13 Delicious Spanish Salads You Can Make At Home Today!

The Spanish are known for their delicious food, and their salads are no exception to this. Say goodbye to limp lettuce and mild dressing, and say hello to wondrous flavors and textures you can’t get enough of. 

This article is going to be providing you with a list of 13 wonderful Spanish salads that you can recreate yourself at home! 

Whether the summer months are calling for a refreshing meal, or you simply don’t have the time or energy to cook, these salads are worth adding to your recipe book! 

1. Russian Salad (Ensaladilla Rusa)

Starting off this list we have the well-known Russian Salad, known in Spain as Ensaladilla Rusa. 

There are several variations of it, but the core ingredients are potatoes, eggs, onions, salt, and pepper. 

In Spain, it is served with tuna in the mix, along with peas, carrots, and peppers. It is a very refreshing dish that is often served along with other Spanish tapas. 

Many enjoy eating this creamy salad with Spanish breadsticks, known as ‘piquitos’. 

It is straightforward to make as all it involves is boiling some potatoes, and mixing them in with the rest of the ingredients. 

2. Esgarrat

Originating in Valencia, this Spanish salad contains red peppers, cod, garlic, olive oil, and salt. 

Although it just contains 5 ingredients, all of them work wonderfully together and create a delicious dish that melts in the mouth. 

The peppers are roasted before the skin is peeled off them and cut into strips. The cod is grilled and then cut into strips before both ingredients are seasoned generously with salt, garlic, and a lot of olive oil. 

This a very healthy side dish that is often served at bars and eaten with bread that soaks up all the flavors of garlic and olive oil. 

3. Mixed Green Salad (Ensalada Mixta)

An Ensalada Mixta is a very common staple on dinner tables in Spain. The simple salad consists of lettuce leaves, onions, tomatoes, olives, tuna, white asparagus, and artichoke hearts. 

It is lightly dressed with some olive oil and salt, and occasionally vinegar. Some variations include baby corn and sliced-boiled eggs. 

It is very versatile and any other ingredients you like can be added to it. It’s packed with flavor, easy to make, and super healthy! 

4. Trempo

This next salad takes simple to a whole new level. It consists of onions, tomatoes, and Mallorcan green bell peppers all chopped finely, mixed together, drizzled with olive oil, and seasoned with salt. 

This is a great side dish that will ensure you’re getting a healthy dose of several nutritious vegetables. 

It is usually served next to some bread and olives, and is a popular option when people dine ‘al fresco.’

5. Remojon

This salad originated in Granada, a beautiful city in the mountains of Andalusia. It consists of salted cod, oranges, red peppers, scallions, garlic, olive oil, olives, and wine or sherry vinegar. 

Occasionally the salted cod is replaced with tuna and anchovies, and the result is equally as delicious. 

The fish is grilled to perfection before being cut up into flakes. It is then combined with slices of juicy orange, scallions, garlic, and vinegar. The salad is then topped with olive oil and olives and is sometimes served with large lettuce leaves that act like scoops. 

6. Pipirrana

This salad is originally from the Andalusian region in Spain, but different parts of the country have their own variation of it. 

Traditionally, it’s made with onions, cucumbers, green peppers, and tomatoes. The vegetables are all chopped up finely, mixed together and combined with olive oil and vinegar. 

This dish is normally served with bread in order to soak up the flavors, and occasionally, tuna and boiled eggs are added for more substance. 

Pipirrana is a wonderfully refreshing option for the summer months, and it is incredibly easy to prepare. It also works well as a base for any other ingredients you want to add, such as chicken or fish. 

7. Empedrat

Coming from Catalonia, Empedrat is a delicious bean-based salad that combines white beans with cod, tomatoes, bell peppers, black olives, eggs, onions, vinegar, olive oil, and salt. 

The combination of flavors and textures makes this a favorite at many Spanish bars and restaurants, and it also makes for a very healthy meal.

The salad is usually made and then left to cool in the fridge for around an hour before serving. This makes it a very refreshing meal for the summer months.

8. Ensalada Murciana

As the name suggests, this salad is from Murcia, and is made with boiled eggs, tuna/cod, onions, tomatoes, and black cuquillo olives. 

During the winter, this dish is served at room temperature, but during the summer months it is served chilled, This makes it a very refreshing option for the warmer months. 

This is a salad that improves the longer it sits, as the flavors have time to blend together, so it is recommended that you prepare it a few hours in advance, or even a day ahead of time. 

The above also makes it a great leftover salad option! 

9. Xato Salad

Xato is another salad that comes from Catalonia. It is made with a combination of endive leaves, cod, tuna, anchovies, Arbequina olives, and salt. 

The dressing used is a combination of garlic, hazelnuts, almonds, breadcrumbs, vinegar, olive oil, salt, and nyora peppers that have been dried. 

This salad is packed with flavor and is normally served as an appetizer to a meat dish. 

10. Esqueixada

Catalonia really knows what they’re doing when it comes to salads, as this is another one that originates in that region. 

It is very simple and only consists of tomatoes, onions, red peppers, olive oil, and cod. The cod is desalted and then torn apart between the fingers and combined with the rest of the ingredients. 

Often served with boiled eggs and olives, this salad is a summer staple in all kinds of bars and restaurants across Spain. 

11. Spanish Salad With Chorizo, Olives, And Cherry Tomatoes

Who says all salads need to be cold and refreshing? This warm salad is totally heartwarming, and the combination of flavors compliment each other perfectly. 

It consists of potatoes, chorizo, black olives, and cherry tomatoes. The chorizo is fried in a pan without oil, and once the potatoes have been parboiled, they are thrown into the pan that contains the chorizo, so they take on all of that flavor. 

While it is prepared as a warm salad, it can be refrigerated and served cold too! 

12. Asadillo Manchego

This interesting salad resembles a soup at first glance but is actually a blended salad made with red peppers, garlic, cumin, olive oil, and salt.

It is normally served with some bread for dipping, and a boiled egg crumbled on top. The roasted red peppers are blended along with the tomatoes and spices until it all reaches a purée consistency. 

This is a very refreshing lunch or dinner option and puts an interesting twist on regular salads. 

13. Spanish Pasta Salad

A pasta salad is a great, healthy option if you don’t have too much time to cook. This Spanish pasta salad is filled with delicious Spanish flavors, including Manchego cheese! 

It consists of whatever pasta of your choice, sun-dried tomato pesto, antipasto char grilled peppers, plum tomatoes, paprika, Manchego cheese, and basil leaves. 

Everything is mixed together and added to the cooked pasta! This can be served warm or chilled. 

Final Thoughts 

To conclude, Spain has a way of making the most out of minimal ingredients, and this is evident in their delicious salads. 

Most of the options on this list only require a few ingredients, many of which are likely to already be lying around in your fridge. 

We hope this article has given you some inspiration to bring the flavors of Spain to your home by making some of these delicious salads!

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