The Picky Eaters Guide to Spain

When traveling to a foreign country most people can’t wait to try new food. Exotic dishes like squid, octopus, and escargot might intrigue some, but for others their palette exclusively consists of the kid’s menu at the Rain Forest Café.

For those who have a diet of chicken nuggets, plain hamburgers, and the occasional foray into seafood, welcome, this article is you because Spains cuisine is a whole new ballgame.

Even seafood lovers might have a risky time. As Audrey Stevens said, “I like seafood, but it might not be the answer here as it’s very out there in Barcelona for an American, they have too much octopus and other stuff I don’t like at all."

Welcome to the guide on what to eat, how to order, and expand your palette while abroad in Spain for the 5 year old inside us all.

Do not worry Spain has bacon and waffles for when you need a slice of America in your life.

Eating in Spain

On your first day in Spain, you will notice many differences from almost every culture in the world. In Spain lunch is the big meal of the day and dinner is lighter. This eating pattern is the reverse of America due to the Spanish siesta, a midday nap spanning usually between 2 and 5pm daily.

This break in the day is not enforced by law, but many shops will close between these hours. Be ready to eat earlier than expected, and do not expect tables to sit you right at 2pm outside touristy areas.

Dinner is usually served as tapas. This might scare a picky eater. A fancy word describing a dish might scare them off. Do not worry this just means a small appetizer that you will probably order 2 or 3 different dishes at a meal.

This is an amazing way to sample many dishes and try new foods. If you do not like something, you can just eat the other parts of your meal. If you do like the tapas, there will most likely be an entrée portion available at other shops throughout Spain.

Do not fear, typical breakfasts like these Nutella pancakes pictured can be easily found at cafés across Spain.

Typical Spanish Meals

Now after discussing the differences abroad in Spain let’s get to the specific foods. You will encounter a variety of dishes, but for the picky eater here let’s look simple. What will your inner 5 year old eat that you can order anywhere on the street.

Whether it’s your child, friend, significant other, or even you the person reading this article there are three simple foods you must try while in Spain to open your horizons of food.

These three will be bocadillaos, croquetas, and paella. They sound fancy, and to be frank a little scary, but if there was a McDonalds Happy Meal of Spain these three would replace your plain hamburger, french fries, and chicken nuggets.

All of these are extremely simple to try and even though they may still scare the pickiest of eaters for almost 99.9% of the population they will be a perfect foray into the cuisine of Spain.

Bocadillaos might just be the simplest step into the cuisine of Spain. Bread and ham that’s it. For the child who was raised on chicken and turkey deli meat it might take some convincing but looking at every window pilled in ham sandwiches might get the resident starving picky eater who might be a slight bit angry to cave in.

These ham sandwiches are simple. Almost all shops sell the banquettes with or without cheese. For the sake of this article make sure to say “no queso” since of course who wants more than one ingredient inside their bread. Foods can’t touch around here it’s the cardinal rule of the picky eater.

Most bocadillaos from vendors will cost anywhere from four to six euros depending on the vendor. They are extremely cheap and will fill anyone up. Trust in the sandwich it will not let you down when your stomach starts attacking you.

Links will be provided to recipes to all these dishes for you to make at home before traveling to Spain, but for a bocadillao just get a baguette slap some prosciutto on it and bam Guy Fieri just took you to picky eater Flavortown right at home.

Eating a bocadillao is an everyday thing in Spain. There are many options but the plain ham sandwich in the middle is for the picky eater in your group.

Croquetas are the food that takes the title of the chicken nugget of the Iberian Peninsula. A simple delicacy that just like all food its taste masked with enough ketchup that anyone can enjoy it.

Croqueta or chicken nugget? Eating one of these will not phase the pickiest of eaters.

These chicken nugget imposters are made with breadcrumbs, creamy mayonnaise, and a meat consisting of usually chicken or ham or even both if you want to spice things up. What you probably immediately took notice of is the creamy mayonnaise. You will not taste it. Do not be scared.

The flavor of the meat is what stands out in these creamy nuggets and will do you well in any fancy meal on the menu. No one will judge you for ordering these at any meal unlike when you crave dinosaur nuggets on the regular.

Almost any restaurant in Spain will have croquetas on the menu and you can even make them at home before you travel to Spain. If you want to make these at home here is a recipe to use before or after traveling.

Now to the holy grail of experimental eating in Spain the paella.

The paella can be the scariest food for anyone all the way to being the perfect meal for the baby who hasn’t even grown in their first tooth yet.

Now the question is what is a paella? It is rice and whatever else the chefs heart desires. Paellas range from chicken, ham, vegetables, and honestly it wouldn’t be surprising if a chef took whatever is in the back of the kitchen and threw it into a pallea to make the everything bagel of Spain.

Even John Lemon chef at La Catedra said “Paella is the most famous food, and everyone eats it, it is out most ordered food.”

This paella is not for the faint of heart, but it does serve to show what a your missing out on.

Now the paella in the picture does not look like the picky eater’s paradise. More of an adventure through the depths of despair. Fear not you will most likely never eat that, but maybe with some liquid courage you may take the deep dive.

When ordering at a meal as a picky eater just say “¿Puedo por favor tener una pallea solo con pollo y arroz sin nada más?” and remember to stress the "solo". This will bring you a plate of just chicken and rice. It’s a perfect mix of two ingredients and you’ll be able to eat at any restaurant with your fellow travelers.

If you are in Barcelona and you do like pallea take Victor Sanz advice and try to arros de muntanya as he describes it as “rice with meat mixed up and I love it. It’s not a paella as it has mountain food like cow and mushrooms. For a tourist I would call it the Catalan paella.”

Thats right in the Catalan region there will be language and cuisine options, but all of the foods listed in this post will be found in all regions in Spain. Again these foods are as basic as one can get.

If you are a fan of mushrooms and cow the arros de muntanya might just be for you.

When Desperate McDonalds is Always There For You

The hope is one of these three dishes stuck out to you and it’s getting you excited. If not, there is good news for you. Every fast food chain imaginable is in Spain, except Chipotle, Spain needs Chipotle.

On every street you will find a Burger King, Taco Bell, KFC, or McDonalds. These are your good old reliable and sometimes the picky eater needs a break from the pallet overload and needs some simplicity. Back to the basics.

McDonalds is not like it is in the states. There are many different choices with such an expansive menu. There is even American Styled Chicken which is always an ironic pick.

It is worth the stop for anyone just to look at the menu and see what is missing in America as there is always something better on the other side. Even the most American thing is bigger and better outside of America, kind of ironic.

Hopefully this article has helped the picky eater in you find out what is safe in Spain and helps you broaden your horizons once in Spain. Just remember to say “no salad”, “no queso”, and “nada simple en eso” when in doubt when ordering and you should be fine.

Remember to use Google or Apple Maps to read reviews before exploring and filter down your options to find the best restaurants in whatever area you are visiting. When in doubt just look for American styled restaurants and you might even surprise yourself with what you can find. Spain has amazing food and you just have to get out there and start trying new things.