You definitely don’t need chicken or seafood to enjoy paella. This vegan paella with red bell pepper, artichokes, smoked tofu, zucchini, and olives is so delicious that we even made it twice last week!! It’s actually even healthier and lighter than traditional paella. And it’s packed with flavor and tastes so much like a vacation to Spain!
It was actually my brother who made me craving veggie paella. He’s totally in love with his new Weber grill and makes literally anything on the grill these days. I mean who needs a kitchen when you got a grill, right?! Haha! So when I went to visit my parents for the weekend, of course we needed to test some vegan recipes on it.
They bought a cookbook with tons of vegetarian and vegan grilling recipes and we decided to make sun-dried tomato pizza and vegan paella with currants on the grill. I know it sounds kind of weird to make that on a grill, but we got this big grilling pan, which we actually haven’t tried before. And it worked out so great and we had this huge vegan feast in our garden. For dessert, we just put some bananas and pineapple on the grill and enjoyed them with vanilla ice cream and sorbet. So incredibly simple and yummy! I’m so happy that they’re always curious to try new vegan recipes whenever I visit them!
So when I got home after this weekend, I just knew that I had to make a vegan paella for the blog. I got some paella rice and saffron and experimented with different veggies. This version with artichokes, dried tomatoes, olives, and smoked tofu is by far my favorite! It’s the perfect summer dinner.
I used white wine in the recipe, so if you’re making this vegan paella for kids just sub the wine with some more vegetable broth. Also adjust the amount of red pepper flakes. Oh, how I wish I had a plate of this vegetarian paella right now! It’s dinner time soon and I’m getting so hungry while writing this post. It can be hard to be a food blogger and see all this delicious stuff all the time… Haha!
So I hope you like this veggie paella as much as we do around here! As always, I love hearing from you guys!
Talk to you soon! – Sina, xx
Vegan Paella
Ingredients
- 7 oz smoked tofu, cut into cubes
- 1 onion, chopped
- 3 cloves of garlic, chopped
- 1 red bell pepper, cut into medium-sized chunks
- 1 medium zucchini, cut into medium pieces
- 1/2 cup white wine
- 1 teaspoon paprika powder
- salt, to taste
- black pepper, to taste
- 1/2 teaspoon saffron threads
- 1 1/2 cups cooked peas
- 10-15 black olives, cut into rings
- about 8 sun-dried tomatoes in oil, cut into stripes
- 1 can artichoke hearts, drained and roughly chopped
- 1 1/2 cups arbioro or risotto rice
- 3-5 cups vegetable broth depending on what kind of rice you use, adjust if needed
- red pepper flakes, to taste
- 1 handfull fresh parsley, chopped
- 1 lemon slices, to serve
Instructions
- Heat some oil in a large pan and fry the smoked tofu cubes over medium heat until brown and crispy on all sides. Put aside.
- Heat some more oil in the same pan and sauté the onion and the garlic for about 2-3 minutes. Then add the red bell pepper and the zucchini and cook for another 3 minutes. Stir in the rice and cook about 2-3 more minutes.
- Deglaze with white wine. Season with salt, pepper, and paprika powder. Dissolve the saffron in 2 tablespoons of warm water and add to the pealla.
- Add the vegetable broth (I recommend starting with 3 cups) and cook for about 15-20 minutes or until the rice is tender and has absorbed all the liquid. If necessary add more vegetable broth.
- Once the rice is tender, stir in the cooked peas, the sun-dried tomatoes, the olives, the smoked tofu, and the artichokes. Cook for about 2 minutes or until heated through. Sprinkle with fresh parsley and serve with lemon slices.
Oh my gosh, this looks awesome!
Thanks so much, Becky! :-)
Sounds so good! I haven’t had paella in probably 15-20 years. This version sounds so tasty!!
Love paella! The artichokes get me everytime ;)
This paella looks amazing! I love the idea of using smoked tofu.
What a stunning recipe! I love that you use tofu in it – I’ve never tried paella this way.
Gorgeous and such wonderful colours as always. I am loving that you used smoked tofu here. My favourite!
What a pretty dish! I love all the colors you have along with all the flavors. Looks amazing!
So delicious and flavorful. SO many wonderful ingredients. Love how bright it is!
I love smoked tofu and artichokes in paella <3 Reminds me so much of all the trips to madrid and barcelona. :) Aaahhh good times.
Must make this! Looks fabulous and delicious. I’ve never seen smoked tofu. Can I purchase it or do I have to make my own? My mouth is watering :)
This recipe doesn’t just look awesome…it tastes awesome, too!!! The combination of the flavors is just perfect. Thank you so much for this recipe!
So glad you liked it, Carla! :-)
I made this tonight and wow!! It was fantastic! So savory and filling. My husband devoured it and went back for more. I was vegan in the past and am trying to switch back to a more wfpb diet after a couple years of eating whatever I want and not feeling too great in the process! This will definitely be added to the regular repertoire ????
Must try.i will add some vegan chorizo, also, towards the end of. Cooking time.
My son is Vegan and I wanted to make him something different. I made this some time ago, and he loved it. I couldn’t find any smoked tofu, so I made my own. And he said that it was the best tofu w /this dish he ever had.
I’m not sure I’ve ever seen tofu in a paella recipe! How interesting. We use beans in our vegan paella for added protein: favas work wonderfully. Give it a try!
I tried it and it was soo soo good!! Best paella I’ve ever had!