Meat Paella

Meat paella is one of the most recommended ones to make when you aren’t an experienced paella cook. In addition to rice, the predominant ingredient will be meat, and depending on the cook’s choice, the type of meat added will be different. The recipe I’m sharing here is an authentic meat paella recipe.

Meat paella recipe

Meat paella recipe
Authentic Meat Paella Recipe

Meat is one of the most ‘filling’ types of paella although it is also made with many varieties of vegetables including tomato.

That’s an authentic Spanish meat-only recipe (no fish) and the following ingredients list can be easily found on traditional paellas that Spanish families cook like the authentic paella recipe from my grandpa or the Valencian Paella. Actually, the traditional recipe for meat paella is the one I probably have followed most in my life, usually combining chicken and chopped pork ribs.

Meat paella ingredients

Whether it’s going to be the first paella you’re going to make or if what you want is a sure success, take note of this step by step meat paella recipe. Here you are the ingredients for meat paella:

🥘 Difficulty: Easy-Average
🥘 Servings: 4
🥘 Nutrition: 440 Kcal

  • 400g (2 cups) paella rice
  • 400g (0.9 lbs) chicken (you can combine leg and thigh) or…
  • …200g (0.45 lbs) chicken and 200g pork ribs or rabbit
  • 100g (0.2 lbs) runner beans
  • 100g butter beans
  • 200g grated tomato
  • 1 red pepper (cut into strips)
  • Salt
  • Extra Virgin Olive oil
  • A bunch of fresh rosemary
  • Pinch of saffron (optional but preferable)

For the stock

  • 2 cloves of garlic
  • 1 onion
  • 1 carrot
  • 1 chicken carcass or chicken/pork bones
  • 800g (3 1/2 cups) of water

How to make meat paella

🥘 Prep time: 20′
🥘 Cooking time: 35′

This simple meat paella recipe is easy to make. It is commonly made maybe in the Alicante region when red pepper is commonly added to rice dishes, unlike Valencia.
Just follow carefully the simple steps and you will learn how to make the perfect traditional Spanish meat paella.

  • Prepare the meat stock. Boil the meat bones, the onion, carrot, and garlic with a bit of olive oil. Here you have how to cook meat stock for paella.
  • Heat up the pan. Over medium heat, add the oil until it gets quite warm
  • Add the vegetables. Stir and soften
Vegetables sauteing in meat paella
  • Add the chosen meat. Put aside the vegetables or take them out from the pan. Then, add the meat until browned
  • Add the tomato. Stir while it soft fries. (Put the meat aside before, if preferred)
  • Put the rice in. Stir until it gets oil coated. The rice should be half of the stock.
  • Mix everything in. Add all the solid ingredients and stir for a little while
  • Pour the stock, previously warmed, including salt and saffron. Stir for the last time.
Stock about to boil in meat paella
  • Let it boil (About 10 min). Or until immediately before the rice absorbs all the stock
  • Add small branches of rosemary on the top. And add the ultimate mountain fragrance
  • Turn the heat to the minimum. And cover the pan. Let it cook for 15 min
  • Turn off the heat. Let it repose for about 5 min and serve it
  • Enjoy the authentic meat paella recipe and comment here how did you like it

Meats, what can you put in paella?

My Authentic Meat Paella Recipe could be one of the best meat paella recipes for meat lovers and for food lovers in general. This is the meats in paella list:

In Spain

Although chicken is most commonly used in Spain, it is also true that it usually comes with another type of meat such as rabbit (in Valencian style) or pork, also a frequent combination. Besides this, although nowadays it is not very common, you can try with duck alone or in combination, as used to be in one of the recipes in origin.

Outside Spain

When you look for meat paella in English, you usually find recipes with just chicken, chorizo or chicken and chorizo (chorizo is not among traditional ingredients, just mentioning). However, you can even give it a different and even less traditional touch with sausage or foie (yes, from duck). It cannot be typical and it shouldn’t be called “paella”, but nobody can deny it can be delicious.

As you can see, you can combine different types of meat in paella. However, you cannot have all the meat types, as there are some limitations.

What types of meat are not included in the paella?

An authentic meat paella recipe has some non-written rules and many of them refer to its ingredients. Among them, meat is one of the most controversial ones. So, here you have a list of meat types you won´t find in a proper authentic meat paella recipe.

  • Beef
  • Lamb & mutton
  • Horse
  • Turkey
  • Venison
  • Wild boar
  • Bison
  • Goose
  • Crocodile
  • Ostrich
  • Snake
  • Veal
  • Bull
  • Alpaca
  • Moose
  • Goat
  • Kangaroo

I hope you like the paella with meat I’m proposing here, but you could be learning more about authentic paella. Did you know…

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