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Chicken and Vegetable Paella Recipe

Transport your tastebuds to the Spanish seafront with our delicious Chicken and Vegetable Paella – boasting 37g of protein and only 335 calories per serving.

This tasty one pot meal makes for a healthy and wholesome meal for all the family and is great when you can’t be bothered to wash up!

Plus, it’s great for meal prep as it can be cooked in bulk and then frozen for up to 2 months.

In just one pan, this classic Mediterranean rice dish combines juicy chicken breast with heaps of vegetables to pack plenty of vitamins, minerals and fibre. And the most important ingredient? Saffron! Saffron is a must have in an authentic paella as it helps to bring out the rich flavours - adding an incredible earthy, sweet, and floral taste.

What’s not to love about Paella! It’s also a great recipe if you’re wanting to use up leftovers in your fridge to cut back on food waste. Throw in your leftover veggies or your favourite meat or seafood to our paella base and the flavour combinations are endless!

Serves: 2

Prep time: 10 mins

Cook time: 30 mins

Suitable for freezing: yes

Ingredients:

  • 1 tsp saffron
  • 200g chicken breast, diced into small pieces
  • Low calorie oil spray
  • 1 red onion, diced
  • 2 garlic cloves, crushed
  • 1 red pepper, deseeded and diced
  • 1 tomato, diced
  • 150g long grain brown rice
  • ½ tsp smoked paprika
  • 500ml salt free chicken stock
  • 100g frozen peas
  • ½ lemon, juiced
  • ½ lemon cut into wedges
  • Fresh parsley, chopped

Method:

  1. Cover saffron with a couple of tbsp of boiling water in a dish and leave to infuse.
  2. Add chicken to a large, heavy based frying pan with a few sprays of low-calorie oil spray and brown all over.
  3. Add onion and garlic and cook for a further 3-4 minutes.
  4. Add red pepper and cook for a further 2 minutes.
  5. Add tomato, rice, smoked paprika and saffron and stir well before adding the stock and bringing to the boil.
  6. Reduce to simmer for 15 minutes stirring occasionally so that the rice doesn’t stick.
  7. Stir through the peas and lemon juice and leave to simmer for a further 5 minutes.
  8. Once the rice has absorbed all the stock, take off the heat and garnish with lemon wedges and fresh parsley.

Making our Chicken and Vegetable Paella for meal prep? Have healthy wholesome food on hand for days when you don’t have time to cook. Double or even triple the quantities of this recipe and store in the freezer for up to 2 months! Simply thaw in the fridge overnight, until completely thawed and then cook in the microwave for 3 – 4 minutes or until piping hot.

Looking for more easy one pan meals to try? Give our one pan chicken and vegetable traybake or our one pan Prawn Egg Fried rice a go!