This pressure cooker shrimp paella made in my Instant Pot Pressure Cooker will knock your socks off. And if you're not wearing socks, It'll make your toes curl. Not only does it have tons of flavor, it comes together so quickly with only a five minute high pressure cook time in the Instant Pot.
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The full recipe with ingredients/instructions is available on the recipe card at the bottom of the post. Important tips/tricks are also included in the blog post.
I'm bizack with another Instant Pot recipe...and I'm super excited to share this one because it's such a quick and easy meal.
Although I love to cook, most weeknights I'm exhausted and I'd rather not stand in front of the stove. I'd rather not dirty up pots and pans. I'd rather order out but then my bank account says "no ma'am."
It's days like that that recipes in my Instant Pot are so important. If you haven't gotten an Instant Pot yet, you're so missing out. It is one of my all time favorite kitchen appliances, outside of my oven.
I go on and on about it in my post of Instant Pot Jamaican Cornmeal Porridge so I won't do that again here. But for those that don't know, it's an electronic pressure cooker that pretty much cuts cooking time in half.
It has a sauté function that makes it great for browning meats and softening onions that are part of meals.
Alrighty, so about this Instant Pot pressure cooker shrimp paella. Well I always keep a bag of raw frozen shrimp in our freezer at home. I love frozen shrimp because the defrost time is so quick and the cook time of shrimp is so fast.
The great thing about this recipe is that you don't even have to defrost the shrimp. It's a literally a throw it in the pot kind of recipe. And if you prep your ingredients ahead of time by chopping the onions, peppers, and garlic...well my friend, you may break the record for the quickest dinner on the table.
Your family will love this Pressure Cooker Shrimp Paella
I remember the first time I made this for my family, my daughter literally was shocked and thought I ordered out and didn't tell her. She couldn't believe how quickly dinner was done. I just told her I was Super Mom. She was indeed impressed.
People don't generally think of cooking shrimp in the pressure cooker. That makes sense because shrimp cooks quickly and if it's not done right it can lead to a rubbery mess.
The key to avoiding this of course is a short cooking time and using jumbo frozen shrimp with shell on. This will ensure your shrimp is perfectly cooked.
The only slight annoyance with this recipe is the taking the shell off after cooking and before serving. Honestly, it's up to you how you handle that part. On days I'm really tired, hubby and daughter are on their own when it comes to taking off the shells. On other days, I remove it for them so I don't hear their whining.
I've include step by step photos of how to cook this meal in the Instant Pot. I remember when I first got my Instant Pot I was lost on how to operate it. After pressing buttons and reading the manual 4 times, I figured it out. Well, as always, Enjoy 🙂
Pin Pressure Cooker Shrimp Paella for Later 🙂
Looking for more Pressure Cooker Recipes? Try these out:
Instant Pot Chicken and Rice (NY Street Cart)
Instant Pot Salmon with Creamy Herb Sauce
Southern Style Pressure Cooker Collard Greens
Instant Pot Pressure Cooker Shrimp Paella
Ingredients
Instructions
- Set Instant Pot to Saute function. Add butter to pot and melt. Add onions and cook until softened. Add garlic and cook for about a minute more. Add paprika, turmeric, salt, black pepper, red pepper flakes, and saffron threads. Stir and cook for about 1 minute. Add red peppers. Add rice and stir. Cook for about 30 seconds to 1 minute. Add chicken broth and white wine. Deglaze your pot by stirring to ensure that there is no food stuck to the bottom of the pot. Add shrimp on top. Turn off Instant Pot and cover. Make sure valve is set to sealing. Set Instant Pot to Manual Mode and set a 5 minute timer. When done, quick release. Remove shrimp from pot and peel if desired. Serve with Cilantro.
Nutrition
Video
Notes
- Make sure there are no dry bits stuck to the bottom of the pot. This could result in that annoying "burn" signal some pressure cookers give off. Once you add your broth (but before you place frozen shrimp on top), stir with a wooden spoon to ensure there is no food stuck to the bottom.
- This recipe was prepared in a 6qt Instant Pot. Please adjust accordingly for 3qt and 8qt models.
Tried this recipe?
Let us know how it was!Shop this Recipe
Notes on Pressure Cooker Shrimp Paella
- Use raw jumbo frozen shrimp with the shell on. This will ensure that your shrimp is not overcooked and your rice cooks perfectly. If you don't have jumbo shrimp or it's not frozen, then you will need to cook the shrimp seperatley.
- Make sure to deglaze your pot after the rice is added. Any food stuck to the bottom of an Instant Pot may cause the "burn signal to appear."
- This recipe can be modified with many different vegetable or meat additions. There are some great modifications on the comments below.
- Rinsed rice...I find this is a must in every rice recipe I make.
Step by Step Photos of Instant Pot Pressure Cooker Shrimp Paella
Adapted from Health Starts in the Kitchen.
Tonya R. says
I'm not going to say I followed the recipe to a "T" because I didn't. I did use the seasonings except for red pepper flakes. Didn't want to hear my husband complain about it being too spicy.
Well, I didn't have Jasmine rice and am too ashamed of what I did use. LOL. I think I had jumbo shrimp but they were defrosted. I had some flat white wine which I used. Flat for drinking purposes that is. 😉
Oh! I sauteed mushrooms with the onions and I added broccoli after I added the wine and beef, not chicken, broth. It might not be shrimp paella anymore but it was GREAT!
I really think I will make this again.
Tanya says
LOL, I love your recipe though. That's the beauty of cooking. Modify and make your perfect dish. So glad it worked out for you.
Corinne says
I bought frozen fully cooked shrimp by mistake, would they still work in this recipe?
Tanya says
Hi Corinne, I actually rarely use fully cooked shrimp in recipes so I've never tried it this way. If you are going to use them, I would defrost them and add them at the end of the cooking time in the recipe, after you have released all the pressure and fully cooked your rice.
Johanna says
So I went to the store today and finally purchased the instapot. At first I thought it was going to be another gadget that just sits in my kitchen. This is the first recepie that I tried & it’s LEGIT! It was absolutely delicious!! The only thing that I would suggest is; if you don’t like spicy food leave out the red pepper flakes out. I added green peas to it and it was AMAZING! I am originally from Cuba & live in a landlocked state w/ absolutely no Cuban Coulture what so ever but this recepie brought me home!
I will be making this again, VERY Soon!
YoginiH says
Tried today and surprised my hubby AND myself. I did do a couple substitutes:2 TPS olive oil instead of butter, and since I didn’t have enough of shrimps, I made up the 1 pound using mahi mahi. Deliciouso!
Lisl says
This was excellent. I didn't have jasmine rice so I used risotto, added a small amount of chorizo and an extra cup of checked broth. I used a pack of seafood meat mix for paellas. I just added a squeeze of lemon juice over when I served. Cooked it in the pressure cooker on high for 8 mins because of the risotto. Delish !!!
Tanya says
I love risotto in the Instant Pot. Love your variations.
Ali says
Made this and it was delicious! I did add a 1/2 jalapeno and some adobo peppers to spice it up! No saffron here, this gal doesn't have that kind of $ lol it was a bit watery but I'm making it again tonight if thay says anything! I did add more rice this time. Thanks for this great recipe!
Debora says
HELP...
Love this recipe but every time I make this my Instant Pot begins counting down WAY BEFORE reaching pressure. Does this happen to anyone else?
Tanya says
Hi Debora, I've never had that problem. If it's taking too long to reach pressure that could be the reason. Have you doubled the frozen ingredients? That may cause the pressure cooker to take longer to reach the proper temp.
Dina says
Hi! In the newer Instant Pot models, when you set it to MANUAL, do you do high or low pressure? Thanks! Can't wait to try!
Tanya says
Hi Dina, this recipe calls for high pressure. Hope you enjoy ?
Shannon says
Thank you! We made this tonight for dinner. Great, quick meal for a school and work night. We will be making this again!
Tanya says
Awesome Shannon! So glad you liked it 🙂 Thanks so much for the feedback 🙂
Lindsay says
Great recipe! Tasted better than all of the paella we had in Spain 🙂 Used fresh sea of Cortez prawns with the shell on and they weren’t over cooked. I didn’t have everything prepped ahead so I had to work quick and got some more browning during the sauté part than was probably meant to happen but once I deglazed and scraped the bottom it was fine, thanks for the recipe!
Tanya says
Thank you Lindsay! You just made my life, lol. Thanks so much for the feedback and glad you enjoyed it 🙂
Courtney says
I love this recipe so much! Thanks for adding it to my meatless monday rotation! I did find some frozen raw peeled/deveined shrimp in the store this past week . Hubby loves the recipe but hates to peel the shrimp and I don't want to peel his shrimp for him, so it seems like a great solution! What would be your suggestion on cook time for this. or should I just keep it the same to keep the shrimp from getting rubbery?
Tanya says
Hi Courtney. So glad you like the recipe. I hate peeling the shrimp myself but I find the only way to not overcook the shrimp is to have it frozen with shell on. It also helps with the overall flavor.
Ryan says
Thanks for the recipe. It turned out quite nicely. I agree with the other people who said it came out too runny. I actually removed the shrimp from the pot and sautéed it a little longer. It still had that moist paella texture at the end, which was nice. I think the recipe leaves lots of room for additions (mussels in shell, other veggies, etc), so there are endless possibilities.
Ryan says
*sautéed the rice a bit more, before adding the shrimp back in.
KJS says
Oops - I bought tail on, large (not jumbo), shelled shrimp. How should I adapt this recipe?
Thanks!
Tanya says
Hi KJS, I've only used jumbo shrimp for this recipe so I can't be sure if it will work with large. The cook time has to be 5 minutes for the rice to fully cook and the jumbo shrimp to cook perfectly. Using a smaller size shrimp could result in overcooked shrimp.
Cicely Sikes says
My husband and I just made this and it was amazing. Wish we made more for leftovers!
Jeanne L says
This was absolutely delicious! Thank you for a great recipe!!!