One of my favorite Paella recipes is from Curtis Stone’s book, What’s for Dinner. (See his recipe here.) I started making it when my parents brought me a box of Paella spice mix from Mexico. I loved the flavors of paella, but I didn’t love the gooey rice texture that always seemed to occur when I made it.

After travelling to Spain and trying authentic Paella, I realized that I was actually preparing it correctly (which made me feel super good about myself) but still, wasn’t sold on the rice texture.

I’ll admit, I’m a little late to this sheet pan dinner game, however, now that I’ve made a few, I’m not turning back! They are too easy and low-maintenance to not include them in my weekly menu.

Now, I don’t even know if Paella spice mix is even a thing here. I’ve never shopped for it because my parents always bring me some from their travels. The ingredients listed are saffron, paprika, cayenne and salt. Pretty doable if you don’t have a pre-made mix. The spice blend itself is not terribly spicy, so I’d go light on the cayenne. (I’m going to mix myself up a batch, once I run out of these packages.) The heat in the dish actually comes from the chorizo. I also added garlic and onion powders because I basically add those to every recipe I make. You could also use fresh garlic, of course.

My favorite part about sheet pan dinners is that you don’t have to measure anything. Chop is up, toss it on a tray and that’s it! When writing the recipe out, I provided a close estimate of what I used, but if you add more or less of something, nobody will notice!

I used Minute Rice because it reminds me of my childhood and I love that the end result is dry, separated grains. I know that instant rice is not for everyone, but guess what, you can use whatever kind of rice you like! If you want it to be similar to traditional Paella, I’d use an arborio rice, but in the end, it really doesn’t matter.

I cooked the rice in Simple Slow Cooker Vegetable broth with two teaspoons of chicken bouillon concentrate to get that broth flavor that you’d get in a traditional Paella. I also added a healthy amount of chopped fresh parsley once the rice was cooked.

TIP: I never buy chicken broth! I make my own veggie broth in the slow cooker, basically for free, and then I add chicken or beef bouillon concentrate if I want to have beef or chicken broth. Super cost-effective!

The juiciness of the tomatoes, combined with the spicy chorizo and warm paella flavors makes for a great combo and the simplicity of the recipe itself, makes it that much better!