Delicious quick and easy instant pot paella recipe. Much simpler and just as tasty as the famous Spanish classic.
Paella is normally made on the stove top in a wide metal pan. My recipe is not strictly traditional, but very similar and equally tasty. (it is not possible to make a paella the traditional way in the instant pot). Using the instant pot makes the paella much quicker with a lot less effort.
My instant pot paella is one of my family's go to meals and I hope you will enjoy it as much as we do.
What is paella?
Paella is in my opinion, the mother of all one pot meals. It originates in the Valencia area of Spain and takes its name from the wide shallow pan used when cooking. This would traditionally be over a wood fire.
How to make instant pot paella
Making my delicious paella is so simple. Just heat the oil in the pot and then when its hot add the olive oil. Next add the onion and fry until softened (around 3 minutes). Now add the chorizo and fry util the colour comes out (another 3 minutes). Add the garlic and smoked paprika followed by the chicken. Fry until the chicken is roughly browned and then add the peppers and rice. Cook until the rice becomes clear (around 2 minutes) and then add the wine. Keep cooking until the alcohol evaporates (around 2 minutes). Now add the stock, sweetcorn, peas and prawns. Stir together and deglaze if necessary Put the lid on and set on high pressure for 8 minutes. When the time is up leave under pressure for another 4 minutes before doing a quick release. Remove the lid when the pin drops. Stir everything together and serve straight away garnished with the parsley and lemon.
What are the ingredients of paella?
My paella has the following ingredients:
- Olive oil
- Onion
- Chorizo
- Garlic
- Smoked paprika
- Chicken thighs or breast (diced)
- Peppers (bell peppers)
- Rice (preferably arborio or other short grain rice)
- Saffron (expensive I know, but you can substitute turmeric if on a low budget)
- Salt
- Chicken stock (vegetable stock will also be OK)
- Tinned or frozen sweetcorn
- Frozen prawns (shrimp)
- Frozen peas
- Parsley and lemon to garnish
What to serve with instant pot paella
I served my paella garnished with parsley and lemon with a side serving of broccoli. Any leafy green vegetable or green salad would also make a good side serving.
Is my instant pot paella recipe healthy?
Yes, with no processed sugars and no added preservatives my paella is a perfect addition to any diet. The recipe is relatively low in fat and has lots of added vegetables for added goodness.
Can I use any other rice for Paella?
Whilst arborio, or Spanish bomba rice are traditional you can substitute any short grain rice such as Italian carnaroli. Long grain rice such as basmati will also work, but as it does not absorb liquid as well. You might need to reduce the liquid quantities and the finished result will not be quite as good in my opinion.
Instant pot paella recipe
Ingredients
- 3 tbsp Olive oil
- 2 Medium Onions (roughly chopped) Red or white.
- 227 g Chorizo Thinly sliced.
- 3 Cloves Garlic Finely chopped
- 1 tsp Smoked paprika
- 454 g Chicken thighs or breast (Raw & diced) Skinless and boneless.
- 2 Red, yellow or orange peppers Roughly chopped.
- 454 g Paella or arborio rice
- 1 Good pinch Saffron Substitute 1 heaped tsp turmeric if on a budget.
- 1 tsb Salt
- 800 ml Chicken stock Vegetable stock would be fine
- 100 ml White wine Optional. If not used add 100ml (½ cup) extra stock.
- 200 g Tinned sweetcorn
- 200 g Frozen peas
- 200 g Frozen prawns No shell.
- 1 handful Parsley - roughly chopped
- 2 Lemons - Cut into wedges
Instructions
- Set the instant pot on saute and add the olive oil. Add the onions and cook for around 3 minutes.
- Add the finely sliced chorizo and cook until the oil has taken on the chorizo colouring (around 3 minutes)
- Add the garlic, smoked paprika and chicken (cooked chicken can be used - add before the stock instead). Cook until the chicken is browned.
- Add the peppers and then the rice. Cook until the rice begins to turn clear (around 2 minutes). Add the saffron and stir.
- Now add the wine and cook until the alcohol evaporates (around 2 minutes).Add the stock, sweetcorn, frozen peas and frozen prawns. Stir well and set the instant pot on high pressure for 8 minutes.
- When the cooking is complete, leave under pressure for a further 4 minutes and then perform a quick release. Remove the lid when the pin drops.
- Serve at once with a garnish of parsley and lemon wedges.
Video
Nutrition
The nutritional value calculation assumes that the recipe is made with chicken thighs. Calories would be slightly less for chicken breast.
If you don't want to use any wine in the recipe, just replace with extra stock to make up the liquid proportions.
This recipe made 6 portions and unfortunately there were no leftovers. If there were, you could safely refrigerate for up to 4 days and it will freeze well for around 6 months.
I made this using the 8l (8qt) instant pot and I have also made it successfully in the 6l (6qt) pot. The recipe should be OK in the 3l (3qt), however I would recommend halving all the quantities whilst leaving the timing the same.
For some interesting facts and history of paella, please check out this link.
If you have enjoyed my instant pot paella recipe, please see below for some more great rice and Spanish recipes:
- Instant pot Spanish quinoa
- Instant pot shrimp fried rice
- Instant pot chicken risotto
- Instant pot beef plov
- Instant pot chicken biryani
If you have any comments, questions or suggestions, please leave them in the box below and I would be delighted to help.
What a great recipe. I’ve made it twice now and it turned out perfect. I think it was really authentic which I didn’t think was possible in the instant pot. I looked through your site and there are lots of other recipes I would like to make. Thanks again for another great recipe.
I’m glad you enjoyed it.
Hi Andy. Thanks for your instant pot paella recipe. I made it this week and found it really simple. The instructions were really easy and I enjoyed watching the video which was also really useful. I really enjoyed the paella and so did my family. This one will be going onto our regular rotation.
Thanks Kelvin. It’s one of our family’s regular recipes as well.
Hi, I’m going to try this but here’s a question - 454gm of rice with 800ml plus 100ml of chicken stock and wine? That’s double the amount of liquid to cook rice in a pressure cooker. Appreciate your feedback, thanks!
Hi Susan, its's 800ml of stock + 100ml of wine or 900ml of stock if you're not using wine. Hope this helps. I would love to know how you get on.