This saucy, flavour-packed patatas bravas will make you friends any day of the week

Name: This saucy, flavour-packed patatas bravas will make you friends any day of the week
Cook time: 1 h
Yield: 6 as a side
Cuisine: Spanish
Ingredients: 1.5kg yellow flesh all-purpose potatoes, cut into bite-sized pieces; 4-5 tbsp duck fat or olive oil; 2-3 heads of garlic, halved horizontally

Katrina Meynink

January 9, 2025

Patatas bravas with kind-of brava sauce (top right) and roast garlic aioli (bottom).Katrina Meynink

Time:30 mins - 1 hourServes:6 as a side

We can’t all be making our way through Spain’s tapas bars, but we can have the same intent with our potatoes. Here, spiced potatoes are roasted until golden and served with a nontraditional red sauce that’s more romesco than brava, so I call it kind-of brava. I also love a garlic aioli. And offering both sauces with a spread of roasted carbs will make you friends every day of the week.

Ingredients

1.5kg yellow flesh all-purpose potatoes, cut into bite-sized pieces
4-5 tbsp duck fat or olive oil
2-3 heads of garlic, halved horizontally

Potato spice blend

1 tbsp sea salt flakes
1 tbsp ground cumin
1 tsp sweet smoked paprika
1 tsp ground coriander
a good pinch ground black pepper

Kind-of brava sauce

140g tomato paste
2 x marinated red peppers (jarred roasted capsicum), deseeded and roughly chopped
1 tbsp sherry vinegar
¼ cup smoked almonds
½ red onion, chopped
3 tsp Spanish sweet smoked paprika

Garlic aioli

a few of the roasted garlic cloves from roasting the potatoes (or 1 raw garlic clove, grated)
¼ cup good quality mayonnaise
finely grated zest of 1 lemon

Method

Step 1
Combine the potatoes, duck fat (or oil) and spices in a bowl and toss, until the potato pieces are covered in the spice mix. Spread over a large roasting tray and season generously with sea salt flakes.
Step 2
Roast in the oven for 40 minutes or until crisp, golden and cooked through, tossing the potatoes midway through the cooking time.
Step 3
Meanwhile, for the kind-of brava sauce, put all the ingredients in a blender and blitz until fully incorporated. Season with sea salt flakes and black pepper. (Extra sauce can be stored in the fridge in an airtight jar or container for another use.)
Step 4
For the garlic aioli, squeeze some of the roasted garlic into a bowl and mash with a fork, then combine with the mayonnaise and lemon zest, and set aside until serving.
Step 5
Transfer the potatoes to a serving platter. Drizzle lightly with the kind-of brava sauce and the garlic aioli. Season with sea salt flakes and black pepper. Serve with additional sauces on the side for dipping.