Welcome to the jamón-loving country of Spain, where you can find an endless number pig legs hanging from restaurant interiors or perhaps casually sitting on the counter as a barman cuts out thin slices for a guest. Supposedly delicious for meat-eaters, potentially terrifying for vegetarians.
So yes, things like that can make vegetarians like myself want to shrivel up inside. HOWEVER, it’s not as difficult as you might think to be a vegetarian in this captivating country. So, fear not – you will not die of starvation of Spain’s watch, hopefully quite the opposite actually.
To show you what I mean, here’s a list of some of the delicious foods you can devour in Spain meat-free.
Tortilla de patata (Spanish Potato Omelette)
A classic tapa and my personal favorite, tortilla de patata consists of olive oil, eggs, potatoes, and occasionally onions. You can even eat these on bocadillos – nom!
Gazpacho
If you’re a soup lover, you’ll adore gazpacho. It’s a cold-served tomato and vegetable puree, making it not only a delicious vegetarian option, but a healthy one as well! If you’re in the south, try Salmorejo (just make sure you say sin jamón).
Espinacas con garbanzos (Spinach and chickpeas)
Such a wonderful combiniaton for vegetarians everywhere and it’s quite the typical Spanish dish!
Croquetas (Croquettes)
These are a small mash of food fried together in a sort of breaded ball. Be careful though because not all croquetas are vegetarian. Two common meat-free options are croquetas de setas (mushrooms) and de espinacas (spinach).
Patatas bravas
Another popular dish in Spain are patatas bravas. This consists of chopped potatoes covered with a spicy (sometimes creamy) sauce and they are delicious!
Pimientos Asados (Grilled peppers)
This is a typical Spanish vegan dish is simple and tasty, with merely whole grilled peppers and salt.
Pan con tomate (Bread with tomato)
Simplistic, yet tasty. Tomato on toast with a light scrub of olive oil.
Vegetarian paella
It exists! Paella isn’t only a seafood dish as many believe. I went to Valencia, the birth place of paella, and went to a traditional restaurant and had the most magnificent vegetarian paella. It had the rice and all the flavors without any meat. Instead, there was cauliflower, aubergine, broccoli and other delicious veggies. My friends and I were beyond pleased with our first paella.
Bonus:
Most supermarkets carry veggie burgers and other vegetarian dishes such as Lidl and Mercadona. The majority of the major cities will also have a supermarket called Veritas which sells organic food and lots and lots of vegetarian and vegan items. And don’t forget to search for vegetarian restaurants in your area because more than likely it exists if you’re staying in a city!
To sum it up, do not be fooled by the array of pig legs hanging about Spain. Meat-eaters will enjoy them, we vegetarians will not. That’s it. There’s still plenty of excellent dishes for vegetarians to appreciate, so get out there and try them! 🙂
