Paella with Prawns & Chorizo

My Paella with Prawns and Chorizo takes me straight back to summer holidays in Spain. I have eaten more paellas than I can count along that coastline, where the seafood is so fresh it barely needs anything doing to it, and I once had the pleasure of cooking one in a huge paella pan at a villa. It is the kind of dish that pulls everyone to the table.

The good news is you do not need that giant pan at home. A wide frying pan on the stovetop cooks the rice, smoky chorizo and sweet prawns together in one go. Leave the rice to catch a little colour at the end and you get the socarrat, that lightly caramelised crisp layer at the bottom that everyone loves.

Serve it straight from the pan with a squeeze of lime.

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What is Socarrat?

Socarrat is the crunchy, caramelised layer at the bottom of the Paella pan, resulting from cooking the dish with careful temperature control and minimal disturbance. It is a key quality feature that distinguishes good Paella from great Paella.

It is a question of when the lid is on and when it is off. On a hob I cover the pan for the first part of the simmer, which brings the whole thing up to temperature evenly, and take the lid off as soon as it is bubbling. From that point it stays off. Then, once the rice is tender and the liquid has gone, turn the heat back up for one to two minutes. You want the last of the moisture to drive off so the layer against the metal can fry rather than steam, and a lid on at that stage is the one thing guaranteed to stop it happening. The pan is covered again afterwards, to rest.

Go by sound and smell rather than by a timer. There is a distinct crackle as it catches, and the smell shifts from savoury to toasted. The moment it goes from toasted to sharp, take it off. If you are unsure, slide a spoon down the side and lift a corner to look. On a thin pan the crust forms in about a minute; on cast iron it takes longer and comes out more evenly. On a domestic ring the middle of the pan will catch before the edges, so move the pan around over the flame rather than leaving it in one place.

A Closer Look at the Ingredients

Paella changes from village to village in Spain, so rather than list what might be in one, here is what is in mine and why:

• Bomba rice This is the one ingredient with no real substitute. Bomba drinks up around three times its own volume of stock without the grains collapsing, which is what lets you flood the pan and then leave it completely alone. Instead: Calasparra behaves the same way. Do not reach for risotto rice - arborio is bred to shed starch and thicken its liquid, which is the exact opposite of what you want here - and long grain will go either soupy or dry.
• Cooking chorizo Sliced, and the fat it renders is half the reason it is in the pan. It comes out orange with paprika and it is what colours the rice, so it stays in rather than being drained off. Instead: the soft cooking sort rather than the firm cured slicing sort, which stays rubbery and gives up very little fat.
• Raw king prawns Raw rather than the pink ready-cooked ones. Cooked prawns have nowhere left to go, so ten minutes in a hot pan turns them tight and rubbery. Instead: frozen raw prawns are genuinely fine and often better, since they are frozen at sea. Thaw and pat them dry, or they water down the top of the rice as they go in.
• Saffron It is the only thing in the pan that tastes of paella and nothing else will stand in for it: it carries both a flavour no other spice has and an intense yellow colour. Buy the deep red threads - cheap saffron is padded out with the pale part of the same flower, which is nearly flavourless. Instead: nothing, honestly. Leave it out and add a little more turmeric for the colour, and accept it is a rice dish rather than a paella.
• Paprika, turmeric and cumin Stirred into the toasted rice before any stock. Turmeric is there for colour and a woody, earthy note rather than as a stand-in for saffron. This is not a Valencian spice mix: the cumin leans Moorish and my paprika is Hungarian Szeged rather than Spanish. Instead: Spanish pimenton, sweet or smoked, if you want it closer to the coast.
• Vegetable stock 600 ml to 250 g of rice. Instead: if you can buy shell-on prawns, fry the heads and shells for a couple of minutes, cover with water and simmer twenty, and use that instead. It is the cheapest upgrade there is to this dish. Chicken stock works; a fish stock cube does not, and tastes of the cube.
• Peppers, mushrooms and tomatoes Between them they carry a lot of water that arrives on top of the stock. That is why the recipe says to hold back the last 50 to 100 ml if yours are very ripe and add it only if the pan dries out early. Instead: two medium tomatoes, deseeded and cut into wedges, in place of the cherry ones.
• Lime Squeezed in off the heat rather than cooked. Lime rather than the more usual lemon is my own habit from cooking these on holiday, and it sits better against the cumin. Instead: lemon is the traditional choice and is not a compromise. Either way it goes in at the end, because the sharpness cooks off.

The Rice-to-Liquid Ratio for Paella

Most paella recipes work to roughly two parts liquid to one of rice. This one runs a little wetter, at 600 ml of stock to 250 g of bomba, which is nearer two and a half to one, and that is deliberate: bomba takes up more than most short grains, and there are 200 g of mushrooms and 250 g of tomatoes going in on top that give up water of their own. The number to judge it by is not on a scale anyway. A finished paella has taken up all of its liquid: if there is broth sitting in the pan at the end it has not finished, and if the grains are still chalky when the pan goes dry you have run out early. Hold back the last 50 to 100 ml of stock and keep it beside the pan, and you can correct either.

Preparing Paella at Home Versus Traditional Methods

In Valencia, Spain, chefs traditionally cook Paella over an open flame, imparting a unique smoky flavour that’s essential for creating the perfect socarrat - the much-desired crispy rice layer at the bottom of the pan. When you’re making Paella at home on your stove, the heat distribution differs. To replicate this classic effect, start by stirring your Paella to guarantee even cooking. Then, towards the end, let it rest undisturbed. This technique is key to getting a crisp socarrat, as they do in Valencia.

Why Paella Rice Goes Mushy, and How to Avoid It

This is the commonest complaint about paella made at home, and it is almost never the fault of the ratio on the page. Four things cause it, and three of them are habits rather than quantities.

Stirring is the biggest one. Paella is not risotto, and the two are made in opposite ways: risotto is stirred to rub starch off the grains and thicken the liquid, while paella is left alone precisely so that does not happen. Once the stock is in, level the rice and leave it. The second is the rice itself: bomba and other short Spanish varieties absorb a lot of liquid without breaking down, and basmati or long grain in their place will be either soupy or dry. The third is the depth of the layer. Rice much more than a couple of centimetres deep steams itself from below and cooks unevenly, which is why width matters more than any other feature of the pan.

The fourth is specific to this recipe and worth knowing about. Our version carries 200 g of mushrooms and a punnet of cherry tomatoes as well as the 600 ml of stock, and all of that releases water into the pan as it cooks. Cherry tomatoes give up less than big ripe ones would, which is part of why they suit this pan. So there is more liquid here than the stock figure alone suggests. If your tomatoes are very ripe, or your mushrooms release a lot, hold back the last 50 to 100 ml of stock and add it only if the rice is still firm and the pan is drying out. Stock can always go in; it cannot come out.

Equipment You’ll Need

One pan does everything here, so choose it well

How to Make Paella with Prawns and Chorizo, Step by Step

Seven steps in one pan. The only two rules that really matter are toasting the rice before the stock goes in, and stopping stirring once it does.

1. Fry the chorizo first, and leave it in the pan. Two tablespoons of olive oil in a wide pan over a high heat, then the chorizo slices for three to five minutes until the edges crisp. The fat it renders is the base of the whole dish, which is why it stays in rather than being drained: it is orange with paprika and it is what colours the rice later. If your chorizo is a wet, soft cooking sausage rather than a firm cured one it will give up a lot of fat, in which case you can skip the oil altogether.
2. Soften the onions, then the peppers and mushrooms. Heat down to medium, onions in with the chorizo for about five minutes until translucent, then the peppers and mushrooms for another five to seven until they soften. Garlic last, for a minute. Garlic added at the start of this would be bitter by the end, because it burns in a fraction of the time the onions need. Take your time here: this is the sofrito, and every bit of sweetness the vegetables give up now is flavour the rice takes on later.
3. Toast the rice in the fat before any liquid goes near it. Bomba rice in, stirred until every grain is coated and glossy, about two minutes, until the grains turn from chalky white to slightly translucent at the edges. Then the paprika, turmeric, cumin and saffron, stirred through for a few seconds. Toasting is not a formality: the coating of fat slows how fast each grain takes on water, which is a large part of why paella rice keeps its bite instead of collapsing. Spices go in now rather than later so they bloom in the hot fat.
4. Stock in, lid on, and a gentle simmer for ten minutes. Pour it in, bring it up, and level the rice out into a shallow layer while you can still move it. On a hob, put the lid on to start with, which gets the whole pan up to temperature evenly rather than letting the middle race ahead of the edges the way an open pan over a single ring does. Take it off once it is properly bubbling. Stir occasionally at this stage only, to even out the hot spots; this is the last point at which stirring is allowed.
5. Tomatoes and prawns in, and now stop touching it. Nestle the halved cherry tomatoes and the king prawns into the surface and give it another ten to fifteen minutes, until the prawns are pink through and the rice is tender. Do not stir from here on. Stirring rubs starch off the grains, which is what turns the bottom of a pan into risotto rather than paella, and it also breaks up the crust that is starting to form underneath. The lid stays off from here: the last of the liquid has to leave the pan for the base to fry rather than steam, and turning the heat up for the final minute or two is what gives you socarrat, which has its own section below.
6. Off the heat, lime and seasoning, then rest it covered. Squeeze in the juice of one lime, season, then cover and leave it alone for five minutes. The rest is doing real work: the grains at the top are always a shade behind the ones sitting in the liquid, and five minutes off the heat lets the moisture even out through the pan. It also lets the socarrat set rather than steaming loose while you serve.
7. Parsley, and serve out of the pan. Scatter the chopped parsley over and take the pan to the table. Serve with a stiff spoon or a fish slice rather than a ladle, and scrape right down to the base as you go so each plate gets some of the crisp layer. Paella is not plated in the kitchen, and that is practical rather than ceremonial: the socarrat comes away in sheets while it is hot and turns to a stubborn film once the pan has cooled.

Recipe Card for Paella with Prawns and Chorizo

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Variations and What to Serve With Paella

Make it your own: swap the chorizo for extra prawns, mussels and squid for an all-seafood paella, or add chicken thighs for a heartier mixed version. Serve with a crisp green salad, crusty bread and a wedge of lime, which is what I use, or lemon if you prefer it. For more Spanish and seafood ideas, try my Spanish Chilindron stew or seafood spring rolls.

FAQ for Paella with Prawns and Chorizo

What rice should I use for paella?

Short-grain Spanish rice like Bomba or Calasparra is ideal - it soaks up lots of liquid while staying separate. Avoid long-grain rice.

Should I stir paella while it cooks?

No - once the rice goes in, resist stirring. Leaving it undisturbed is what creates the prized socarrat, the crisp caramelised layer on the bottom.

Is chorizo in paella traditional?

Traditional Valencian paella does not include chorizo, but a prawn-and-chorizo version is a popular modern twist - and that is exactly what this recipe celebrates.

How do I store and reheat leftovers?

Cool it quickly, refrigerate for up to 2 days, and reheat gently with a splash of stock. Paella is best fresh, as the rice softens over time.

Can I add mussels, clams or squid?

Yes, and it is the natural way to take this towards a mixed seafood paella. Squid rings go in early, with the peppers, because they want either two minutes or forty and anything between is rubbery. Mussels and clams go in at the same time as the prawns, hinge down, pushed into the rice so they steam open in the last ten minutes; discard any that stay shut. Scrub them and pull the beards off first, and bear in mind they release a fair amount of salty liquid as they open, so hold back some of the stock and go easy on the salt until the end.

Should I make stock from the prawn shells?

If you have shell-on prawns, yes, and it is the single cheapest upgrade to this dish. Fry the heads and shells in a little oil for two or three minutes until they turn deep orange and smell sweet, press them with the back of a spoon to get the juices out of the heads, cover with water, simmer twenty minutes and strain. Use it in place of the vegetable stock. Twenty minutes is plenty; shellfish stock turns bitter if it is boiled hard or cooked for an hour.

Do I need a real paella pan?

No. A wide, shallow frying pan is fine and it is what most of these get cooked in at home. What matters is surface area rather than the pan being the right shape: you want the rice no more than a couple of centimetres deep so it cooks evenly and the base can catch. A deep saucepan or a casserole is the one thing to avoid, because the rice sits too thick and steams. If you do use a proper paella pan on a domestic hob, expect to move it around over the ring, since it is far wider than the flame.

A Few Words from the Chef

I have spent a lot of holidays in Spain and eaten more paella than I can count, and I once cooked one in an enormous pan at a villa out there. One practical note from me: if I cannot get hold of bomba rice, I use risotto rice instead and it works perfectly well.