＜Tapa's Top＞Tapas Galore 2024

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You may have had the most delicious appetizers at a restaurant or snacked from small plates while enjoying a glass of red wine at a bar, but have you tasted real Spanish tapas?

They’re essential to a great night on the town in Spain, so make sure you know the best traditional Spanish tapas before you head out. 

The tapa, or small plate, is a craze that has taken the food industry by storm.

But in Spain, these snack-sized servings or canapés are part of the nation’s history.

Ingredients vary between regions and towns around the country, but you can always count on finding a selection of tapas when you enter a Spanish tapas bar or restaurant. 

Traditionally, buying a drink at a Spanish bar would get you a free tapa.

This practice is alive and well in parts of Madrid and Granada, but other areas tend to offer a tapas menu where each dish has its own price. 

In Spain, there’s even a word for going to get tapas: tapear!

To truly participate in the Spanish social scene, you’ll need to tapear at least once.

Whether you’re heading out after the traditional mid-day meal or grabbing a small bite and a glass of Spanish red wine before dinner or perhaps want to try some authentic spanish tapas recipes at home, here are some popular tapas ideas to provide both entertainment and nutrition for a relaxing afternoon in Spain.

There is some debate about where the word tapas originally came from[1].

In Spanish, it means “cover” or “lid” and refers to the old days when bars would serve drinks with a slice of ham or cheese over the rim. 

Whether this practice was meant to keep out flies, disguise low-quality spanish wines, or protect your drink from blowing away, historians aren’t sure.

However, the Spanish snack grew in popularity until it became a staple of Spanish cuisine.

Many of Spain’s most popular dishes[2] are tapas. 

Other origin myths involve an old Spanish king who decreed that all alcohol must be consumed with food to go along with it. [3]

Some stories insist that the Spanish king was sick and wanted to hide his upset stomach, while others say he issued the law to keep all of his citizens in good health.

Either way, Spanish tapas are here to stay. 

Tapas can look like almost anything.

There are countless classic tapas dishes to choose from.

Ingredients and style of preparation vary widely from one town to another, so there’s no way to predict what you’ll find when you walk into tapas bars or restaurants.

However, some spanish tapas recipes are so popular that you’ll find them almost anywhere. 

Here are the best Spanish tapas that foodies love to rave about:

Coming in first on our list are Gambas al Ajillo[4].

A classic dish at any Spanish restaurant, it involves garlic shrimps sautéed quickly in sizzling extra virgin olive oil.

Garlic, chili peppers, and peppercorn sauce give the dish a lightly spiced flavor. 

Depending on the cook, your order of Gambas al Ajillo might come with a sweet tang of sherry or a smoky paprika flavor.

It’s best enjoyed spread over a piece of toast, which soaks up the oily sauce and adds crunch to the texture of the spanish garlic shrimp.

After eating the spanish garlic prawns use your remaining crusty bread to sop up the olive oil.