Are you obsessed with Spanish food too? I have been crushing this no-cook romesco sauce on grilled chicken at least once a week. I was thinking patatas bravas to use up a bit of extra romesco, but potatoes felt too heavy. I had jicama on hand, so I made a low carb patatas bravas.
Jicama Bravas with roasted garlic aioli and no-cook romesco for the win! You must try this… even if you aren’t normally paleo or low carb. It is delicious! The jicama has crispness and crunch, without having to deep fry, that potatoes don’t have.
Some people doubt jicama is really low carb… but it has 4g of net carbs compared to 15g that a regular potato has.
We have enjoyed this recipe a few times now, once as part of a Spanish tapas style date night at home, as a side dish with grilled steak and we used leftovers for breakfast with a yolky egg on top and a side of our quick sautéed greens. Hmmm I may need to do a separate post for a low carb patatas bravas breakfast bowl, no? It was amazing!
How to Make Low Carb Patatas Bravas
One of the things I love about this recipe is that all the components can be made ahead of time and assembled right before eating. Or you can complete the whole dish while the garlic is roasting and eat the same day.
To start, we roast the garlic for the aioli in the traditional way. Top cut off, wrapped in foil and baked until soft. Allow it to cool and then pop out the cloves and mash up with your mayo (or vegan mayo). Easy.
While the garlic is roasting you can whip up our no-cook romesco sauce in just a couple minutes using a blender or food processor. It just needs a quick turn on the stove to heat it up. Or you can serve it at room temperature. But cold sauce and warm crispy jicama is a no-go.
With the sauces out of the way lets work on our low carb potatoes… sorry, jicama. Did you know there is a trick to peeling jicama? Scrap off the top with a paring knife until you get a nub of skin and then carefully peel back piece by piece. Clean off any remaining skin with the knife. Cut into ½ cubes.
Processing the jicama for your low carb patatas bravas is a two-part process. First, we boil until fork tender. Then we drain them to ensure they are nice and dry. The dryness ensures the jicama properly crisps up when we pan fry. If you are preparing this recipe in advanced, a good stopping point is between boiling the jicama and frying it.
To crisp up your jicama, melt coconut oil (vegan) or bacon fat in a cast iron skillet. The jicama should be placed in an even layer. Resist the urge to stir frequently, you want each side to get nice golden-brown color.
To serve the low-carb patatas bravas load up the jicama into a shallow bowl, drizzle on the romesco sauce, garlic aioli and garnish with chopped parsley.
Alternatively, you can turn this into an individual bite sized appetizer by placing 2-3 pieces on a toothpick and dipping into the two sauces.
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Low carb Jicama Patatas Bravas is a paleo version of your favorite Spanish tapas. Topped with roasted garlic aioli and no cook romesco sauce.
- 1 head garlic
- 2-3 Tbsp olive oil
- 1/3 cup mayonnaise regular or vegan
- 1 Tbsp lemon juice
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 1/4 tsp black pepper
- 1 10oz jar roasted red peppers, drained
- 1/2 cup sliced almonds, lightly toasted
- 2 Tbsp tomato paste
- 2 Tbsp red wine vinegar
- 1 clove garlic, peeled
- 1 tsp smoked paprika
- 1/4 cup parsley, roughly chopped
- pinch cayenne pepper
- 2 lbs jicama
- 4 Tbsp bacon fat or coconut oil for frying
- parsley, chopped for garnish
Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Cut off the top of the head of garlic, drizzle with the olive oil and wrap in foil. Bake 45-50 minutes until cloves are very soft.
Allow garlic to cool. Squeeze the garlic from each clove into a food processor. Combine with mayo, lemon juice, salt & pepper. Pulse until smooth.
Place all ingredients into a blender. Process on medium high until mixture is smooth but grainy.
Peel jicama and cut into 1/2 inch cubes. Bring large pot of salted water to boil. Boil jicama cubes for 20-25 minutes until fork tender.
Drain jicama on a wire rack. Allow to dry for at least 15 minutes. Jicama can be stored at this point for 2-3 days.
Melt bacon fat or coconut oil in a cast iron skillet (or other heavy bottom pan) on med-high heat. Add jicama, frying on each side until golden brown and crispy, about 10-15 minutes total
Place jicama on a serving platter. Drizzle with garlic aioli and romesco sauce. Garnish with fresh parsley.
Not AIP compliant
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