Tortilla Española (Spanish Potato Omelette)
A thick Spanish omelette of potatoes and onion slowly cooked in olive oil until silky, then bound in egg with a softly set, jammy center. It's naturally grain-free and made from just a handful of simple ingredients, and it's even better with seasonal vegetables, herbs, or a little Spanish cheese folded in.
Yield: One 9- to 10-inch tortilla (6-8 servings, or about 24 pintxo-size bites) · Active: 25 min · Total: about 50 min (plus 10 minutes resting) · Year-round; the add-ins change with the seasons (see below) · Best eaten: midday, at room temperature
The only real choice with a tortilla is texture. In Spain, many people love it baboso: jammy and just set in the center, the style Galicia's town of Betanzos is famous for and San Sebastián's pintxo bars serve. This recipe gives you that, with tips for a firmer tortilla if you prefer.
Ingredients
1½ lb waxy potatoes (like Yukon Gold), peeled
1 large yellow onion, thinly sliced (optional but classic; leave it out for the purist's tortilla sin cebolla)
1½ cups extra virgin olive oil, for confiting (most of it is saved and reused)
6-7 large pasture-raised eggs
1 tsp fine Baja Gold sea salt, divided
Method
Slice the potatoes. Slice the potatoes thin, about ⅛ inch, letting some break into rough pieces rather than perfect rounds. Toss them with half the salt.
Confit. Warm the olive oil in a deep skillet over medium-low heat. Add the potatoes and onion. They should bubble gently, never brown or crisp, for 20-25 minutes, stirring now and then, until silky and starting to fall apart. This slow, gentle oil bath is the whole secret.
Drain. Lift the potatoes and onion out with a slotted spoon, letting them drain well so the tortilla isn't greasy. Strain the oil and save it for cooking.
Combine and rest. Beat the eggs with the remaining salt in a large bowl. Fold in the warm potatoes (and any add-ins, below) and let it sit 5 minutes, so the potatoes soak up the egg.
Set the first side. Heat 1-2 tbsp of the saved oil in a 9- to 10-inch skillet over medium heat. Pour in the mixture, give the pan a shake to settle it, and cook 3-4 minutes, until the edges are set and the bottom is golden but the center is still loose.
The flip. Slide the tortilla onto a large plate, set the pan upside down over it, and flip them together so the tortilla lands back in the pan, uncooked side down. Cook 2-3 minutes more for a jammy center, or 4-5 minutes for a firmer one.
Rest 10 minutes before slicing. Serve in wedges, or cut into 1½-inch cubes for pintxos, warm or at room temperature.
Note: A jammy tortilla has a softly set, not fully cooked, center. If you're pregnant, serving young children, or immunocompromised, cook the second side a few minutes longer, until the center is fully set.
Make It Seasonal
Fold 1-1½ cups of cooked vegetables and a few tablespoons of fresh herbs into the egg along with the potatoes. Cook watery vegetables first and drain them well, so the tortilla sets properly. These follow North American seasons:
Spring: sautéed asparagus tips, peas, and spring onions, with chives and dill or parsley
Summer: zucchini (slice it thin and confit it with the potatoes), roasted red or piquillo peppers, with basil and fresh oregano
Autumn: sautéed wild mushrooms and slow-cooked leeks, with thyme and a little rosemary
Winter: wilted kale, chard, or spinach (squeezed dry), caramelized onions, or roasted garlic, with sage and parsley
Add Some Cheese
Cheese isn't traditional in a classic tortilla, but it's delicious. Fold ½ cup grated or crumbled cheese into the egg, or tuck a few cubes into the center so they melt as it sets:
Manchego DOP: nutty, firm sheep's milk cheese from La Mancha
Idiazabal DOP: lightly smoky sheep's milk cheese from the Basque Country
Mahón DOP: tangy cow's milk cheese from Menorca
Fresh goat cheese: creamy and bright, lovely with spring herbs
Tetilla DOP: mild, buttery, and melty, from Galicia
What to Serve It With
A simple green salad with a sherry vinaigrette
Roasted piquillo peppers drizzled with olive oil
Blistered Padrón peppers with flaky salt
A sliced tomato salad with olive oil and salt (in summer)
Homemade alioli (garlic mayonnaise) or my romesco sauce
Marinated olives and a few slices of jamón ibérico, for a full pintxos spread
Nourishment Notes
Pasture-raised eggs bring complete protein, choline, B12, and fat-soluble vitamins A, D, E, and K2. Deep orange yolks are a sign of hens raised on pasture.
Potatoes are a naturally grain-free tuber, rich in potassium, vitamin C, and B6. Cooled leftover tortilla also forms some resistant starch, which feeds your gut bacteria.
Extra virgin olive oil brings oleic acid and polyphenols. Its gentle, low-temperature confit keeps the oil well below its smoke point, so it stays fresh and stable.
Onion adds quercetin and prebiotic fibers.
Seasonal vegetables and herbs add fiber, vitamins, and minerals that change with the year, and Spanish cheeses bring calcium, K2, and protein (sheep's and goat's milk cheeses carry mostly A2-type casein).
As a circadian food, the tortilla is a natural midday meal. Eating its protein and fat earlier in the day lines up with your stronger daytime digestion, and it's traditionally enjoyed at room temperature as a pintxo or lunch across Spain.
Sourcing
Potatoes — organic Yukon Gold or another waxy potato
Onion — organic yellow onion
Eggs — organic and pasture-raised, from a local farm where the hens truly range on pasture, or Alexandre Family Farm (Regenerative Organic Certified)
Extra virgin olive oil — organic, single-estate Spanish olive oil, harvest-dated within the past year, in dark glass. Arbequina is mild and buttery, and Picual is more peppery
Vegetables and herbs — organic and in season, from a farmers' market
Cheese — DOP-certified Spanish cheese (Manchego, Idiazabal, Mahón, or Tetilla), or a farmstead goat cheese, organic when you can find it
Skillet — a well-seasoned 9- to 10-inch carbon steel or cast iron skillet, or a nonstick pan
Baja Gold sea salt
Storage
Tortilla: Keep at room temperature up to 2 hours, then refrigerate, covered, up to 3 days. Let it come back to room temperature before serving
Confit oil: Strain, refrigerate in a glass jar, and use within 2 weeks for sautéing and roasting. It's beautifully flavored by the potatoes and onion
— Anna aka Food Marshall