How to make your first easy paella, step by step

So you've finally decided. You've gathered your courage, bought your first paella pan, and are about to make your first paella, but do you know what you need to do to succeed? Well, in this guide, we're going to help you ensure your first paella is a success.

Traditionally, learning to make a paella was a step taken from fathers to children, celebrated between laughter, laughter and the father's pride in knowing that his child can make a paella as good or even better than his own.

But everyone in the world enjoys paella, and today, many people whose fathers have not made paellas in their youth, or simply have never known the recipe, want to try their hand at making this emblematic Valencian dish. In spite of this person of trust that helps us to pass this tradition on to us, we are ours, willing to teach art, and we come with the help of a father-hijo duo, willing to show us this tradition.

However, if you are not sure what equipment you need for your first paella, you can see our guide on how to find and obtain the perfect equipment for paellas.

Still doubting? Even a child can do it!

If you think this recipe is difficult or you're still afraid it won't turn out well, it's because you haven't seen Chef Fernando yet. At Original Paella, we're delighted to see our tradition passed down from parents to children, and with a little help, even a child can make a delicious Valencian paella in the Castellón style. This time we'll follow Chef Fernando and his recipe to make your first paella.

Let's prepare the ingredients

In this guide, we will base our recipe on the Valencian paella in the Castellón style, but you can use another recipe if you prefer; generally, the steps will be the same across different paella variations.

We won't specify the number of servings, so we won't give exact amounts of each ingredient, but if you're making a paella for 4, you can find the exact recipe and times here. If you have doubts, know that the amount of rice per person is 100 grams and the amount of water is three times the amount of rice. For example, if you have 500 grams of rice (for about 5 people), you'll need one and a half liters of water.

You'll need the basic ingredients: rice (obviously, no rice, no paella), which can be of any variety you prefer, though the most common are senia or bomba; chicken and rabbit meat for a traditional Valencian paella, with pork ribs added in this recipe. We'll also need green beans, garrofón beans, garlic, natural or canned crushed tomatoes, oil, water, sweet paprika, saffron, and salt. If you want to give it a special touch, you can also add snails or a sprig of rosemary.

Clean your paella pan well

Once you've received your first paella pan, it's important to remove the protective layer that all paella pans have. This layer prevents the pan from rusting while in storage. Although it's not toxic and there's no danger in ingesting it, cooking your first paella without removing this layer will ruin the flavor completely.

To avoid this, we'll start by cleaning the pan, which also serves as a heat treatment to help prevent future bulging from excessive heat. Here's our tutorial where you can learn in detail how to clean your paella pan, but we'll summarize it briefly. Fill the pan with water and bring it to a boil. Let the water boil for 10 minutes, then discard it. Normally, you should apply a layer of oil after discarding the water, but since we're going to continue cooking our first paella, we'll apply the oil once we're done cooking.

Let's get started!

We'll start by adding the necessary amount of oil in the center of the paella pan. It's important to add the right amount; otherwise, we can burn our first paella or not have enough to create the socarrat later. If you're unsure, we can tell you that the approximate amount of oil needed per person is about 25-30 ml.

Once we've added the oil, we need to ensure it doesn't flow to the sides. If it does, the paella pan is not level and we need to adjust it so the oil stays in the center. With the pan leveled, add salt to taste, but don't overdo it; it's always better to adjust the salt later than to add too much at the start.

Now for the meats

Light the fire and wait for the oil to heat up. Once hot, add the meat to the center. Stir to cook evenly until the meat is browned.

Now it's time for the vegetables

Add the sweet paprika and garlic to the center of the paella pan, always in this order. Then add the tomato, which should be grated/crushed (not in slices or chunks!). You can also use canned crushed tomatoes. Move the meat to the sides to make space in the center for the sofrito.

Spread the tomato across the pan and quickly add the garrofón beans and green beans, mixing them well with the sofrito.

IMPORTANT: We're basing this on a Valencian paella, but if you want to make an Alicante dish, typically instead of using tomato, you use salmorreta, the recipe for which you can find here.

Now we'll add the water

Once the sofrito turns a brownish color, spread the vegetables and meat evenly across the paella pan and quickly add the water.

This is a crucial step because the amount of water you add will determine how good your paella turns out. Without getting too technical, and assuming you have a paella pan suitable for the number of servings you're preparing, we'll give you a useful reference.

If you can see the rivets of the handles from inside the pan, add water until it covers the rivets. If your pan doesn't show these rivets, you can use a paella measuring magnet.

Wait and... add the rice!

Using the rivet or magnet reference, wait until the water level drops to reveal the rivets again. Then add the rice.

At Original Paella, we recommend the cross method for adding rice. Place the necessary amount of rice forming a cross that divides the pan into four. Then, using a spatula, slowly and evenly spread the rice.

With everything done, we only need to wait 15 minutes until our paella is cooked, but we recommend keeping an eye on it as there's one more secret.

What about the socarrat?

Depending on the type of rice, the unabsorbed water should evaporate in about 15 minutes. When this happens, the rice should start to heat up, forming the socarrat.

To get a perfect socarrat, pay close attention at this moment. Be patient and listen carefully; when the rice starts to make a sound similar to when we prepared the sofrito, count 60 seconds. Once the time is up, quickly turn off the heat and remove the pan. If you did everything right, this should happen around the 15-minute mark we mentioned earlier. Congratulations, you've just cooked your first paella!

Now your first paella is done. We hope our step-by-step guide has helped you. Now enjoy the paella, rice lovers!

If you still have any doubts, we invite you to check out our tutorials, where you'll find more tips and common mistakes to make your paella perfect.