Different types of Spanish croquettes

Name: Best Food Spain
Prep time: 1 min
Cook time: 1 min
Total time: 2 min
Yield: 20
Cuisine: Spanish cuisine

Table of Contents

When you bite a croquette you should feel it crunchy outside and soft inside. Thus, the flavor of the bechamel is optimal for your stomach.

By JOSE

Croquettes de jamón: 100% made in Spain

First of all, whatever type of croquette you choose to cook, they should always be 100% homemade.

Second of all, the most traditional croquettes is the ones made with ham. We call them croquetas de jamón…

…mmmmm They are delicious!

In this article I have compiled a selection of the different types of Spanish croquettes that you can cook, which surely will inspire you for your next celebration event.

Nowadays, the croquettes are one the most typical Spanish dish. However, the origin of the croquettes is from France. As you have probably noticed, the term “bechamel” is french.

Apart from France, you can also find croquettes in Belgium, where they add shrimps in the bechamel. Even in Portugal and Italy have heir own type of croquettes filled with potatoes or rice.

Depending on the ingredients, we can distinguish croquettes of ham, beef, chicken and sausages. You can also try with fish, tuna, hake, salmon, or cod for example. Click here to see our recipe of the cod croquettes.

If you want a vegeterian alternative to the meat croquettes, you can also cook them with cheese, vegetables or mushrooms.

“In order to cook the best Spanish croquettes, the important part is to make a good béchamel. Thereafter, add the main ingredient, such as cod, chicken or mushroom, which will give the characteristic flavor.”

Classification of the Spanish croquettes

Here is a list of the possible ingredients which you can add to the bechamel of your Spanish croquettes:

Foie gras
Crab (the best ones are served in Gijon!)
Chicken
Cod
Chorizo
Mushroom
Ham
Eggplant/Aubergine
Cheese
Peppers
Turkey
Boiled eggs
Broccoli

The best thing about the Spanish cuisine is that you can try and combine as many ingredients that you want. The traditional food in Spain is limitless.

Nowadays, there are a huge variety of Spanish croquettes, for example, some high quality restaurants can offer Spanish croquettes made of black pudding, apples, pistachio and ham; mussels with prawns; boletus with ham and gorgonzola with walnuts and pear… As you can see, there is no limit of the ingredients that you can add to your bechamel.

Be original and prepare your traditional Spanish croquettes. Let us know in the comments below!

Cod croquettes

As an example, I have chosen the cod croquettes to show you how to cook them well!

The key is to cook them with a good bechamel, which is just a mixture of flour, milk and olive oil among other ingredients.

Let’s dive into it!

INGREDIENTS (For 6 people):

200 grams of cod fish
1 onion
2 garlic cloves
100 grams of flour
1 litre of milk
100 ml of olive oil or 100 grams of butter
Salt
Parsley
3 eggs
Breadcrumbs

Step 1.

Crumble the cod fish into small pieces. Cut the onion and the two garlic cloves into tiny pieces as well.

Step 2.

Pre-heat the sauce pan and add the olive oil (you can also add some butter). Afterwards, add the onion into the sauce pan. Then, add the garlic. Finally, add the cod fish. Keep cooking it!

Step 3. Very important!

Add all the flour and keep cooking it while stirring. Use a whisk to help you. Add the milk little by a little while mixing the bechamel.

This is the secret of the recipe: Do not add the milk all at once. Instead, add the milk little by little. Wait until the mixture is homogeneous, and then add the milk.

“Do not add the milk all at once. Instead, add the milk little by little!”

Step 4.

Add the salt and the parsley. Keep stirring. Do not stop the stirring! Stir it for 20 minutes, smash the mixture with the whisk, so the final product is a homogeneous mixture.

Step 5.

Place the mixture into a container. Let it rest for 3 or 4 hours (or overnight if you wish) to cool down. You can keep it in the fridge to speed up the process. In order to not create a hard layer on the surface of the mixture, you can paint the surface of the bechamel with some olive oil or butter. You can also cover the mixture with a plastic film.

Step 6.

Once it has been cooled down. You can start shaping your croquettes. We have rolled the mixture into a long cylinder and then cut it into pieces with a scissor. You can create balls if you prefer. It is up to you.

Step 7.

Cover the croquettes with flour, then with egg, and finally with breadcrumbs. Heat up the frying pan with abundant olive oil. Once the frying pan is hot, you can start frying the croquettes. The trick to getting a good croquette is keep the frying pan hot enough, neither too hot nor too cold.