Potatoes, Patatas—Let’s Eat Some Tapas.
Not every dinner has to be a whole thing. Tonight we’re taking a cue from our Spanish friends and indulging in tapas—essentially, really really good snacks—for dinner. Specifically, the king of all tapas, crispy-fried patatas bravas topped with garlicky aioli and (because we’re going all out) a fried egg. Just add a hefty pour of Rioja, or a kalimotxo, and you’ve got yourself the makings of an A+ date night in.
First Things First: What Are Patatas Bravas?
Patatas bravas (or, potatoes in bravas sauce) are a classic Spanish tapas dish. “Tapas” are basically (the best ever) bar snacks. The word tapas means “top” or “cover” in Spanish, likely referring to the practice of setting your small plate of food atop your drink between sips. Tapas bars keep things simple—plates are small, dishes are straightforward with bold flavors that stand up to Spanish wines and cocktails. Just about every tapas bar in Spain serves some version of patatas bravas—crispy, fried potatoes tossed in spicy salsa brava (tomato-y, spicy bravas sauce) and served with creamy garlic aioli—and they are basically the best of all drinking snacks.
How to Make the Best Patatas Bravas, Ever.
Here’s the part where we convince you to whip out your deep-frying thermometer and shoo the kids from the kitchen, because you’re going to do some major potato frying. In fact, our patatas bravas recipe involves frying the potatoes not once, but twice. Here’s how it’s done:
- Fry #1! Fry your cubed russet potatoes in oil that’s been heated to 300° for about five minutes. During this fry, the goal is simply to cook the potatoes. They shouldn’t really brown, they’ll just be cooked. Let them cool completely before you begin fry #2—this is a great chance to make your salsa bravas and garlic aioli.
- Fry #2! This fry happens at a higher temperature—370°—and is all about getting the patatas nice and crispy! You can help your oil maintain its temperature by frying the potatoes in small batches rather than all at once.
All About Salsa Brava (Bravas Sauce)
There are a lot of ways to serve patatas bravas—some restaurants serve them with just a drizzle of bravas sauce, some serve it on the side, some skip it entirely in favor of a dusting of salt and paprika. Our patatas bravas recipe is inspired by one of our favorite local restaurants here in Portland, Tasty & Sons— they toss the fried potatoes in the bravas sauce until they’re coated in it, and we love that! Spicy, smoky bravas sauce is so delicious, we want it alllll over those crisp-on-the-outside, creamy-on-the-inside potatoes. Our salsa bravas recipe has quite a few ingredients, but most of them are probably in your pantry already:
- Olive oil
- Yellow onion
- Garlic
- Smoked paprika
- Cayenne
- Canned diced tomatoes
- Sugar
- Salt
- White wine vinegar
An Easy Garlic Aioli Recipe
Before you call us out on it, we know that technically aioli is French, and in Spain it’s called allioli. But we’re not too worried about authenticity here because—whatever you want to call it—we’re taking a shortcut to everyone’s favorite creamy, lemony garlic sauce. All you do is stir together:
- Mayonnaise.
- Lemon juice. Fresh-squeezed, please!
- Garlic cloves. Use a microplane grater to grate the garlic turns the allium into almost a paste and that’ll help to ensure that it gets evenly distributed into the mayo-lemon juice mixture.
Tools You’ll Need
- A large pot for frying.
- A deep-fry thermometer.
- A microplane grater comes in handy!
- Immersion or countertop blender for puréeing the salsa bravas.
More Tapas Inspiration
Invite some friends over, make a few snacky dishes, and call it a tapas party! Here’s what we’d make to serve alongside these crispy fried potatoes:
Put It All Together!
This is an elaborate dish, and sometimes it’s just really fun to prove to yourself that you can make something as good (better?) than you’d get in a fancy restaurant. We hope this patatas bravas recipe was a success for you! Let us know how it turned out—snap a photo, and tag us on Instagram using @themodernproper and #themodernproper so we can see. Happy eating!
