Easy Patatas Bravas with Garlic Aioli
Easy patatas bravas with garlic aioli – a simple version of the Spanish tapas. Crispy potatoes with a spicy tomato sauce and garlic mayo!
Patatas bravas is a Spanish dish, and it’s always something I gravitate towards when I go out for tapas – which admittedly isn’t often, but it should be. This stuff is good. If you’re not aware, patatas bravas is basically crispy potatoes served in a spicy tomato sauce… which kind of sounds a bit boring. But trust me, it’s amazing.
As usual, when preparing for this recipe, I read about twenty different patatas bravas recipes online – and as usual, I realised that everyone has a different way of doing it. So this is my own way. The easy way! But despite cutting a few corners, I ended up with crispy potatoes, a rich and spicy tomato sauce, and creamy garlic aioli to drizzle on top. Which I view as a pretty good result.
The potatoes in patatas bravas are often boiled and then deep fried, but that sounded far too labour-intensive for my liking, so I roasted them instead. They still end up nice and crispy, and fluffy in the middle, but with much less effort involved (and much less washing up to do afterwards).
Patatas bravas sauce
To make the spicy tomato sauce, I blended up a red pepper with a tin of tomatoes and a few spices, then simmered it until it became thick and rich. Of course I used my favourite Cirio tomatoes – I guarantee that the cheapy supermarket own brand tomatoes won’t give a sauce that’s anywhere near as tasty. The Cirio tinned tomatoes are infinitely richer and more tomatoey, if that makes any sense. Using great quality tomatoes means that you can get away with a really simple recipe – you don’t need to add tons of other ingredients to get a tasty sauce.
Of course… a drizzle of garlic aioli is always welcome, whether you’ve got a super tasty tomato sauce or not. As you might expect, I cheated, and didn’t make mine from scratch – I just flavoured some mayonnaise with garlic and fresh parsley. Simples.
Patatas bravas is sometimes served with the tomato sauce mixed through the potatoes, rather than just spooned on top. Both ways are equally delicious, but I personally enjoy serving it up neatly and then making a mess of it on my own. You could serve these patatas bravas as a side dish, or tapas-style, with a few cocktail sticks for poking!
If you like the sound of this easy patatas bravas recipe, just grab yourself a couple of potatoes, a tin of Cirio tomatoes, and a jar of mayo, and you’re most of the way there.
Easy Patatas Bravas with Garlic Aioli
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Ingredients
For the crispy potatoes:
- 2 large potatoes
- 1 1/2 tbsp oil
- Salt
- Black pepper
For the tomato sauce:
- 1 red pepper, cut into quarters
- 400 g tinned tomatoes (~ 1 1/4 cups)
- 1 tbsp balsamic vinegar
- 1/2 tsp crushed chilli flakes
- 2 tsp smoked paprika
- Salt
- Black pepper
For the garlic aioli:
- 1 small clove garlic, peeled
- 1 small handful fresh parsley
- 2 tbsp mayonnaise
- 1/2 tbsp milk
Instructions
- Cut the potatoes into 2cm dice, and toss with some oil and plenty of salt and pepper. Spread in a single layer on a baking tray, and roast for around 45 minutes at 190°C (Gas Mark 5 / 375°F), or until the potatoes are soft in the middle and crispy on the outside.
- While the potatoes are roasting, make the tomato sauce. Add all of the sauce ingredients to a blender, and blend until smooth. Transfer the mixture to a pan, and place over a medium heat. Bring to a gentle simmer, and cook for around 15 minutes, until the mixture has thickened to your desired consistency.
- To make the garlic aioli, add the garlic to a mini food processor with the fresh parsley. Blitz until finely chopped. Add the mayonnaise and a dash of milk, and blitz again.
- When the potatoes are cooked, serve them topped with the tomato sauce and garlic aioli.
Notes
Nutrition
Nutritional information is approximate, and will depend on your exact ingredients. Please calculate your own nutritional values if you require accuracy for health reasons.
Note: Nutritional information is approximate, and will depend on exactly what ingredients you choose. Information above is for 1/3 of the recipe.
Cirio tomatoes are also perfect in this rich and tomatoey white bean gratin – one of my favourite recipes so far this year!
We love having patatas bravas at our local tapas restaurant. Fabulous dish! Great instructions and recipe too :)
Thank you! I need to go out for tapas more often, I love little picky meals :)
Oh yes! this sounds gorgeous. I love crispy potatoes and the sauce looks so nice!! will have to make this one day
I’ve never heard of this dish before but it sounds and looks delicous
I’ve never heard of this dish before but it looks delicous
I always go for patatas bravas when I have tapas as they are so moreish
Potatoes are dangerously moreish! There’s no such thing as leftover potatoes in my house ;)
Oh potatoes I’m a sucker for them!!!! This dish looks delicious, I could cook this, this evening x
Ooh this looks so good, might give it a try as have lots of aioli and Cirio tomatoes at the moment:-)
Haha this would be a great way to get through all your aioli!
I actually started drooling when I saw that all stacked up. In fact still drooling! Shared x
Yum! I love patatas bravas and this simplified version is perfect! I need to look out for those Cirio tomatoes.
You definitely should, they’re fab! :)
The aioli sounds wonderful! I’ve never had patatas bravas!