Spanish seafood rice

Name: Spanish seafood rice
Prep time: 12 min
Cook time: 21 min
Total time: 33 min
Yield: 4 servings
Cuisine: Spanish
Ingredients: 1 tblsp Olive Oil; 1 chopped Onion; 1 Red Pepper; 1 Yellow Pepper; 2 sliced Garlic Clove; 250g Paella Rice; 800ml Vegetable Stock; Pinch Saffron; 400g Frozen Seafood mix; Juice of 1/2 Lemon; Handful Parsley

By The Spice & Simmer Kitchen · Published May 3, 2026

A one-pot Seafood recipe with Spanish flavors, built for busy weeknights when you want real food without a sink full of dishes. Comes together in roughly 40 minutes, serves about 4, and uses ingredients you can find at any normal grocery store. The technique is simple: build a base in your pot, layer in the main ingredients, simmer until everything has had time to talk to each other, and serve straight from the pan. If you're cooking for picky eaters, this one tends to land — the flavors are recognizable, the texture is comforting, and there's nothing weird hiding in the ingredient list. Perfect for the kind of evening where you want dinner on the table by 7pm and the kitchen empty by 7:30.

Ingredients

Makes 4 servings · 33 min total

1 tblsp Olive Oil
1 chopped Onion
1 Red Pepper
1 Yellow Pepper
2 sliced Garlic Clove
250g Paella Rice
800ml Vegetable Stock
Pinch Saffron
400g Frozen Seafood Mix
Juice of 1/2 Lemon
Handful Parsley

Step-by-step instructions

Heat the oil in a large saucepan and soften the onion for 6-7 mins. Add the pepper and garlic, cook for 2 mins more, then stir in the paella rice and cook for 1 min, stirring to coat.
Pour in the stock, add the saffron and bring to the boil. Cook, uncovered, at a gentle bubble, for 20 mins, stirring occasionally until the rice is tender.
Stir in the seafood and lemon juice and cook for 2 mins or until piping hot and completely cooked through. Serve in warm bowls scattered with the parsley.

Why this works on a weeknight

Spanish seafood rice lands at about 33 minutes total — a little longer than our 30-minute target, but most of that time is hands-off simmering, which is why it earned a spot in our Rice & Grain Bowls collection. The technique is forgiving, the ingredient list is grocery-store standard, and the active cooking time is short enough that you can answer a text message in the middle without ruining dinner.

Cleanup notes

This is a single-pan recipe, so the cleanup is exactly one pan, one cutting board, and one knife. While the dish rests, fill the pan with hot soapy water — by the time you are done eating, the residue lifts off with a single pass of a sponge. Skip the steel wool on cast iron; a stiff brush and warm water are all you need to keep the seasoning intact.

Make-ahead and leftovers

Leftovers keep covered in the fridge for up to three days. Reheat in a dry pan over medium-low with a splash of water or stock to loosen the sauce. Spanish seafood rice actually improves overnight as the flavors keep talking to each other, so doubling the recipe and packing tomorrow's lunch is a high-leverage weeknight move.

Filed under 🍚 Rice & Grain Bowls Seafood Spanish