Pressure Cooker Shrimp Paella

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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Full Recipe Ingredients/Instructions are available in the 
recipe card at the bottom of the post. 
You can find important tips/tricks 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)

Pressure Cooker Turkey Chili

Instant Pot Salmon with Creamy Herb Sauce

Southern Style Pressure Cooker Collard Greens

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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.