There is camp cooking, and then there is cooking seafood paella over an open fire.
UCO’s resident camp chef, Jesse, recently brought this classic Spanish-inspired dish to the campsite using fresh seafood, saffron rice, plenty of olive oil, and a few essentials from the UCO camp kitchen collection.
Paella may look ambitious for a camping trip, but the entire meal comes together in one pan. The key is preparing your ingredients ahead of time, managing the heat of your fire, and resisting the urge to stir the rice once the stock goes in.
The result is a flavorful, shareable camp meal with tender seafood, crisp vegetables, and that coveted layer of toasted rice at the bottom of the pan.
A few pieces of gear that made this easy to cook at camp:
UCO's Sweetfire Strikeable Firestarter
UCO's ECO 12 Piece Utensil Set
Campfire Seafood Paella
Serves: Approximately 4 to 6
Cooking method: Wood fire and cooking grate + paella pan
Ingredients
- 1 liter seafood stock
- 8 to 10 saffron threads
- Plenty of olive oil
- 1 red bell pepper, cut into strips
- ½ to 1 pound prawns, shells on
- ½ pound squid, cut into bite-sized pieces
- ½ onion, finely chopped
- 2 to 3 cloves garlic, chopped
- 2 medium tomatoes, grated
- Or one 15-ounce can of high-quality tomato purée
- Green beans, trimmed and cut as needed
- Salt
- 1½ cups, or approximately 320 grams, paella rice
- 1 pound clams
Before You Start
Prepare the clams
Submerge the clams in a bowl of heavily salted water before you begin cooking. As they sit, the clams will release sand and debris that might otherwise end up in your paella.
Once they have finished soaking, rinse them thoroughly with clean water.
Heat the seafood stock
Add the seafood stock and saffron threads to a pot. Bring the stock to a boil, then reduce it to a low simmer.
You can also remove it from the heat and warm it again before adding it to the paella. The important thing is to add hot stock to the pan so the rice and cooking surface do not suddenly cool down.
Build a manageable cooking fire
Use a UCO SweetFire Firestarter to get your fire going, then allow the wood to burn until you have a steady cooking fire.
A wood fire will naturally have hot and cool spots. Be prepared to rotate or reposition the paella pan throughout cooking so the rice cooks as evenly as possible.
How to Make Paella at the Campsite
1. Brown the red pepper
Place the paella pan over the cooking grate and add a generous amount of olive oil.
Arrange the red pepper strips evenly around the pan. Cook until the peppers begin to brown, then remove them and set them aside.
Moving the pepper strips around the pan also helps distribute the olive oil and gives you a sense of where the hottest areas of the fire are.
2. Brown the prawns
Add the prawns to the pan and lightly brown them on both sides.
They do not need to cook completely at this stage. Remove them from the pan and set them aside for later.
3. Cook the squid
Add the squid to the hot pan and cook it briefly in the remaining oil.
Add more olive oil whenever the pan begins to look dry. Each ingredient should fry lightly rather than cook against a dry surface.
4. Add the onion and garlic
Add the finely chopped onion and garlic.
Cook until the onion becomes translucent and the garlic is fragrant, moving the pan as needed to avoid scorching anything over a particularly hot section of the fire.
5. Cook down the tomatoes
Add the grated tomatoes or tomato purée.
Cook until most of the water has evaporated and the tomato mixture has reduced into a rich, concentrated base.
Season with a few generous pinches of salt.
6. Add the green beans and rice
Add the green beans, followed by the paella rice.
Use your turner or serving spoon to combine everything and fry the rice with the vegetables, squid, and tomato mixture for a few minutes. This gives the rice an opportunity to absorb the flavors already building in the pan.
7. Pour in the hot stock
Carefully pour the hot saffron-infused seafood stock evenly across the pan.
Gently shake the pan to help the rice and other ingredients settle into an even layer.
From this point forward, do not stir the rice. You can rotate the pan, move it around the fire, or gently shake it, but stirring can prevent the paella from developing its proper texture.
8. Cook until most of the stock is absorbed
Cook for approximately eight minutes, watching the heat closely.
The rice should absorb most of the stock, with just a small amount of liquid remaining near the bottom of the pan.
Because every campfire is different, use the appearance of the rice and liquid as your guide rather than relying exclusively on the clock.
9. Add the clams and peppers
Push the cleaned clams gently into the rice so they are surrounded by hot rice and the remaining liquid.
Return the browned red pepper strips to the pan, arranging them across the top.
Reduce the heat by moving the pan to a cooler section of the cooking grate or adjusting the fire beneath it.
Continue cooking for approximately 10 minutes. The clams should open, the remaining liquid should be absorbed, and the rice should begin to develop a crisp layer along the bottom of the pan.
Discard any clams that do not open during cooking.
10. Return the prawns to the pan
Arrange the browned prawns across the top of the finished paella.
Immediately remove the pan from the heat and cover it with a clean dish towel. Let the paella rest while the retained heat finishes reheating and cooking the prawns.
Once the prawns are hot and cooked through, the paella is ready to serve.
Jesse’s Tips for Better Campfire Paella
Do not be shy with the olive oil
Add more olive oil between steps whenever the pan starts to dry out. The ingredients should get a light fry, which helps create deeper flavor and prevents them from sticking or scorching.
Expect uneven heat
Open-fire cooking is not as precise as cooking on a kitchen stove. Your pan will likely have hot spots and cool spots, so rotate and reposition it throughout the process.
Stop stirring after adding the stock
Once the seafood stock goes into the pan, let the rice cook undisturbed. Shaking or rotating the pan is fine, but stirring can affect the rice’s final texture.
Look for the crispy bottom
One of the best parts of paella is the toasted layer of rice that develops along the bottom of the pan. Keep the heat low and steady toward the end of cooking so the rice can crisp without burning.
Prep before lighting the fire
Chop your vegetables, portion your seafood, and organize your tools before you begin cooking. Paella moves quickly once the pan is over the fire, so having everything within reach makes the process much easier.
A Camp Meal Made for Sharing
Camp meals do not have to stop at hot dogs, instant noodles, or dehydrated dinners. With the right preparation and a well-organized camp kitchen, you can cook something memorable almost anywhere.
This seafood paella is colorful, satisfying, and designed to be placed in the center of the table so everyone can dig in together. Serve it on reusable UCO ECO Bowls, pass around the forks, and enjoy it while the fire is still warm.
Because the best outdoor meals are not only about what you cook. They are about slowing down, gathering together, and turning a campsite into a kitchen.
Need a few tools to bring your campsite meals to life? Explore the UCO Gear Camp Kitchen Collection for cookware, utensils, prep tools, reusable tableware, and everything you need to cook, serve, and clean up outdoors.
