Jimmy is in the kitchenWhere is Jimmy?

Spanish tortilla

Name: Spanish tortilla
Prep time: 15 min
Cook time: 30 min
Total time: 55 min
Yield: 4 people
Ingredients: 6 eggs; 600 g waxy potatoes; 1 onion (optional); 300 ml olive oil; salt

Tortilla de patatas: tender potatoes slowly cooked in olive oil and bound with eggs, golden outside and soft inside.

spainvegetariantapaspicnic

Prep15 min
Cook30 min
Rest10 min
DifficultyEasy
Budget€

Jump to recipe

A tortilla is three ingredients and one move: the flip. The secret is to cook the potatoes gently in plenty of oil, almost like a confit, before mixing them with the eggs.

Ingredients

4 people

Makes 4 people

Method

Peel the potatoes and cut them into thin slices, about 3 mm. Thinly slice the onion.
Heat the olive oil in a frying pan over medium-low heat. Add the potatoes and onion, season with salt and cook for 20 minutes, stirring now and then: they should turn soft, not crispy.
Drain them in a sieve set over a bowl to catch the oil.
Beat the eggs with a pinch of salt, add the still-warm potatoes, mix and leave to rest for 10 minutes so the potatoes soak up the egg.
Heat 1 tablespoon of the saved oil in a 24 cm frying pan. Pour in the mixture, lower to medium heat and cook for 4 to 5 minutes, loosening the edges with a spatula.
Place a large plate over the pan and flip the whole thing in one confident move. Slide the tortilla back into the pan and cook for 2 to 3 more minutes for a soft centre, or 5 minutes for a fully set tortilla.
Serve warm or cold, in wedges with a salad or in small cubes as a tapa.

Recipe by Jimmy, published on October 20, 2026.

Where does this recipe come from?

Country of originVariants elsewhere

Spain

Tortilla de patatas is Spanish. Its oldest known written mention dates from 1817, in a text addressed to the Cortes of Navarre. In Spain, one debate never dies: with or without onion? The pro-onion camp is the larger one.

Its cousins in other countries:

Italy: the frittata, a thick omelette filled with vegetables, cheese or even pasta.
Germany: the Bauernfrühstück, fried potatoes, bacon and onions bound with eggs.
Iran: kuku sabzi, a thick omelette packed with fresh herbs.
Tanzania: chipsi mayai, chips set in an omelette, a hugely popular street food.
Mexico: careful, there a tortilla is a corn or wheat flatbread — a different thing altogether!