Spanish recipes
Cook the classics at home — or find the restaurant that makes the definitive version.
Zarzuela de Mariscos
Zarzuela is Catalonia's grand seafood stew, a colourful medley of fish and shellfish simmered in a saffron-tinged tomato broth and thickened at the end with a fragrant almond picada. It is festive cooking meant for a crowd and a bottle of wine.
Vermut
Making your own vermut means steeping wine with wormwood and a chorus of aromatic botanicals, then fortifying and lightly sweetening it. The result is a personal aperitivo for the weekend ritual of la hora del vermut.
Txangurro a la Donostiarra
Txangurro a la donostiarra is a Basque holiday showpiece: sweet spider crab meat folded into a brandy-laced tomato and leek sofrito, packed back into the shell, topped with breadcrumbs and browned under the grill.
Turrón de Alicante
Turrón de Alicante is the hard, brittle nougat of a Spanish Christmas: toasted almonds suspended in cooked honey and set firm with whipped egg white. It takes patience at the stove, as the honey must cook long and slow to reach the right snap.
Torrijas
Spain's Easter treat, torrijas transform stale bread into something custardy and golden, perfumed with cinnamon and lemon and drenched in warm syrup or honey. The secret is letting the bread soak long enough to go soft to the core.
Tinto de Verano
The everyday Andalusian answer to summer heat, tinto de verano is simpler and lighter than sangria: just cold red wine lengthened with fizzy gaseosa or lemon soda over ice. Locals reach for it far more often than the tourist-famous sangria.
Tetilla
Queixo Tetilla is Galicia's gentle, creamy cow's-milk cheese, known as much for its conical shape as its mild, buttery tang. Making a young version at home is an accessible introduction to soft-cheese making.
Ternasco de Aragon
Ternasco is Aragón's prized young lamb, roasted slowly until the meat falls from the bone and the potatoes beneath drink up all the juices. It is unfussy country cooking that rewards a low oven and time.
Tarta de Santiago
The Galician almond cake of the pilgrim road, tarta de santiago is intensely almondy, moist and completely flourless, bound only by eggs and lifted with citrus. The stencilled cross of Saint James on top is its signature.
Tapas
Tapas are less a single recipe than a way of eating, but a home spread is easy to pull off with a handful of classic small plates. Here is a simple trio that covers the range from cured to cooked without needing much time at the stove.
Sopa de Ajo
Sopa de ajo is Castilian thrift turned into comfort: yesterday's bread revived in a smoky, garlicky broth and crowned with an egg that poaches right in the pot. It is warming, cheap and deeply satisfying.
Solomillo al Whisky
A Sevillian tapas-bar classic, solomillo al whisky bathes tender pork medallions in a punchy, garlicky sauce sharpened with lemon and whisky. It comes together fast and is best mopped up with bread and a plate of chips.
Sobrasada
Sobrasada is Mallorca's soft, spreadable cured sausage, glowing red with pimentón and rich enough to melt onto warm bread. Curing it at home takes patience and cool conditions, but the payoff is a paprika-scented paste unlike anything shop-bought.
Sidra
Asturian sidra natural is a bone-dry, still cider that is as much about ritual as flavour: poured from height so it froths briefly to life, then drunk fast. Fermenting your own is a slow, rewarding autumn project.
Secreto Iberico
Secreto is the grill cook's secret weapon: a heavily marbled, fan-shaped cut of Iberian pork that stays juicy and rich over fierce heat. It needs almost nothing beyond salt, high heat and a short rest.
Salpicón de Marisco
Salpicón de marisco is summer on a plate: a cold, bright tangle of shellfish and crunchy raw vegetables held together by a sharp sherry-vinegar dressing. Its success depends entirely on gently cooked, well-chilled seafood and a good dice.
Salchichón
Salchichón is a patient, peppery cured sausage that relies on good pork, salt, coarse black pepper and time rather than paprika for its character. Making it at home is a curing project, best attempted in cool, humid conditions.
Revuelto de Setas y Gambas
A revuelto is proof that scrambled eggs can be a serious dish: the eggs are barely cooked so they wrap the mushrooms and prawns in a loose, glossy cream rather than setting into a firm curd. Timing and low heat are everything here.
Rebujito
The unofficial anthem-in-a-cup of the Andalusian feria, rebujito turns dry, saline sherry into something breezy and endlessly drinkable by cutting it with cold citrus soda. The magic is in keeping the sherry proportion generous enough that the wine still leads.
Rabo de Toro
Rabo de toro is Córdoba's celebrated oxtail stew, braised for hours in red wine with vegetables until the meat surrenders from the bone into a glossy, deep sauce. Rich and unhurried, it is a dish that rewards patience and tastes even better the next day.
Queso Manchego
Queso Manchego is the firm sheep's-milk cheese of the La Mancha plains, made only from the milk of the Manchega breed and marked with the herringbone pattern of its old esparto moulds. A cornerstone of any Spanish table, it shines in the simple, classic pairing with quince paste.
Queso Mahón
Queso Mahón is Menorca's cow's-milk cheese, its orange rind rubbed with butter and paprika during ageing and its flavour turned salty and sharp by the island's sea air. Rather than a recipe, it is best enjoyed simply, dressed the traditional Menorcan way.
Queimada
Queimada is Galicia's flaming spirit punch, made by setting light to orujo with sugar, lemon and coffee beans until the flames dance blue. Traditionally an incantation is chanted over the pot to ward off evil spirits, making it as much ritual as drink.
Pulpo a la Gallega
Pulpo a la gallega is Galicia's emblematic octopus dish, tender slices fanned over potato and dressed simply with olive oil, sea salt and smoked paprika. Traditionally served on a wooden plate at country fairs, it lives or dies on the texture of the octopus.
Presa Iberica
Presa ibérica is a beautifully marbled shoulder cut from the acorn-fed Iberian pig, prized for tenderness and a rich, nutty fat that renders as it cooks. Treated like a fine steak, it is seared hard, rested and served pink, needing little more than good salt.
Pote Gallego
Pote gallego is the hearty Galician cousin of caldo gallego, a thick pot of white beans, potatoes, turnip greens and cured pork. It is cold-weather fuel from Spain's rainy northwest, dense and restorative, built around the pig and the greens of the huerta.
Potaje de Garbanzos
Potaje de garbanzos is a comforting Spanish chickpea stew, most famous in its meatless Lenten form with salt cod and spinach. Born of the Catholic fasting calendar, the potaje de vigilia proves that abstinence can still be deeply satisfying.
Porrusalda
Porrusalda is a humble Basque soup of leeks and potatoes simmered in a light broth, its name literally meaning leek broth. Frugal and warming, it is peasant cooking at its best, sometimes enriched with a piece of salt cod or a little pumpkin.
Polvorones
Polvorones are Andalusia's crumbliest Christmas shortbread, made with toasted flour, lard and almonds so tender they dissolve to powder in the mouth. The trick is a well-toasted flour and a light hand, and each one is traditionally twisted up in tissue paper.
Pollo al Ajillo
Pollo al ajillo is rustic Spanish garlic chicken, browned hard and simmered with a whole head of garlic, white wine or sherry and a splash of brandy. It is quick, cheap and deeply savoury, the kind of dish that turns pantry staples into something worth mopping up with bread.
Pisto Manchego
Pisto manchego is the slow-cooked vegetable stew of Castilla-La Mancha, all tomato, pepper, onion and courgette softened in good olive oil. Cooked patiently so each vegetable is added in turn, it is often crowned with a fried egg to turn it into a full meal.
Pintxos
Pintxos are the Basque Country's bar-top art form, small bites skewered on bread and lined up along the counters of San Sebastián. The classic Gilda, a skewer of anchovy, olive and guindilla pepper, is said to be the very first pintxo, named for its salty, spicy, green character.
Pimientos de Padrón
Pimientos de Padrón are little green Galician peppers flash-fried in olive oil until blistered and finished with coarse salt. Their fame lies in the gamble, since most are sweet and mild but every so often one hides a fiery kick.
Percebes
Percebes, the goose barnacles prised from Galicia's storm-lashed rocks, are among Spain's most coveted seafood, tasting of pure concentrated ocean. They need almost nothing done to them; a brief plunge into fiercely boiling seawater is all that stands between the rock and the plate.
Pan con Tomate
Pa amb tomàquet is Catalan simplicity at its finest: crusty bread rubbed with garlic and ripe tomato, then anointed with good olive oil and salt. Everything depends on the quality of just four ingredients, so use the reddest summer tomato and the best oil you have.
Paella de Marisco
Paella de marisco is the coastal seafood version of Valencia's famous rice, built on a rich shellfish stock and stained gold with saffron. Success rests on the socarrat, the prized toasted crust that forms on the bottom of the pan when the rice is left undisturbed.
Natillas
Natillas are Spain's everyday stirred custard, loose and pourable rather than set, scented with lemon peel and cinnamon and thickened gently with egg yolks. Crowned with a Maria biscuit and a dusting of cinnamon, they are the taste of countless Spanish childhoods.
Morcilla
Morcilla de Burgos is a dark, spiced blood sausage bound with short-grain rice and sweet onion, firm enough to slice yet meltingly soft when fried. Its perfume of clove, cinnamon and paprika is what sets the Burgos style apart from every other blood sausage in Spain.
Mojama
Salt-cured and air-dried tuna loin, dense and deep red, nicknamed the ham of the sea for its intensity. An ancient Cádiz delicacy, it is served in the simplest way possible, in thin slices with good oil and almonds, so its concentrated flavour dominates.
Migas
A shepherds' dish that turns stale bread into a savoury, satisfying meal, fried in olive oil with garlic and studded with chorizo and peppers. Born of thrift, it is now a beloved rustic plate, often finished with fried eggs or fruit on the side.
Merluza en Salsa Verde
Hake in green sauce is a cornerstone of Basque cooking, its emulsion of olive oil, garlic and parsley built by gently shaking the pan rather than stirring. Delicate and elegant, it often gains clams, peas or asparagus to make a whole meal.
Mejillones a la Marinera
Galician mussels steamed open in a bright sauce of white wine, onion, garlic and tomato, a dish that captures the abundance of the Atlantic rías. It is fast, cheap and generous, meant to be eaten with fingers and mopped up with bread.
Marmitako
A Basque fishermen's stew of tuna and potatoes, born aboard the boats and named after the pot it cooked in. The trick that defines it is breaking rather than slicing the potatoes, so their starch thickens the broth into something rich and rounded.
Lomo Embuchado
Cured pork loin is one of Spain's most refined embutidos: a lean whole muscle rubbed with pimentón and garlic, then air-dried for months into deep-red, silky slices. Like all great charcuterie, the recipe here is really about buying well and serving simply.
Lentejas Estofadas
The lentil stew that simmers in kitchens across Spain, a humble plato de cuchara that turns cheap ingredients into deep, savoury comfort. It rewards slow cooking and tastes even better reheated the next day.
Leche Frita
Fried milk is northern Spain's cleverest dessert: a thick, cold pastry cream cut into squares, breaded and fried so the outside crisps while the inside stays molten and creamy. Dusted with cinnamon sugar, it is comfort food at its most nostalgic.
Lechazo / Cordero Asado
The pride of the Ribera del Duero: milk-fed baby lamb roasted slowly in a wood-fired clay oven with almost nothing added, so the meat stays impossibly tender and the skin crackles to gold. Its whole philosophy is restraint, letting superb lamb speak for itself.
Kalimotxo
The great democratic drink of Basque festivals: equal parts red wine and cola, poured over ice and drunk from a plastic cup among friends. It is cheap, cheerful and unbothered about pretension, which is exactly the point.
Jerez (Sherry)
Sherry is Andalusia's great fortified wine, ranging from bone-dry, saline finos to dark, treacly Pedro Ximénez. Rather than a single recipe, the classic way to enjoy it is a simple chilled serve that lets the wine and a few nibbles do the talking.
Jamón Serrano
Spain's everyday cured ham, air-dried in the mountain air for a year or more until it is firm, salty and savoury. Leaner and more robust than ibérico, it is the workhorse of the Spanish table, as good in a sandwich as on a board.
Jamón Ibérico
Spain's most prized cured ham, from acorn-fed Iberian pigs and aged for years until it melts on the tongue with a deep, nutty sweetness. The whole skill lies in cutting and serving it well, because good jamón needs nothing done to it.
Idiazábal
A firm raw sheep's-milk cheese from the Basque and Navarrese hills, nutty and deep, with an optional smoky note that recalls the shepherds' cabins where it once cured in the rafters. Rather than cooking it, the art is in serving it so its character shines.
Huevos Rotos
Fried eggs broken over a bed of golden potatoes so the runny yolk slides down and coats everything, usually crowned with jamón or chorizo. It is deliberately unfussy tavern food, meant to be mixed up on the plate and eaten straight away.
Horchata de Chufa
A cool, milky Valencian drink pressed from tiger nuts, tasting of almond, cinnamon and something faintly earthy and sweet. Served ice-cold and often semi-frozen, it is the classic summer refreshment of l'Horta, dunked with long soft fartons.
Gilda
The original Basque pintxo and still the benchmark for all others: a single skewer that hits you green, salty and a little spicy in one bite. It takes under a minute to build and needs nothing more than good ingredients.
Gazpacho Manchego
Despite its name, this is a hearty hot game stew from the plains of La Mancha, thickened with torn pieces of unleavened flatbread that cook right in the pot. It is shepherds' food: filling, rustic and built to be shared straight from the pan.
Flan
This silky baked egg custard turns simple pantry staples into something quietly luxurious, its bittersweet caramel pooling over the top the moment you turn it out. The magic is in the contrast between the soft, wobbling custard and the dark, faintly burnt caramel.
Fideuà
Paella's noodle sibling from Valencia's coast, fideuà toasts short noodles until nutty then cooks them in fish stock in a wide pan, building the same prized socarrat crust. A dollop of garlicky alioli on top is non-negotiable.
Fabada Asturiana
Asturias' mighty mountain stew simmers plump white fabes beans with chorizo, morcilla and pork until the broth turns silky and smoky. It is deep winter food, rich and unhurried, meant to be eaten slowly with bread and cider.
Espinacas con Garbanzos
A Sevillian stew of chickpeas and spinach spiced with cumin, garlic and paprika and thickened with fried bread, its warm, earthy flavour is a legacy of Andalusia's Moorish kitchens. Cheap, filling and quietly delicious, it is a Lenten and tapas-bar staple.
Escudella i Carn d'Olla
Catalonia's great boiled dinner is a two-part feast: a rich broth cooked with meats and vegetables, floated with a giant meatball called the pilota, then the meats and pasta served after. It is the traditional heart of a Catalan Christmas table.
Escalivada
A Catalan dish of peppers, aubergine and onion roasted over embers until collapsing and smoky, then peeled, torn into ribbons and dressed with good oil and salt. Its name comes from cooking in the ashes, and its beauty is in that charred simplicity.
Entrecot a la Plancha
A boneless rib steak seared quickly on a screaming-hot plancha, entrecot is the everyday Spanish grill: fast, simple and all about good salt and a proper crust. A tumble of blistered Padron peppers and fried potatoes rounds it out.
Ensaladilla Rusa
The Spanish potato salad on every tapas counter binds tender potato, carrot, peas and tuna in a cool, rich mayonnaise. Made well, with a lightly homemade mayo and properly seasoned potatoes, it is far more than the sum of its humble parts.
Ensaimada
Mallorca's coiled spiral pastry is made from a lard-enriched dough stretched almost transparently thin, then rolled, proofed slowly and baked to a feather-light crumb. Dusted with icing sugar, it is the island's beloved breakfast treat.
Empanada Gallega
Galicia's great baked pie encloses a slow-cooked filling of tuna, onion and pepper in a sturdy yet tender crust. Sold by the slice from market stalls, it is best the day it is baked, warm or at room temperature.
Croquetas
Spain's beloved croquettes wrap a thick, savoury béchamel of jamón in a thin, crisp crumb that gives way to a molten interior. Making the béchamel loose enough to be creamy yet firm enough to shape is the whole art.
Cocido Madrileño
Madrid's great chickpea-and-meat stew is a whole meal in one pot, served in three courses from the same broth: first a noodle soup, then the chickpeas and vegetables, then the meats. It is unhurried, generous winter cooking at its most iconic.
Cochinillo
Segovia's roast suckling pig is milk-fed piglet slow-roasted until the skin turns to shattering glass over meat so tender it is traditionally carved with the edge of a plate. It is the grand centrepiece of the Castilian asador.
Chuleton
A colossal bone-in rib steak from a mature cow, grilled hard over embers until the crust is charred and the inside stays scarlet and juicy, the chuleton is the altar of the Basque asador. Salt, fire and good meat are the whole secret.
Chorizo
Chorizo al vino simmers slices of the paprika-rich sausage in red wine until they plump up and stain the sauce a deep russet. It is one of the simplest and most satisfying tapas, ready in minutes and impossible to stop eating.
Chistorra
A thin, fast-cured pork sausage bright with paprika and garlic, chistorra is Navarre's answer to a quick, sizzling snack. Cooked until its scarlet fat renders, it is unbeatable straight from the pan with bread or tucked into a soft roll.
Chipirones en su Tinta
Baby squid simmered in a jet-black sauce of onion, tomato and their own ink, this Basque classic is dramatic to look at and gently sweet to eat. The ink lends a glossy, briny depth that turns a plate of white rice into a feast.
Cecina de León
Air-dried, gently smoked beef from León, cecina is sliced whisper-thin and dressed simply so its deep, mineral flavour leads. This is less a recipe than an act of respect: good cecina, good oil, and almost nothing else.
Cava
This spritz-style aperitif shows off Cava's crisp, citrusy bubbles without burying them, lengthened with a splash of orange and a whisper of liqueur. It is a bright, low-fuss way to open a meal in the Penedès spirit of celebration.
Carrillada
Pork cheeks braised low and slow in red wine until they surrender to the spoon, this Andalusian tapas classic turns a humble, gelatinous cut into something velvety and deeply savoury. The long cooking dissolves the connective tissue into a glossy sauce that begs to be mopped up with bread.
Callos a la Madrileña
Madrid's beloved tripe stew, braised low and slow with chorizo, morcilla and pork snout in a thick, paprika-red sauce. A nose-to-tail classic of the city's old taverns, it is deeply gelatinous and always better the next day.
Caldo Gallego
Galicia's warming winter soup of white beans, potatoes and leafy greens, enriched with cured pork fat and often chorizo. Born of rainy farm kitchens, it is honest, filling and made to hold off the Atlantic cold.
Calamares
Squid rings in a light, crackly batter, Madrid's ultimate bar snack and the heart of the city's famous bocadillo de calamares. A blazing-hot fryer, a squeeze of lemon and a smear of aioli are all it asks.
Cabrales
A powerful raw-milk blue cheese from the Picos de Europa, aged for months in damp limestone caves that grow its blue-green veins. Intense and mineral, it is eaten in slivers with bread and cider, or melted into a fierce sauce for steak.
Buñuelos de Viento
Light choux fritters that puff hollow as they fry, their name meaning puffs of wind for their airy centres. A traditional All Saints' sweet across Spain, they are dusted with sugar or piped full of cream, custard or chocolate.
Botillo del Bierzo
A big, smoky cured sausage from El Bierzo in León, stuffing paprika-seasoned rib and tail meat into a pig's caecum before smoking and semi-curing. Boiled long and slow, it is the centrepiece of a hearty mountain winter feast.
Boquerones
Fresh anchovies cured in vinegar until firm, silvery and bright, then dressed with garlic, parsley and good olive oil. A great boquerón en vinagre is clean and sharp, never fishy, and belongs on any proper tapas spread.
Berenjenas Fritas
Thin, shatteringly crisp fried aubergine drizzled with dark cane honey, a sweet-and-savoury tapa beloved in Córdoba and Granada. Hot crunch against cool syrup is the entire pleasure, and it is best eaten the moment it leaves the pan.
Bacalao al Pil-Pil
A cornerstone of Basque cooking: salt cod poached gently in olive oil with garlic and guindilla until its own gelatin emulsifies the oil into a pale, glossy pil-pil sauce. The magic is entirely in the wrist, coaxing the sauce together with patience.
Arroz con Leche
Spain's slow-simmered rice pudding, scented with cinnamon and lemon peel, with Asturias famous for finishing the top under a burnt-sugar crust. Homely and comforting, it is the dessert of grandmothers everywhere in the north.
Arroz con Bogavante
A celebratory Spanish rice built around lobster, seared and then simmered so its shells perfume a rich fumet in which every grain cooks. It is the dish that appears at family feasts, generous and unmistakably festive.
Arroz al Horno
An inland Valencian baked rice, traditionally born the day after a cocido to make use of its leftover broth, chickpeas and meats. Cooked uncovered in the oven, it develops a firm, toasty top crowned with a whole roasted garlic head.
Arroz a Banda
An Alicante fishermen's rice cooked in a deeply flavoured fish broth and served, as its name says, apart from the fish that gave it life. Humble in origin, it is all about the intensity of the stock and a good crust of allioli alongside.
Arroz Negro
A dramatic black rice from the Valencian and Catalan coast, stained and flavoured by cuttlefish ink built on a broth of the very same seafood. A spoonful of garlicky allioli on top is not optional; it cuts the deep, briny richness perfectly.
Angulas
Baby eels flash-cooked in an earthenware cazuela with olive oil, garlic and a single dried chilli, a once-humble Basque treat now guarded as a luxury. The whole ritual is about timing: seconds too long and the delicate elvers toughen.
Almejas a la Marinera
Galician sailor-style clams opened in a garlicky white-wine sauce brightened with paprika and thickened with a whisper of bread or flour. It is a dish that lives or dies on fresh clams and good bread to mop the pan.
Ajoblanco
A chilled Malagueño soup of blanched almonds, garlic and bread bound with good olive oil and sharpened with vinegar, often called white gazpacho. Older than the tomato itself in Andalusia, it is pure, cooling and unexpectedly elegant.
Agua de Valencia
A deceptively easy-drinking Valencian punch of cava, fresh orange juice and a double hit of gin and vodka, born in a Valencia café in the late 1950s. It tastes like sunshine and disappears far too fast, which is exactly the trap.
Aceitunas Aliñadas
Home-cured cracked olives dressed with garlic, herbs and a splash of vinegar are the quiet backbone of any Andalusian table. What makes them special is the aliño itself: a rough, fragrant marinade that turns plain brined olives into something you cannot stop reaching for.
Crema Catalana — citrus custard with a crackling top
Catalonia’s answer to crème brûlée: milk infused with lemon and cinnamon, set on the stove, finished with a burnt-sugar crust. No oven needed.
Churros con Chocolate — Madrid breakfast at home
Crisp ridged churros with thick drinking chocolate. The dough is a simple choux; a star nozzle helps, but even spooned strips fry up beautifully.
Albóndigas en Salsa — Spanish meatballs in tomato sauce
Tapas-bar meatballs simmered in a gentle tomato-wine sauce. Soft, not dense: the trick is the panade (bread soaked in milk) and a calm simmer.
Salmorejo — Córdoba’s silkiest tomato cream
Thicker and richer than gazpacho: tomatoes, bread, garlic and olive oil blended to a velvet cream, topped with jamón and egg. Five ingredients, no stove.
Gazpacho Andaluz — the 15-minute cold soup
Andalusia’s cold tomato soup: ripe tomatoes, olive oil and sherry vinegar blended silky. No cooking — the only rule is ripe produce and a long chill.
Gambas al Ajillo — 10-minute garlic prawns
Prawns sizzled in garlic-chilli olive oil, served bubbling. The whole dish is about not burning the garlic and using enough oil — bread is mandatory.
Patatas Bravas — crispy cubes, real bravas sauce
Spain’s most-ordered tapa: fried potato cubes with a smoky, spicy tomato sauce and aioli. The oven method below gets genuinely crisp potatoes without a deep fryer.
Sangría — the Spanish way (less sweet, more wine)
Real Spanish sangría is a wine punch, not a fruit salad with alcohol. Young Rioja, orange, a little brandy, and restraint with the sugar.
Tortilla Española — bar-style, just-set centre
Spain’s national potato omelette: slow-cooked potatoes, sweet onion, and a centre that stays gloriously just-set. The flip is easier than you fear.
Paella Valenciana — the definitive home method
The original paella from Valencia: chicken, rabbit, green beans and saffron over open heat. This home method works on a gas burner and delivers real socarrat.