Name: Paella without chorizo
Prep time: 25 min
Cook time: 45 min
Total time: 1 h 20 min
Yield: 4 portions
Cuisine: Spanish
Ingredients: 320 g bomba or other Spanish short-grain rice (1½ cups); 900 ml Halal chicken stock, hot (3¾ cups); 0.3 g saffron threads, warmed and steeped in 2 tbsp hot stock (a generous pinch); 4 g smoked paprika (pimentón), sweet (1 tsp); 600 g Halal chicken thighs, bone-in, skin on, cut in two (1.3 lb); 45 ml olive oil (3 tbsp); 120 g onion, finely chopped (1 small); 200 g ripe tomato, grated, skins discarded (2 medium); 10 g garlic, sliced (2 cloves); 250 g firm white fish (cod or similar), in chunks — optional seafood path (9 oz); 300 g mussels, scrubbed, optional (follow your school on molluscs) (10 oz); 20 g flat-leaf parsley and lemon wedges (a small bunch)

Halal-critical ingredients

Chorizo Usually pork. Haram. Omit. Do not use ‘Halal chorizo’ unless the pack is actually Halal-certified meat.
Stock Shop paella stock cubes may include unspecified meat or wine. Halal chicken stock you control.
Shellfish Scholarly difference for some schools. Chicken-only if you avoid molluscs/crustaceans. See Fish.

Safe substitutes

Chorizo → Smoked paprika and well-browned Halal chicken
Wine in sofrito → Tomato and a splash of stock
Mixed seafood of unknown kitchen practice → Chicken-only, or fish you bought whole

Allergens

fish, molluscs (if using mussels), crustaceans (if using prawns — optional)

Ingredients

Rice and stock

320 g (1½ cups) bomba or other Spanish short-grain rice
900 ml (3¾ cups) Halal chicken stock, hot
0.3 g (a generous pinch) saffron threads, warmed and steeped in 2 tbsp hot stock
4 g (1 tsp) smoked paprika (pimentón), sweet

Sofrito and protein

600 g (1.3 lb) Halal chicken thighs, bone-in, skin on, cut in two
45 ml (3 tbsp) olive oil
120 g (1 small) onion, finely chopped
200 g (2 medium) ripe tomato, grated, skins discarded
10 g (2 cloves) garlic, sliced
250 g (9 oz) firm white fish (cod or similar), in chunks — optional seafood path
300 g (10 oz) mussels, scrubbed, optional (follow your school on molluscs)
20 g (a small bunch) flat-leaf parsley and lemon wedges

Method

No chorizo. Brown chicken in olive oil in a wide shallow pan. Do not add chorizo, pancetta, or ‘mixed seafood with sausage’. Chorizo is typically pork — see Chorizo. If you want smoke, use smoked paprika, not pork sausage.
Sofrito without wine. Soften onion in the same oil, add garlic, tomato, and paprika, and cook until thick and brick-coloured. No white wine. Wine is a common UK recipe add-in; skip it.
Rice and stock. Stir rice in the sofrito 1 minute to coat. Add saffron and hot Halal chicken stock. Shake the pan level. Do not stir again. Simmer 15–18 minutes until the rice is just tender and the surface looks dry.
Seafood timing. If using fish, nestle chunks in for the last 8 minutes. Mussels go in for the last 6 minutes, lid on, until they open; discard any that stay shut. Prawns are optional and school-dependent — see Fish / Shrimp. A chicken-only pan is the simplest Halal path.
Socarrat and rest. Raise heat 45–60 seconds to toast the base (socarrat) without burning. Rest 10 minutes off the heat. This is rice technique, not a regional authenticity certificate.

Editorial method notes

Method specified editorially from Spanish paella rice technique (sofrito, saffron stock, no stirring after the stock goes in, socarrat) and this site's Paella, Chorizo, and Fish pages. Not kitchen-tested in this environment; pending kitchen verification. This is a chicken/seafood home pan, not a claim to be Valencian D.O. paella.

Technique and ingredient sources

Chicken paella — BBC Good Food — BBC Good Food 15 August 2026
Stock ratio and no-stir rice. Many UK paella recipes include chorizo — omitted here on purpose.
Paella analysis — isithalal.food — isithalal.food 15 August 2026
Chorizo, stock, and seafood checks.

Why Halal checks matter here