Tortilla española starts an argument in every Spanish household: onion or no onion (we say yes), and how soft the centre should be (we say soft, jugoso, not fully set). This version is the one Ignacio grew up eating in Madrid — slow-cooked potato and onion, bound loosely in egg, never rushed.
It's just as good cold the next day as it is warm, which is rare for a cooked dish — part of why it's a tapas-table staple across Spain.
Ingredients
- 5 medium potatoes (about 800g), peeled and thinly sliced
- 1 large brown onion, halved and thinly sliced
- 300ml olive oil (you won't use it all, but you need enough to submerge)
- 6 large eggs
- Sea salt, to taste
Method
- Heat the olive oil in a deep frying pan over medium-low heat. Add the potatoes and onion, season with salt, and cook gently — not frying, more like poaching in oil — for 20–25 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the potatoes are completely soft but not browned.
- Drain the potatoes and onion in a colander over a bowl, reserving the oil. Let them cool for 5–10 minutes.
- Whisk the eggs in a large bowl with a good pinch of salt. Fold in the warm potatoes and onion, pressing them down gently so the egg coats everything. Let it sit for 5 minutes so the potatoes absorb some egg.
- Heat 2 tablespoons of the reserved oil in a 24cm non-stick frying pan over medium heat. Pour in the egg and potato mixture, pressing it down into an even layer. Cook for 3–4 minutes, shaking the pan gently, until the edges set.
- Place a large flat plate over the pan and confidently flip the tortilla onto the plate, then slide it back into the pan to cook the other side for another 3–4 minutes. The centre should still be slightly soft (jugoso) when it's right — this is not meant to be a fully-set omelette.
- Slide onto a plate and rest for at least 10 minutes before slicing. Tortilla is just as good — some say better — served at room temperature.
The oil temperature is everything here — too hot and the potatoes brown and turn bitter, too cold and they go greasy. You're aiming for a gentle, steady bubble, not a fry.
This is the home version
What you've just read works on a normal stove. At a Tapas Madriz event it's the same dish, the same method, just cooked live in front of a crowd — and we clean up, not you.
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