🥔 Tortilla Española (Spanish Omelette)
Tortilla española is a thick Spanish omelette made from potatoes and onion slowly cooked in olive oil, then bound with beaten eggs and set into a golden cake. Inside it is soft and tender, sometimes slightly runny in the centre. It is served warm or at room temperature, in wedges or as small tapas squares.
Diets
Allergens
Contains (in a typical recipe):
What it is made of
Recipe
Ingredients
- 600 g potatoes
- 1 onion
- 5 eggs
- 150 ml olive oil (most is drained off)
- salt
Method
- Peel and thinly slice the potatoes and onion.
- Cook them gently in the olive oil over medium-low heat for 20 minutes until tender but not browned.
- Drain, keeping the oil, and mix the potatoes with the beaten, salted eggs. Rest 5 minutes.
- Heat 1 tbsp of the oil in a 22 cm pan, add the mixture and cook 5 minutes on low heat.
- Flip onto a plate, slide back into the pan and cook 2–3 minutes more.
How to make it lighter
- Drain the potatoes well: most of the oil can be saved for later cooking.
- Or bake or steam the potato slices instead of confiting them; 1 tbsp oil ≈ 120 kcal.
- Serve a wedge with a tomato salad as a light meal.
History
The potato omelette is first documented in Spain in the 18th–19th centuries, and the onion-or-no-onion debate is still lively today. It is one of the most common dishes in Spanish bars and homes.
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Values are estimates per 100 g for a typical recipe; home and restaurant versions vary. Diets and allergens are worked out from the ingredients of a typical recipe — always check with whoever cooked the dish. Not medical advice. Nutrition data: Me Nutrition dish database v13. How we count →