Spanish Food: What to Eat in Spain, Region by Region

What should you eat in Spain, what is each dish, and when do Spaniards eat it? Start with paella valenciana at a long lunch in Valencia and a slice of tortilla de patatas at any bar. Add octopus in Galicia, a plate of hand-carved jamón ibérico, and gazpacho or salmorejo in an Andalusian summer. Most of Spain's best food belongs to one place, so eat each dish in the region it comes from. Eat on Spanish time, with lunch after 1 pm and dinner after 8.

Eat late. Restaurants serve lunch, the main meal, from 1 to 4 pm and dinner from 8 to 11:30 pm.
Take the menú del día. A weekday set lunch costs €10 to €15 in Barcelona.
Tapas still come free with drinks in Granada, Almería and some Madrid bars.

The 12 Spanish dishes to eat first

Paella valenciana

Iconic dish

From: Valencia, where rice grows in the Albufera wetlands
When: lunch, never dinner
Price: €15 to €25 a person at a serious restaurant, usually for two or more
Contains: chicken and rabbit; seafood versions have shellfish

Paella valenciana is a lunch dish, and a good restaurant in Valencia cooks it to order. The original is short-grain rice cooked flat in a wide pan with chicken and rabbit, flat green beans, butter beans and saffron. Paella valenciana has no shellfish at all. A seafood paella is a different dish.

Plan a day in Valencia around a paella lunch. Valencia is a March pick for the Las Fallas bonfires.

Paella valenciana in its wide pan, with chicken, rabbit and green beans

Tortilla de patatas

Iconic dish

From: all of Spain
When: any time, from breakfast to a late snack
Price: €2 to €3 a portion at a bar
Contains: egg and potato; vegetarian

Spain's official tourism site calls the Spanish omelet, tortilla de patatas, "the typical Spanish dish par excellence". The thick omelet of potatoes and eggs is slow-cooked in olive oil, and Spaniards argue over whether it should have onion.

At €2 to €3 a slice, tortilla is one of the cheapest good meals in Spain.

Order a slice (un pincho de tortilla) with a coffee mid-morning, or a ración to share in the evening. A good tortilla is still soft in the middle.

A tortilla de patatas cut open to show the layers of potato

Pulpo a la gallega

Iconic dish

From: Galicia
When: lunch or as a tapa
Price: a ración ran from €9 in Ourense to €18 in Burela in 2021
Contains: octopus; gluten-free

At a Galician pulpería, an octopus bar, pulpo á feira (fairground octopus) usually comes on a wooden plate. The octopus is boiled, cut with scissors and dressed with coarse salt, paprika (pimentón) and olive oil. On boiled potatoes it becomes pulpo a la gallega.

A ración of octopus dressed with paprika and olive oil

Jamón ibérico

Iconic dish

From: the southwest: Extremadura, Jabugo in Huelva, Guijuelo in Salamanca
When: any time: on breakfast toast, as a tapa, in a sandwich
Price: a ración of top acorn-fed jamón de bellota can be €30
Contains: pork

Order jamón ibérico by the plate, cut by hand at the bar and served at room temperature. The ham comes from Spain's black Ibérico pigs, and the de bellota grades from pigs fed on acorns in the oak pastures (dehesa). Jamón serrano from white pigs is the cheaper everyday ham, so eat it in a bocadillo and spend on one plate of ibérico de bellota.

Eat it in Spain. US Customs does not allow meat products from most foreign countries, and cured ham counts.

Thin slices of jamón ibérico served as a tapa

Gazpacho and salmorejo

Iconic dish

From: Andalusia; salmorejo from Córdoba
When: summer, as a starter or a light lunch
Contains: gazpacho is vegan without a garnish; salmorejo is topped with egg and ham

Gazpacho and salmorejo, Andalusia's cold soups, are common starters on its summer menú del día. Gazpacho is a raw blend of tomato, pepper and cucumber with garlic, olive oil and vinegar. Some bars serve it in a glass.

Córdoba's salmorejo is thicker, made with bread and topped with chopped egg and jamón. If you don't eat pork, order gazpacho or ask for salmorejo without the ham. Córdoba is a May pick for its patio festival.

Pintxos

Iconic dish

From: the Basque Country
When: an evening or pre-lunch bar crawl
Price: about €2.50 each in San Sebastián
Contains: varies; most are on bread, many are seafood or pork

In San Sebastián's old town, eat pintxos the local way: one or two in each bar with a small drink, then on to the next. Pintxos are the Basque Country's bar bites, usually laid on bread and held with a toothpick, cold on the counter or hot from the kitchen.

Start with the Gilda, San Sebastián's classic skewer of olive, anchovy and guindilla pepper in vinegar. Then ask for the hot pintxo of the day.

A bar counter covered with pintxos in Donostia–San Sebastián

Cochinillo asado

Iconic dish

From: Segovia, in Castile and León
When: a long weekend lunch
Price: about €28 a portion at Mesón de Cándido in Segovia
Contains: pork

In Segovia, cochinillo asado is carved with the edge of a plate. The whole milk-fed piglet is roasted in a wood oven until the skin crackles. Castile and León roasts milk-fed lamb, lechazo, the same way.

Segovia is a day trip from Madrid. Book the cochinillo lunch ahead, especially for a weekend or a public holiday.

Cochinillo asado, Segovian roast suckling pig, on a plate

Croquetas

Iconic dish

From: all of Spain
When: tapa hour
Contains: gluten and dairy; jamón croquetas have pork

Every tapas bar in Spain makes croquetas, fried rolls of breadcrumbed béchamel. The filling is jamón, chicken, salt cod or mushroom. Good croquetas are nearly liquid inside. Start with the croquetas de jamón.

Fabada asturiana

From: Asturias
When: lunch, in the cold months
Contains: pork

Fabada asturiana, the white-bean stew of Asturias, is a cold-month lunch to order in Oviedo or Gijón. Large fabes beans go into the pot with chorizo and blood sausage (morcilla), cured pork shoulder and pork belly. Drink cider with it, as Asturians do.

Fabada asturiana with beans, chorizo and morcilla

Gambas al ajillo

Iconic dish

From: Andalusia and Madrid
When: tapa hour
Contains: shellfish; gluten-free

Gambas al ajillo, prawns sizzled in olive oil with sliced garlic and chili, come to the table still bubbling in a small clay dish. The garlic oil is half the dish. Order bread for it.

Churros con chocolate

Iconic dish

From: Madrid and all of Spain
When: breakfast, an afternoon snack, or the end of a late night
Price: €5.90 for chocolate with six churros or two porras at Chocolatería San Ginés in Madrid
Contains: gluten; the chocolate usually has milk

After a late night out in Madrid, order churros con chocolate at Chocolatería San Ginés, near the Puerta del Sol. The fried dough comes thin (churros) or thick (porras), and the hot chocolate is thick enough to coat it.

Chocolate con churros at San Ginés, Madrid

Patatas bravas

Iconic dish

From: Madrid
When: tapa hour
Contains: fried potato; the aioli has egg

Order patatas bravas, Madrid's fried potatoes under a spicy brava sauce, as a side to the dish of the region you are in. The sauce often comes with aioli.

Patatas bravas with brava sauce and aioli

What else to order at a tapas bar

Spanish tapas bars also serve boquerones en vinagre, pimientos de Padrón and albóndigas. A simple tapa costs about €4 to €6 in Barcelona.

Tapa	What it is	Most at home in
Boquerones en vinagre	fresh anchovies marinated in vinegar, garlic and parsley	Málaga
Pimientos de Padrón	small green peppers blistered in oil with coarse salt, the odd one hot	Galicia
Albóndigas	meatballs in tomato or almond sauce	everywhere
Ensaladilla rusa	potato salad with mayonnaise, tuna, egg and peas	everywhere
Calamares a la romana	battered fried squid rings	everywhere; in a sandwich in Madrid
Berenjenas con miel	fried eggplant with sugar-cane honey	Córdoba and Málaga
Mejillones	mussels, steamed or in escabeche	Galicia
Morcilla	blood sausage, in Burgos with rice and onion	Burgos
Queso manchego	pressed sheep's-milk cheese	La Mancha
Aceitunas	marinated olives, often free with a drink	Andalusia

What to eat in each region of Spain

Each region of Spain cooks its own dishes, from octopus with Albariño in Galicia to paella and horchata in Valencia. When you build a trip with MonkeyEatingMango, the food guide lists the dishes of each city on your route.

Region	Eat	Drink
Galicia	pulpo á feira, pimientos de Padrón, empanada gallega, goose barnacles (percebes), tarta de Santiago	Albariño
Basque Country	pintxos, the Gilda, bacalao al pil-pil, hake in green sauce, chuletón, burnt cheesecake (tarta de queso)	txakoli, cider
Asturias	fabada, cachopo, Cabrales blue cheese	cider (sidra)
Castile and León	cochinillo asado, lechazo, morcilla de Burgos	Ribera del Duero
Madrid	cocido madrileño, callos, bocadillo de calamares, churros	vermouth
Catalonia	pan con tomate, calçots (sweet onions charred over a fire and dipped in romesco, November to April), escalivada, crema catalana, fuet	cava, vermouth
Valencia	paella valenciana, arroz a banda, arroz negro, fideuà	horchata
Andalusia	gazpacho, salmorejo, ajoblanco, fried fish (pescaíto frito), sardine skewers (espetos), rabo de toro	sherry, tinto de verano
Castilla-La Mancha	queso manchego, pisto, Toledo marzipan
Balearic Islands	sobrasada, ensaïmada
Canary Islands	papas arrugadas with mojo

Breakfast and desserts

A Spanish breakfast is small: toast rubbed with tomato and olive oil (pan con tomate, from Catalonia) and a café con leche. Churros are the weekend and late-night version. Coffee costs €1.50 to €2.50 at a café in Barcelona.

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Sweet	What it is	Where or when
Crema catalana	lemon and cinnamon custard under burnt sugar	Barcelona
Tarta de Santiago	flourless almond cake	Santiago de Compostela
Burnt cheesecake (tarta de queso)	cheesecake with a scorched top	began at La Viña in San Sebastián
Flan	caramel custard	a common menú del día dessert
Torrijas	bread soaked in milk and fried	Easter
Turrón	almond nougat from Jijona and Alicante	Christmas

What to drink in Spain

Spaniards drink wine with food. Ask for un tinto and you get a red, often from Rioja or Ribera del Duero. A glass costs €4 to €10 in a Madrid wine bar. Order Albariño with seafood in Galicia and a cold fino with ham or fried fish in Andalusia. Sangría is mostly a drink for visitors and fiestas. Spaniards order tinto de verano, red wine with lemon soda, instead. A caña, a small draft beer, costs €1.50 to €2.20.

Drink	What it is	Where
Albariño	white wine for seafood	Galicia
Txakoli	light, slightly sparkling white, poured from a height	Basque bars
Fino and manzanilla	dry and salty sherry from Jerez and Sanlúcar, served cold with ham or fried fish	Andalusia
Cava	Catalan sparkling wine, the aperitif	Barcelona
Vermouth (vermut)	red and sweet, over ice, at weekend midday	Madrid and Barcelona
Cider (sidra)	poured from above the head into the glass, a short pour you drink at once	Asturias
Horchata	a cold milk made from tiger nuts, on a summer afternoon	Valencia

Spaniards drink coffee slowly and sitting down, often over a long chat after a meal.

Coffee	What it is	When
Café con leche	espresso with plenty of hot milk, close to a latte	breakfast
Café solo	a plain espresso	after a meal
Cortado	espresso with a dash of milk	any time of day
Carajillo	hot coffee with a shot of spirit, such as brandy, rum or anís	after a meal

For herbal tea, ask for an infusión. In a café, manzanilla is chamomile tea, and on a wine list it is the sherry from Sanlúcar. Poleo menta, a mint infusion, is a common digestive after a meal.

When and how do Spaniards eat?

Restaurants in Spain serve lunch, the main meal of the day, from 1 to 4 pm and dinner from 8 to 11:30 pm. Most restaurants close between lunch and dinner. If you are hungry at 7, go to a tapas bar.

Spaniards count five meals a day: breakfast, lunch and dinner, plus a mid-morning snack and an afternoon merienda at about 6 pm. The merienda is coffee and something sweet, a sandwich or a piece of fruit.

On weekdays, look for the menú del día at lunch: a set starter and main, then dessert or coffee with bread and a drink. In Barcelona it costs €10 to €15.

In Granada, Almería and some Madrid bars, drinks still come with free tapas.

Eating out in Spain: tipping, the bill and water

Tipping in Spain is optional, because the bill already includes service. A tip of usually 5 to 10% is common in bars and restaurants. Nobody hurries you away from the table after a meal, so ask for the bill (la cuenta) when you are ready to go.

Bread, olives or a small appetizer may arrive without your ordering them. In Andalusia, a restaurant may charge for bread only if the price is on the menu, and a separate cover charge is not allowed. Send back what you don't want.

Tap water in Spain is safe to drink, with 99.3% of test reports rating it fit for consumption in 2024. Bars and restaurants must offer free tap water, so ask for agua del grifo.

Restaurants must tell you which of the 14 listed allergens a dish contains, from gluten and milk to nuts and shellfish. Ask about alérgenos before you order. Ham often goes on as a garnish, as on salmorejo, so say soy vegetariano if you don't eat meat.

Street food in Spain is mostly churros stalls and market counters, and EU hygiene rules also cover market stalls.

Plan your Spain trip around the food

The Spain travel guide covers how long to stay, which cities to pick and how to get between them. For a week of Andalusian food, the 7-day Southern Spain itinerary is based in Seville. The 10-day Spain itinerary splits the trip between Madrid and Seville.

Your MonkeyEatingMango trip plan names a dish to order at each lunch and dinner.

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Common questions

What is Spain's national dish?

Spain has no official national dish. Paella and tortilla de patatas come closest. Paella is a lunch dish from Valencia, while tortilla is eaten all over Spain at any hour.

What is the most famous food in Spain?

Paella valenciana and tortilla de patatas are the most famous Spanish dishes. Galician octopus (pulpo á feira), jamón ibérico and chorizo come next, then gazpacho, Basque pintxos, boquerones and roast suckling pig.

What are the five meals in Spain?

Spaniards count five meals a day: breakfast, lunch and dinner, plus a mid-morning snack and an afternoon merienda at about 6 pm. Lunch, from about 2 pm, is the main meal. The merienda is coffee with something sweet, a sandwich or a piece of fruit.

What time do Spaniards eat lunch and dinner?

Restaurants in Spain serve lunch, the main meal, from 1 to 4 pm and dinner from 8 to 11:30 pm. Before 8 pm, eat at a tapas bar.

What is a menú del día?

A menú del día is a set weekday lunch: usually a starter and a main, then dessert or coffee with bread and a drink. In Barcelona it costs about €10 to €15.

What is the difference between tapas and pintxos?

A tapa is a small plate served with a drink anywhere in Spain. A pintxo is the Basque version, usually a bite on bread held with a toothpick, laid out on the bar or cooked to order. A ración is a larger plate of the same food for sharing.

Where in Spain are tapas free?

In Granada and Almería, and in some bars in Madrid, drinks still come with free tapas. Elsewhere you pay for tapas: about €4 to €6 each in Barcelona.

Do Spaniards eat paella for dinner?

No. Paella is a lunch dish in Spain. Good restaurants cook it to order, usually for two or more.

What do Spaniards eat for breakfast?

A Spanish breakfast is light: toast rubbed with tomato and olive oil (pan con tomate) and a café con leche, or churros dipped in thick hot chocolate. A slice of tortilla mid-morning is common too.

What should I drink in Spain instead of sangria?

Spaniards drink tinto de verano, red wine with lemon soda over ice, in place of sangria. With food, try a glass of Rioja or Ribera del Duero, or Albariño with Galician seafood. Order a vermouth at midday, or a dry sherry in Andalusia.

Can I bring jamón ibérico home to the US?

No. US Customs and Border Protection does not allow fresh, dried or canned meat products from most foreign countries, and cured ham counts. Eat your jamón ibérico in Spain.