Tortilla de patatas (Spanish potato omelette) is one of those recipes that proves simple food can be very, very good, especially when the olive oil does its job properly.
The ingredients are simple. The little tricks are what make the difference. So we’re sharing a few of the things we do in Spain to get it just right:
Total Time: 35 minutes
Prep: 10 minutes
Cook: 25 minutes
Peel the potatoes, cut them in half lengthwise (if they’re very big, halve each piece lengthwise again) and slice thinly.
Add a generous amount of GOTA Cooking Oil to a frying pan. Add the potatoes and cook over medium-low heat until completely soft and tender.
This is one of the secrets to a good tortilla de patatas: don’t fry the potatoes until crispy. In Spain, we want them soft, silky and almost melting into each other. The olive oil gently cooks the potatoes and gives them that rich, smooth texture that makes the tortilla so good.
Prefer to watch? Watch us make the tortilla step by step:
Beat the eggs in a large bowl with a good pinch of salt.
Drain the potatoes, add them to the eggs and combine gently.
Now, another little Spanish trick: don’t rush straight back to the pan. Let the mixture sit for a couple of minutes. The warm potatoes soak up some of the egg and everything starts coming together before you even cook it.
Add a little GOTA Cooking Oil back to the pan and pour in the mixture. Cook over medium-low heat until the edges are set but the centre is still soft.
Run a spatula or butter knife around the edge of the tortilla, this loosens any bits that may have caught on the pan and makes the flip much cleaner.
Now, for the famous bit: place a plate over the pan (the plate must be slightly bigger then the pan), hold it firmly and flip the tortilla in one quick, decisive move. No hesitation. This is not the moment to overthink it. Vamos!
Slide the tortilla back into the pan and cook the other side for another two or three minutes.
👀 Nervous about the flip? Watch how we do it here.
Remove the tortilla from the pan while the middle is still slightly runny, then let it rest for a few minutes.
This last little pause matters. The residual heat will gently finish setting the centre without drying it out, leaving you with the soft, juicy Spanish tortilla de patatas you’re looking for.
Cut it into (generous) slices, invite some friends over, and enjoy!
