The Best EASY Seafood Rice Recipe | Everything Cooks In One Skillet

This seafood rice recipe is loaded with flavor. It combines perfectly seasoned rice, vegetables, and shrimp to create a simple yet delicious fried rice recipe everyone will love. And the best part is that it's so easy to make. In fact, you can get this super delicious seafood recipe ready in well under 30 minutes!

The Best Seafood Rice Recipe

If you like rice and seafood, you're going to love this seafood rice recipe! This one-skillet dish consists of savory spiced yellow rice, complimented with a few veggies and whatever seafood you want.

Honestly, the flavor of this dish is just so good that you'd swear it came from a top-tier fine-dining restaurant. Plus, it's so, so easy to make too. This seafood rice skillet consists of just a few simple steps, and everything cooks in just one skillet, which really makes the cooking process and clean-up both a breeze.

How great does all of that sound?

By the way, if you want to make something to go along with this seafood rice, I love pairing it with these Chinese green beans, these honey glazed carrots, and this sweet corn cake!

Ingredients

The ingredients needed to make seafood rice are all basically kitchen/pantry staples. So, there's a good chance that you already will have most - if not all - of them at home already.

Anyway, here’s what you’ll need to make this seafood rice recipe:

• 1 tablespoon of olive oil
• 1 tablespoon of minced garlic
• ½ chopped onion
• 1 teaspoon of turmeric
• 1 teaspoon of smoked paprika
• 1 ½ cup of long grain rice or jasmine rice
• 3 cups of fish broth
• 4 cups (½ lb.) of frozen seafood mix 
• Salt and pepper
• ¼ cup of roasted diced bell pepper
• ¼ cup frozen peas (if they're not in the seafood mix)
• Lemon and parsley (optional)

Pretty simple stuff, right?

Oh, and you can use many of these same ingredients to make these Red Lobster stuffed mushrooms, so you might want to give that recipe a try next!

Also, if you want to give another seafood recipe a try, I definitely recommend making this seafood soup or seafood pasta salad as well.

Ingredient Substitutions and Suggestions

Now, I always make this seafood rice skillet with the ingredients listed above, but there is a ton of wiggle room to put your own spin on it.

For instance, instead of using a frozen seafood mix - that has shrimp and mussels in it - you can use any kind of frozen or fresh seafood that you want. I'll sometimes only use shrimp to make it, and other times I'll add clams, scallops, and even crab. Honestly, though, really any seafood works great with this rice recipe.

Now, to make this a true seafood rice recipe, I used fish broth. But, with that said, if you want it to have a more subtle seafood taste, you can use chicken broth or vegetable broth.

As for the veggies, I like to keep it simple and use a little onion and garlic for some flavor, and then I like to use some roasted red peppers and peas for a touch of sweetness. However, you can add a ton of different veggies - like broccoli, carrots, corn, and water chesnuts - and this seafood rice recipe will still turn out great.

Lastly, for the rice, I prefer to use long grain rice, but jasmine rice, short grain rice, brown rice, or really any other rice that you prefer will work great too.

How To Make Seafood Rice

As I already mentioned earlier, this seafood rice skillet is incredibly easy to make.

It only takes 5 minutes of prep work and then just about 20 minutes of cooking time - most of which is passive cooking. Plus, the whole process is a breeze, only 4 simple steps are all you'll need to follow to make it.

Anyway, with all that said, let’s not waste another second and jump right into how to make some seafood rice!

Step 1: Cook The Garlic And Onions

First things first, you'll want to take out a large deep skillet - or paella pan - and put it over medium-high heat. Then, add the olive oil to it, moving the pan around to coat the surface of it in the oil.

Once the oil is hot, you can add the minced garlic and chopped onion to it and let them cook for about 10 minutes, moving the garlic and onion around the pan frequently, so they don't burn.

Step 2: Add The Spices and rice

Now it's time to add even more flavor to this seafood rice skillet - it's time to add the spices and seasonings. So, you can add the turmeric and paprika to the skillet and mix the spices together with the cooked garlic and onion.

Then, you can add the uncooked rice of your choice to the skillet and give everything a stir to coat the rice with the rest of the ingredients.

Finally, let the rice cook for about 3 minutes - until it just starts to turn translucent on the sides.

Step 3: Add The Seafood

Once the rice is looking good, you can give it another stir - just to combine everything - and bring in the seafood elements of this dish.

So, to do that, you'll want to add the fish broth to the skillet, followed by the frozen seafood mix along with the frozen peas and a dash of salt and pepper.

Now you'll want to let everything cook - without moving it or stirring it - until the rice has absorbed the broth and is cooked through. Also, just keep in mind that you'll want to taste test the rice to check its doneness, and if it's still hard, let it continue cooking.

Oh, and if you're using shrimp, make sure they turn pink - that way you know they're completely cooked.

Step 4: Serving

Finally, it's time to finish off this seafood rice recipe!

So, to do that, you'll want to top it off with roasted red peppers and your choice of some cooked veggies. Then, you can squeeze a little lemon juice all over the rice and garnish it with some fresh parsley on top.

Finally, you can serve your finished seafood rice, and enjoy!

How To Store Seafood Rice

This recipe for seafood rice will make about 6 large servings, and as I mentioned earlier, it makes the perfect family dinner. Also, it makes so much you might even have leftovers for the next day.

Speaking of leftovers, if you do end up with some you'll want to let 'em cool and then transfer 'em to an airtight container. Stored this way, the seafood rice will last in the fridge for about 3-4 days.

With that said, if you want to store your cooked rice for even longer, you can transfer it to an airtight container - or freezer-safe bag - and store it in the freezer for 1-2 months.

How to reheat seafood rice

Once you're ready to enjoy this rice again, you can easily reheat it the same way that you cooked it. Just take out a skillet and put it over medium-heat with a little bit of broth. Then, add the leftover rice and cook for a few minutes, stirring occasionally until it's fully warmed through.

Alternatively, you can put the rice in an ovenproof dish with a splash of water or broth, break up any rice clumps, and cover the dish with some tin foil. Then, you can bake it at 300°F for about 15 minutes - or until it reaches your desired temperature.

By the way, if you're reheating frozen rice, just add a few more minutes to each reheating method above.

Wrapping It Up

Well, that's how to make seafood rice in just a few simple and easy steps!

This seriously is one of the best seafood recipes and rice recipes that you'll find.

I don't know if it's the seasoned, lightly fried rice or the combination of seafood with it, but it's just so, so good.

It really is a breeze to make, too! So, now you'll have an easy dinner recipe in your back pocket that you can whip up on a weekly basis - and everyone is sure to love it.

Anyway, if you give this seafood recipe a shot, leave a comment below and let us know how it went.

More Rice Recipes

If you’re looking for some more quick and easy rice recipes to get you through the busy work week, we have a ton on the blog you can try next!

Here are some of our readers favorite ones:

• Baked cod with panko
• Benihana fried rice
• Curry shrimp rice
• Instant pot sushi rice
• Hibachi fried rice
• Salmon rice bowl

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