOT always about seafood.

The most important thing is to have fun and enjoy the process of cooking and watching your paella turn into one of the most delicious and popular dishes of Spain.

This is not a paella valenciana with the official ingredients — it’s a classic Spanish rice dish cooked in a paella pan (yes, the pan is called a paella too).
No shortcuts. No strange fusion. Just proper paella technique, deep Mediterranean flavor, and all the small details that really matter — from a rich sofrito base to achieving that perfect socarrat (the crispy bottom!).

🔪 Learn:
– What ingredients go into an authentic paella
– How to cook paella rice to perfection
– Tips for getting the right texture and flavor
– How to use a real paellera at home

If you’ve been looking for a real Spanish paella recipe in English, this is it. Perfect whether you’re making seafood paella, chicken and/or rabbit paella, or your own creative twist.

Recipe (Serves 6 – for a 60 cm paella pan):

* 600 g Valencian arroz redondo (This traditional Spanish rice can be tricky to find outside Spain, but good-quality arborio or carnaroli—used for risotto—are decent substitutes.)
* 1.8 kg stock or water (I use 3 parts liquid to 1 part rice, but this can vary depending on the type of rice and how much your pan evaporates.)
* 1.2 kg chicken thighs
* 5 artichokes, cut into quarters
* 300 g green beans
* 230 g grated or crushed tomato
* 2 tsp choricero pepper paste (or any mild, sweet pepper paste)
* 1 tsp smoked paprika
* Fresh rosemary
* Salt, to taste (remember: your stock should taste slightly over-salted before adding the rice—it balances out perfectly once it’s cooked.)

👇 Let me know in the comments: What would your perfect paella have in it? Have you made paella before? What do you think of this version?

—

Timestamps:
0:00 – Introduction & why most “paellas” get it wrong
0:55 – Ingredients: Choosing arroz redondo & seasonal swaps
3:30 – Balance your pan
4:45 – Sear proteins
6:00 – Sear toppings/vegetables: Artichokes & green beans
7:00 – Make sofrito
8:30 – Cook stock
9:40 – Toast saffron: Grinding, infusing, and extracting max aroma
12:45 – Add rice: The famous “X” drop & no-stir method
16:35 – Socarrat: Crackle test & getting that perfect crust
17:00 – Enjoy!: Resting, serving, and taste test

masterpiece of Spanish gastronomy right here. Spectacular. But you only get to recognize this 
flavor and how this recipe is such a masterpiece if you make it right. If you make one of those 
recipes that you find on the internet with like a bunch of seafood and everything at the 
top and and with no sense, then you’re going to probably think that paella is overrated. 
But if you get to try this style of paella, I guarantee you it’s gonna become one of your 
favorite Spanish dishes for sure. Hi guys today 30 something degrees outside here in Spain and 
that deserves a paellita commodio manda. In this video we’re going to see how to make something 
similar to a valencian paella. But disclaimer, I don’t want to call this valencian paella because 
people are really annoying sometimes and I’m going to do it my way. But you’re going to learn how 
to nail this kind of style of arroz Spanish style paella. That’s it. Let’s get started. First, 
let’s see the ingredients. So, basically, we’re going to use chicken. We’re going to use 
rice. Look, has to be a roondo. Okay, this this shape I’m using because well, I’m lucky to be in 
Spain. So, I’m using a rice coming directly from Valencia. A good quality rice for this paella. If 
you cannot find a rotondo, you can get the rice that is typically used for roto. And I’ve heard 
it works pretty decent for this. I’ve never tried, but I think it makes the work. We’re using 
artichokes that I have peeled almost all of it only to get the kathong like the inside. Then 
I also removed those little annoying hair kind of thing that it has. And now it’s just chilling on 
some water with lemon so it doesn’t oxidate even though it oxidated a little bit but that’s okay. 
It doesn’t matter. It’s actually good for the color of the rice. We’re also going to use hylana. 
Okay, this is just like flat green bean. We’re also going to be using extra virgin olive oil, of 
course, shredded tomato, a little bit of rosemary, a little bit of saffron, super important, smoked 
paprika, salt, and this is carnetoero. It’s like a typical pepper from Spain, like the paste of a 
pepper from Spain. Then I’m not even sure if I’m going to use it yet. I will see. But this is 
actually what paella is about in my opinion. Okay. To me, paella is a seasonal thing. So if 
you cannot find artich choke, so you go to the market and you find some nice green asparagos, 
for example, or maybe cauliflower. I’ve tried in paella and I love it. In my opinion, whatever 
fresh and nice you can find on the season, it’s acceptable to make this rice. In Spain, there’s 
a huge palemic on what you should add or not add in a paella in order to call it balencana. Okay, 
whatever. I’m not going to call it Valentina. In my opinion, for the international audience, it’s 
way more important that you learn what we’re going to be seeing today, which is respecting the 
ratio of rice and the rest of the toppings. If you search for Spanish paella in English on 
the internet, you’re going to find a lot of like really weird things that only have a thin layer 
of rice and then a bunch of ingredients on top. We don’t want that, okay? For paella, it’s really 
important the rice to be the main character. And then the toppings are also going to be part of 
the whole game. Forgot to mention we’re also using aluminum foil for something really important that 
you’re going to see later. Today I’m making on a 60 cm spa food for six, seven people. Okay, you 
could make it a little bit more. You can maybe add one whole kilo of dried rice and that would fit 10 
to 12 people. But this time I want it thin so it gets the right caramelization in all the surface 
of the paella. Ideally the premium paella needs to be super thin. So 60 cm, 600 g of dried rice and 
you feed six, seven people depending on how hungry they are. It’s pretty important for paella to have 
the right tools. Okay, I got a nice paella. I also got this is like super nice tools for the wind 
not disturbing us while lighting the fire. If you don’t have that, just make it inside maybe. 
And then a chem. Okay, it’s really important in my opinion the keador having two rings because 
we’re going to be using the first ring only at the beginning and then we’re going to need both 
of them to to finish the dish. Now guys, the first step is extremely important. Okay, we’re going to 
put a little bit of oil. By the way, extra virgin olive oil. It makes a difference. And I’m using 
this one from Juani Tortis. That is one of the best I’ve ever tried. But anyway, any extra virgin 
olive oil would do the work. And I’m going to put a little bit of oil here now. Let’s say something 
like four, five tablespoons will do the work. And this is extremely important. Now, we need to use 
the rice to check if indeed our paella is even. When the rice is in with the stock and everything, 
we’re not going to be able to touch our paella for the whole cooking. So, we want the paella to be 
even. The oil should be in the center. In this case, it’s perfect already. I think I’m not even 
going to touch it. Otherwise, I would put maybe a little bit of paper or something underneath the 
legs. I consider myself happy with how even it is. Everything stayed in the center. So, that’s 
perfect. Now, we’re going to light the fire. And as I said at the beginning, only the center. We’re 
going to sear our proteins and our vegetables there. And now, while this is heating up, I’m 
going to use some salt on the edges of the paella. That’s going to help me retain the humidity 
and not spilling all over. For the chicken, for this paella, I’m using chicken thighs that I 
already bought like cut like this. But actually, you’re supposed to go to the butcher and say, 
“Hey, I want a whole chicken, but prepare it for paella.” And they would just cut like more or less 
this size pieces. And that’s perfectly fine. You can use the whole thing. Of course, the chicken 
breast would be a little bit drier and these parts retain like a longer cooking. So, in my case, 
chicken thighs is the option for today. As I said, this is seasonal and completely optional. If 
you find another thing that you want to use in instead of chicken, go for it. Traditionally 
for Valenta, they use chicken and rabbit. Today, all chicken. Tomorrow maybe I want to make it with 
pork, with pork ribs, whatever you want. You know, you have fun with with cooking paella is in my 
opinion the only thing that matters. And respect the rating. Now, so what we’re going to do now 
is sear our chicken. And we’re going to try to not move it too much. Just leave it couple 
minutes like this. So we get those beautiful Maya reactions that are going to be essential to 
get a nice flavor in the stock later. Right now, if I try to move it, it’s attached to the paella. 
But that’s actually what we want. We’re just going to leave it until it naturally creates that crust 
that is going to bring the stock to a next level. Okay? Really important. is the difference 
between a shitty paella and a good one to get in this step a nice color on our protein. You 
see this is the color we’re looking for. Okay, extremely golden, all caramelized. And now you see 
a a little bit of chicken got attached to the pa, but that’s perfect. That’s almost mandatory. Okay, 
that’s going to caramelize and we’re going to get a super nice flavor out of it. Now, let’s try 
to turn them all around. And the pieces that I consider already golden, beautiful, I can already 
move to the side. It’s actually a one pot recipe. That’s why I need two rings because I’m going to 
be cooking here. And here I’m going to just place all the ingredients that are ready for later. 
Okay. So, now I see already golden color in all my pieces of chicken. So, I remove them to 
the sides. As I said, I’m also going to make an effort to also get some of this crust out. I don’t 
want to burn them. But this this is going to wait here. That’s going to be a lot of flavor later. 
We’re going to do the same with the vegetables. Already has oil enough. Also, the chicken released 
a little bit of oil. So, now it’s the time for the artichoke. And we also move them a little bit so 
they get the fat. Maybe use a little bit more. Just as with the chicken, we want to get a little 
bit of brown edges to enhance the flavor. Okay, well enough. Now to the sides. Now the hula ver 
in. Now for the vegetables, I h lower the heat a little bit. With the chicken, it has way more 
humidity, so you can just go hard. But then with the vegetables to medium heat, more or less. 
Again, you see a little bit of browning. Let’s move it a little bit so it doesn’t burn. Okay, 
this one was just a quick searing, not so much and already again to the size. Now, the next thing is 
to build here what’s going to be the soprito. I’m already going to drop this shredded tomato, but 
it’s going to already delaze part of the things. We’re going to stir fry a little bit the 
tomato, one and two teaspoons of this carne deto. By the way, it’s just a pepper, but we 
call it chithro because it’s traditionally the pepper that we use in Spain to make chito, but 
it’s just a pepper paste, sweet pepper paste. If you cannot find chero or just maybe try to 
find any other sort of pepper paste and you’re going to be fine. A little bit more oil and the 
smoked paprika. I always put way too much smoked paprika. I’m going to try to be a little bit more 
careful today. Let’s say one teaspoon like this. Smoked paprika is going to help get this h smoky 
flavor and it’s also going to help quite a lot with the color. Okay, remember for for paella 
rice, the color is really important. We finish the paella and the color of the rice is kind of white. 
That’s a little bit lame. The flavor can be good, but let’s be honest, the first thing you 
input from the food is how it looks. So, the color is important. Smoked paprika. That’s 
why I also use this pulpto too. And of course, now we’re going to be dealing 
with the saffron situation. We want the tomato to become a thick paste just 
like this one. Right. Now I’m just now going to mix it all. So what we got here in this step is 
the perfect base to now build a stock on it. And actually traditional Valencian paella would use 
now water. But in my opinion, if I didn’t have any stock, I would just use water and adjust the 
amount of salt. But yesterday I made a super nice homemade broth and I’m going to use it because 
why not? more flavor, more richness. So, it’s a good idea. So, now I have here the right amount 
of stock for this 600 g of rice. That is 1 kilo 800. I’m going to lower the heat for a second now 
here because I want to splend you something. So, this is the right amount of water that we need. 
But now, we’re going to add more water and we’re going to let it reduce so all the ingredients get 
a little bit of flavor into the broth and stuff. So, what do I do? I create a mark with this to 
know the exact amount of water that it needs to have in order to drop the rice. I’m going to 
make something like this. And I’m going to put it here. Just touching a little bit over the water. 
Right. And we make it tight here so it doesn’t move anymore. And now I add more water. Okay, this 
is just water, not broth. All the ingredients are covered by the water. And we can now cook this 
until it reaches that level again. Now we need the two rings, maximum heat. Just let it cook. I think 
it’s going to be around half an hour more or less. And then is the moment of the rice. Meanwhile, 
let’s handle the situation with saffron. That is really important for a paella of six people. 
Actually, this is 1 g and it should be 0.5 for four people. So, this is six people. I’m going 
to do a little bit more than half actually. So, for example, I think this would be a right amount. 
I just make a little bit of um like an envelope. And we’re going to toast it. It’s important that 
you toast it because you develop different flavors in the saffron and it’s just way more aromatic 
and way better. But be careful because this thing burns super fast and it’s pretty expensive. Before 
this, don’t forget to subscribe, guys. I really appreciate if you can just click the subscription 
button. That will help me a lot and we will be able to make way more videos like this one. Okay, 
subscription like also helps quite a lot and it’s free. Both things are free. So, perfect. No, the 
flame is maximum heat. And I’m going to do this. One, two. Enough. The other side. One, two. A 
little bit more time. Should be enough. Now, let’s let’s open it. Now, I smell it differently. 
I smell a little bit like toasted tones. And if you look, actually, look, some of them 
burn. You see those? We don’t want them. But the rest is dry and perfect. Do the morto. 
and we grind it. And the best trick, guys, to infuse the saffron properly and get all 
that color is use cold water. Put a little bit of water here. That’s enough. And I’m just 
going to let it chill here while the stock is cooking. We’ve been cooking here this amazing 
stock that already smells crazy for 20 minutes, half an hour, more or less. You can see here that 
it’s already almost in the right level. So now I’m going to drop the infusion of saffron. This is 
going in. Boom. Clean the the pestl and mortar or the muster or the pestl, whatever the Okay. 
So all the color is in. Let’s distribute it nice and good. And now is the moment for the rice. I’m 
going to prepare here a little bit of a neck kind of thing. Going to separate the toppings. And 
now I’m going to drop the rice and draw an X. This is something to just make it 
easier to distribute. I’m going to distribute it by quarters. So I just 
like put this here and this here. This here and this here also if the 
pa is not too big and you can maybe do this so it’s all even and good. Now something 
quick that I forgot to tell you. We need to try the broth. We need to try the broth in this moment 
or actually maybe before the rice, but whatever. Perfect. It should be a little bit over salty 
because the rice is going to absorb all this flavor. This is now perfect. And now, as I said, 
we don’t move it for the next 15 minutes. Ideally, around 5 to 7 minutes high heat. We want the thing 
to be like boiling strong. And then we lower the heat for the rest of the time. I’m going to set 
a timer. Timer of 14 minutes because more or less already 1 minute happened. And as I said, I’m not 
touching it. I’m just like, you know, fixing those grains that are outside of the of the broth, but 
I’m not digging the spatula in. That’s forbidden. Otherwise, we would release all the starch from 
the rice, and that’s going to make it sticky. We don’t want that. So, we don’t move it anymore. 
Okay. After 5 6 minutes, we lower the heat, and we let this slow cook for the rest of the time. 
10 minutes more or less. And this is almost done. Forgot the rosemary. Valencia is going to kill me. 
Anyway, no more. No matter. For the last minutes. I’m going to put it in the flame a little bit. 
Maybe a little bit too late. You’re supposed to do it whenever you put the rice in. Okay. But well, 
whatever. It’s still going to give a little bit of of aroma to the whole thing. Now, last 5 minutes. 
This is already super dry. And if you’re cooking for your family, friends, and stuff. A lot of 
kungadas are going to be around the paella saying, “Hey, chef, I think it’s missing some broth.” 
Right? You should add a little bit more broth. No, trust the process. Just keep it low. It looks dry, 
but this is extremely hot. So, the rice is still cooking. Just respect the cooking times. Then, 
we’re going to let it chill. And the texture of the rice is going to be just perfect. So, believe 
the process and hold on. Don’t fall into the trap of the kungato saying, “Hey, more water here. 
Should I add a little bit more beer?” No. Get out of my pela. Get out of my kitchen. 15 minutes. 
But this is not ready yet. Now the soaran outside ring maximum the inside ring medium heat 
not maximum because otherwise it burns a little bit upper medium you know this is what we 
want to hear all this crust happening right now and now all the senses has to be here I need to 
be hearing I need to be also smelling because it’s a matter of seconds from getting a nice 
caramelized tokara to burning the whole paella and then everything smells and tastes not so 
good this is enough. I’m going to turn it off. And last but not least, we have to let it chill. 
We have to let the rice chill for for five more minutes. That is crucial, okay? With some towel 
cloths. And we let this chill 5 minutes or even 10. The second round of the paella is going 
to be better than the first one because the rice have chilled a little bit more. And 
it’s always better for the rice to chill. Come on. Sara. The sakara could have been 
better. Actually, it’s unexistent. Maybe if I go here. Let me go here. This is the best 
part. The caramelized edges. There you go. Look. Here we have some zagara. It’s not the same to 
eat like the one in the edges, the one in the center. So either traditionally in Valencia, you 
serve the whole thing and people with the fork or whatever get to decide what part are they 
going to eat. Oh my god, I already tried it. It’s spectacular. Really important to nail the 
amount of salt that you put in the broth to try. Remember, it has to be slightly more salted 
than how you would enjoy a soup. And well, if you follow all these steps, it’s amazing. In 
case in this case, we’re going to just serve it in plates. So then I like to mix it all. So then 
everybody gets to try some of the caramelized grains together with the one in the center. And 
that’s also how they do it in a in a restaurant if they have to serve you per portions, I’ve heard. 
Get all these ones. They are my favorite for sure. Masterpiece of Spanish astronomy right here. Spectacular. Thank you very much for watching 
this video. Let me know in the comments if you have any any question, any doubt. I’m happy 
to answer. And see you in the next one. Chowo.