Hearty Spanish seafood stew with chorizo, chickpeas & saffron rice—bold flavors, easy to make, perfect for cozy gatherings. Gluten-free, dairy-free.
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Here’s a hearty Spanish Seafood Stew that’s full of flavor and perfect for cozy nights. Spicy chorizo and smoked paprika give the stew its great flavor. If you can’t find Spanish chorizo, use it, otherwise, add Mexican Chorizo. Both are flavor boosters!
Make this with white fish, or a combo of white fish, shrimp and scallops, my favorite! Garbanzo beans add a little extra heft and fiber. Served over saffron-infused rice, it’s a delicious, wholesome meal we’ve been enjoying at home.
The stew can be made ahead and refrigerated, and when you are ready to serve, simply heat it up on the stove, nestle the seafood in the stew, and place it in a hot oven to cook through. When it comes out, your whole house will smell delicious. Perfect for entertaining, yet easy and doable for weeknight dinners.
How to make Spanish Seafood Stew with Saffron Rice
Make the Saffron Rice. Set rice and water to boil in a medium pot. Add a pinch of saffron and salt. Bring to a boil, cover, and simmer on low until tender, about 20 minutes. Fluff with a fork.
Prep the fish. Cut fish into 1-2 inch pieces and place in a bowl with shrimp and scallops, and toss with olive oil, salt, pepper, smoked paprika, garlic, and lemon zest. Set aside.
Start the stew. In a large braiser or Dutch oven , set over medium heat, add a teaspoon olive oil and brown the chorizo (or soy chorizo), breaking into small crumbles. Once broken down and cooked through for about 10 minutes, use a slotted spoon to remove the meat from the pan and set it aside. Drain oil, wipe out pan.
To the same braiser, add 1 tablespoon olive oil over medium-high heat. Add onions, carrots, bell pepper and celery. Stirring, cook for 2-3 minutes before turning the heat down to medium. Cook 8-9 minutes, stirring often. Add garlic. Saute for 2-3 more minutes. Veggies should be just tender.
Make a well in the middle of the veggies and add the tomato paste directly to the middle of the skillet. Stir and brown the tomato paste for 1 minute in the center of the skillet. Tip: This will add depth!
Simmer. Add the white wine, chicken stock, smoked paprika, bay leaves, drained garbanzo beans and browned chorizo. Bring to a simmer and simmer for 5 -7 minutes until the liquid is reduced by half.
Bake: Nestle the fish and seafood into the top of stew, pouring any leftover marinade right over the stew. Bring the stew to a boil on the stovetop, then immediately place it in a 400°F oven for 10-12 minutes, checking for doneness. Feel free to broil seafood for 2-3 minutes to add color, taking care not to burn.
Serving suggestions
Italian parsley adds a nice freshness to the dish. Squeeze with a bit of lemon juice to taste, scatter with fresh parsley, and serve with the saffron rice. Add a leafy green salad to round out the dinner.
Spoon the stew over the rice, making sure to add some of the flavorful juices.
Storing Seafood Stew
The leftover stew will keep up to 3 days in an airtight container in the refrigerator. Leftover saffron rice will keep for up to 4 days or freezes well for up to 3 months. Store rice and stew separately.
More favorite Spanish Recipes
I hope you love this one as much as we have and please leave your comments below! xoxo Sylvia
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Spanish Seafood Stew
- Prep Time: 20 mins
- Cook Time: 40 mins
- Total Time: 1 hour
- Yield: 4-6
- Category: seafood, stew, soup
- Method: stove top
- Cuisine: Spanish
Description
Hearty Spanish seafood stew with chorizo, chickpeas & saffron rice—bold flavors, easy to make, perfect for cozy gatherings. Gluten-free, dairy-free.
Ingredients
Saffron Rice
- 2 cups rinsed basmati rice
- 3 cups water or stock
- generous pinch saffron (optional)
- generous pinch salt
- zest from one lemon (save the lemon)
Fish Prep
- 1– 1 1/2 lbs mix of white fish (cod, halibut, sea bass, haddock), scallops or shrimp
- 1-2 teaspoons olive oil
- Salt and pepper to taste
- 1/2 teaspoon smoked paprika
- zest of one lemon
- 1 garlic clove – minced or grated
Seafood Stew
- 6 ounces ground Mexican chorizo, removed from casing and crumbled (or use Spanish Style “Cured Chorizo- or soy chorizo, or turkey chorizo– see notes)
- 1 tablespoon olive oil, plus one teaspoon, divided
- 1 extra-large onion – diced
- 2 celery stalks – chopped
- 2 medium carrots – peeled and diced
- 1 red bell pepper- diced
- 4 garlic cloves – roughly chopped
- 2 tablespoons tomato paste
- 1 1/2 cups chicken stock (or sub fish stock or veggie broth)
- 1/2 cup dry white wine
- 1 teaspoon smoked paprika
- 2 bay leaves
- 14-ounce can of garbanzo beans, drained
- 1 teaspoon salt (or to taste)
- 1/2 teaspoon cracked pepper
- fresh Italian parsley
- Fresh lemon juice to taste
Instructions
- Make the Saffron Rice. Set rice and water to boil in a medium pot. Add a pinch of saffron and salt. Bring to a boil, cover and simmer on low until tender, about 20 minutes.
- Prep the fish. Cut fish into 1-2 inch pieces and place in a bowl with shrimp and scallops, and toss with olive oil, salt, pepper, smoked paprika, garlic, and lemon zest. Set aside.
- Preheat oven to 400°F
- Start the stew. In a large dutch oven, over medium heat, add a teaspoon olive oil and brown the chorizo (or soy chorizo), breaking into small crumbles. Once broken down and cooked through for about 10 minutes, use a slotted spoon to remove the meat from the pan and set it aside. Drain oil, wipe out pan.
- To the same pan, add 1 tablespoon olive oil over medium-high heat. Add onions, carrots, bell pepper and celery. Stirring, cook for 2-3 minutes before turning the heat down to medium. Cook 8-9 minutes, stirring often. Add garlic. Saute for 2-3 more minutes. Veggies should be just tender.
- Make a well in the middle of the veggies and add the tomato paste directly to the middle of the skillet. Stir and brown the tomato paste for 1 minute in the center of the skillet. (This will add depth)
- Add the white wine, chicken stock, smoked paprika, bay leaves, drained garbanzo beans and browned chorizo. Bring to a simmer and simmer for 5 -7 minutes until the liquid is reduced by half.
- Season generously with salt and pepper, tasting.
- Bake: Nestle the fish and seafood into the top of stew, pouring any leftover marinade right over the stew. Bring the stew to a boil on the stovetop, then immediately place it in a 400°F oven for 10-12 minutes, checking for doneness. Feel free to broil seafood for 2-3 minutes to add color, taking care not to burn.
- Squeeze with a little lemon, scatter with fresh parsley and serve with the saffron rice.
Notes
If using Spanish style “cured chorizo” skip the browning, it is already cooked. Just slice it very thinly and place in the stew with the chickpeas, and you will need much less of this, because it is more intensely flavored. Start with ¼-½ a cup. You will need less salt too, so be sure to taste before adding salt.
Alternatively, you can cook the fish in the stew on the stovetop.
Leftovers will keep up to 3 days in an airtight container in the fridge.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 cup stew + ¾ cup rice
- Calories: 456
- Sugar: 6.3 g
- Sodium: 1688 mg
- Fat: 17 g
- Saturated Fat: 5 g
- Carbohydrates: 39.3 g
- Fiber: 6.4 g
- Protein: 34.9 g
- Cholesterol: 78.9 mg
Loved the saffron in the rice. For the stew I found myself wanting more seafood, broth and maybe a bit of acidity, or maybe more wine.
Hi Heather, sorry this didn’t meet your expectations! We highly encourage tasting and adjusting flavor to your taste. Ingredients used can vary so much! As always, thanks for taking time to leave a review.
This is a sensational – such rich flavour ! I used extra spicy chorizo and added some French beans in place of the white beans and it was perfect . I’m in South of France so have wonderful ingredients but this site is so creative and inspiring compared to much here ! Congrats :).
thanks very much Rosemary!
Super delicious and easy
Great to hear Ana!
Delicious Stew! We will be adding this to our rotation!
Great to hear Jennifer!
Wow, this has DEPTH. Used soyrizo and a frozen seafood blend from Trader Joes. Added some rosemary, thyme and fennel, and a little anchovy paste in along with the tomato paste. Made some garlic bread alongside the rice (didn’t need to– this fed the three of us for three nights, but it tasted good)
Housemates said it tasted like a restaurant meal. Lots of chopping but otherwise easy to put together and -extremely- tasty!
Thanks Ellery- glad you enjoyed!
Fantastic recipe, always impresses. Also freezes well if you can finish it.
Great to hear!
Hearty meal yet sophisticated and easy to make.
Good Night,
I’m wondering if we’re to drain the beans before adding them to the concoction?
yes, drain! Always!
Awesome. Thanks so much!!
Made this for the family while during the Covid 19 lockdown. We really loved the dish, the flavours of different ingredients retain their taste, the lemon with the fish was a particularly good. Highly recommended.
Wondering if your amazing walnut chorizo would work in this recipe??? Probably not?
I think it might fall apart?
This was SO easy to make, and so delicious. I love your recipes.
Thanks Wendy! Glad to hear it!
Just made and ate this and it was delicious!
oh my, this was so delicious! I made it tonight for guests and we all loved it! It goes together very quickly once everything is ready but the prep took a bit longer than I thought….I think I am a slow chopper. I didn’t have quite enough chorizo on hand so I added a couple of pieces of home smoked bacon cut up and browned with the sausage; it amplified the smokiness of the paprika! and I didn’t have a lemon to zest but I did have olive oil infused with Meyer lemon that also worked well. This is a keeper. thanks!
Oh, good Mert!!! I’m so glad you like it and were able to make it work with what you had on hand.
beautiful presentation, per usual! Love this its a burst of flavor
Tried this stew last night for my husband’s birthday. I was rushed coming home late from my son’s rugby game but managed to get the stew finished in under an hour. It was delicious and very easy to make. Thanks
This looks heavenly and I want to try it so much. Especially on a cold day, all the smoked paprika would really warm me up. Thanks for the tip on the tomato paste, I can’t wait to see how much depth browning it adds.
So Good! Yes this dish is a must try. Thanks
I’m going to try this for Christmas Eve instead of Cioppino. It looks a little more manageable. Amazing recipe. Thank you!!
This looks so divine. I cannot wait to try it !!!
Thanks Lynne, let us know what you think if you do!
I love love this. So much yumminess in a bowl.
Beautiful and flavorful looking stew. Will make it. What size pan did you use? I see that it is a cast iron Staub.
Thanks!!
Your photos are gorgeous and this stew looks like a must try!
You can just tell how flavoursome this spanish stew is from looking at the photos!
Thanks Thalia!