Tortilla de patatas turns 2 eggs and 2 potatoes into a golden, layered dinner that slices like a cake: 3 mm potato rounds are soaked, dried and slow-fried with onion and garlic until completely soft, folded off the heat into paprika-seasoned eggs (one egg per potato — that ratio is the whole point), then set in a small pan — 10 minutes covered, one committed flip, 5 more minutes. Serves 2.
Instructions
- 1
Peel the potatoes into cold water so they don’t turn gray, halve each one for a flat side, and slice into even 3 mm rounds.
- 2
Soak the slices in cold water to rinse off loose starch — they will fry separately instead of clumping.
10:00 - 3
Heat a generous amount of olive oil over medium heat and soften the onion half-moons for 2–3 minutes.
03:00 - 4
Pat the potatoes completely dry — leftover water makes them steam instead of fry — and add the garlic to the onion for 1–2 minutes.
- 5
Add the potatoes and cook over medium heat, turning gently every minute, until every slice is completely soft — they get no second chance to soften.
10:00 - 6
Whisk the eggs with the thyme, salt, pepper, smoked paprika and dill until no streaks remain.
- 7
Off the heat, tip the potatoes into the eggs — oil included, it carries the flavor — and fold gently so the soft slices stay whole.
- 8
Heat a little oil in a smaller pan, pour everything in at once, level the top and press gently into one compact layer.
- 9
Cover and cook on low.
10:00 - 10
One committed flip — dar la vuelta — then slide it back golden side up for 5 more minutes.
05:00 - 11
Rest a minute, then slice like a cake — each potato layer stays distinct, held together by the egg.
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Notes from our kitchen
The egg-to-potato ratio is one to one, and that is the whole point — the potatoes stretch two eggs into a dinner. The oil the potatoes cooked in goes into the egg bowl with them; pouring it off would pour away the flavor. And the smaller pan for the set is deliberate: the same mixture sits higher, which is what gives the slice its cake-like depth.
Frequently Asked Questions
Onion in tortilla — traditional or heresy?
Spain genuinely splits in two on this: half the country calls onion the soul of the dish, half calls it heresy (the con cebolla / sin cebolla debate). This version votes onion — and adds garlic, which is not traditional at all but earns its place next to the smoked paprika.
Why soak the potato slices and then dry them?
The 10-minute cold soak rinses off loose surface starch so the 3 mm rounds fry as separate slices instead of gluing into a clump. The thorough drying afterwards matters just as much — any water left on the slices turns the fry into a steam.
How do I flip it without breaking it?
Cook it covered on low first so the base is set, then commit: pan off the heat, a plate or the lid over the top, one confident turn of the wrists, and slide it back golden side up. In Spanish, dar la vuelta a la tortilla also means ‘turning the tables’ — hesitation is what breaks it.
Why mix the potatoes into the eggs off the heat?
Two reasons: the pan-hot potatoes would start scrambling the eggs on contact if everything happened over the flame, and folding in a bowl lets you coat every soft slice gently so they stay whole. The oil comes along too — it has been collecting onion, garlic and potato flavor the whole time.
