Easy Ensalada Malagueña Recipe - Visit Southern Spain (2024)

Salads are the accompaniments par excellence. If you want to eat a steak, a chicken leg, or a fish filet, salad is always a great option to use as a side dish.

Fans of salads know that the best is the Ensalada Malagueña. This Spanish salad stands out above the rest because it is not only a side dish, but you can also serve it as a main dish.

In this article we will show you how you can make this Spanish potato salad, the changes you can make to the ingredients, how you can serve and store it, and much more.

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Background of the Dish

The Malagueña Salad is much more than a fish salad. In fact, it is considered one of the best Spanish salad recipes, because it combines flavors from the sea and the land, these being cod and potato, respectively.

Originally it was a dish prepared by the lower classes, especially the Andalusian fishermen.

The fishermen brought the catch of the day, which was usually cod, and mixed it with the other things they had in the house. Many times this was potato as it was one of the cheapest vegetables.

Over time, this Ensalada Malagueña became so popular that it began to reach everywhere, and even now it is served in other countries, not only in Spain. Its fame should not surprise you, it is an easy salad to make, rich, and very filling.

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Things You’ll Need for Ensalada Malagueña

Something great about making this Spanish salad is that you don’t need any fancy equipment or ingredients.

You just need potatoes, eggs, cod, and orange as the main ingredients, but you still can make plenty of substitutions.

Ingredients

• 4 medium potatoes
• 2 oranges
• 2 spring onions
• 250g of cod (in pieces)
• 4 eggs
• 100g black olives (pitted)
• oil
• salt to taste
• pepper to taste

How to Make Ensalada Malagueña – Step by Step Guide

1. To start making this Spanish salad recipe, put the cleaned potatoes in a saucepan and add water until they are completely covered. Bring the water to a boil. When it starts to boil, lower the fire to medium and let them cook for about 30 minutes or until they are completely cooked.

2. In the meantime start cooking the eggs. In a small saucepan put the eggs and cover them with water. Bring the water to a boil and cook them for 10 minutes.

3. After that, grab another pan, put the cod cut into pieces, and cover it with water. Heat over high heat and before it starts to boil, turn off the heat and let the cod rest in the water for about 10 minutes. After this time, drain the water from the cod and reserve it on a plate.

4. Now is the time to assemble the Ensalada. In a bowl, put the potatoes cut into bite-size cubes and the orange into segments. If the segments are too big, cut them in half.

5. Up next, add the cod and the onions cut into julienne strips. Place the peeled and quartered eggs and the whole olives.

6. Finally, dress the Malaga salad with a little olive oil and season to taste. You can serve it right away or store it in the fridge to eat later.

Substitution of Ingredients

This Ensalada de bacalao stands out from other bacalao recipes because you can play a lot with the ingredients that you use.

The main ingredients are eggs, potatoes, cod, and oranges, but you can even change them.

If you don’t like orange, you can completely remove it or add grapefruit or tangerine to stay in the citrus group, or you can innovate and add grapes to give it a fresh and sweet touch instead of acid.

Instead of cod, you can use hake or any other type of white fish. You can completely transform it and use seafood, although it would no longer be an authentic Ensalada Malagueña.

If you are looking for a healthy cod fish recipe, you can swap the potato for a sweet potato or pumpkin that has fewer calories.

Or try a Spanish sweet potato and the ensalada de mango recipe instead. Anyway, remember that boiled potatoes are quite healthy, so you don’t have to worry.

Tips on Serving Ensalada Malagueña

This is one of the most simple cod recipes, so you can serve it however you like. It can be served as a whole meal by itself because the fish, egg, and potatoes are pretty filling and have plenty of nutrients.

The best part about this bacalao salad is that you can eat it at any time of the day. You can have it for lunch, dinner, or even as an afternoon snack.

Did you like this recipe? Then we encourage you to try other salads like the refreshing pipirrana salad, the grilled octopus salad recipe, or the warm Spanish bean salad for winter.

Give a try to one of the best summer recipes from Spain, the Spanish fruit salad, a refreshing and flavorful dessert.

Try the Spanish potato salad with beets, a nutritious and healthy recipe you must try.

How to Store Ensalada Malagueña

This cod salad is a fan favorite in Andalusia, but one disadvantage is that you can’t store it for that long.

Contrary to what happens with healthy cod fish recipes, you can only store this for up to 3 days.

You can’t freeze this Ensalada Malagueña because the potato and the cod don’t freeze well. However, you can store it in your fridge for up to 3 days.

Recipe Card: Ensalada Malagueña