Authentic Valencian Paella Recipe

The Valencian paella is the best known of all, it is part of our gastronomy and is very popular outside our country. We can prepare an infinite number of paellas, since in Valencia there are many varieties that exist. Thus, we find Valencian seafood paella, mixed Valencian paella and even Valencian paella with artichokes. However, this time we are going to show the authentic and traditional Valencian paella recipe, the original one with beans, chicken and rabbit. This paella is known for having vegetables and meat and the carob bean, which is the main ingredient of the Valencian paella and is a kind of large bean that is not found in many places. Outside the Valencian Community, the most common is to find this frozen product. If this is your case, don’t worry.

That said, do not miss all the ingredients of the Valencian paella that we show below, prepare them in advance and discover how to make Valencian paella step by step.

Ingredients to make authentic Valencian Paella:

400 grams of bomba rice

500 grams of chicken
500 grams of rabbit
100 grams of green beans

100 grams of carob
100 grams of chopped or crushed natural tomato
1 teaspoon sweet paprika

1 teaspoon of food coloring
4 threads of saffron
1 sprig of rosemary

1½ liters of water
1 splash of oil
1 pinch of salt

200 grams of snails (optional)

How to make authentic Valencian Paella:

Clean and cut the chicken and rabbit into pieces.
Then, salt the pieces to taste. On the other hand, it should be noted that if you use tender garrofon, you can add it directly in the corresponding step, but if it is dry garrofon, you must leave it to soak the night before and cook it before making the paella so that it is tender.

Heat a paella pan with a good splash of olive oil.
When hot, add the meat pieces and brown on all sides over medium-high heat.
Wash the green beans, cut off the ends and chop them. When the meat is browned, leave it on one side of the paella and add the green beans.

Let them cook for a few minutes, enough to brown them a bit.
In some areas it is considered that the original Valencian paella should contain snails.
However, as this is not the case everywhere, we leave it up to you whether or not you want to add them. If so, you should add them with the beans, previously washed.

Trick: there are also those who add artichokes when it is season.
If you see that there is not much oil, add it. Add the chopped or crushed natural tomato and stir, let it cook for 5 minutes over medium heat.
Add the sweet paprika and stir well. The ideal is to make the Valencian paella with natural tomato, but if you don’t have any, you can use crushed tomato from a jar (preferably natural and not fried).

Pour the water, put a 1 liter and a half or something more because it will be consumed. Add a little salt and let the meat cook for another 15 minutes.
Halfway through cooking, add the beans, if you don’t get them fresh they can be frozen.
Add the coloring, the saffron strands and the sprig of rosemary, which you can put on one side so that you can easily remove it later.

Tip: remember that depending on the type of bean you use, you will have to cook it first.
After 15 minutes, taste for salt and add a little more water if necessary.
It’s a bit difficult to calculate, but there should be twice as much water as rice.

When the water starts to boil, add the rice and distribute it well so as not to touch it during cooking. Let the authentic Valencian paella cook for 5-8 minutes over high heat.
Lower the heat to medium and let the rice continue to cook for another 10 minutes.
Keep in mind that the cooking time may vary depending on the type of rice and the type of fire.

If you like it to be a bit scarred, that is, to stick a little to the bottom, put the heat on high at the end, about 2-3 minutes before it finishes cooking.
Let rest for about 5 minutes and you already have your Valencian paella recipe ready.
As you have seen, the ingredients of the traditional Valencian paella can vary depending on the season and the place, so you can make slight modifications, such as adding snails or artichokes.

In any case, we hope that you are encouraged to try it now that you know how to make a Valencian paella and that you tell us how it turned out for you.