Simple Fideos with Chicken

Paella is a popular Spanish dish that can also be made with fideos which are thin pasta noodles about 1 inch long. The noodles known as fideua (Catalan) or fideos can be easily found in the markets. My regular store sells it for about $1.69 for a 7-ounce package, that’s a bargain. These noodles are also used in soups, especially in chicken noodle soup. The one thing that is useful to make paella or this recipe is a paella pan or an aluminum pan. The pan I am using is 14 inches in diameter.

A very simple paella recipe

Seafood paella is amazing but it’s for the weekend when there’s more time and I can prepare my own seafood stock. This recipe still takes time but you can use several short cuts to make it on a weeknight. The fideos cook really fast and they are so delicious. I also wanted to keep this recipe budget-friendly and didn’t add saffron but if you have a string, it will be good too. This will become your go-to recipe because it is simple and delicious.

Here are two short cuts:

• Marinade chicken overnight.
• Use garlic paste from the store or prepare a homemade garlic paste to use it frequently. Mix garlic and salt, add olive oil and store in a jar in the fridge.

Here is what you’ll need to make this simple paella fideo chicken dish:

• Onion
• Garlic
• Fideos (fine) noodles
• Flat-leaf parsley
• Lemon
• Extra virgin olive oil
• Chicken breast
• Chicken broth or stock
• Smoked Spanish paprika
• Tomato paste or crushed tomato sauce

If you don’t have chicken broth or stock, prepare one with water and chicken bouillon. Taste and add more bouillon and salt as desired. The one I have at home is this chicken bouillon from Knorr.

Here’s a tip. When you add the tomato paste use a wooden spatula to combine everything with the rest of the ingredients before you add noodles and broth. Make sure nothing sticks to the pan. Give it a good stir and check there are no chunks of tomato paste left. Also, if you have sofrito on hand, you can add a few tablespoons to this dish.

Once you add the noodles and broth, arrange your paella. That would be your last stir, bring it to a slight boil, lower the heat and that’s it. The rest is to move around the pan while cooking.

The fideos will stand up a bit once the liquid has evaporated. That is a sign that it is done. Taste and check that the fideos are cooked. Wait a couple of minutes to serve. I know, kids can’t wait to dig in. Serve the paella in the middle of the table and enjoy.

If you like, sign up and subscribe to receive my notes and recipes.

Disclaimer: As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. Please note that some of the links below are affiliate links and I will earn a commission if you purchase through those links.

This is the paella pan I have– this is a link to Amazon. (As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases).

Yield: 4 people

Simple Fideo with Chicken

No Ratings

Print

Fideos are cut thin pasta that can feed a crowd. This fideo Spanish paella with chicken for four is simple to do and delicious.

Prep Time 30 minutes

Cook Time 30 minutes

Total Time 1 hour

Ingredients

• Marinade chicken:
• 1 lb chicken breast, boneless, skinless, cut into chunks
• 1/2 tsp sea salt
• 1/4 tsp fresh ground black pepper
• 1 tbsp fresh lemon juice
• The rest of the ingredients:
• 4 cups (32 ounces) chicken broth or stock
• 7 ounces cut fideo noodles (fine)
• 2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil, divided
• 4 cloves garlic, mashed, minced with salt
• 1 tsp sea salt, divided
• 1 cup fresh flat-leaf parsley, chopped, divided
• 1/2 yellow onion, finely chopped
• 2 tbsp tomato paste (and/or tomato sauce)
• 1 tbsp smoked Spanish paprika
• Salt and black pepper to taste
• 1 lemon cut into wedges for serving
• Olives (optional)

Instructions

1. Marinade chicken with its ingredients for about 15 minutes.
2. Warm chicken broth in a saucepan and keep covered on simmer. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
3. Heat one tablespoon of oil in a skillet. Fry noodles for about 2 minutes while stirring frequently for all to get toasted and browned.
4. Mince garlic with salt to make a soft paste. Use the side of your knife to mash the chopped garlic with the salt or use a mortar and pestle. Add half of the parsley to this garlic paste and keep mincing everything.
5. Over medium-high heat, heat the remaining tablespoon of olive oil in a paella pan or large skillet (about 14-inch paella pan). Once the pan is hot, add onion, stir, add chicken, and stir again. Add garlic paste and keep stirring until chicken is more than halfway cooked. This will take about 5 to 7 minutes.
6. Add paprika, tomato paste, the rest of the chopped parsley, and the salt and stir. Add fried noodles. Stir everything one last time making sure chicken is spread evenly in the pan. Make this your last stir. Add 3 cups of warm broth, one at a time. Shake the pan but do not stir.
7. Bring to a slight boil, lower heat to medium-low and keep moving or turning the paella pan for all the sides to get cooked. Once the broth has evaporated, add the last cup on the sides of the pan and shake the pan to move broth to all places. Give it a taste and check if needs a sprinkle of salt. I like to add olives on top.
8. Once broth has evaporated and fideos start to stand up, then it’s ready. Place paella pan in the center of the table. Let it rest for a few minutes and serve with lemon wedges.

[nutrifox id=”92719″]