Bravas Sauce Recipe (Salsa Brava)

January 27, 2024

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Searching for the proper sauce to drizzle over your potatoes? This Bravas sauce aka Salsa Brava in Spanish, is a tomato-based sauce with a smoky taste, and a stunning kick from the paprika. We’ll present you the way we prepare dinner it in Spain as a way to recreate these scrumptious Spanish flavors in your kitchen.

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What’s Bravas Sauce or Salsa Brava?

Bravas sauce is a spicy tomato-based sauce that’s served over Patatas Bravas as a tapa throughout Spanish Tapas bars. This easy spicy sauce is served along with mayonnaise to mix each flavors and create the proper match in your potatoes.

I grew up in Spain, and Patatas Bravas was at all times one in every of my favourite tapas to order. The identify “bravas” means fierce, daring, or courageous in Spanish, referring to the sauce’s spicy kick. Even when it has a little bit kick, this tapas dish shouldn’t be overly spicy and may be dealt with by most individuals.

On the subject of the Bravas sauce, you will see that many variations of the identical recipe. Patatas Bravas sauce is cooked in another way in numerous elements of Spain, so I need to share our household recipe, the one my grandmother taught me.

Our Bravas Sauce is:

Vegetarian / Vegan
Mildly spicy
A Spanish recipe
Simple to arrange
Fast to make
Excellent for BBQ, dipping sauce, celebration dips, and so forth.

Easy methods to make the very best Salsa Brava

Components

Yellow onion and garlic. On your salsa brava, you may want a yellow or white onion. You’ll be able to alternatively, use shallots, or pink onion.

Chopped tomatoes. For this recipe, you may resolve to make use of contemporary tomatoes (which we suggest throughout summer time months), or good high quality canned tomatoes. As we made this recipe throughout winter months, we used beautiful shiny pink chopped canned tomatoes. Tomatoes are the important thing ingredient for a scrumptious bravas sauce. They should be candy and juicy.

Spicy smoked paprika (pimentón picante) and candy paprika (pimentón dulce). On the subject of scorching paprika and candy paprika, we select the very best, because it makes an enormous distinction within the style of your dishes. La Chinata is a Spanish model that makes nice paprikas. You too can use cayenne to present your sauce the spicy kick.

Olive oil. We use Spanish olive oil because it provides that beautiful taste to the sauce. We do not suggest utilizing additional virgin olive oil, as we’ll be cooking the oil. You’ll be able to select one other vegetable oil of your selection, however we strongly suggest utilizing olive oil if obtainable.

Tomato paste. This ingredient is optionally available. We like including some tomato paste or tomato puree so as to add that umami be aware to the dish. As nicely, tomato paste enhances the flavour of the contemporary or canned tomatoes.

Flour. For this recipe, the flour acts as a thickener. You want some flour to present the salsa brava the appropriate consistency.

Vegetable broth. Some recipes use rooster inventory, however we need to maintain this recipe vegetarian, so we’re utilizing vegetable inventory. You too can use water, however might want to add some extra salt to the sauce.

Sherry vinegar (Vinagre de Jerez). This kind of vinegar is often utilized in Spain and it provides a stunning taste with a light acidity to the dish. If you do not have Sherry vinegar, you may add some lemon juice, pink wine vinegar, or apple cider vinegar.

Step-by-Step Technique

Warmth some olive oil in a medium saucepan over medium warmth. Add the onions, and prepare dinner for a couple of minutes till the colour begins to alter. Add the garlic, and prepare dinner for 1-2 extra minutes.
Add the flour, and prepare dinner for not less than 2-3 minutes to ensure the flour cooks and does not depart a uncooked style in your sauce.
Add the chopped tomatoes, candy and spicy paprika, and tomato paste. Stir nicely and prepare dinner for a couple of minutes.
Pour the vegetable inventory and sherry vinegar, and produce the sauce to a delicate simmer. At this level, add some water, and prepare dinner for about 10 minutes.
Switch the sauce to a blender jar use an immersion blender to mix the sauce. You too can use a meals processor. Mix till you may have a easy spicy tomato sauce. The consistency of the sauce must be easy, and never too skinny or too thick. It is best to have the ability to drizzle it over the potatoes with a spoon.

Variations to our Bravas Sauce Recipe

Make it gluten-free. You may make our Spanish sauce gluten-free by altering the flour for gluten-free flour. Additionally, be sure that the inventory you might be utilizing is gluten-free.
Add pink pepper. It is a variation my grandma used to do. Typically, we might add roasted pink pepper to the sauce earlier than mixing it, so as to add a extra intense peppery taste.
Change the consistency to your style. Relying on what you need to use this salsa for, you may modify the consistency to make it thicker (add much less water throughout cooking), or runner (add extra vegetable inventory). This recipe makes for the proper texture for Bravas Potatoes.
Make a spicy bravas sauce. You’ll be able to add cayenne pepper, pink pepper flakes, or extra spicy paprika to make a spicy salsa brava.

Serving Solutions

As a Spanish myself, I’ve only one solution to serve Bravas sauce, and that’s on fried, air-fried, or baked potatoes, served along with some mayonnaise or a creamy garlic aioli. This dish is named Patatas Bravas. That mentioned, I do know there are lots of different methods you may get pleasure from this salsa at residence, so listed here are some nice concepts to make use of the entire Bravas Sauce:

As a pasta sauce. I’ve a quite simple rule, what goes good on potatoes, likely will go good on pasta proper? That works with Bravas sauce. Our youngsters adore it on their pasta, served with some dietary yeast on high.
As a dip in your principal dishes. We served this salsa with our air-fried parsnips, and let me let you know, that was a improbable combo. You’ll be able to serve this with cauliflower nuggets, tofu schnitzel, cabbage steaks, or any vegetable or protein of your selection.
Tapa’s evening (party-style meals). We love making tapas evening at residence! Usually, the centerpiece of the tapa’s evening is the Spanish omelette and a stunning Vegan Paella. We put together garlic and white wine mushrooms, do-it-yourself gazpacho, and naturally, Spanish patatas bravas with this lovely sauce. All this scrumptious meals served with olives, bread, a contemporary salad, and even grilled greens makes for an ideal dinner.

Retailer and Reheat

Leftover bravas sauce may be saved in an hermetic container within the fridge for as much as 3-4 days. Be certain the sauce is cooled utterly earlier than transferring to the fridge. To maintain the sauce for longer, take into account freezing it.

Salsa Brava sauce may be served at room temperature additionally, it style nice after being chilled for a while.

To reheat bravas sauce, switch it to a saucepan and gently heat over medium-low warmth, stirring sometimes, till heated by means of. Alternatively, it may be reheated utilizing the microwave.

FAQ and Suggestions

Can I make Bravas sauce forward of time?

Completely! Bravas sauce may be made upfront. Let it cool utterly earlier than transferring it to an hermetic container and storing it within the fridge till prepared to make use of. The flavors will proceed to develop because it sits.

How spicy is that this Bravas Sauce?

Our Bravas Sauce shouldn’t be a very scorching sauce however may have a pleasant kick. Modify the quantity of spicy paprika or cayenne to fit your style – extra for additional warmth, much less for milder spice.

Is Bravas Sauce naturally vegetarian?

The reply could be: you by no means know! Many recipes use rooster inventory when cooking the sauce, so if you wish to have Bravas Sauce in a restaurant, be sure to ask earlier than, as they might not be vegetarian.