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Few dishes say summer quite like paella and this vegan summer paella recipe is sure to impress. It’s vibrant, full of seasonal produce, and big enough to feed a crowd. Miyoko Schinner, owner of Miyoko’s Creamery, recently shared a YouTube video where she explains how to make a vegan version of the classic Spanish paella, a recipe she calls one of her favorite warm-weather meals.
Schinner is a pioneer in vegan cheese and butter, founder of the beloved Miyoko’s Creamery, and an influential voice in plant-based cooking. Her vegetable paella is more than just a recipe, like all paellas, it’s an invitation to gather. “It’s a great potluck dish,” she says. “You can make a large quantity of it…make it at home, but share it with your friends and family.”
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She points out that it’s also perfect for cooking at the beach or outside over an open fire, which she says brings out the dish’s signature crispy rice bottom.
Prepping and browning the vegetables
Schinner starts with summer’s peak produce – eggplant, zucchini, oyster mushrooms, sugar snap peas, and even asparagus. The vegetables are sautéed first in olive oil until caramelized. “They’ll be much more flavorful than if I just add them directly into the broth,” she explains.
She says the oyster mushrooms can be cooked separately with vegan fish sauce to “mimic that sort of scallop flavor.”
She keeps the heat high and avoids constant stirring, letting the vegetables brown before removing them from the pan. They’ll return later for the final stage.
Building the sofrito base
Next comes the sofrito – onions, garlic, and diced red bell pepper sautéed with smoked paprika from Budapest. She dices a ripe heirloom tomato from a local market and adds it to the mix. “That smoked paprika is going to give just a hint of lovely smokiness to this, combined with the saffron that we’re going to add in a minute, too,” she says.
Choosing the rice and seasoning
Traditional paella rice can be hard to find, so Schinner uses arborio rice. She adds it straight into the sofrito with saffron, followed by broth and a splash of red wine. Once the liquid is in, there’s one rule: “I am not going to stir it at all,” she says. This ensures the rice cooks evenly and develops that prized crust on the bottom.
After about 15 minutes of simmering, the vegetables return to the pan. The paella cooks a little longer until the bottom is perfectly crisp – “brown but not black,” as she puts it.
When she finally lifts the rice, she finds exactly what she was hoping for: “Yes. It’s a little crispy on the bottom…The rice is perfectly cooked. I can taste the saffron. I can taste the smoked paprika. It’s absolutely delicious.”
Find more healthy plant-based recipes on the Miyoko Schinner YouTube channel.
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