Vegan Spanish Baked Rice
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This gluten-free, WFPB recipe for vegan Spanish baked rice is easy, tasty, and hard to turn down. We’d recommend this for anyone that loves rich, hearty dishes!
This gluten-free dish is a delightfully wholesome meal that conforms with a number of really healthy diets. For one, it can be slightly adjusted to make it suitable for a WFPB (whole-food plant-based) diet – all you need to do is take out the vegan chorizo.
This recipe is inspired from the typical Spanish recipe for Baked Rice with Chickpeas (Arroz al Horno).
One wonderful detail of this dish is the interesting way that the rice is cooked. This technique leads to a crispy top along with a fluffy, soft rice underneath. It’s delicious, interesting, and fun too! Furthermore, a whole head of garlic (called a partridge by Valencians) is baked in the middle of the rice, so everyone can take a few cloves and squeeze out the soft insides at the table.
I promise this is one of the most foolproof techniques to cooking rice!
I used fresh peas instead of chickpeas + zucchini and bell pepper for an extra kick, as well as my Gluten Free Homemade Vegan Pepperoni (or Chorizo) for an extra level of pleasure.
How To Make Vegan Spanish Baked Rice
First of all, we need to make sure all the veggies are prepared. The best way to do this when making a rice dish is to ensure that everything is, at biggest, bite-sized. Therefore, we can start by cubing all the vegetables.
Next, add roughly a tablespoon of olive oil to a pan, and then add the chopped onion and sauté until it’s translucent – this is when it’s soft and delightfully flavorsome.
Next, you can add the peppers, and sauté for three to five minutes. Then, feel free to throw in the cubes of courgette (or zucchini, depending on where you’re from), and cook for another three minutes. Finally, add the peas to the pan, stir thoroughly to ensure they’re well mixed in, and fry them for no longer than thirty seconds. Now, set the cooked veggies into a bowl, and put them aside for now.
In the same pan that you just used for the veggies, add the remaining oil. Then, fry the vegan chorizo or pepperoni until it is fragrant and crispy on the outside. If you’re on a whole-food plant-based diet, you can skip this ingredient.
Now, add in your beautifully fragrant Spanish spices: saffron and paprika! Add the salt in now too, and stir the spices with the fried chorizo. Allow the spices to come to temperature over about thirty seconds, and then add the veggies back in – cook for another minute to heat the vegetables too.
Next comes the step where we bring everything together. Add the uncooked rice, sautéed veggies and chorizo, and the chopped tomatoes to a Dutch oven, a “cazuela“, or an oven-safe pan. A cazuela is a traditional Spanish terracotta pan that is used for this dish.
In a bowl or a big glass, mix the water with the vegetable bouillon powder. Next, pour the broth over the rice and veggies, and stir it well to make sure the liquid is in every nook and cranny.
Place the garlic bulb in the center of the casserole, and bake it in a preheated oven at 200˚C (400˚F) for forty-five to fifty minutes.
After the time has elapsed, take the garlic bulb off the top of the dish, and fluff the rice up with a fork. Place it back into the oven (with the bulb) for five to seven extra minutes on grill mode.
Finally, enjoy! You can eat this straight away from the oven, or you can allow it to cool for eating on a hot day. When you’re eating, try asking people at the table to squeeze a clove or two of garlic out onto their portion of rice and mix it in. It’s a fun thing to do at a dinner party, and people are sure to enjoy it.
Vegan Spanish Baked Rice Recipe
Ingredients:
300 g Arborio Rice (or Sushi Rice)
200 g Chopped Tomatoes (1/2 can)
100 g Vegan Chorizo (or Pepperoni – omit if WFPB)
1 Bell Pepper (medium)
1 Courgette (medium)
1 Onion (large)
2 tbsp Extra Virgin Olive Oil
½ cup Peas (fresh or frozen)
1 tsp smoked paprika (or regular paprika)
1 pinch Saffron (or Turmeric)
1 Garlic Bulb (small to medium)
1 tbsp Salt
2 tsp Vegetable Bouillon Powder
500 g Water
Method:
1. Prepare all the veggies cutting them to cubes or bite size.
2. Add approx 1 tbsp of olive oil to a pan, then the chopped onion and sauté until translucid.
3. Add the peppers and sauté for 3-5 minutes, then the courgettes (zucchini) cubes for another 3 minutes and finally the peas for no longer than 30 seconds. Put the cooked vegetables aside.
4. In the same pan pour the remaining oil and fry the vegan chorizo or pepperoni (omit this ingredient if you’re on a whole food plant based diet) until fragrant and crispy.
5. Add the spices (saffron, paprika and salt) to the fried chorizo, heat up for 30 seconds then add all the veggies back and cook for another minute.
6. Add the (uncooked) rice, the sautéed veggies and chorizo, and the chopped tomatoes to a Dutch oven or a “cazuela” (terracotta pan).
7. In a bowl or big glass mix the water with the vegetable bouillon powder, pour the broth over the rice and veggies and stir well.
8. Place the garlic bulb in the center of the casserole and bake in a preheated oven at 200°C (400°F) for 45 to 50 minutes.
9. After the cooking time remove the garlic bulb and fluff up the rice with a fork. Place back in the oven with the bulb on top for 5-7 extra minutes on grill mode.
10. Enjoy the Spanish baked rice straight away, at room temperature or even cold.
