Patatas Bravas
Patatas Bravas are one of the most well known Spanish tapas recipes, and for good reason. They are inexpensive, super simple, and very delicious. Potatoes parboiled, then cooked in lots of extra-virgin olive oil until slightly crispy and fully infused with rich olive flavor, then dressed with a spicy mayonnaise sauce.
Serve these warm or cool along with frozen sangria or beers. “Patatas bravas” means “brave potatoes” in Spanish and the name is a reference to the spicy sauce. Make it as spicy as you like it, but they’re best when they make you sweat a little.
In the video, Carlos and I used Marie Sharp’s hot sauce, which is a habanero sauce from Belize. It’s the bomb dot com and I would not dare to shit you about that. In Texas you can find it at Fiesta Mart; otherwise, you can order from Amazon (link at the bottom). It’s worth it. Pinky Swearsies.
Patatas Bravas Video
Patatas Bravas Recipe – Printable
PrintPatatas Bravas
- Cook Time: 10 mins
- Total Time: 10 minutes
- Yield: 6 1x
Ingredients
- 8 ounces small new potatoes or fingerling potatoes
- 1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil
- Sauce:
- 3 tablespoons mayonnaise
- 4 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 tablespoon hot sauce of your choice
Instructions
- Wash the taters and cut into bite-size pieces. Boil in water for 5-8 minutes until mostly cooked but still firm in the center. Drain.
- Make the sauce by whisking together the mayo, oil and hot sauce. Add a little salt if you think it needs it.
- Heat oil in a large skillet over medium-high and add the potatoes.
- Fry for about two minutes, then stir gently. It’s okay if they break up a little. Continue cooking for a few minutes until the potatoes are getting crispy.
- Remove with a slotted spoon to a serving dish and drizzle the mayonnaise sauce over the top.
- If desired, sprinkle with paprika or cayenne pepper.
- Serves 4 as a side dish, 8 as part of a tapas menu
Nutrition
- Calories: 230
Marie Sharp’s! It’s much cheaper if you can find it in a store near you, but it you can’t, consider ordering it here. It’s my ultimate favorite hot sauce and I think you will love it, too!
14 Comments
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I made this for dinner tonight pairing it with a homemade meatball sub and chopped salad. Yes I loved it and so did everybody else at the table. Yum! This is a keeper.
Excellent! Thanks for the feedback, Rob. So glad you liked them.
Which Marie Sharp’s do you recommend? There are so many on Amazon to choose from. Habanero? Fiery? Belizean?
I am always on the lookout for a good hot sauce!
Just the regular habanero, Rachel. The one I linked to in the bottom of this post is the one I get!
Oh, duh. I see it now. Thanks!
I have got to find a new newsreader (one that doesn’t flag stuff as read as soon as it arrives). I almost missed this.
I am going to be all over this recipe. Patatas bravas are absolutely my favorite tapa. But the Spanish method is too much of a pain in the ass. I love the idea of using fingerling potatoes with only minimal prep. Thank you, Carlos!
I’m going to serve my patatas bravas with gin and tonics. That might sound strange, but I feel like a concession to the Spanish is in order and the Spanish have taken over ownership of the gin and tonic. They’re doing really innovative stuff with their tonic (like using red wine for a base). Speaking of tonic, I make my own using a tweaked version of Jeffrey Morgenthaler’s recipe. And speaking of Mr. Morgenthaler, did you see that he has a new book out this week? I can’t wait to get my hands on a copy.
Patatas Bravas with G&Ts sounds delightful to me! I think G&T goes well with spicy foods generally. It might be the only cocktail that can do it. Never seen red wine tonic. Can you get it in Austin?
I’ve never seen any red wine-based tonic for sale, but then again I haven’t looked very hard. Nowadays, craft bars are trying to outdo each other in offering cocktails made with house-made infused liquers, mixers (like tonic and ginger beer) and bitters. I understand that if you order a gin and tonic in a craft bar in Spain, you’ll be shown the cocktail menu with an entire page dedicated to G&Ts that pair different gins with various house-made tonic syrups. A Washington Post reporter came back from Spain with a full-on G&T obsession and started searching for for bars in D.C. that are emulating the Spanish and has written a series of articles about gin and tonic. One bar in Washington, D.C. shared their recipe for a red wine based tonic syrup here: http://wapo.st/1i9yCXb
My one minor gripe with the recipe (which is why I haven’t actually made it) is that it calls for quinine powder which is lot more expensive than chopped cinchona bark and more of a pain in the ass to filter out. If you decide you want to try making your own, be sure to read Jeffrey Morgenthaler’s recipe (highly recommended) for tonic syrup. Even if you don’t want to make his recipe, his method for filtering the tonic infusion is absolute genius: http://bit.ly/1brMtne
Saveur magazine came up with a menu for a Spanish Gin and Tonic party that features 3 variations on the G&T (including one that calls for dry vermouth!) and 9 different tapas:
http://www.saveur.com/article/menu/a-spanish-gin-and-tonic-party
Hilah, you have amazed me once again! I absolutely loved this recipe. I used this recipe as well as my own fusion of your Spanish and Mexican rices for my best friend’s graduation party last weekend. Long story short, everyone loved the potatoes! You have been such an inspiration to me and you have made me realize my passion for food. Stay awesome (:
That makes me so happy to hear, Gwen! Thank you for writing and I hope you continue to find joy in cooking!
I love you recipes and food they are relly yummi and it makes poeple happy
These were insanely good. I fried the taters extra long for extra crispiness. To die for.
Excellent! 🙂