Spain Breads & Sides

🇪🇸 Spain

Spanish Sides & Breads

Spanish sides and tapas are built for sharing — crisp fried potatoes, garlicky shrimp, and toasted bread all crowd the table at once.

Pan con Tomate Tortilla Española Gambas al Ajillo Croquetas +13
17 breads & sides, each with a recipe ↓
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Spanish sides and tapas are built for sharing — crisp fried potatoes, garlicky shrimp, and toasted bread all crowd the table at once.
Patatas Bravas
Spain's Classic Tapas Potatoes

Patatas Bravas

Spain's classic tapas potatoes, fried until crisp and served with a smoky, spicy tomato sauce — a fixture of every tapas bar.

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More Spain Breads & Sides to Try

Pan con Tomate
Pan con Tomate
Toasted bread rubbed with ripe tomato and olive oil — Catalonia's simplest, most essential dish.
Tortilla Española
Tortilla Española
A thick, comforting omelet of eggs, potatoes, and onion, sliced into wedges and served warm or at room temperature.
Gambas al Ajillo
Gambas al Ajillo
Shrimp sizzled in olive oil with garlic and chile — a classic tapas bar order.
Champiñones al Ajillo, Spanish Garlic Mushrooms
Champiñones al Ajillo
Mushrooms sizzled in garlic, olive oil and sherry — the meat-free twin of gambas.
Croquetas
Croquetas
Creamy béchamel fritters, breaded and fried, filled with ham, chicken, or cheese.
Salmorejo
Salmorejo
A thick, chilled tomato and bread soup from Córdoba, topped with jamón and hard-boiled egg.
Papas Arrugadas
Papas Arrugadas
Canary Island "wrinkled" potatoes boiled in salt water and served with mojo.
Patatas a lo Pobre
Patatas a lo Pobre
Andalusia's "poor man's potatoes," slow-cooked in olive oil with onion and green pepper until meltingly soft.
Mojo Rojo
Mojo Rojo
The Canaries' garlic, paprika and cumin sauce for papas arrugadas and grilled meat.
Ensaimada
Ensaimada
Mallorca's coiled, lard-enriched sweet bread dusted with powdered sugar.
Fartons
Fartons
Valencia's long, sugar-glazed buns made for dunking in horchata.
Ensaladilla from Spain
Ensaladilla Rusa
Spain’s creamy potato salad with tuna, peas and mayonnaise, served cold in every tapas bar.
Escalivada Dish on wooden table
Escalivada
Catalan fire-roasted eggplant, peppers and onion, peeled into strips and dressed with olive oil.
Pisto, Traditional Spanish Vegetable Dish
Pisto
La Mancha’s slow-cooked tomato, pepper and zucchini stew, often topped with a fried egg.
A plate of perfectly blistered Pimientos de Padrón sprinkled with sea salt
Pimientos de Padrón
Small Galician green peppers blistered in olive oil and showered with flaky salt.
Traditional Spanish Dish of Empanada Gallega
Empanada Gallega
Galicia’s large savory pie with a crisp bread crust, filled with tuna or pork and peppers.
Assorted Spanish olives, a bowl of olive oil, and toasted bread slices on a wooden serving board
Spanish Olives
Manzanilla, Gordal, Arbequina and more: the olives that belong on every Spanish table.

A Guide to Spanish Sides & Breads

In Spain the sides are the tapas. Pan con tomate is the Catalan bread rubbed with tomato that starts most meals, patatas bravas are the fried potatoes with spicy sauce, and tortilla española works as a side, a sandwich filling or a meal on its own. Croquetas, gambas al ajillo and a cold bowl of salmorejo round out any table.

Vegetables get just as much care. Catalonia fire-roasts escalivada, La Mancha simmers pisto, and Galicia blisters pimientos de Padrón in olive oil. Add a cold scoop of ensaladilla rusa, a slice of empanada gallega and a dish of Spanish olives, and you have a full spread.

Start with the recipes above, then see all Spanish side dishes, or explore all Spanish food and Latin American and Spanish breads and sides.

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