Chicken and Shrimp Orzo Paella Recipe

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Chicken and Shrimp Orzo Paella

You'll love my healthy and delicious Chicken and Shrimp Orzo Paella. Not only is this restaurant style dish easy to make it can be on your table in minutes

Total Time: 30 minutes
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My Chicken and Shrimp Orzo Paella could be on your dinner table tonight. It’s easy to make, healthy and delicious! So what are you waiting for?

An overhead view of Chicken and Shrimp Orzo Paella on a green rimmed off white plate on a wooden cutting board

The combination of these flavors with a subtle hint of saffron, the smokiness of the paprika, and the hint of oregano add a lot to this dish. And the holy trinity of veggies, onions, peppers, and celery paired with garlic and tomatoes make it even more delicious!

What Ingredients do you need to make Orzo Paella?

Chicken and Shrimp Orzo Paella

Let’s start by gathering our ingredients for my Shrimp and Chicken Orzo Paella. In chef speak this is called the mise en place. All you need is a few ingredients and you’re ready to get cooking. I did add clams to my version and forgot to add them into this pic, but they are optional.

How do I cook Orzo Paella?

stainless steel pot with chicken and shrimp orzo paella as it cooks in the pot

You can personalize this dish using just chicken and adding sausage. Including more seafood as I did with the clams is also a good option. You can also substitute the Orzo with Whole Wheat Orzo, white or Brown Rice or any of your favorite grains.

Chicken and Shrimp Orzo Paella

I hope you enjoyed this not so classical orzo paella recipe. It’s one of my Restaurant Style Dishes that you can prepare faster than picking up takeout in your own home tonight at a fraction of the cost of dining out at your favorite restaurant.

What is Orzo?

My friends are always asking me what is Orzo? Orzo (also known as risoni) is a form of short-cut pasta, shaped like a large grain of rice. In Italian orzo literally translates to barley.

4.84 from 12 votes
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Chicken and Shrimp Orzo Paella

You'll love my healthy and delicious Chicken and Shrimp Orzo Paella. Not only is this restaurant style dish easy to make it can be on your table in minutes

Nutrition Facts
Chicken and Shrimp Orzo Paella
Amount Per Serving
Calories 853 Calories from Fat 108
% Daily Value*
Total Fat 12g 18%
Saturated Fat 2g 10%
Cholesterol 278mg 93%
Sodium 1573mg 66%
Potassium 1754mg 50%
Total Carbohydrates 112g 37%
Dietary Fiber 10g 40%
Sugars 14g
Protein 70g 140%
Vitamin A 61.6%
Vitamin C 136.3%
Calcium 21%
Iron 42%
* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.
Course: Entree
Cuisine: Spanish
Keyword: easy recipes, paella
Prep Time: 10 mins
Cook Time: 20 mins
Total Time: 30 mins
Servings: 2
Calories: 853 kcal
Chicken and Shrimp Orzo Paella
Ingredients
  • 4 boneless skinless chicken thighs
  • olive oil for saute
  • 8 jumbo gulf shrimp peeled and deveined
  • 12 small clams washed littlenecks or pasta clams, optional
  • 1 teaspoon smoked paprika or regular paprika
  • 1/2 teaspoon dried oregano leaves
  • 1/2 teaspoon sea salt
  • 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
  • 2 tablespoons flour
  • 1 small onion diced
  • 1 large red bell pepper diced
  • 4 stalks of celery diced
  • 2 cloves garlic sliced
  • 1 1/2 cups orzo or whole wheat orzo
  • 15 ounce can of diced tomatoes in juice organic
  • 1 cup chicken broth
  • pinch of saffron threads
  • 2 tablespoon cilantro finely chopped
Instructions
  1. mix flour with smoked paprika, oregano, sea salt and black pepper
  2. dredge chicken thighs in seasoning mix coating both sides fully
  3. heat pan over medium high heat and add olive oil
  4. saute chicken thighs in pan 2 minutes per side to get good color
  5. remove chicken from pan and add additional olive oil
  6. add peppers, onions, celery and garlic and saute for 2-3 minutes
  7. add shrimp into the veggie mixture for a minute to cook partially then remove shrimp from the pan
  8. add orzo, tomatoes, chicken stock and saffron and mix well cook for 2 minutes stirring well so orzo doesn't stick
  9. add chicken thighs and clams on top of mixture, turn heat down to low and allow to cook fully (10 minutes)
  10. at about 7 minutes into the cooking add shrimp to the pan and replace the lid
  11. stir mixture together as needed to ensure the orzo doesn't stick to the pan
  12. Plate up your masterpiece and serve
  13. *make sure not to have heat too high

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About Chef Dennis

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Chef Dennis is a semi-retired Chef, writer/blogger, photographer, recipe developer and creator of A Culinary Journey with Chef Dennis aka Ask Chef Dennis®. Chef Dennis worked professionally in White Table Cloth Restaurants for 40 years and has been developing easy to make, restaurant-style recipes since 2009. Dennis has been featured in numerous publications and on culinary websites for his creative, delicious recipes and travel adventures. For more details, check out his About page.

Comments

  25. Cassie says

    August 29, 2018 at 12:15 pm

    This looks so beautiful, I’ve never had paella before! I also appreciate that you noted that substitutions are okay. This is great especially for someone like me with food allergies.

    Reply

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