This paella inspired dish uses spiralized carrots that are pulsed into rice-like bits for a texture and flavor that’s just like paella, but a grain free way to enjoy this classic Spanish dish. With a vegan twist, this veggie packed meal has exotic flavors with an easy preparation.
Vegan Spiralized Paella
One of the first dishes I made vegan back in 2008 when I “went vegan” for three years was paella. Paella is such a flavorful, rich, and beautifully textured dish and I wanted to recreate those same robust flavors and textures.
You’ll be amazed by how similar to paella this dish tastes – it only takes a few simple seasonings like paprika, cayenne, and saffron to give this recipe that classic flavor. Some simple vegetables like bell peppers and artichoke hearts give the paella heartiness and olives give each forkful that much needed saltiness that you’d get otherwise from a meat or seafood.
Of course, the real star here is the carrot rice. Now, if you can’t find carrots large enough to spiralize, simple chop them into small cubes and pulse them in the food processor until rice like – that’ll do. Otherwise, this would work beautifully with sweet potato, golden beet or butternut squash as well. The spiralized rice soaks up all the delicious flavor in this recipe and makes for a tasty meal.
And as a bonus point, since this is a vegan paella, it saves well in the refrigerator! Did someone say meal prep?
Watch our video to learn how to spiralize a carrot using the Inspiralizer and subscribe to our YouTube channel to watch more videos:
Nutritional Information & Recipe
Yields 4
20 minPrep Time
20 minCook Time
40 minTotal Time
Save RecipeIngredients
- 3 large carrots, peeled, Blade D
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 tablespoon minced garlic
- 1 yellow onion, diced
- 1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
- 1.5 teaspoons paprika
- 1.5 teaspoons smoked paprika
- 1 teaspoon saffron threads
- salt, to taste
- 2 cups chopped broccoli florets
- 1 red bell pepper, sliced into strips (or spiralized with Blade A and noodles trimmed)
- 1 (14.5 ounce) can of diced tomatoes (if you like tomatoes, use a 28oz can of tomatoes and omit the vegetable broth later)
- 1 cup frozen peas
- 1 tablespoon freshly chopped cilantro
- 1 (14.5oz) can quartered artichoke hearts
- pepper, to taste
- 1/2 cup vegetable broth
- 1/2 cup pitted green olives
- 1 tablespoon minced parsley, for garnish
- 4 – 6 lemon wedges, to serve
Instructions
- Pulse the carrot noodles in a food processor until rice-like. Set aside.
- Heat olive oil in large skillet over medium heat. Once the oil heats, add in the garlic and onions and let cook for 3 minutes or until softened. Then, add in the cayenne, paprika, and saffron. Season with salt.
- Add in the broccoli and bell peppers and cook for 3 minutes or until they begin to soften. Then, using tongs, remove the bell peppers and set aside on a plate. Add in the tomatoes and stir well. Then, add in peas, carrot rice, cilantro, artichokes, salt and pepper, and vegetable broth. Stir to combine and then decoratively add in the bell peppers. Add in the olives, pressing them into the carrot rice, submerging.
- Let the mixture cook undisturbed, for 10 minutes or until the carrot rice is softened to your preference (taste to tell.)
- Garnish with parsley and serve immediately with lemon wedges.
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