History & recipes
The rice of Spain, town by town.
Rice came to the Iberian Peninsula with the irrigation channels of al-Andalus. Over the centuries it turned into hundreds of local dishes, each with its own pan, fire and broth. Here they are, with the history behind each one and a detailed recipe to cook it.
Explore the dishesSeco, meloso or caldoso?
Every rice is a question of water.
108 dishes
Arrocito del Grau de Castelló
Arrosset del Grau
El Grau is Castelló's fishermen's quarter, built around the port and its fish auction (llotja).
Castelló
Arroz a Banda
Arròs a Banda
"A banda" means "apart" or "on the side". The dish was the fishermen's way of turning the unsaleable catch (morralla: rockfish, scorpionfish, weever, gurnard, small crabs) into two meals.
Alacant · València
Arroz a la Alicantina
Arròs a l'Alacantina
Alicante's own mar i muntanya (sea and mountain) paella.
Alacant
Arroz a la Asturiana
Arroz con Cosas Asturiano
A generous Sunday "arroz con cosas" ("rice with things") of Asturian homes. It brings together the region's pork and poultry: pork ribs, lean pork or fresh ham, chicken, fresh white sausages and fresh chorizo, with peas.
Norte: Galicia, Asturias, Cantabria y País Vasco
Arroz a la Cazuela
Arròs a la Cassola
The Gran Enciclopèdia Catalana defines arròs a la cassola as rice cooked in a cassola "with fish, meat, poultry, vegetables, etc.", a dish that "admits many combinations".
Cataluña
Arroz a la Cubana (Canarias)
Arroz con Huevo y Plátano
A plate of white rice, tomato sauce, fried egg and fried plantain or banana (in Canarias, the local plátano de Canarias), sometimes with papas fritas or a sausage.
Canarias · Comunidad de Madrid
Arroz a la Sevillana
Arroz con Cosas
Sevilla province is Spain's leading rice producer. The marismas del Guadalquivir around Isla Mayor were drained and put under rice in the 20th century, notably by Valencian growers who settled there from the 1920s–1930s.
Andalucía
Arroz a la Zamorana
Arroz Zamorano
Arroz a la zamorana is Castilla y León's great rice and a child of the matanza (pig slaughter). Rural families in the Aliste comarca used every part of the pig.
Castilla y León
Arroz a la Zaragozana
Arroz a la Aragonesa
Aragonese home cooking adds rice to stews (cazuela aragonesa, colas de cordero with rice, conejo en salmorejo with rice) rather than cooking it in a flat pan. A rice "a la zaragozana" would follow that logic.
Aragón, Navarra y La Rioja
Arroz al Horno
Arròs al Forn
Arròs al forn is the rice of the olla. It was invented to use the broth, chickpeas and meat left over from Saturday's cocido (olla or putxero).
València
Arroz al Horno con Guisantes
Arròs al Forn amb Pèsols
The spring version of arròs al forn.
València
Arroz al Horno con Pasas y Garbanzos
Arròs al Forn amb Panses i Cigrons (Arròs Viudo)
The Lenten twin of arròs al forn. It is an arròs viudo ("widowed rice") "que no se acompaña de ninguna carne", in which raisins and chickpeas replace the pork, sausages and morcilla.
València
Arroz al Horno de Alubias y Nabos
Arròs al Forn de Fesols i Naps
The well-known arròs amb fesols i naps is a soupy winter pot. This is its oven-baked form, and a meatless one: just beans, turnip or nap-i-col (kohlrabi), a head of garlic, oil, paprika and black pepper.
València
Arroz al Horno de Anguilas y Judías
Arròs al Forn d'Anguiles i Bajoques
A rare baked rice that puts eel, the fish of L'Albufera's all i pebre, together with the paella vegetables: bajoqueta, tavella and garrofó.
València
Arroz Amarillo Canario
Arroz Canario
Canarian cooking sits between Castile, Andalucía, Africa and the Americas, and rice reached the islands' everyday tables partly through the return of emigrants from Cuba and Venezuela.
Canarias
Arroz Caldero del Mar Menor
Caldero Murciano
According to the San Pedro del Pinatar town council, the caldero goes back to the 19th century, when Mar Menor fishermen cooked the fish that wouldn't sell at market in iron pots on board.
Región de Murcia
Arroz Caldoso con Bogavante
Arròs Caldós amb Llamàntol
Arroz caldoso con bogavante is the coast's celebration rice. It is ordered for Sunday lunches, Christmas and family gatherings, and one Alicante blog describes it as a festive staple of the comarca.
Alacant · València
Arroz Caldoso con Bogavante del Cantábrico
Arroz con Lumbrigante (Rinlo y la Mariña)
Norte: Galicia, Asturias, Cantabria y País Vasco
Arroz Caldoso con Colitas de Cangrejo de Isla Mayor
Arroz con Cangrejos de las Marismas
Isla Mayor was born from rice: paddies were laid out in the Guadalquivir marshes in the first half of the 20th century, and the town grew around them (see the history page for the settlement debate).
Andalucía
Arroz Caldoso con Pato de las Marismas
Arroz de Pato Cortijero
The rice paddies of the Guadalquivir marshes are Spain's largest rice-growing area, and like L'Albufera they are full of waterfowl.
Andalucía
Arroz Caldoso de Isla Cristina
Arroz Caldoso con Almejas y Marisco Onubense
Isla Cristina is one of Spain's major fishing ports.
Andalucía
Arroz Caldoso de Langostinos de Vinaròs
Arròs Caldós de Llagostins de Vinaròs
The Llagostí de Vinaròs (Penaeus kerathurus, the striped prawn) is caught on the sandy, Ebro-fed bottoms off Vinaròs.
Castelló
Arroz Caldoso de Sepia y Coliflor
Arròs de Sèpia i Col-i-flor
A winter soupy rice in which the cuttlefish is boiled for half an hour first. This is unusual, since most recipes sear it. The boiling makes a broth and tenderises the cuttlefish.
València
Arroz Campero Andaluz
Arroz con Cosas (de Campo)
Andalucía
Arroz Clarico (con Hierbabuena)
Arroz Clarico de la Vega Baja
The name says it all: clarico is the affectionate Vega Baja and Murcian diminutive of claro ("thin, clear").
Alacant · Región de Murcia
Arroz con Acelgas
Arròs amb Bledes (Arròs en Banderetes)
Arròs amb bledes is the definitive Lenten (Quaresma) rice. It contains no meat and is built on chard, white beans and potato, all huerta products available through late winter.
València
Arroz con Alcachofas de Benicarló
Arròs amb Carxofes de Benicarló
The Alcachofa de Benicarló has held a Denominación de Origen since 18 September 1998.
Castelló
Arroz con Almejas
Arroz con Ameixas
Galicia's rías are among Europe's richest shellfish grounds. Carril (Vilagarcía) is famous for its clams, and the mariscadoras who gather them on foot are a cultural institution.
Norte: Galicia, Asturias, Cantabria y País Vasco
Arroz con Alubias y Nabos
Arròs amb (en) Fesols i Naps
This is the great winter rice of the Valencian countryside. It is also known as caldera, caldera de l'horta, olla pobre or arròs junt.
València
Arroz con Bacalao de Vigilia (La Mancha y Extremadura)
Arroz de Cuaresma
Salt cod was the protein of Lent across inland Spain, far from fresh fish. It arrived by mule and rail, preserved in salt.
Castilla-La Mancha y Extremadura
Arroz con Bacalao y Coliflor
Arròs amb Bacallà i Coliflor
This is a Lent and Holy Week rice (Quaresma, Setmana Santa).
Alacant · València
Arroz con Boquerones y Pava (Coliflor)
Arroz Huertano de Boquerones
A huerta rice that marries the cheapest Mediterranean fish, the boquerón (fresh anchovy), with winter cauliflower, two bunches of ajos tiernos and red pepper.
Región de Murcia
Arroz con Borrajas y Almejas
Borrajas con Arroz y Almejas
Aragón, Navarra y La Rioja
Arroz con Cangrejos (La Bañeza)
Arroz con Cangrejos de Río Bañezano
La Bañeza's crayfish tradition is "more than two centuries" old, according to the RENC source.
Castilla y León
Arroz con Chipirones y Ajos Tiernos
Arròs amb Xipirons i Alls Tendres
A spring rice of the Alicante coast. Small squid (chipirones, Valencian xipirons) are paired with young garlic (ajos tiernos), which appears in the huertas from late winter.
Alacant
Arroz con Choco
Onubense
People from Huelva are nicknamed choqueros because of their attachment to the choco, the local cuttlefish: very tender, with short tentacles.
Andalucía
Arroz con Conejo
Arròs amb Conill
The rabbit was the countryside's most accessible meat: bred in every farmyard (conejo de corral) or hunted in the monte. Snails, by contrast, are seasonal and laborious.
Alacant · València · Región de Murcia
Arroz con Conejo y Caracoles
Arròs amb Conill i Caragols (Arroz con Conejo y Serranas)
This is the rice of the dry, vine-and-almond interior of Alicante.
Alacant
Arroz con Conejo y Caracoles (Aragón, Navarra y La Rioja)
Arroz de Monte del Valle del Ebro
Snails (caracoles, cargols) are a deep-rooted festival food along the Ebro. In La Rioja they are a Christmas Eve dish, still held in esteem in Haro.
Aragón, Navarra y La Rioja
Arroz con Conejo y Caracoles Catalán
Arròs amb Conill i Cargols
Rabbit and snails is a rice combination shared across eastern Spain's dry interiors, from the Alicante serrana rice to Aragón.
Cataluña
Arroz con Conejo y Caracoles Murciano
Arroz con Conejo y Serranas
Murcian sources describe rice cooked "a la lumbre" (over an open wood fire) as one of the pillars of the region's cooking, and rabbit with snails as the classic version.
Región de Murcia
Arroz con Costra
Arròs amb Crosta (Arroz y Costra)
Arroz con costra is one of the oldest documented rices in Spain. Elche and Orihuela both claim it. The Oriolan tradition places an early recipe in the Convento de la Santísima Trinidad de Orihuela.
Alacant
Arroz con Galeras y Alcachofas
Arròs amb Galeres i Carxofes
The galera (Squilla mantis, mantis shrimp) is the winter jewel of the Vinaròs and Benicarló trawler fleets. Its sweet, lobster-like flesh is hard to extract, so it is ideal for flavouring stock.
Castelló
Arroz con Habas Peladas
Arròs amb Fava Pelà (Fava Pelada)
Alacant
Arroz con Hígado de Toro
Arròs amb Fetge de Bou
This is an offal rice: liver, sweetbread (molleja), heart and entrañas of a bull, stretched with chickpeas and a large amount of escarole.
València · Alacant
Arroz con Leche
Arròs amb Llet / Arroz con Leche Requemado
Rice cooked in sweetened milk is one of the oldest rice preparations in Spain.
Norte: Galicia, Asturias, Cantabria y País Vasco · Comunidad de Madrid · València
Arroz con Liebre
Arroz Meloso de Liebre (La Mancha y Extremadura)
The hare (liebre) is the prized small game of the open cereal plains of La Mancha and the Extremaduran dehesa.
Castilla-La Mancha y Extremadura
Arroz con Magra, Costillejas y Verduras
Arroz Huertano Murciano
The Huerta de Murcia is the irrigated plain of the Segura, watered by Andalusi channels (acequias and azarbes).
Región de Murcia
Arroz con Mariscos y Pescados de Candamo
Arroz de Grullos
An Asturian seafood rice built on the Cantabrian catch: andaricas (velvet crabs, nécoras), cigalas, clams and prawns, with pixín (Asturian for monkfish), squid and congrio (conger).
Norte: Galicia, Asturias, Cantabria y País Vasco
Arroz con Miel de Bogarra
Arroz con Miel Navideño (Sierra de Albacete)
In the remote mountain villages of the Albacete Sierra, honey from rosemary and thyme hives was the traditional sweetener. The RENC records an arroz con miel eaten at Christmas in Bogarra.
Castilla-La Mancha y Extremadura
Arroz con Pata de Ternera
Arròs amb Pota de Vedella
This is a working-class Alicante city classic and a winter rice. It uses the cheapest, most gelatin-rich cut, the calf's foot, together with chickpeas, botifarra de ceba (onion sausage) and chorizo.
Alacant
Arroz con Pato
Arròs amb Ànec (Arròs d'Ànec de l'Albufera)
L'Albufera is Europe's most important wintering wetland for ducks, and from October to January the tirades (regulated hunting days) traditionally supplied wild duck (collverd mallard, sivert teal, bragat) to the villages of the lake.
València
Arroz con Pava (Pavo)
Arròs amb Titot
La Vega Baja has a long tradition of raising Spanish Black turkeys. In Almoradí the bird is finished on feed laced with wine, giving the famous pava borracha ("drunk turkey"), whose meat is richer and more marbled.
Alacant
Arroz con Perdiz
Arroz Caldoso de Perdiz (Sierras de Jaén y Córdoba)
The red-legged partridge (perdiz roja) is the defining small game of the dehesa and the olive-grove sierras, and partridge hunting is a centuries-old social ritual in Jaén.
Andalucía · Castilla-La Mancha y Extremadura
Arroz con Pitu de Caleya
Arroz con Pitu
The pitu de caleya is a free-range rooster or chicken that roams the caleyas. It is slaughtered at about a year old, while farm chickens barely reach two months. It now has a quality label, Pitu de Caleya.
Norte: Galicia, Asturias, Cantabria y País Vasco
Arroz con Rape y Gamba Roja
Arròs amb Rap i Gamba Roja
A modern Alicante classic in the "Ciudad del Arroz" canon.
Alacant
Arroz con Sepia y Alcachofas
Arròs amb Sépia i Carxofa
This is the classic winter mar i muntanya of the Valencian coast. Cuttlefish from the inshore boats is paired with artichoke from the huerta, whose season (November to April) overlaps with cuttlefish's best months.
València · Castelló
Arroz Cortijero de Jaén
Arroz Cortijero (Country-Estate Rice)
A rice of the olive-grove cortijos of Jaén, the world's largest olive-oil-producing province.
Andalucía
Arroz de Ayuno de Calasparra
Arroz de Vigilia con Bacalao
Calasparra has grown rice since at least the 14th century. In 1986 its rice became the first rice in the world to receive a Denominación de Origen, and the first non-wine D.O. in Spain.
Región de Murcia
Arroz de Boquerones y Espinacas
Arròs amb Espinacs i Aladrocs
A thrifty sea and huerta rice. The two cheapest things a coastal family could buy were a handful of fresh anchovies and a bunch of winter spinach.
Alacant · València
Arroz de la Plana
Arròs de la Plana (Paella de l'Horta Castellonenca)
La Plana is Castellón's irrigated coastal plain, transformed in the 19th and 20th centuries into a sea of orange groves, with vegetable huertas in between.
Castelló
Arroz de Langosta Menorquín
Arròs de Llagosta (Fornells)
The caldereta de llagosta (spiny lobster stew) began as a fishermen's dish cooked in a caldero on their own boats.
Islas Baleares
Arroz de las Riberas del Turia
Arròs de les Riberes del Túria
In the 17th and 18th centuries Sénia rice was grown along the Túria by royal order, especially in Riba-roja, until a plague wiped out the crop and rice farming disappeared there. Oranges later took over the huerta.
València
Arroz de los Tres Puñaos
Arroz de Vigilia (Arroz Clarico de Vigilia)
This is the Vega Baja's great Lent (Cuaresma) and vigil rice: a meatless dish of the poor huerta. Its name comes from the measuring system.
Alacant
Arroz de Matanza Ibicenco
Arròs de Matances (Eivissa)
On Ibiza the winter matances (pig slaughter) supplied the year's protein, mainly through cured sausages such as sobrassada and botifarró. The rice made on slaughter day used the fresh meat.
Islas Baleares
Arroz de Montaña Catalán
Arròs de Muntanya (Cerdanya, Terres de Lleida)
High in the Pyrenees, rice was a bought luxury and the protein came from the farm and the forest.
Cataluña
Arroz de Montaña de Castellón
Arròs de Muntanya (amb Conill, Caragols i Bolets)
The Castellón interior is a high, cold, sparsely populated land of masías, livestock and hunting.
Castelló
Arroz de Pals a la Cazuela
Arròs de Pals a la Cassola (Empordà)
Rice has a long and interrupted history in Pals. A Catalan study dates the town's rice mill to 1452.
Cataluña
Arroz de Renda
Arròs de Renda
A humble inland-Marina rice of snails, lima beans and red pepper, with almost no oil (½ tablespoon for four people).
Alacant
Arroz de Ribera del Delta del Ebro
Arròs de Ribera (Arròs a Banda del Delta, amb Ànec i Anguila)
The Ebro Delta is Catalonia's rice bowl, protected by the D.O.P. Arròs del Delta de l'Ebre.
Cataluña
Arroz de Trilla
Arròs de Batre
Alacant
Arroz de Verduras de la Vega Baja
Arroz de Verano (con Habas y Alcachofas)
La Vega Baja is the irrigated floodplain of the River Segura. It is one of Europe's oldest continuously farmed huertas, irrigated by Andalusi acequias and azarbes, and it is famous for the Alcachofa de la Vega Baja.
Alacant
Arroz del Pedrón de Parayo
Arroz de San Pedro con Anguilas y Cangrejos
A rice of friendship and of San Pedro (29 June). In the 1940s–50s, says the RENC source, a group of friends met by the Pedrón de Parayo to talk and rest from their daily work.
Norte: Galicia, Asturias, Cantabria y País Vasco
Arroz del Señorito
Arròs del Senyoret
"Senyoret" means "little gentleman" or "young master". Everything in this rice comes already peeled, cleaned and boned, so the diner never has to touch a shell.
Alacant · València
Arroz Empedrado
Arròs Empedrat
"Empedrat" means "cobbled" or "paved with stones". The name refers to the white beans dotting the surface of the rice like cobblestones.
València
Arroz Empedrao (Empedrado) Murciano
The Revista Española de Nutrición Comunitaria includes this dish in its 2022 survey of forgotten Spanish dishes.
Región de Murcia
Arroz Marinero Andaluz
Arroz Caldoso Marinero (Málaga y Cádiz)
In Andalucía, rice by the sea is mostly eaten soupy: a fishermen's pot of rice, fish and shellfish built on a broth.
Andalucía
Arroz Marinero Balear
Arròs de Peix (Caldós de Pescadors)
As on the Valencian and Murcian coasts, Balearic fishermen boiled the unsold catch with potatoes and saffron and then cooked rice in the broth.
Islas Baleares
Arroz Meloso de Pulpo
Arròs Melós de Polp (i Arròs amb Polp Sec)
Octopus (polp, Octopus vulgaris) is caught with pots and traps by the artisanal fleets of Santa Pola, Dénia and Xàbia.
Alacant
Arroz Negro
Arròs Negre
Arròs negre has been documented in Valencia since at least the 17th century. It is the fishermen's response to cuttlefish (sepia) and squid (calamar), whose ink sacs were too valuable as flavour to throw away.
València · Alacant · Castelló
Arroz Negro Catalán
Arròs Negre de l'Empordà
Barcelona Turisme lists "Arròs negre de l'Empordà" among its Catalan classics. The Catalan version has the same base as the Valencian arròs negre: cuttlefish or squid, fish stock and ink, served with allioli.
Cataluña
Arroz Rossejat
Arrossejat (L'Ametlla de Mar)
L'Ametlla de Mar's Diada de l'Arrossejat has run for about 40 years. Around fifty amateur cooks compete for prizes, and the festival champions the dish as heritage "born on the fishing boats".
Cataluña
Arroz Sucio Mallorquín
Arròs Brut
In Mallorcan Catalan, brut means "dirty". The name refers to the murky broth coloured by the spices: cinnamon, pimentón, saffron, pepper, and in some versions clove and nutmeg.
Islas Baleares
Arroz y Gatet (Arroz con Pintarroja)
Arròs amb Gatet
The gatet (small catshark, Spanish pintarroja) was a low-value bycatch of the Santa Pola trawlers. Like the morralla of the caldero, it fed fishing families rather than going to market.
Alacant
Arroz y Habichuelas
Arroz con Habichuelas Murciano
The Murcian huerta's equivalent of the Valencian arròs amb fesols i naps and of the Vega Baja's tres puñaos.
Región de Murcia
Arroz y Pollo con Alcaciles
Arroz Huertano de Pollo y Alcachofas
Región de Murcia
Arroz y Verduras con Bacalao
Arroz Huertano de Verduras (Murcia)
A huerta vegetable rice with a characteristic Murcian touch: salt cod that is toasted on the griddle (asado a la plancha hasta tostarlo) and shredded, not soaked into the base.
Región de Murcia
Arroz, Col y Alubias
Arròs, Col i Fesols (Delta de l'Ebre)
The Ebro Delta concentrates most of Catalonia's rice cultivation. This is its everyday winter pot: rice, cabbage and white beans with a little salt pork.
Cataluña
Caldero de Santa Pola y Tabarca
Caldero Santapolero i Tabarquí
The caldero is the "mother" of arroz a banda. It is a two-service fishermen's meal cooked in a single iron pot.
Alacant
Cardillos con Arroz
Tagarninas con Arroz
Castilla-La Mancha y Extremadura · Andalucía
Chanfaina Salmantina
Arroz de Chanfaina
Castilla y León
Chipirones en su Tinta con Arroz Blanco
Txipiroiak Bere Tintan Arroz Zuriarekin
Norte: Galicia, Asturias, Cantabria y País Vasco
Colas de Cordero con Arroz
Guiso de Colas de Viernes Santo
On Good Friday, shepherds escodaban, docking the tails of the ewes kept for breeding. The tails became a stew.
Aragón, Navarra y La Rioja
Escudilla de Ángel
Escudella d'Àngel (Arroz con Leche Mallorquín Antiguo)
"Angel's bowl" was a prestigious Mallorcan festive sweet, "muy celebrada, especialmente para los días de fiesta". It was first recorded in the 18th century and was usual until the mid-20th century.
Islas Baleares
Fideuá
Fideuà de Gandia
The dish is dated to the first quarter of the 20th century, and the usual story places it on a Gandia fishing boat called the Santa Isabel.
València
Lamprea a la Bordelesa con Arroz
Lamprea á Bordelesa con Arroz (Arbo)
The sea lamprey (Petromyzon marinus) is a jawless fish of prehistoric lineage. It swims up the Miño to spawn in winter and spring ("hasta que cante el cuco", until the cuckoo sings).
Norte: Galicia, Asturias, Cantabria y País Vasco
Olla de Benicarló (con Arroz)
Olla de Benicarló amb Arròs
Castellón's iconic winter dish is the olla de la Plana, a bean-and-vegetable stew.
Castelló
Paella a la Riojana
Arroz a la Riojana
La Rioja has a popular "paella riojana" culture of fiestas and cuadrillas, and a lively debate about chorizo.
Aragón, Navarra y La Rioja
Paella con Albóndigas
Paella amb Mandonguilles (Pilotetes)
A southern-Valencian festive paella in which small meatballs (mandonguilles or pilotetes) join the rabbit and chicken. In winter they come with artichoke and garrofó.
València
Paella de Cebolla y Bacalao
Paella amb Ceba i Alls Secs (i Bacallà)
A pared-down fast-day paella: a lot of thinly sliced onion, unpeeled dried garlic, and soaked, flaked salt cod.
València
Paella de Costillas y Coliflor
Paella de Costelletes i Col-i-flor
A winter paella of the pig-and-cabbage season. Pork ribs and a piece of pork liver are browned with cauliflower florets (and optional alls tendres) until the cauliflower takes colour.
València
Paella de Marisco
Paella de Marisc
The seafood version took hold as paella moved from the fields to the coast.
València · Alacant · Castelló
Paella de Verduras
Paella de Verdures (Paella d'Estiu i Paella d'Hivern)
Before tourism and refrigeration, the Valencian paella followed the huerta calendar.
València · Alacant
Paella Mixta
de Carn i Marisc
The usual account links it to the 1960s–70s tourism boom.
València
Paella Valenciana
Arròs a la valenciana
The paella valenciana was born as a field-worker's midday meal in the rice-growing marshes around L'Albufera, which have been cultivated since Andalusi irrigation (the séquies) reached their full extent.
València
Perol Cordobés
Arroz de Perol (Día de San Rafael)
In Córdoba "perol" means three things at once: the pot, the rice dish cooked in it, and the outdoor gathering around it. Its great day is 24 October, San Rafael.
Andalucía
Potaje Bañezano (Garbanzos con Arroz)
Potaje de La Bañeza
A meatless pot of chickpeas and rice, finished with a sofrito of spring onion and paprika poured over at the end.
Castilla y León
Txuritabeltz (Relleno Navarro y Sangrecilla)
Txuri-Beltz
Aragón, Navarra y La Rioja
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