Paella Soup

This paella soup recipe is flavorful and delicious: chock full of meat, seafood, veggies, wine and broth. All of the ingredients together will make your taste buds sing.

I didn’t even know that paella soup was a ‘thing’. I got the idea because I love paella, but didn’t want it with rice. Not that I don’t like it with rice, I just wanted something different. So, I thought to myself,

“Let me make a soup version of paella and instead of the rice, I’ll add orzo.”

I thought I was being so clever.

Well, it turns out that I’m not so original. There are other recipes out there like this, but I love how flavorful and delicious this recipe is.

My sister Nancy and I used to go to Cape Cod together on mini-vacations. We loved to visit this one restaurant that served the best paella I’ve ever had. Over the years, I tried to duplicate it, but I’ve never been able to. Until now.

I’ve gotten pretty close to my memories of what that Cape Cod paella tasted like, but in soup form.

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Helpful tips

• For this soup, I like using shrimp that is on the big side; I recommend 16 – 20 per pound.
• I make this soup with boneless and skinless chicken thighs but if you prefer breast meat, go for it.
• Defrost the shrimp at least ten minutes before starting the recipe. It takes around 5 minutes to defrost them and up to 5 minutes to take the shells and tails off and to devein them if necessary.
• Here’s how to defrost the shrimp: Place a colander in the sink and place the frozen shrimp inside. Run cold water over the shrimp and use your hands to separate them. I do this over and over during the five minutes until they are thawed.
• Cut up the chicken into 1.5 inch chunks.
• Cut the chorizo in slices first and then in quarters. Even though most chorizo has an edible casing, I always peel it off.
• Start cooking the vegetables right before you start cooking the shrimp and chicken. So you will need more than one sauté pan plus the Dutch oven. But if you don’t mind the extra time, you can get away with one sauté pan and the Dutch oven.
• You can either use the saffron threads whole or crush them with a mortar and pestle, your choice.
• I like a lot of orzo in my soups, so I used 1.5 cups. But if you like a soupier soup, just use one cup.
• If you choose to only use one cup of orzo, omit the cup of water.

How to make paella soup

Pre-step

Get a Dutch oven or medium to large stockpot and two sauté pans.

Step one

Gather the vegetables – onion, carrots and celery. (A)

Step two

Defrost the shrimp, take off the shells and devein them. Cut the chicken in 1.5 inch chunks and cut the chorizo in slices and then quarters. (B)

You will be cooking the chicken and shrimp at the same time as the vegetables. Once they are done, just set them aside.

Step three

Heat the sauté pans on medium. Once they are heated up add butter to one pan and olive oil to another.

Add shrimp to the butter pan and chicken to the other.

Step four

Sauté the shrimp for 5 minutes or until they become opaque. (C)

Step five

Sauté the chicken for 8 minutes tops. You don’t want to cook the chicken fully as it will finish cooking in the soup. (D)

Step six

Gather the rest of the ingredients – a dry white wine, dry sherry, chicken broth and saffron threads. (E)

Step seven

While you’re preparing the chicken and shrimp, heat the Dutch oven on medium. Add olive oil and once that’s heated, add the carrots first. Sauté for 5 minutes.

Add the onion, celery and chopped vegetables, salt and a little pepper and sauté them for 10 minutes. Make sure the carrots are getting soft. If it needs more time, add 5 more minutes.

Step eight

Add wine, sherry, garlic paste and saffron threads. (F)

Step nine

Add partially cooked chicken, 48 ounces of chicken broth, (if you are using a larger quantity of orzo) – a cup of water , orzo (G) and chorizo. (H)

Step ten

Raise the heat under the pan to medium/high and once the soup comes to a slight boil, lower the heat to a simmer and let it simmer for 10 minutes. (Or until the orzo is done.)

Step eleven

Add the shrimp and let it simmer for 2 more minutes.

Gather some soup crocks and slice up some fresh bread.

All that is left is to ladle some in a bowl and eat it all up.

I mention in the helpful tips that if you like a soupier soup, you can decrease the amount of orzo to 1 cup. Here’s the original photo that shows what it will look like.

I hope you enjoyed this paella soup recipe.

Other popular soup recipes

• Instant pot leek
• Udon noodle
• Tuscan white bean

And as always, may all your dishes be delish!

If you’ve tried this or any other recipe on the blog, I’d love the hear what you thought about it in the comments below.  I love hearing from you!  You can also FOLLOW ME on FACEBOOK, TWITTER, INSTAGRAM and PINTEREST  to see more of my delicious food and delightful cocktails!

Originally published in February of 2017.