[1] The method of preparing Valencian rice has been practiced since the colonial era and is found in Argentine, Colombian, Cuban, Filipino, Nicaraguan, Portuguese, Uruguayan and Venezuelan cuisines.

In Spain, when a paella has other ingredients that are not "properly Valencian" it receives the informal, popular, and derogatory name of arroz con cosas ('rice with stuff').

[7] This is reflected in both the medieval cookbooks of Christians and Muslims, in which it is evident that they were already seasoning their rice with saffron in this era; an example of this is arròs en Cassola al forn by Mestre Robert (16th century).

[8] The first written mention of Arroz a la valenciana is found in a manuscript from the 18th century: Avisos y instrucciones per lo principiant cuyiner by the Franciscan friar Josep Orri.

[9] Shortly afterwards, in 1780 Friar Gerónimo de San Pelayo published a cookbook in Mexico City about Arroz a la valenciana.

Additionally, in another Mexican cookbook called New and Simple Art of Cooking (1836) by Antonia Carrillo, there is a Arroz a la valenciana recipe that includes green chiles and saffron.

[11] In his General Dictionary of cooking from 1892, Ángel Muro included a recipe for Arroz a la valenciana to pay homage to the "country of rice".

Both names are frequently used indistinctly to refer to similar preparations of rice, [citation needed] and, in fact paella could be considered as a specific type of Arroz a la valenciana.

It is usually regarded as a subtype of a class of Filipino dishes known as paelya (derived from the Valencian paella with influences from pre-colonial adaptations of biryani).

In contrast to Spanish and Latin American versions, it is typically made with local glutinous rice varieties that fall within the class termed malagkít (“sticky”).

The Nicaraguan recipe of Arroz a la Valenciana is different from the Spanish original, since it includes butter instead of oil, onion, tomato sauce, chiltoma (sweet pepper), and other vegetables according to the preferences of the chef.

In El Salvador, Arroz a la valenciana usually includes hard boiled eggs and several pieces of chicken, like the breast, the gizzard or even the liver.