This addictive Spanish starter has been given a healthier twist without sacrificing flavor. Quartered new potatoes are perfectly roasted with olive oil, sea salt, and black pepper. The bravas sauce, made with chopped tomatoes, garlic, onion, smoked paprika, and a touch of cayenne pepper for heat, is cooked to a smooth consistency to make the perfect dish.
Patatas Bravas is a delicious appetizer, but it’s pretty heavy on the calories… You’d never know this recipe was “lightened up” when you try it!
I eat and enjoy everything recipe I publish on this blog… but this one is something else. I think it might be how much I’ve been craving patatas bravas since we were in Spain last year, but I ate that whole tray of potatoes in the picture above in one day. ONE DAY. It’s not my proudest moment (ahem… self-control anyone?) BUT it does show you just how good this recipe is. I don’t even regret it.
Patatas bravas is a pile of deep-fried potato chunks covered in a spicy tomato sauce, mayonnaise, and fresh parsley. It’s DELICIOUS, but definitely not something you would want to eat an entire tray of in one day. By simply removing the deep frying step and replacing it with roasting the potatoes, you have a dish that is SO much lighter than the original but still tastes just as good (maybe even better?)
The potatoes are quartered to create as many edges as possible to go crispy in the oven, and then they’re doused in just a little olive oil and given a good seasoning of salt and pepper. This really makes all the difference. If you can use a good sea salt, you will notice the difference in the end result.
The potatoes are roasted for a good half an hour to give them a good chance to get nice crispy around the edges, so the final dish has a little crunch.
Straight out of the oven, the potatoes are smothered in this rich tomato sauce and drizzled with mayonnaise. Perfect, if you ask me.
Lightened Up Patatas Bravas (Spanish Potatoes)
Ingredients
Potatoes
- 2 lbs new potatoes quartered (skin on)
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- pinch sea salt and black pepper
Bravas Sauce
- 1 can chopped tomatoes liquid drained
- 1 tbsp tomato puree
- 3 cloves garlic
- 1/2 white onion
- 1.5 tsp smoked paprika
- 1/2 tsp cayenne pepper*
- 2 tsp olive oil for cooking
Topping
- 1/2 cup vegan mayonnaise
- 1 bunch parsley fresh, chopped
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 375 degrees fahrenheit (190°C). Place the quartered potatoes in a pot of boiling water for 5 minutes. Drain and allow to steam dry in the strainer for a couple of minutes.
- Arrange the part cooked potatoes in a large roasting tray and toss with the olive oil, salt and pepper so that each quarter is evenly coated. Cook for 30-35 minutes tossing once during the cooking process.
- Put all of the ingredients for the bravas sauce in a food processor except for the olive oil. Blitz until you have a smooth sauce. Heat the olive oil in a frying pan and cook the sauce for 5 minutes on a medium to high heat to reduce slightly.
- Serve the potatoes immediately, topped with the warm sauce and some mayonnaise and fresh parsley.
I love patatas bravas! I had it at a tapas restaurant in Healdsburg and practically melted into my seat. I can’t wait to try this, especially since there is no frying. Also, I agree with you on the sea salt-it makes such a difference. My family made fun of me for having all different kinds but now when their favorite runs out they get pretty sad.
I hope you love it… I ALWAYS ordered this in Spain and I’m so glad to have something similar to it that isn’t quite so oily!
Tell me about it, one of the best things I ever bought for my kitchen was sea salt flakes!
Yummy Spanish Potato recipe…looks awesome!
Thanks Rani!
Great recipe and I love Patatas Bravas. Had some great ones at a Tapas joint during our trip to Barcelona. Great work.
thanks Sam! Patatas Bravas is definitely one of my absolute favourites. You can’t beat the real thing from Spain, but these are pretty close ;)
These look amazing! I have no guilt when it comes to potatoes. Speaking of Spain, we are considering it for a vacation spot this summer. Any favorite spots?
Absolutely!! I’ve been to Barcelona twice now and LOVE it, and Ben’s actually working in Madrid now and has been for a couple of months, he loves it and would love if we could go for a weekend there. Either of those would make for a fantastic trip!
My family loves potatoes and we love spicy food, so we will be trying this recipe! Thanks for sharing! I actually never heard of this Spanish dish before!l
Cool!! I hope you enjoy it! It’s definitely one of my absolute favourites!