Ultimate Valenciana Paella Recipe

If you ever feel like you need something new on your rice dishes, or you want to try more innovative paellas, then you are in the right place.

There are dozens of authentic paella recipes, and a big fan favorite is the Valenciana paella recipe.

Continue reading this article to learn how to make this famous Spanish rice recipe, with some extra tips that will help you along the way.

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Background of the Dish

The paella Valenciana recipe was created in the rural region of Valencia in the 16th century, as an alternative to the Andalusian version that had seafood.

It was almost impossible to get seafood or any ingredient that wasn’t from the region (even to make the chorizo Paella recipe) so they came up with this recipe that only calls for ingredients that are found in Valencia.

Nowadays the Valenciana paella recipe is one of the most famous alternatives to the classic dish, side by side with others like the Paella with pasta and the Spanish black rice recipe.

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Things You’ll Need for Valenciana Paella Recipe

The Valencian paella ingredients are rice, chicken, rabbit, white and green beans, red bell pepper, and paprika with saffron threads as the seasonings.

You should prepare the Valenciana paella recipe in a paellera, but if you don’t have it you can use any large saucepan.

Ingredients

• 2 cups (400gr) medium or short-grain rice
• 4 cups (960ml) chicken broth
• 500g chicken
• 500gr rabbit
• 1/2 cup (120gr) flat white beans (“garrofó” beans)
• 1/2 cup (120gr) flat green beans (judias ferradura)
• 1 tomato
• 1 red bell pepper
• 1 teaspoon paprika
• extra virgin olive oil
• Salt and pepper to taste
• 1 teaspoon saffron threads

How to Make Valenciana Paella Recipe – Step by Step Guide

1. To start with the Valenciana paella recipe, grab the rabbit and the chicken, and remove the skin and fat (if you want to, also debone them). Cut them into medium-sized cubes.

2. In a paellera (or large pan) add olive oil and start cooking the chicken and rabbit pieces over medium heat until they are golden on all sides. It takes from 10 to 15 minutes.

3. In the meantime, wash the green beans and the white beans with plenty of water to remove any dirt.

4. After that, add the beans to the pan and stir them for a few minutes to cook, careful not to burn them.

5. Now you can wash and cut the tomato into small pieces and add it to the paellera. Put paprika, salt, and pepper.

6. Then, add the chicken broth, the saffron threads, and continue cooking over medium heat.

7. Once the broth begins to boil, add the rice to the authentic paella and stir a little. At this moment you can add more seasoning if necessary.

8. For the next step, cut the red pepper into strips and put it in the pan for the last few minutes of cooking (so it will have a crunchy texture).

9. When there is almost no liquid left, lower the heat to a minimum, cover the paellera (with a lid, baking tray, or foil), and cook for 10 more minutes.

10. For the final step check that all the ingredients reached the desired texture, and serve the traditional Valencian paella warm.

Substitution of Ingredients

Preparing this Valenciana paella recipe is super simple, and the best part is that you can make some changes to the ingredients if you don’t have one.

For example, you should use medium or short-grain rice, but another type can work too.

The authentic Valencian paella calls for chicken and rabbit, but you can use just one of them or replace them with another type of meat.

The paella from Valencia doesn’t call for garlic or onions, but if you want a more Andalusian version you can add them.

Feel free to try other paella recipes from Spain, like the traditional Spanish paella with seafood, the meat paella with beef, and the vegetable paella.

Tips on Serving Valenciana paella recipe

The authentic paella Valenciana is a main dish that you can serve for lunch or dinner, and it is the perfect meal all year round.

The typical way of serving authentic Spanish paella is with strips of red bell pepper on top, or just mix them in.

To make this Valenciana paella recipe even better, you can toast some slices of your favorite bread with olive oil and garlic and serve them to go with the rice.

How to Store Valenciana paella recipe

This Valenciana paella recipe is amazing for many reasons, and one of them is that you can store it in different ways.

As you finish making the authentic Spanish paella recipe you have to let the paella come to room temperature, then place it in a covered container.

After that, you can store the paella in the fridge for up to 4 days or in the freezer for up to 30 days.

For reheating the dish, you can do it in the microwave or the paellera at the stove, in both cases add some water so that the dish doesn’t lose moisture.

Recipe Card: Valenciana paella recipe

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