People sometimes ask whether we cook paella because we live in Spain, as if the island supplies a pan at the airport. Not quite.

We make it because it turns one ordinary evening in Tenerife into a table everyone keeps hovering around.

This is Anastasia’s seafood paella recipe: saffron rice, sweet vegetables, whole prawns, white fish and a properly shallow pan.

It is healthy in the sensible sense: real seafood, plenty of vegetables and good olive oil. No nutrition lecture required.

It is not Paella Valenciana. It does not need to pretend to be.

Short answer: use short-grain Spanish rice. Make the sofrito patiently. Keep the stock hot, spread the rice in a thin layer and stop stirring as soon as the liquid goes in.

What makes this a Tenerife seafood paella?

Dmitriy and I live in Tenerife, where a paella pan can feed people without ending the conversation. Anastasia is a professional healthy chef and the founder of Greeny App.

It is the version we cook at home: bright, seafood-led and a little generous with vegetables.

Paella began in the Valencia region, and Paella Valenciana has a much more specific tradition.

A seafood paella, or paella de marisco, belongs to a different regional family of dishes. Spain is not one recipe in a large hat, which is why naming the version matters.

Kitchen verdict: call this seafood paella, not Paella Valenciana. It tastes better when nobody is arguing with a map.

Paella ingredients for four generous plates

Use these quantities as a reliable home-kitchen starting point.

Rice brands and pan width change the final stock amount. Keep a little hot stock back rather than treating one number as sacred.

• 320 g bomba or other Spanish round-grain paella rice
• 1 to 1.1 litres good hot seafood stock, plus 150 ml held back
• 8 large raw shell-on prawns, kept cold until needed
• 350 g firm white fish, cut into large bite-size pieces
• 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
• 1 medium onion, finely diced; 3 garlic cloves, finely sliced
• 1 red pepper, 2 carrots, 1 small courgette and 150 g green beans, all cut small
• 200 g ripe tomatoes, grated or finely chopped; 120 g peas
• 1 teaspoon sweet smoked paprika and a generous pinch of saffron threads
• 1 lemon, flat-leaf parsley, black pepper and salt

Paella rice: use another short-to-medium grain rice if you have no bomba, and follow its absorption behaviour. I would skip long-grain rice because it does not give you the same tender, separate grains.

Plan like this: cut the vegetables small and keep 150 ml of hot stock aside. Both decisions make the last minutes calmer.

The vegetables are the gentle healthy choice here. They add sweetness and colour, not an excuse to bury the rice under a fridge-clean-out.

The pan, rice and stock: three decisions that matter

A traditional paella pan is wide and shallow because the rice cooks in a thin, even layer.

You do not need to buy one before dinner tonight. You do need the widest heavy pan you own; a deep pot makes excellent rice dishes, but a poor paella.

For this recipe	Good choice	Avoid
Pan	A 34–38 cm shallow paella pan or wide skillet	A narrow, deep saucepan
Rice	Bomba, Calasparra or another Spanish round rice	Long-grain rice; risotto-style stirring
Stock	Hot, flavourful seafood stock added all at once	Cold stock or repeated splashes without a plan
Heat	A steady simmer, then a brief final toast	Hard boiling from beginning to end

Taste the stock before you add it. The rice should taste seasoned before it is fully cooked.

Kitchen rule: if the stock is bland, the paella will not become interesting by positive thinking.

How to make seafood paella, step by step

Read the whole method once before you heat the pan. This is how to cook paella without turning it into risotto.

1. Wake up the saffron and prepare everything

Warm a small ladle of stock and soak the saffron in it for 10 minutes. Put the remaining stock in a small pan over low heat.

Have the prawns, fish, parsley and lemon ready before the rice goes in. This is not the moment to start chopping.

Pat the seafood dry and keep it chilled. Keep the prawns in their shells, and cut the fish into sturdy pieces.

2. Build a sweet, savoury sofrito

Heat the olive oil over medium heat. Cook the onion, carrots, pepper, courgette and green beans with a pinch of salt for 8–10 minutes.

They should soften and smell sweet. Add garlic for the final minute, then the tomatoes and paprika.

Cook until the tomatoes lose their raw edge and the base looks jammy rather than wet. This is where the paella gets its depth.

Common mistake: burning the paprika. It turns sulky very quickly, so add it only when the tomatoes are ready to soften it.

3. Add the rice and stock, then stop stirring

Stir the dry rice through the sofrito for one minute so every grain gets glossy.

Pour in the hot stock and saffron liquid. Season with pepper, then gently shake the pan until the rice lies in one even layer.

Bring it to a lively simmer, then lower the heat so it bubbles steadily. From this point, do not stir.

A gentle pan shake is fine if one edge is racing ahead. A spoon is how paella becomes a very tasty risotto.

Cook uncovered for about 12 minutes. If the rice looks dry too soon but is still firm, add the reserved hot stock a little at a time around the edges.

Local kitchen verdict: once the stock is in, patience does more than stirring.

4. Add the seafood late

Nestle the fish pieces into the rice, then arrange the prawns on top.

Cook for another 6–8 minutes, until the fish flakes easily and the prawn flesh is opaque. Add peas in the final few minutes so they stay green and sweet.

If you use mussels or clams, add only live, closed shellfish. Discard any that do not open after cooking.

If you use cooked seafood, fold it in at the end just to warm through. Otherwise it becomes a rubbery punishment.

Safety rule: keep raw seafood cold until it is time for the pan, then cook fish and prawns through before serving.

5. Make a little socarrat, then let it rest

When the liquid is mostly gone and the rice is just tender, turn the heat up for 30–60 seconds and listen for a quiet crackle. This makes the thin golden rice crust called socarrat.

If you are unsure, skip the heroics. Good rice is better than burnt rice.

Take the pan off the heat, cover loosely with a clean tea towel or lid and rest for 5 minutes.

Finish with parsley and lemon at the table. The lemon should lift the seafood, not turn every spoonful into lemonade.

Local detail: let the pan rest before anyone starts serving. It gives the rice a moment to settle and gives the cook a moment to breathe.

Is paella healthy? A satisfying version without becoming sad

Healthy is not a magic label.

This paella is a satisfying meal built around seafood, vegetables, rice, olive oil and a portion that makes sense for your table.

It is not low-carb. It does not need to apologise for being rice.

• Use enough olive oil to cook the sofrito well, not a slick lake of it.
• Choose unsalted or lightly salted stock when possible, then season after tasting.
• Let vegetables support the rice instead of replacing it with cauliflower impersonation.
• Serve a sharp tomato salad or bitter leaves alongside if you want a fresher table.

This seafood version is naturally gluten-free only if your stock and any seasonings are certified gluten-free.

Check the label rather than assuming a rice dish answers every ingredient question for you.

Substitutions that keep the dish itself

Prawns and firm white fish are easy to buy in Tenerife. That is why they are in our pan.

Elsewhere, use the freshest seafood you can source, or frozen seafood thawed safely in the refrigerator.

If you do not have	Use instead	What changes
Bomba rice	Calasparra or another short-to-medium grain rice	Adjust stock and test the grain earlier
Prawns	Large shrimp, mussels or clams	Add shellfish only while live and close
White fish	Monkfish, cod or another firm fish	Use larger pieces; add late
Fresh tomatoes	Good passata or canned grated tomato	Cook it down until thick
Saffron	Nothing perfect	Do not try to fake it with a heroic amount of turmeric

Kitchen verdict: chorizo is delicious, but it changes this into another style of paella. Add it because you want it, not because every Spanish rice dish needs a sausage chaperone.

Paella for a group: scale the pan, not just the shopping list

Paella is one of the best group meals because the pan arrives at the table already looking celebratory.

Common mistake: doubling the ingredients in the same pan. A deep layer of rice cooks unevenly and gives you very little chance of socarrat.

For eight people, use two pans or one truly large pan with enough burner coverage.

Keep the rice shallow, prep every ingredient in advance and serve the pan straight away. This dish enjoys an audience, not a queue.

For a relaxed Tenerife-style table, add a green salad, crusty bread if you want it and something cold to drink.

You do not need five side dishes. The paella has already done the hosting.

Troubleshooting: rescue the pan without panic

Most paella mistakes are fixable while the pan is still warm. Breathe first, then match the problem to the fix below.

What happened	Likely reason	What to do now
Rice is hard and the pan is dry	Heat was high or your rice needed more stock	Add hot stock in small amounts, cover briefly, then test again
Rice is soft and soupy	Too much liquid or too narrow a pan	Cook uncovered at a steady simmer; do not stir
Bottom is black	Heat was too high for too long	Do not scrape it through the whole pan; serve the good rice
Seafood is tough	It went in too early	Next time add fish and prawns only near the end
Flavour is flat	Under-seasoned stock or rushed sofrito	Season at the table now; build the base longer next time

The finished rice should be tender with distinct grains and a little bite.

Local verdict: it should not be creamy, but it should not be dry enough to file paperwork on either.

Leftovers and seafood safety

Serve seafood paella hot. For leftovers, the timing matters as much as the recipe.

Safety rule: refrigerate leftovers promptly in a shallow container instead of leaving the pan out while everyone tells one more story. Reheat only the portion you will eat, until it is steaming hot throughout, and do not reheat it again and again.

If seafood was left out for too long, smells wrong, or you are unsure how it was handled, do not rescue it with optimism. Start with fresh seafood, keep it cold before cooking and cook fish and prawns through.

Seafood paella FAQs

These are the questions that come up most often once the pan is on the stove.

What is paella?

Paella is a Spanish rice dish named for the wide, shallow pan it is traditionally cooked in. It comes from Valencia, but there are many regional and household versions, including seafood paella.

Can I make paella without a paella pan?

Yes. Use the widest shallow skillet you have and keep the rice in a thin layer; the pan shape matters more than owning a pan called paella.

Do I stir paella after adding the stock?

No. Stirring releases starch and makes the rice creamier, so level the rice and leave it alone apart from an occasional gentle pan shake.

Which rice is best for paella?

Bomba and Calasparra are excellent Spanish round rices because they absorb flavour while holding their shape. A short-to-medium grain substitute can work, but its stock needs may differ.

Can I use frozen seafood?

Yes, if it is thawed safely in the refrigerator and added at the right time. Dry it well first so it does not cool the pan and water down the rice.

How do I get socarrat without burning the whole pan?

Wait until the rice is almost tender and the liquid is nearly gone. Then give the pan 30–60 seconds of slightly higher heat; a gentle toast is enough.

What to serve with paella?

A sharp salad, lemon wedges and something cold to drink are enough. Paella is the main event, and it prefers not to compete with a crowded table.

Local detail: if you make it, tag us from your kitchen. I want to see the rice, the prawns and the tiny bit of chaos around the pan—that is usually the best part.