The protein cooking time listed in this recipe has been updated.
As of December 2025, we’ve revised cooking times for all our proteins to reflect improved food safety guidance.
Check out the latest recommended times in our Cooking Guidelines.
Golden chicken paella
Hello sunshine! This gorgeous dish is everything you want in a paella, with turmeric and paprika-spiced rice and grilled chunks of chicken breast, stirred into a punchy red pepper, tomato and spinach sauce, and sprinkled with fresh parsley and a squeeze of lemon.
SWK: Source of fibre
SWK: High protein
Plants 6
Serving size
Ingredients
- 1 chicken stock cube (Celery) (sea salt, potato starch*, sustainable palm oil* , sugar*, chicken fat* 3.5%, yeast extract, natural flavour, chicken meat* 1%, herbs & spices* (turmeric*, black pepper*, parsley*, rosemary*), onion powder*. * Organic ingredient)
- 1 tbsp smoked paprika
- 1 tsp turmeric (use half)
- 2 skinless chicken breasts
- 1 handful of fresh flat-leaf parsley
- 1 unwaxed lemon
- 1 onion
- 1 pepper
- 2 garlic clove
- 80g baby spinach
- 140g arborio rice
- 190g Tomatoes Baby Seasonal Mix
Nutritional Information
Calories: 542
Protein: 44g
Carbs: 83g
Fat: 5.5g
Ingredients
- 280g arborio rice
- 1 chicken stock cube (Celery) (sea salt, potato starch*, sustainable palm oil* , sugar*, chicken fat* 3.5%, yeast extract, natural flavour, chicken meat* 1%, herbs & spices* (turmeric*, black pepper*, parsley*, rosemary*), onion powder*. * Organic ingredient)
- 1 tsp turmeric
- 2 tbsp smoked paprika
- 4 skinless chicken breasts
- 2 onion
- 2 pepper
- 4 garlic clove
- 380g Tomatoes Baby Seasonal Mix
- 160g baby spinach
- 1 handful of fresh flat-leaf parsley
- 1 unwaxed lemon
Nutritional Information
Calories: 525
Protein: 43g
Carbs: 80g
Fat: 4.9g
Golden chicken paella
Hello sunshine! This gorgeous dish is everything you want in a paella, with turmeric and paprika-spiced rice and grilled chunks of chicken breast, stirred into a punchy red pepper, tomato and spinach sauce, and sprinkled with fresh parsley and a squeeze of lemon.
Cook time:
30 mins
Cuisine:
Spanish
Food group:
Poultry
Cooking Instructions
Set the rice simmering
- Boil a kettle. Put the rice and 400ml boiled water (500ml for 4 portions) into a large saucepan, then crumble in half the stock cube.
- Add a pinch each of the turmeric and paprika and stir well.
- Put the pan over a medium heat and simmer for 10-12 mins (10-15 mins for 4 portions), stirring every 5 mins, until the stock is absorbed.
- Pour in another 300ml boiled water (400ml for 4 portions) and simmer for 8-10 mins, stirring every few mins, until itʼs absorbed and the rice is soft (add more water if you need to).
Grill your chicken
- Meanwhile, heat your grill to high.
- Put the chicken on a baking tray lined with foil, scatter over a quarter of the remaining paprika and spritz with cooking spray. Grill for 15-18 mins until cooked through.
Sauté the veg
- At the same time, peel the onions and finely dice, then deseed the peppers and dice into 1cm squares. Peel and crush the garlic.
- Spritz a large non-stick frying pan with cooking spray and put it over a medium heat. Tip in the onions, peppers and tomatoes, lightly season and cook for 8-10 mins.
- Add the garlic, then cook for 1 min. Sprinkle in the rest of the paprika, half the remaining turmeric (all the remaining turmeric for 4 portions), and drop in the spinach.
- Pour in 150ml boiled water (200ml for 4 portions) and crumble in the remaining stock cube. Stir well and simmer for 3-4 mins until the sauce coats the veg.
Bring everything together
- Finely chop the parsley, then zest the lemon and cut into 4 wedges.
- Use 2 forks to shred the chicken, then add it to the veg pan with the rice. Squeeze in 1 lemon wedge (to taste), add half the parsley and stir everything together.
Plate up
- Top the paella with the remaining parsley and serve with the unsqueezed lemon wedges on the side.