Potato bombas are tasty little stuffed mashed potato balls that you can find in Spanish tapas bars.

I’ll be honest, although I’ve lived in Spain for three years, I’ve never had a bomba.

This is because they’re generally filled with meat. But considering that they’re basically giant croquettes, you could potentially fill them with anything you like, and that idea is what has given rise to my vegan potato bombas.

The days in Barcelona are just now at that perfect temperature where you can be outside without a sweater but not yet so stiflingly hot that no one could bear the thought of putting on clothes and leaving the air conditioned apartment.

That means for these few weeks of neither hot nor cold it’s the perfect time to enjoy some tapas and a cold beer on a sunny patio. When we go out for tapas we normally stick to the usual patatas bravas or padron peppers , but potato bombas are equally typical tapas that can be found around Barcelona bars.

Since I’ve never ordered a bomba in a bar, it was my husband who introduced me to them and suggested it could be a good dish to veganize.

It’s true – potato bombas are very similar to Italian arancini , those little stuffed rice balls in marinara sauce that perhaps you’re already familiar with.

Bombas are even easier. Instead of rice, mashed potatoes, which are so soft and malleable you can easily fold them around your choice of any kind of filling.

What’s interesting about potato bombas is that it’s one of the few Spanish dishes that actually carries a little bit of spice.

Chili and cayenne pepper are not ingredients that you usually find in Spanish food but, much to my delight, they’re called for in potato bomba recipes both in the filling and in the sauce.

You might find one or two sauces accompanying this tapa: alioli , salsa brava or a kind of pink mayonnaise-ketchup cocktail sauce.