Muslims in Al-Andalus began rice cultivation around the 10th century. Other popular local variations of paella are cooked throughout the Mediterranean area, the rest of Spain, and internationally. Paella de marisco (seafood paella) replaces meat with seafood and omits beans and green vegetables, while paella mixta (mixed paella) combines meat from livestock, seafood, vegetables, and sometimes beans, with the traditional rice. Most paella cooks use bomba rice, but Valencians tend to use a cultivar known as senia. Artichoke hearts and stems may be used as seasonal ingredients. Traditionally, the yellow color comes from saffron, but turmeric and Calendula can be used as substitutes.

The dish is sometimes seasoned with whole rosemary branches. Paella valenciana is the traditional paella of the Valencia region, believed to be the original recipe, and consists of round-grain rice, bajoqueta and tavella (varieties of green beans), rabbit, chicken, sometimes duck, and garrofó (a variety of lima or butter bean), cooked in olive oil and chicken broth. As a dish, it may have ancient roots, but in its modern form, it is traced back to the mid-19th century, in the rural area around the Albufera lagoon adjacent to the city of Valencia, on the Mediterranean coast of Spain. The dish takes its name from the wide, shallow traditional pan used to cook the dish on an open fire, paella being the word for a frying pan in Valencian/Catalan language. It is one of the best-known dishes in Spanish cuisine. Paella is regarded as one of Valencia's identifying symbols.

Paella ( / p aɪ ˈ ɛ l ə/, / p ɑː ˈ eɪ j ə/, py- EL-ə, pah- AY-yə, Valencian:, Spanish: ) is a rice dish originally from Valencia.

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