Patatas Bravas
Crisp fried potato cubes under a spicy, smoky tomato salsa brava. The real tapas bar version, made in your own kitchen.
- prep
- 15 min
- cook
- 35 min
- total
- 50 min
- serves
- 4
- level
- easy
Bravas means "fierce," and the potatoes earn the name from the sauce, not from the heat of a chili. It is smoky, a little sharp from the vinegar, and spicier than most people expect from a tapas plate.
The trick most home versions skip is frying the potatoes twice. Once to cook them through, once to crisp the outside. That gap is the difference between soft fries under sauce and real bravas.
Part of our 20 best Spanish recipes list.
method
Rinse the potato cubes in cold water and pat them completely dry. This keeps the oil from spitting and helps them crisp.
Heat the frying oil to 150°C (300°F). Fry the potatoes in batches for 6 to 7 minutes, until pale gold and cooked through but not crisp. Lift out and drain.
For the sauce, heat the olive oil in a saucepan over medium-low heat. Stir in the flour and cook for 1 minute, then take the pan off the heat and stir in the sweet and hot paprika.
Put the pan back on the heat and add the passata, stock, vinegar and bay leaf. Simmer for 10 minutes, stirring now and then, until it thickens enough to coat the back of a spoon.
Remove the bay leaf and blend the sauce smooth with an immersion blender, or pass it through a sieve. Taste and season with salt.
Raise the frying oil to 190°C (375°F). Fry the potatoes a second time for 2 to 3 minutes, until deep golden and crisp all over. Drain and salt them while hot.
Spoon the hot sauce generously over the potatoes and serve right away.
chef's tips
- The double fry is what makes bravas crisp instead of soft. Low heat to cook them through, high heat to finish.
- Many bars serve bravas with both the tomato sauce and a garlic alioli, drizzled side by side. Make both if you want the full version.
- The sauce should taste a little smoky and a little sharp, not just hot. The vinegar is doing real work, not a garnish.