One of the most beloved Spanish dishes is the Spanish Omelette.
A simple delicacy that only requires 3 or 4 ingredients, a staple in tapas restaurants all over the world and always a hit with vegetarians.
How to cook a Spanish Omelette is easy enough but how to make the perfect Spanish Omelette is a different matter.
They say that there are as many Spanish omelette recipes as there are households in Spain.
Each has their own style and preferences. With onions or without? With olive oil or sunflower oil? Runny, dry or anything in between?
Well, my recipe has a personal guarantee: my grandmother passed it to my mother and then she passed it to me.
So here is how to cook a Spanish omelette from a granny’s recipe. You just can’t go wrong.
Tips to make a Spanish Omelet like a master
If you have travelled around Spain, I am sure that you have tried Spanish omelette, or tortilla de patatas as it is called over here.
Some visitors love the dish but it is true that others hate it.
If you are in this second group, chances are that you haven’t tried a good Spanish omelette but a mediocre one.
Who knows? Maybe they have even served you a supermarket pre-cooked tortilla. Yes! I have seen that.
Don’t despair. To cook a Spanish omelette is easier than what you might think.
If you follow this recipe and you don’t like your own tortilla de patata, maybe it is true that you don’t like the dish.
But I still have to find a Spanish person that doesn’t like a good Spanish omelette. I am sure that you won’t be any different.
The simplicity is shocking. There are only 4 ingredients: potatoes, eggs, onions and oil.
But how to use them is what makes the difference between a good and a bad Spanish omelette.
The first thing is chopping the potatoes. I use the Kennebec or Agria variety but any type of starchy potato will do.
If you are limited by choice, just use an all-purpose type like monalisa.
The way to chop them is very important as we want to poach them in the oil, not to fry them.
After peeling them, cut them in half lengthwise and then slice them in pieces around 0.5 cm thick.
For the oil, I use a light olive oil.
Some people prefer sunflower oil as they say that olive oil gives it a strong taste. But my grandmother was very strict about using exclusively olive oil and I am nobody to tell her she was wrong.
I understand that olive oil can be very expensive outside Spain so using sunflower oil is not the end of the world. I have cooked many a Spanish omelette with sunflower oil while living in Ireland and the UK and they were delicious.
Please, please, don’t be scabby with the amount of oil. We want the potatoes to be completely covered so they cook evenly.
Remember that you can filter the oil and reuse it a few times. That is what Spanish households have been doing for generations.
The potatoes have to be cooked on a medium-low fire so they poach rather than fry.
With or without onions. This is the “to be or not to be” of Spanish gastronomy and I have witnessed countless discussions over this issue.
If you are not a big fan of onions, don’t add them and you will still have a Spanish omelette.
But if, like me, you love onions, there is no discussion here: with onions, ALWAYS with onions!
Ah, cook them separately on a different pan so you don’t undercook them or, even worse, burn them.
You’ll know the potatoes are ready when they feel soft on the inside and start changing to a beautiful light golden colour.
It is time to beat the eggs.
There are very few ingredients and the egg is not going to be cooked through so I only use the best I can find. Buy organic free-range grade 0 eggs and your palate will thank you.
To beat the eggs, I use a spoon rather than a fork or a whisk as we don’t want too much air going inside.
Don’t overbeat them. Just enough so you can get a beautiful creamy texture in your tortilla.
When the potatoes are still slightly hot, mix them with the whisked eggs so everything turns into a beautiful homogeneous mix.
Now you can add the salt.
I like to leave it resting for 5 minutes so the potatoes soak a bit of the egg and all flavours mix well.
It is time to cook the tortilla.
I keep a good non-stick pan exclusively to for omelettes (Spanish or any other type).
That way you ensure that the egg won’t stick to the pan. This is a very common problem that can ruin all that precious effort and care that you took while preparing it.
And please, fry it, don’t bake it as I see on many recipes online. We are cooking a tortilla here, not a quiche.
Always add a little bit of olive oil just to moisture the pan and put it on high heat first.
After you add the mix, lower it down to low or medium-low to cook the omelette evenly.
Two or three minutes on each side is enough to achieve that beautiful moist interior. A dry Spanish omelette might be good as a construction block but we want a tasty moist one.
A dish is not a classic with a bit of a show. And in the case of the Spanish omelette, the show is definitely the turning of the omelette.
Don’t panic! Using the right utensils, turning an omelette is child’s play.
All you need is a bigger plate than the pan that you are cooking in.
Cover the pan with the plate, turn it around and let the omelette slide back into the pan. Voilà! Not that difficult.
The real Spanish Omelet recipe
Ingredients:
- 750 gr / 26 oz potatoes (“Kennebec” or “agria” variety or an all-purpose one)
- 1 medium brown onion
- 6 organic free-range medium eggs
- Plenty of light olive oil
- Salt to taste
Recipe:
- Peel the potatoes and slice them in half lengthwise. Then, slice them into 0.5 cm thin slices. If the potatoes are very big, you can quarter them lengthwise.
- Heat enough olive oil in a pan to cover all the potatoes and poach them on a medium-low fire until the potatoes are cooked (about 30 minutes).
- While cooking the potatoes, chop the onions finely and fry them on a separate pan on a low fire until they are lightly caramelised (about 20 minutes).
- Drain both the potatoes and the onions and save the oil from cooking the potatoes for another time.
- Beat the eggs lightly with a spoon and add the potatoes and beaten eggs. Mix thoroughly and add salt to taste. Leave to rest for 10 minutes.
- Heat a little bit of olive oil on a non-stick pan on a high fire. When hot, add the potato, onion and egg mixture and, immediately, lower the fire to low or medium-low.
- Cook for 2-3 minutes and turn the omelette. Cook for an extra 2 minutes, leave to rest for 10 minutes and serve.
Spanish omelette can be served hot or cold and is good at any time of the day.
I like to pair a good Spanish omelette with a homemade salad and the best accompaniment to any Catalan meal: Pa amb tomàquet (bread with tomato).
But that is another story for another post. Bon profit!
Did you follow this recipe? I would love to know how your Spanish omelette turned out. Please post photos on our Facebook page and let me know if you have any questions on the comments below.
It looks absolutely delicious. Can I add more ingredients? Peppers or zucchini could go be very nice. Is that recommended? Thanks.
This is the traditional recipe for Spanish omelette but, of course, you can add more ingredients. Italian style green peppers are very common too although I prefer to serve peppers as a separate dish (fried green Padrón peppers or piquillo red peppers cooked with olive oil and garlic).
In the North of Spain you will see Spanish tortillas with anything inside, or even stacked up to 2 or 3 layers. Traditional Spanish omelette at the bottom, a very thin layer of mayonnaise and another omelette on top with mushrooms, spinach, zucchini… you name it. All delicious!
Knowing how to cook a Spanish omelette is just the base. Then you, of course, can experiment.
Hi Regidor..
Delicious recipe!!
I love your Spanish omelette ideas. I have applied your recipe yesterday. Your ideas give me an excellent nutrition source for our breakfast. It’s very easy. All are okay except the color. I can’t make the exact color like you. I will try the next more. Thanks for the nice sharing.
Hi Rita. Glad you liked it. The colour doesn’t really matter as it can change depending on the type of potato or oil you use. The most important part when you are learning how to make a Spanish omelette is the taste 😉
I’m from Spain & this is the real thing. I cut potatoes and onions the same way, in half-moon but thinner, about 3 mm (or 1/8″). Zucchini goes well. Just never cover the pan so the water evaporates.
Thank you, Jaime. Glad to hear that we cook Spanish omelette in a similar way, although I think that they are as many recipes for Spanish tortilla as households in Spain.
Zucchini definitely goes well and, as you said, never ever cover the pan. Only to turn the omelette around.
What region in Spain makes the best ones in your opinion?
Madrid is very solid, but that’s just my experience, I grew up there. Lately, there is this fad about undercook tortillas in Spain. I think it is just bad cooks making sure it’s juicy. If when one cuts the tortilla liquid egg pools on the plate, it’s an undercooked tortilla in my opinion. Yours it’s just right (I was looking for a photo to show a friend and came upon your webpage).
I mainly have had bad experiences with tortillas in Madrid and Barcelona. Maybe it’s because they are big cities, I don’t know. I’m originally from the Basque Country and I find there’s a bit more care taken over there (plus the price is less than half).
I am not a big fan either of those runny egg omelettes that you mention, although I do prefer them to the dry solid-like-a-brick type . In any case, in the end it’s all a matter of taste. As long as the technique is correct, they are all Spanish tortillas.