Try this Slow Cooker Paella recipe, or contribute your own.
- 4 cloves garlic minced
- 1 cup chicken broth
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 1 medium onion diced
- 1 cup white wine
- lemon wedges for serving
- 1 1/2 lb (skinless boneless) chicken thighs cut into bite-size pieces
- 3 tsp smoked paprika
- 2 cups short-grain rice (i used arborio)
- 1-14.5 oz can diced tomatoes
- 4 oz cured chorizo roughly chopped (i found this in the packaged deli meat section)
- pinch of saffron
- 3 cups frozen peas
- 1 cup chopped parsley for serving
- Carbohydrate 13.0141025001615 g
- Cholesterol 115 mg
- Fat 24.3267312503618 g
- Fiber 3.8377750005722 g
- Protein 31.9704300000044 g
- Saturated Fat 6.79706416671663 g
- Serving Size 1 1 serving (363g)
- Sodium 164.485458333651 mg
- Sugar 9.17632749958934 g
- Trans Fat 2.09437791667646 g
- Calories 405 calories
Step-by-step
- Heat oil in large pan.
- Add chicken and sprinkle with half of paprika and season with salt and pepper.
- Cook until golden brown, about 5 minutes, stirring occasionally.
- Transfer chicken to the slow cooker with a slotted spoon.
- Add rice to pan and cook for about 3 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add to slow cooker.
- Add remaining ingredients to slow cooker, season with salt and pepper and stir to combine.
- Cook on high for 2 hours, until rice is soft.
- Stir in peas and let sit for 10 minutes.
- Serve with parsley and lemon wedges.
What happens when the moisture distribution in a starch-heavy braise goes completely sideways? Cooks frequently confront a pan of soggy rice halfway through a long simmer, wondering how to salvage the dish without starting over. The appliance method presents a distinct textural challenge because sealed moist heat lacks the aggressive bottom-up evaporation of a traditional wide, shallow metal pan.
Addressing that vulnerability requires specific preparatory steps. Searing the chicken thighs for precisely five minutes builds essential Maillard compounds before the meat enters the ceramic insert. Toasting the short-grain rice in residual fat for three minutes coats the exterior starches, preventing the grains from collapsing into mush during the four-hour total window. Smoked paprika and saffron infuse the hot chicken broth and white wine mixture, creating a deeply colored poaching liquid.
Second-day transformations rely on how the starches retrograde in the refrigerator. Cold rice grains firm up significantly within a 24-hour storage window, making leftover portions prime candidates for a hot skillet treatment. Pressing the cold mixture firmly into an oiled cast-iron pan over medium-high heat for four minutes forces the bottom starches to crisp into a proper socarrat crust that rivals traditional open-flame preparation. Fold in the frozen peas only at the very end of the initial heating cycle to preserve their bright chlorophyll green and snappy cellular structure rather than boiling them into an olive drab paste.
