Our Top Vegan Tapas Ideas

What is tapas? 

For anyone who is unfamiliar with this Spanish cuisine, or if you’d  just like a reminder, tapas is a style of communal eating, sharing small plates with friends and family allowing everyone to try a bit of everything. 

The name is derived from the Spanish verb ‘tapar’, which means ‘to cover’, nodding to it’s humble origins when innkeepers would offer slices of bread and meats to cover the tops of travellers drinks to keep out fruit flies. Natural development saw bartenders starting to create snacks to be paired with the drinks they were protecting. 

Photo credits: Ischta

The tapas eventually became more important than the drinks they were designed to cover, with the style of eating now loved world-wide.

Top vegan tapas recipes

We love juicy Queen olives, sun dried tomatoes and fresh bread with oil, but there’s much more to a menu of vegan tapas than just these simple (and delicious) snacks. 

Classics

What’s tapas without a slice of frittata? Here’s our favourite vegan chickpea flour frittata recipe from Vegan Richa, packed full with mushrooms, cauliflower and broccoli.

Photo credits: Vegan Richa

Why not try Val’s fresh tomato gazpacho recipe as a quick five minute companion for your vegan tapas night? 

This vegan patatas bravas recipe from the School Night Vegan is guaranteed to be a winner. Its creamy garlic aioli is the perfect addition to these fluffy potatoes with its spicy tomato sauce.

Photo credits: The School Night Vegan

Something with a twist

These raw and crispy jicama fries from One Green Planet with their simple seasoning of chilli, paprika and nutritional yeast are firm favourites of ours, and we’re sure you’ll love them too.

Photo credits: One Green Planet

We also love these fried aubergine slices with molasses and rosemary form Food To Glow. So much so that we recommend making extra and keeping the recipe handy to pass on to your guests who will indubitably request it for themselves. 

Photo credits: Food To Glow

How about finishing off with a plate of Bianca Zabatka’s vegan spinach croquettes? They’re crispy on the outside and creamy, soft and delicious on the inside. 

Photo credits: Bianca Kabatka

Best from the shelves 

Fancy all the fun of tapas, with less washing up? Here are a few of our top vegan tapas picks from supermarkets:

These bites of harissa roasted aubergines from the M&S Plant Kitchen range at fiery and flavourful.

Photo credits: M&S

Why not try these chimichanga bean parcels from ASDA for a taste of Mexican vegan tapas evolution?

Last up are some vegan creamy cherry peppers stuffed with a tahini and tofu filling from Waitrose. They’re tangy, nutty and oh-so moreish.

Photo credits: Waitrose

Let us know your favourites in the comments.