Patatas A Lo Pobre Recipe – Spanish Poor Man’s Potatoes

I loved how many ways the Spanish can find to cook potatoes! When we lived in Spain, this patatas a lo pobre recipe became a staple recipe to serve for lunch. Or, these Spanish poor man’s potatoes pair well with roasted meats, chicken, or fish. It’s also a great Spanish vegan recipe on its own.

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What Are Patatas A Lo Pobre – Spanish Potatoes With Peppers And Onions

Patatas is Spanish for potatoes. Pobre is poor in Spanish. This recipe translates to Poor Man’s Potatoes. It’s a rustic dish, with simple ingredients that are put together to make something super tasty.

Like many Spanish recipes, its base is olive oil, onion, and garlic. Add in potatoes and peppers, and you have a rustic Spanish potato recipe that makes you feel like you are eating in the Spanish countryside. This is a recipe most associated with the Andalucian region of Granada.

In the end, I recognize this is a fried potato recipe, with loads of oil. But, regardless of how unhealthy it might be, it’s totally worth the splurge for traditional Spanish flavors.

Although we like to add a fried egg on top, the more classic version is a vegan Spanish recipe as well.

Check out some of our other Spanish recipes:

Calamares Fritos Recipe – Authentic Spanish Calamari

Berenjenas Con Miel Recipe – Spanish Fried Eggplant With Honey

Ingredients For This Patatas A Lo Pobre Recipe

The ingredients for Spanish poor man’s potatoes include a lot of staple ingredients, commonly found it many Spanish kitchens. These ingredients include traditionally cheap ingredients, easily found in Spain, hence its name. 

• medium, yellow potatoes – rinsed, peeled, sliced into thin rounds
• large green and red peppers – seeded and sliced into strips
• medium yellow onion – sliced into strips
• garlic cloves – chopped or pressed
• Spanish olive oil
• Salt, black pepper, and fresh parsley to garnish

How To Make Spanish Poor Man’s Potatoes

These patatas pobre are not all that difficult to make. Most of the ingredients are in the English translation, or Spanish potatoes with peppers and ovens. 

After cleaning all of the vegetables, peel the potatoes. Slice the potatoes thin and cut the peppers and onions into julienne strips. Chop or mince the garlic or use a garlic press.  

Add the olive oil, garlic, onion, and potatoes to a large saute pan. It’s okay to add the vegetables while the oil is cool or at room temperature. This way, they are cooked slowly and we achieve a kind of ‘candied’ result. 

Cook the vegetables over low to medium heat for about 15 minutes. Once the potatoes start to soften and appear tender, add in the peppers. Cook all of the vegetables for another 10 minutes or so until the peppers soften. 

Then, kick the heat up to high for 2-3 minutes. This will allow the potatoes and the peppers to fry and crisp just a bit. 

Remove the vegetables from the pan and drain the excess oil in a colander. Add to a plate or shallow bowl and season with salt and pepper. You can add some chopped parsley to garnish. 

How To Serve Potatoes A Lo Pobre Variations

You can use a variety of vegetables to add to this dish. You can also kick up the heat by seasoning with paprika, chili powder, or crushed red pepper.

Here are some different variations: 

• Patatas A Lo Pobre Al Horno: You can bake the potatoes in the oven, rather than cooking them on the stovetop. Al horno means in the oven in Spanish. 
• Patatas A Lo Pobre Con Huevo: To us, everything tastes better with an egg on the top! This includes this recipe as well as our huevos rotos recipe, or Spanish broken eggs with potatoes. Or, if you are looking for other Spanish potato recipes, learn how to make Canarian potatoes.