Spanish · Vegetarian
Air fryer patatas bravas

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Method
- step 1
- Soak the potatoes in just-boiled water for 30 mins, then drain and leave to air-dry for 5 mins. Heat the air fryer to 200C. Tip the potatoes into a bowl and drizzle over 1 tbsp of the oil and add 1/2 tsp each of salt and freshly ground black pepper. Mix to coat the potatoes all over, then tip into the air fryer basket and cook for 20-30 mins until crisp and golden.
- step 2
- Meanwhile, heat the remaining oil in a small pan over a medium-low heat and fry the onion for 8-10 mins until softened but not golden. Stir in the garlic and cook for a minute before adding the paprika and cooking for 30 seconds more. Stir in the tomato purée, cook for 1 min, then tip in the chopped tomatoes. Cook for 5-10 mins over a medium heat until thickened slightly.
- step 3
- Once the potatoes are cooked, tip out onto a platter and pour over the tomato sauce. Sprinkle with the basil leaves, then serve.
Cooking notes
Most vegetable dishes scale linearly, but be mindful of pan crowding — vegetables that should brown will steam instead if packed too tightly.
For volume-to-weight conversions of any ingredient — flour, sugar, butter, salts — use the ingredient converter. To translate the recipe's oven temperature between °C, °F and gas mark, see the temperature converter.
When you scale this recipe up or down, remember that cooking time does not scale linearly. A doubled cake takes longer, but not twice as long; a doubled soup takes roughly twice as long. The cooking-time guide gives sensible starting estimates by dish geometry.
Recipe video
Air fryer patatas bravas
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OpenIngredient density
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OpenFrom the journal
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Go deeper
Where this recipe sits in the wider tradition.
Each guide below is a real essay on the cuisine or the category — pillars, staples, techniques worth learning — paired with a curated grid of recipes filed under it.
Cuisine guide · Spanish
Cooking the Spanish way
Olive oil, paprika, jamón — and the most varied regional cuisine in Western Europe.
Open the guideCategory guide · Vegetarian
How to cook in this category
Plant-led, dairy-and-egg-allowed — the cooking many of the world's greatest cuisines do natively.
Open the guideReady to cook?
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