Clams and Chorizo Rice
Updated Aug. 18, 2025

- Total Time
- 35 minutes
- Prep Time
- 5 minutes
- Cook Time
- 30 minutes
- Rating
- Comments
- Read comments
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Ingredients
- 2tablespoons olive oil
- 1small yellow onion, finely chopped (about 1 cup)
- Salt
- 1pound cherry tomatoes
- ½cup/70 grams chopped dried chorizo
- 1¼ cups jasmine rice
- 1½cups chicken broth
- 1(4-ounce) can whole clams in brine and olive oil, brine reserved
- 1cup cilantro leaves, plus more for serving
- Lemon wedges, for serving
Preparation
- Step 1
In a large (12-inch), heavy-bottomed skillet or pot, heat oil over medium. Add the onion and ¾ teaspoon salt. Cook, stirring, until the onion is soft and translucent, about 6 minutes. Meanwhile, slice about half of the tomatoes in half.
- Step 2
Add all of the halved and whole tomatoes and the chorizo to the skillet and cook until the tomatoes begin to soften and blister in spots, about 4 minutes. Add the rice and cook, stirring frequently, for another minute. Stir in the broth and clam brine. Bring to a simmer. Reduce the heat to medium-low, sprinkle the clams evenly over the top, cover and cook for 15 minutes, adjusting the heat as needed to maintain a gentle simmer but avoid scorching, until the rice is just tender and most of the liquid has been absorbed.
- Step 3
Remove from the heat, season to taste with salt and stir in the cilantro. Serve immediately with lemon wedges and topped with more cilantro.
Private Notes
Comments
There are clams and then there are clams...if I had to guess, I would say Samantha had canned berberechos aka cockles which depending on where they're canned will certainly have both brine and olive oil...whereas most of what one may find here in the States are whole clams in either water or brine...the olive oil, and the fact that she mentioned how many dozen are in the can is what had me thinking this screams berberechos from Galicia especially as they are super small but flavor bombs
Splurged on some high quality Spanish chorizo and cockles (berberechos) and the dish was phenomenal. Now I am going back to order more cockles - they were so good I just want to eat them straight from the can! Not something I ever thought I would say about canned clams.
@gregg I'm guessing she used tinned cockles from Matiz, a good Spanish tinned fish brand that's widely available online (and also at nice grocery stores). A 4oz can goes for around $14 - pricey in general, but a reasonable expense for the occasional dinner protein. Just ordered a can myself!
Came together perfectly in the pan , but was a letdown as the clams were completely lost. Gonna try again and double up the cockle content. I used the Matiz Espana Wild Cockles already mentioned here
Agree with others that wild cockles in brine are the way to go - certainly ups the brininess and ocean flavor, which I love. Also used wild rice with 3:1 stock to rice and simmered for ~45 min until the rice was tender. Basically turned it into a wild rice soup. Completely outstanding and I’m sure the original recipe would be as well!
Yummy. Followed recipe but used ham instead of chorizo and only the green part of scallions. Garlic and onions are no longer my friends. Used 3 cans of clams and have leftovers for me and hubby. Next time I'll add some spinach.