Julia Child’s Paella a l’Americaine
My mom’s signature dish, Julia Child’s Paella a l’Americaine is an extraordinary Spanish dish with rice, chicken, seafood, and chorizo.
This impressive, multifaceted one-dish meal is a Spanish classic and perfect for entertaining. Your guests will be thrilled with every flavorful bite of this Seafood Paella Recipe with Chicken!
Why You Must Make
- This magnificent chicken paella recipe comes from Julia Child and is made and served in a special paella pan.
- With shrimp, shellfish, saffron rice, peas, and more, it makes a beautiful presentation when brought to the table.
- All you need to round out your meal is some crusty bread and, if you have room, something sweet for dessert.
My mom discovered this Paella a l’Americaine recipe back in the day when our television only had 4 stations. And NO remote control. She watched the Galloping Gourmet and The French Chef, who happened to be Julia Child. One Saturday, Julia dazzled my mother by demonstrating her seafood paella recipe with chicken.
After the show aired, my mom promptly wrote the TV station. They then mailed her the recipe. How quaint is that? I treasure that original typed copy.
My mom was a terrific and adventurous cook and my dad was a willing guinea pig. He would eat absolutely anything except for one dish. He was haunted by memories of his mother’s oxtail soup. Granted, he lived through the depression and there may have been some mighty pitiful oxtails that went into my Grandma’s soup pot.
When my mom tested out wontons, egg rolls, moussaka, and paella on the family, we gobbled it all down. Paella was saved for special occasions, and I make the same seafood paella recipe that my mom shared with our family decades years ago. Learning How to Throw a Paella Party will make you the best host or hostess among your friends!!
Menu Suggestions
Here are some ideas to complete your menu when serving Paella with Seafood and Chicken:
- Start with a California Cabernet Sauvignon and a Sauvignon Blanc. or Pinot Grigio. If you have time, a specialty drink is a fun alternative. A White Wine Sangria or a Red Wine Sangria are lovely to sip on with your appetizers. Non-alcoholic options like sparkling waters, coffee, tea, and soft drinks should always be provided.
- For appetizers, make a Spanish Cheese Board with Manchego (paired with quince paste), a smoky Spanish Goat Cheese, and Cabrales (Spanish blue cheese) if you can find them. I couldn’t locate the blue so added St. Andres, a triple creme cheese, which is always a hit. Also included were Herbed Olives, Marcona almonds with rosemary and smoked paprika, grapes, and a variety of crackers and thinly sliced bread.
- Add a crisp Caesar Salad, with a few grape tomatoes, marinated artichoke hearts, and mini cucumber slices in addition to the homemade croutons.
- If you’d like a soup course, this delicious Gazpacho Recipe is not heavy and fits the Spanish theme.
- Crusty bread to help soak up any juices.
- I made a Cream Cheese Caramel Flan for our most recent paella party. An alternative is Mini Vanilla Flans, Spanish vanilla custards with a caramel sauce.
Equipment List
- Consider purchasing a paella pan (affiliate links) if you’re going to make this paella a l’Americaine again and again.
- Otherwise, a good substitute is a 3 quart straight-sided stainless steel pan. For the best paella, your pan will need a large surface area.
- Non-stick and cast iron pans are not recommended. I made flan for our most recent paella party, and the recipe will be on the blog soon.
How to Make Paella
- Steam the sausage, then slice and brown along with the bacon.
- Saute the vegetables, making the sofrito.
- Place these ingredients in a bowl, then add the fat from the first pan to your paella pan to brown the chicken.
- Add the reserved vegetables and sausages, wine, chicken broth, and seasonings to the chicken. Simmer for about 20 minutes.
- Add the rice and cook for about 6 minutes.
- Marinate the shrimp.
- When the rice begins to rise to the surface and appears swollen, add the shrimp and mussels without stirring.
- Simmer for another 10 minutes, uncovered, until the rice is cooked. Sprinkle the peas and tomatoes over the surface during the last 4 or 5 minutes. You may cover the pan with a lid if needed to cook the seafood.
- To serve, sprinkle with minced parsley and have lemon quarters available to pass.
Chef’s Note: Perfectly cooked paella will have a toasted rice bottom called socarrat. You’ll want to turn up the heat for 1-2 minutes at the end of the cooking time to create this crispy crunchy rice on the bottom of the pan.
PRO-Tip: If the shells of the mussels don’t open after cooking, toss them. Most likely the mussels died in your refrigerator. My fishmonger instructed me to store them in a colander and to cover with a damp paper towel. They need oxygen to live, so the colander offers vents below for air.
Ingredient Notes
Some of the most crucial ingredients to make a paella recipe include the following:
- Sausage – this paella uses chorizo, a spicy Spanish or Mexican pork sausage. Julia Child’s recipe calls for fresh chorizo, but I’ve seen others that use dried chorizo. If you are unable to procure either type, feel free to substitute an Italian sausage. Note that the Spanish generally will not use sausage in their traditional version.
- Spanish Rice – the rice should be short-grain rice like Italian Arborio or Spanish Bomba.
- Sofrito – a base for many Latin American, Italian, Portuguese, and Spanish dishes featuring chopped peppers, garlic, onions, and sometimes tomatoes and other seasonings.
- Stock – both chicken and seafood stock are utilized, but I generally use chicken stock or broth.
- Saffron – this expensive spice is harvested from the “saffron crocus.” The vibrant colored stigma and styles or threads are removed from the blossoms. 80, 000 crocus flowers must be hand-harvested to make 1 pound of saffron! Saffron gives the paella rice its traditional yellow color.
- Other Protein – Rabbit and snails may be traditional, but more frequently you’ll see chicken, shrimp, mussels or clams, squid, lobster, and even crayfish. Since this recipe is Julia Child’s American version of paella, chicken, sausage, bacon, shrimp, and mussels are added.
Frequently Asked Questions
Paella is a Spanish dish originally made with rabbit, chicken, snails, three types of beans plus the one constant, saffron-flavored rice. It was cooked over an open fire, but many recipes have been adapted for home and restaurant-sized portions. This version is known as Paella Valenciana.
You can put whatever you want in your paella as long as it has four crucial items: rice, saffron, garlic, and paprika. The sofrito of vegetables like onions and peppers cooked in oil is also crucial for flavor development.
Paella is pronounced pah-EH-yah, with an emphasis on the second syllable.
Julia Child’s version of paella features ingredients that can easily be found at most American grocery stores. Each region in Spain has its own take and the recipes often contain squid, fish, olives, chickpeas, and even the aforementioned rabbit. My mom passed away in 2015, but I felt her love enveloping me as I cooked up this dish. Like my mom, I love serving this gorgeous paella recipe for dinner parties and family gatherings. With rice, sausage, chicken, seafood, and vegetables in the entree, there’s no need for heavy or fancy side dishes.
Start by gathering recipes that will fit your theme. I have suggestions below. I usually go with Spanish or Spanish-American dishes. Set a beautiful table with plenty of candles for an easy, inexpensive ambiance. Plan your guest list. This recipe easily serves eight, so unless you want to make two, that helps determine a cap on who to invite.
You May Also Like:
- Sausage and Chicken Gumbo
- Grilled Thai Chicken
- Sheet Pan Chicken
- King Ranch Chicken
- Shrimp and Grits
- Tuna Casserole from Scratch
- More Best Chicken Recipes
- More Seafood Recipes
Julia Child's Paella a l'Americaine
Very slightly adapted from Julia Child's Paella a l'Americaine.
Ingredients
- 1 pound fresh chorizo sausage
- 1⁄2 pound bacon, sliced into small strips
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 cup diced yellow onion
- 1 cup sliced red bell pepper
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- 4 small bone-in chicken breasts
- 4 chicken drumsticks
- 1⁄2 cup dry white wine
- 4 1⁄2 cups chicken broth
- 1⁄2 teaspoon saffron threads
- 1 teaspoon paprika
- 1⁄4 teaspoon ground coriander
- 1 bay leaf
- 1⁄2 teaspoon thyme
- 1⁄2 teaspoon oregano
- Salt and freshly ground black pepper
- 2 cups imported arborio rice
For shrimp marinade:
- 1 tablespoon lemon juice
- ¼ teaspoon oregano
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- Salt and freshly ground pepper
To finish the paella:
- 1 pound large shrimp, deveined and shelled
- 24 mussels (or clams)
- 2-3 medium tomatoes, peeled, seeded, juiced, and large diced
- 2 cups frozen green peas, defrosted
- 1 cup garbanzo beans (canned), drained and rinsed
- 2 lemons, quartered
- Parsley, minced
Instructions
- Prick sausages with a fork and steam in a pan with a little water till cooked through. Cool and slice.
- Add sausages and bacon to a large saute pan with 2 tablespoons of olive oil. Cook until lightly browned; stir in onions and peppers.
- Cover and cook slowly until vegetables are tender. Add garlic and cook another minute till fragrant.
- Remove all ingredients to a heatproof bowl with a slotted spoon, then transfer fat to a paella pan.
- Dry chicken pieces in paper towels, heat fat in the paella pan, and brown chicken on all sides.
- Add the reserved vegetables and sausages, wine, chicken broth, and seasonings. Add salt and pepper to taste (will vary depending on the saltiness of your chicken broth). Cover and simmer for about 20 minutes (chicken won't be completely cooked at this point. If making ahead, this is where you can stop, cool and refrigerate. Bring to a boil before continuing).
- Sprinkle in the rice, mixing it down into the liquid with a spoon.
- Boil rapidly 5 to 6 minutes, uncovered. Do not stir the rice.
- While the mixture is boiling, mix shrimp with lemon juice, oregano, olive oil, salt, and pepper. Set aside.
- When the rice is swollen and begins to rise to the surface, rapidly push the shrimp, tail end down, into the rice and add the mussels, hinge-side down. Cook for a few minutes, flipping shrimp as needed.
- Again, do not stir, simply push these ingredients down into the rice with a spoon.
- Reduce heat and let paella simmer for another 8 to 10 minutes, or more, uncovered, until rice is just tender--slightly al dente. Sprinkle with peas, garbanzo beans, and tomatoes the last 4 or 5 minutes. You may briefly cover the pan with a lid if needed to cook the seafood.
- To serve, sprinkle with minced parsley and have lemon quarters available to pass.
Notes
Recipe from Julia Child.
Nutrition Information:
Yield:
10Serving Size:
1Amount Per Serving: Calories: 1288Total Fat: 58gSaturated Fat: 17gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 34gCholesterol: 452mgSodium: 3345mgCarbohydrates: 50gFiber: 4gSugar: 7gProtein: 132g
34 Comments on “Julia Child’s Paella a l’Americaine”
Paella is one of our favorite meals to share with guests as there is a little something for everyone. Shrimp, sausage, mussels and more. Wishing you a fabulous weekend ahead.
I’ve never tried her recipe for Paella but I definitely plan to. Thanks for this treasured family recipe. HAPPY HOLIDAYS!!!
The Spanish are very particular about the paella ingredients, never mixing seafood with chicken or even chorizo but I must admit, the combination is one of my favourites. Lately, we’ve been grilling the chicken for a bit more smokey flavour and it’s outstanding! I am still practicing my socarrat and it’s getting better. I find cooking the paella on low heat for a longer time prevents burning that may happen turning up the heat, but honestly it ‘s whatever works for you. The cooking class we took in Madrid, had us toasting the saffron (wrap in foil and toast over a gas flame for a few seconds) but I like to bloom my saffron on the wine, that way the flavour really permeates the dish. This is such a lovely and festive dish!
Thanks for your insight, Eva!!! I’m going to have to toast the saffron the next time I make paella!
This is one of our favorite date night in dinners! It’s so easy to make and so delicious!
I love the story behind this recipe just as much as I love this dish! My crew is usually pretty “meh” about seafood but they all wanted seconds of this paella, so good!
I am putting this on my list to make this week! It looks so very comforting! Thank you, liz!
Adding this to cook for Sunday dinner. It sounds incredible.
So glad your mom wrote the TV station so we can all enjoy this delicious dish! Glad she also passed on her passion for cooking to you – great post!
It doesn’t specify when to incorporate the peppers and chorizo back into the dish.
Hi, Mar,
Thanks for catching my omission. I’ve amended the recipe—the peppers and chorizo go back into the pan after you brown the chicken. Add with the chicken broth, etc. I’m sorry for the inconvenience. Happy New Year!
Oh the shrimp just jump off the page. What a beautiful recipe. I love all the herb and spices and the wine is a perfect compliment. Just yummy!
How beautiful Liz! I love the stories that you share of your mom and the explanation of how this dish came about.
What a gorgeous meal! It looks like something my entire family would enjoy. Yummed and Stumbled your dish. 🙂
I love this story and how recreating this dish again sparked memories as the aroma spread through your kitchen. I’ve printed this beautiful and hearty recipe to try.
Well also pick up some Gallo wine and send my corks to them for this wonderful cause.
Thanks for sharing.
Such a gorgeous dish! I love Paella and perfect for the holidays!
Love, love, love the story of your mother mailing in her request for Julia Childs’ recipe…Looks like you’ve also perfected the paella…And filling your home with lots of <3
I can practically hear my husband wiping drool from his chin now. All the things he loves are in here!
I have seriously been craving a good paella for the past couple weeks, and now I want it even more so. This looks amazing!
Your Paella looks so inviting!
I LOVE Julia Child. One of my favorite books I’ve ever read was a biography about her that talked about her work during the war years. Fascinating! And a delicious paella, too! 🙂
Love that you have the original recipe! Looks amazing!
Liz, this looks absolutely amazing!!! I wish I could dig right in!
I love the story about your mom writing the TV station, and your beautiful words about her. There truly is something special about happy memories – of family, food, and love.
I love a good Paella. It’s such a warm and inviting dish!
Oh Liz this paella looks gorgeous! I’m agree with you, each city in Spain has her own recipe!
Paella is a dish of fishermen. Normally they mixed with the rice remains unsold fish or some chasms and vegetables according to the season. When I go in Spain, my father cook paella with the seafood. But when we are in the countryside, he cook with chicken, chorizo….
This looks wonderful, Liz. It is amazing the power food has to connect us with memories.
Amalia
xo
Looks gorgeous! I always wanted to try paella 🙂
Oh my. What a feast! It’s got something for everyone. Love it.
Nice memories at this time of year Liz! Happy Thanksgiving Week-enjoy:@)
wow so much seafood!!! This is a great weekend meal, Liz.
This sounds delicious, a great family meal.
There is nothing that beats a good family recipe to bring back happy memories. Food really can be a wonderful window to the past 😀
I love paella and this looks simply mouthwatering! So fun to learn more about your family and your mom’s cooking style…it’s easy to see why those memories came flooding back to you in the kitchen!