Tapas, Paella or the Whole Country? The Best Spanish Cookbook

In our kitchen a tortilla is a round of masa on a comal. In Spain it is a thick potato omelet. That one word says a lot about how the two cuisines share a language and part of a history while going separate ways, and our guide to Mexican food vs Spanish food covers the differences.

If you want to cook the Spanish side at home, the first choice is how wide to go. This guide gives eight books from named authors and established publishers, from one enormous household classic to a whole book on paella, and says which rest on a named review and which on the publisher’s details.

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Quick verdict: the best Spanish cookbook to start with

The other five cover Andrés’s newest book, American dinners with a Spanish accent, Basque pintxos, paella and the Balearic Islands.

Five Spanish cookbooks side by side

Five of the eight, one for each kind of cook. All eight are described in full below.

Cover images from Amazon. Page counts and formats are from the Amazon listings for the editions linked. Recipe counts are from the publisher’s copy.

Our picks for the best Spanish cookbook, book by book

All eight were in stock, in print and new when we checked. Seven were sold by Amazon. Spain My Way came from a third-party seller, as its entry explains. We have not cooked from these books; where we describe a strength, we say whose view it is.

How to choose a Spanish cookbook for your kitchen

Spanish food is often simple on the plate, so what matters is what the book asks you to buy and how it plans your meal.

• Tapas or full dinners? Cúrate and The Book of Pintxos suit parties. Made in Spain and Spanish Accent suit dinner.
• What about paella? Most of these books include some, and Allibhoy devotes a whole book to it. Check our paella pan guide first, since the pan shapes the result.
• Reference or reading? The Ortegas give you volume. Buckley and Koehler give you place.
• Ingredient shopping. Good olive oil, smoked paprika and rice do a lot of the work in this kind of cooking. Spanish cured meats and saffron can take more hunting, and we cannot say how much each book relies on them.

How we chose these Spanish cookbooks

We searched Amazon’s book listings first and kept print editions from named authors at established publishers, plain in stock with a new lead offer. We left out every title already on our other book pages, including Andrés’s Zaytinya and Claudia Roden’s Mediterranean. Author, year, format and page count come from the Amazon listing. Recipe counts and descriptions come from the publisher’s copy, as carried by booksellers, unless we credit someone else. Two authors appear twice because their two books do different jobs.

Here is what stands behind each pick. Made in Spain, Cúrate and Paella have Publishers Weekly reviews we read ourselves. Spain: The Cookbook, The Book of Pintxos, Spanish Accent and Koehler’s book have praise we read only as quoted by the publisher. Spain My Way rests on publisher details and the author’s record.

Stock ruled out some names we wanted. Claudia Roden’s The Food of Spain, Penelope Casas’s Tapas and Delicioso!, the Clarks’ Moro books and Tapas Revolution were low in stock when we checked, and Casas’s The Foods and Wines of Spain was not available for immediate shipping.

Spanish cookbook questions, answered

What is the best tapas cookbook?

Of these, Cúrate for a mixed party and The Book of Pintxos for Basque bar food. PW points to Cúrate‘s chapters as working for tapas parties.

Which Spanish cookbook has the most recipes?

Spain: The Cookbook, with 1,080.

Do I need a paella pan to use these books?

Only for paella proper. Allibhoy discusses pans and heat in detail, per PW, and Andrés’s Made in Spain asks for no special equipment overall, also per PW.

Is Spanish food like Mexican food?

They share words and some ingredients, but they are different cuisines. Our guide to Mexican food vs Spanish food explains the difference.

Which book is best for beginners?

Made in Spain, which PW says suits beginners and needs no special techniques.

Which Spanish cookbook should you buy first?

Buy Made in Spain if you want to start cooking. Choose Spain: The Cookbook for reference, Cúrate for tapas and Paella if you own the pan. For more of the wider region, see our best Mediterranean cookbook guide.

And if you would rather have Mexican food cooked for you tonight, see the menu or call to order.