Paella valenciana is Valencia's defining rice dish: bomba rice cooked over orange wood in a flat pan with rabbit, chicken, ferraura green beans, garrofo butter beans, saffron and tomato.

Paella valenciana emerged in the 18th-century rice paddies of La Albufera south of Valencia, when farmers and shepherds cooked rabbit, chicken, ferraura beans and bomba rice over orange-wood embers for the noon-day field meal. The canonical recipe was codified by the early 19th century: rabbit, chicken, ferraura, garrofo butter bean, sometimes snails, saffron, sweet paprika, tomato, bomba rice. No chorizo. No seafood. The 2021 Paella Valenciana DOP legally defined the dish with ten obligatory ingredients. Casa Carmela on the Malvarrosa beachfront and Casa Roberto in the Eixample cook the canonical version; El Palmar in La Albufera grills paellas at source.

5 editor picks for Paella valenciana in Valencia, ranked by editorial score. All Valencia signature dishes · Paella valenciana across every city.