Patatas Bravas
Crisp potatoes and a smoky brava sauce that needs no tomato ketchup shortcut.
Patatas bravas is fried potato with brava sauce, and the sauce is the whole point: paprika, stock and a little flour, not the ketchup-and-mayonnaise version served in tourist bars. The potato is cooked twice so the outside holds while the inside stays soft. It is the most ordered thing on a Spanish tapas list.
Ingredients
- 800g potatoes
- 2 tbsp sweet paprika
- 1 tsp hot paprika
- 1 tbsp flour
- 300ml stock
- Olive oil, vinegar, salt
Method
- 1
Cut potatoes into rough cubes and boil 6 minutes; drain and dry well.
- 2
Fry in hot oil until deeply crisp.
- 3
For the sauce, cook flour in oil, add both paprikas off the heat.
- 4
Whisk in the stock and a splash of vinegar; simmer to coat a spoon.
- 5
Pour over the hot potatoes and serve at once.
Potatoes and paprika: under EUR 2 for a plate that anchors a whole tapas night.
The rest of the tapas round
- Pan con Tomate — The bread course that starts the round.
- Tortilla de Patatas — The potato dish the bar will already have on the counter.
The Tapas Atlas
Six Spanish recipes are free here. The guide holds fourteen, plus the ordering language, the pricing rules and the label knowledge that turn a tapas bar from a guess into a decision.
Fourteen Spanish recipes, and the law, language and labels around them.
- Fourteen Spanish recipes with metric and US measures
- Regional context from Andalusia to the Basque Country
- Menu and ordering language for bars and restaurants
- Protected food names and what they guarantee
Travelling more widely? The Complete European Table holds all seven expanded guides — 495 pages across 7 guides, one-time purchase.
Get all 7 guides — $29.99Cooking this way every week? Read our free guide to the Mediterranean diet on a budget.