
Patatas Bravas
EVENT: SUNDAY FUNDAY
THEME: RECIPES WITH UMAMI
RECIPE: PATATAS BRAVAS
Patatas Bravas is simply potatoes in a spicy sauce. In fact, it is a popular Spanish potato dish that is served as tapas. Actually an easy recipe, Patatas Bravas can be served as an appetizer or as a snack. Incidentally, the umami for this dish comes from the tomato paste and the fresh tomato puree.
What is Umami?
Umami or savoriness is the fifth taste sense. As a matter of fact the other four are sweet, bitter, sour and saltiness. Umami in Japanese means ‘essence of deliciousness’. Scientifically, umami refers to tastes of glutamate, inosinate, or guanylate.
- Glutamate or glutamic acid is a common amino acid in vegetable and animal proteins.
- Inosinate is mainly found in meats
- Guanylate is more abundant in plants.
Some examples of Foods packed with Umami are:
- Seaweeds
- Soy Based Products – made from soy beans like soy sauce, miso, natto, soy beans
- Aged Cheese – best example is blue cheese, parmesan, gouda and mature cheddar cheese.
- Kimchi – a famous Korean side dish
- Seafood
- Meats – especially dried, aged or processed.
- Green Tea
- Tomatoes – especially concentrated tomato paste, dried tomatoes. It doesn’t mean that fresh tomatoes lack umami.
- Mushrooms – dried ones add more umami. Shiitake mushrooms has the highest umami.
- Marmite – yeast based spread
- Garlic
- Oyster Sauce
- Lotus Root
Sunday Funday
Sunday Funday is a group of Food Bloggers. Every Sunday we share some fun, traditional, hearty or easy recipes to make Sunday Family Meals a bit more exciting. To join this fun group, visit the Sunday Funday Facebook Page. Request to join in.
Theme:
This week’s theme was suggested by Sue Lau who blogs at Palatable Pastimes. Truthfully, till now I’d only associated soy sauce, miso and oyster sauce with umami. Actually had no idea that there are so many other products with umami. I read the article Sue had attached to give us an idea what umami is. Also checked on Google for more Umami information. Thank you so much Sue, for broadening my knowledge.
More About Patatas Bravas
Also known as patatas a la brava or papas bravas means spicy potatoes. When one thinks of cuisine from Spain, paella comes to the mind first. However, patatas bravas is an equally famous dish in Spain. It originated in Madrid well after the Spanish conquered the Inca Empire in 1542. The conquerors brought back their agriculture including tomatoes.
There are so many variations of Patatas Bravas which are served these days. With a splash of vinegar, garlic aioli, mayonnaise, with extra olive oil, etc.
Hubby and I love patatas bravas with some wine/cocktail or as a snack. After reading that tomato paste, tomatoes and garlic have umami, I had to share my version of patatas bravas. Here, the tomato paste and garlic add that distinct umami.
Some More Recipes with Umami:
- Tomato Cheddar Bread
- Tomato Salsa
- Vegetarian Thukpa Soup
- Vegetarian Tom Yum Soup with mushrooms
- Welsh rarebit – veggie style with homemade Worcestershire sauce
- Nasi Goreng with homemade kecap manis
- Phyllo Cup Salad – using enoki mushroom and peanut sauce with umami
- Garlic Parmesan Hasselback Potatoes
- Roasted Tomato & Ricotta Toast
- Bean Sprout Salad with soy dressing and soy nuts
Here Are Some More Recipes Packed With Umami by Fellow Members Of The Group:
- Umami Bomb Tomato Sauce from Making Miracles
- Steaks with Gouda Sauce from Amy’s Cooking Adventures
- Tomato and Blue Cheese Salad from A Day in the Life on the Farm
- Chorizo Chickpea Tomato Pasta from Food Lust People Love
- Fried Chicken Wings – Korean Style from Sneha’s Recipe
- Umami from the Sea: Sea Palm-Kale Salad and Uni Handrolls from Culinary Adventures with Camilla
- Patatas Bravas from Mayuri’s Jikoni
- Easy Vegan Pad Thai from Cook with Renu
Video:
Please check out my video for Patatas Bravas. Please share some love by subscribing to my channel. Thank you so much.
Ingredients Required For Patatas Bravas:
- Potatoes – washed, peeled and chopped into chunks. Some deep fry the chunks and healthier version is to bake them. I baked the potato cubes.
- Olive Oil – for roasting the potatoes and for the sauce.
- Salt – to sprinkle some on the potatoes and for the sauce.
- Onion – peeled and finely chopped. Use any of your choice. I used white onion.
- Garlic – peeled and finely chopped
- Tomato Paste – concentrated tomato paste.
- Tomato – finely chopped
- Sweet Paprika
- Red Chilli Powder – cayenne pepper, add according to your taste.
- Sugar – need just a little to balance the taste.

PATATAS BRAVAS
Ingredients
FOR THE POTATOES:
- 4 large potatoes
- ½ tsp salt
- 1 tbsp olive oil
FOR THE SAUCE:
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 1 medium onion peeled and chopped
- 2-3 cloves garlic peeled and chopped
- 1 large tomato finely chopped
- 1 tbsp tomato paste
- 1 tsp paprika powder
- 1 tsp red chilli powder or cayenne pepper
- ¼ tsp sugar
- ½ tsp salt
Instructions
PREPARATION OF THE POTATOES:
- Peel and wash the potatoes. Cut them into chunks.
- You can either deep fry the potato chunks or bake them.
- To bake them, preheat the oven to 180°C.
- Mix the potatoes with 1 tbsp olive oil and ½ tsp salt.
- Layer them in a baking tray.
- Bake the potatoes for 30-40 mintes till they turn light golden in colour and are cooked.
PREPARATION OF THE SAUCE:
- Heat oil in a pan over medium heat.
- Add chopped onion and stir fry till it becomes soft.
- Add garlic and stir fry for 1-2 minutes.
- Add chopped tomato and salt. Mix well. Cover the pan and lower the heat.
- Allow the tomato to become soft and mushy. This will take about 5-7 minutes. Make sure you stir it often to prevent the mixture from sticking to the pan.
- Add paprika and red chilli powders, sugar and tomato paste. Mix well.
- Allow the mixture to cook for 2-3 minutes. Mash the sauce a bit using a masher or the back of a spoon.
- The sauce is ready. Adjust the spices and salt according to your taste.
PREPARATION OF PATATAS BRAVAS:
- Mix the sauce with the roasted or fried potatoes.
- Return the potatoes to the oven and bake for 10-15 minutes until the sauce appears dryish.
- Serve patatas bravas hot as an appetizer, starter or a snack.
Notes
- Potatoes are cut into big chunks. I cut them into 8 pieces.
- Can reheat patatas bravas in the oven.
- Adjust spices according to your taste.
- Add rosemary if you like.
- Deep fry the potatoes if you want to.
Pin For Later:
A little request:
If you do try this recipe then please either
- add a comment below,
- send a picture to my email mayuri.ajay.patel62@gmail.com
- tag me as #mayuri_jikoni on Instagram
- or tag me on Twitter as #Mayuri1962
38 Comments
Rebekah R Hills
May 17, 2021 at 3:29 am
OH my goodness you packed SO much good stuff into this potato dish – I can almost smell it through the screen!
mayurisjikoni
May 17, 2021 at 7:22 pm
Thank you so much Rebekah, it definitely was so flavorful. In fact better than what I’d tasted at a Spanish Restaurant sometime back.
Wendy Klik
May 17, 2021 at 3:44 am
One of my favorite Spanish dishes. Can’t wait to try your version Mayuri.
mayurisjikoni
May 17, 2021 at 7:02 pm
Thank you so much Wendy, enjoy when you try out the recipe.
Archana patas
May 19, 2021 at 8:58 am
Simply delicious. I have been eyeing these patatas bravas for sometime now. They must have tasted so yum. Will try this weekend hopefully by then supplies will be restored.
mayurisjikoni
June 3, 2021 at 11:53 am
Thanks Archana.
Archana patas
May 19, 2021 at 8:58 am
Simply delicious. I have been eyeing these patatas bravas for sometime now. They must have tasted so yum. Will try this weekend hopefully by then supplies will be restored.
mayurisjikoni
May 19, 2021 at 9:35 pm
Thank you so much Archana. Do try the dish out. Deep frying the potatoes is much faster than baking them.
hem lata srivastava
May 19, 2021 at 8:01 pm
I am drooling here Mayuri, I have heard about this dish for first time and the bowl of patatas bravas are looking absolutely lip smacking.
A must try recipe.
mayurisjikoni
May 19, 2021 at 9:33 pm
Thank you so much Hem Lata, with a bit of red chilis, its like baked potato sabji.. but the tomato paste adds a different flavour.
Sasmita Sahoo
May 19, 2021 at 9:57 pm
ahaaa what a lovely color of these Patatas Bravas !!! Looks super simple dish using potato cubes in a spicy sauce. I would love to try sometime this Spanish potato dish.
mayurisjikoni
May 21, 2021 at 9:50 pm
Thank you so much Sasmita, they make a great starter or a snack. Its the lovely paprika flavour that sets it apart from the usual Indian style aloo sabji.
Bless my food by Payal
May 22, 2021 at 4:32 pm
Potato is one Ingredient which has the potential of being omnipresent…lol
And it always come as a savior when you are not sure what to cook. The species you have suggested in your recipe will sure make potatoes more delicious, more flavourful.
mayurisjikoni
May 22, 2021 at 6:29 pm
Thank you so much.
kalyani
May 20, 2021 at 7:54 am
This Patatas Bravas is a brilliant dish as an entree ! Think I missed a brilliant theme too, and thank you mayuri for enlightening me for those umami components, soya and hing were the only ones I knew till now..
mayurisjikoni
May 21, 2021 at 9:49 pm
Thank you so much Kalyani.
Renu
May 20, 2021 at 6:16 pm
This sounds yum and delish with all the flavours from chilli, garlic and tomato. I can never say no to potatoes and here is another delicious way to enjoy this.
mayurisjikoni
May 21, 2021 at 9:47 pm
Thanks Renu, it sure is a delicious way to enjoy potatoes. do try the recipe.
Preethicuisine
May 22, 2021 at 4:13 pm
Patatas bravas is one of the most flavourful and fabulous dish. Best way to enjoy the potatoes. Love This easy recipe. I made it a month back .
mayurisjikoni
May 22, 2021 at 6:30 pm
Thank you so much Preethi. Ever since I had it at a Spanish restaurant have wanted to make it at home. Finally got the chance to make it.
Usha Rao
May 24, 2021 at 3:46 pm
Mayuri, patatas bravas is so flavorful and it goes well even with rice. Thanks for a small write up on umami and was informative.
mayurisjikoni
May 24, 2021 at 11:25 pm
Thank you so much Usha.
Rafeeda – The Big Sweet Tooth
May 24, 2021 at 7:07 pm
Anything for me with potatoes… That bowl looks absolutely tempting! I may just try it for lunch some day for sure… I always associated umami with Japanese flavors but the information you have shared is so exhaustive that I am truly intrigued…
mayurisjikoni
May 24, 2021 at 11:25 pm
Thank you so much Rafeeda, for me too it was either miso or soy sauce till I researched for the theme.
Lata Lala
May 26, 2021 at 8:31 pm
Such a flavourful and easy to make simple potato dish served with delicious sauce you have made Mayuri. I am craving for this now.
Beautiful clicks are so tempting that I wanna pick it up from the screen itself.
mayurisjikoni
May 27, 2021 at 12:55 am
Thank you so much Lata. Try the recipe out, you will definitely fall in love with papatas bravas.
Sandhya Ramakrishnan
May 27, 2021 at 1:48 am
Just reading through the recipe is given me Umami. Love the flavors and who does not like potatoes. Loved reading about the recipe and what Umami actually means.
mayurisjikoni
May 27, 2021 at 8:28 pm
Thank you so much Sandhya.
Sapana
May 29, 2021 at 2:00 am
I never knew about Umami flavors, thanks for all the detailed info. Those potatoes looks and sounds so tempting to try and I am sure must have tasted just amazing 🤩
mayurisjikoni
May 30, 2021 at 5:01 pm
Sapana I too didn’t know much about umami till this theme came up. And patatas bravas is very delicious.
Poonam Bachhav
May 29, 2021 at 5:32 am
We love potatoes in any form and this baked Potato dish with garlic, tomatoes and spices sounds absolutely flavorful ! I would definitely love giving it a try.
mayurisjikoni
May 30, 2021 at 5:00 pm
Thank you so much Poonam. Enjoy when you try out the recipe.
Pavani
May 29, 2021 at 6:52 am
Such an amazing potato dish – so flavorful and so delicious. Thanks for the detailed recipe, I am going to make this very soon for my potato loving family.
mayurisjikoni
May 30, 2021 at 4:59 pm
Thank you so much Pavani and enjoy when you try out the recipe. Feedback much appreciated.
Padma Veeranki
May 30, 2021 at 12:44 am
Super simple yet yummy dish using potato cubes in a spicy sauce. Love all the flavours going on there and who can say no to a dish with potatoes….Delicious share!
mayurisjikoni
May 30, 2021 at 4:58 pm
Thank you so much Padma.
Seema Sriram
June 4, 2021 at 12:38 pm
Those humble potatoes looks so much more exciting in this recipe. The flavours are amazing in this recipe, I can literally smell the aroma from here.
mayurisjikoni
June 4, 2021 at 4:04 pm
Thank you so much Seema.