Cauliflower Rice Spanish Paella
PALEO, GF, DF, KETO, WHOLE 30This grain free, paleo Paella is a low carb version of the traditional Spanish Paella made with cauliflower rice. Makes for an impressive dinner party meal but is also easy enough for a weeknight dinner.Serves 6 using a 15” paella pan.
Equipment
- 1 15" Paella Pan
Ingredients
- 2 -12 ounce bags of frozen cauliflower rice about 8 cups cauliflower rice
- 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
- 1 red or orange bell pepper diced
- 8 cloves garlic minced
- 1/4-½ lb ground chorizo
- 12 ounces sliced chorizo
- 1 cups diced ham about 1 pound
- 1 pound wild caught shrimp peeled and deveined
- 1 teaspoon smoked paprika
- 1 cup tomato sauce or puree
- ½ teaspoon ground saffron
- 1 cup fresh or frozen peas
- fresh parsley
- sea salt to taste
- freshly ground black pepper
- lemon wedges
Instructions
- Finely mince 8 cloves of garlic, dice the bell peppers and slice the chorizo. Dice the ham into 1/2” cubes. Then peel and devein shrimp and pat them dry with paper towels and season with sea salt and pepper.
- Heat a 15” paella pan to medium high heat and add the olive oil. Allow the oil to get hot and place shrimp seasoned side down in the hot oil and cook for 1 minute per side, then remove the shrimp from the pan and set aside.
- Next brown the diced ham and chorizo slices for about 3 minutes, then remove them from the pan and set aside.
- Add ground chorizo to the hot paella pan and cook until browned. Next add the diced bell peppers and cook until soft, then add the minced garlic. Cook for about a minute and add the smoked paprika, sea salt, black pepper and tomato sauce and mix together.
- Allow tomato and spices to cook for about 3 minutes then add the bags of cauliflower rice to the pan along with the saffron. Mix until well combined, then lower the heat to simmer. Let the cauliflower rice simmer for about 5 minutes stirring constantly, and then add the shrimp, chorizo slices and ham back into the pan.
- Sprinkle the whole dish with frozen peas, turn off the heat and cover the pan tightly with foil and allow the paella to continue “cooking” for about 8-10 minutes. This will allow the frozen peas to thaw and for the cauliflower rice to create a flavorful “crust” on the bottom of the paella pan, much like traditional rice paella.
- Garnish your Spanish paella with lemon wedges and chopped fresh parsley and enjoy!
- If you love this recipe try my Seafood Paella!