Skip to content

AI-generated image

Share this recipe

Pan con tortilla

Bread with onion omelette

Pan con tortilla: Cuban bread with a thin onion omelette, buttered and pressed

Pan con tortilla is a staple of Havana cafeterías and Miami ventanitas alike: a thin, soft omelette with sweet onion folded into buttered Cuban bread and pressed until warm and crisp. It is breakfast on the way to work and a quick supper when nobody wants to cook, usually with a cafecito or a fruit shake. The common mistake is frying the onion too hard; it should be soft and sweet, not brown and bitter. Chef's tip: press the sandwich with a heavy pan so the bread goes crunchy outside while the omelette stays tender.
Total time
11 min
Difficulty
easy
Serves
2
One step at a time, big text, timers, read-aloud. Your screen stays on.

Ingredients

Serves2

Shop this recipe on Amazon

Fresh ingredients (3)

Links open Amazon in a new tab. As an Amazon Associate, WhatToEat.Today earns from qualifying purchases.

Method

0/4 done
  1. Step 1: Heat 1 tbsp vegetable oil in a 24 cm frying pan over a medium heat and cook ½ onion until soft and translucent, 3 minutes.

    3 min
  2. Step 2: Beat 4 eggs with ¼ tsp salt and pour over the onion. Cook until the bottom has set, then fold the omelette in half and cook until firm all the way through with no runny egg, about 2 minutes more. Cut it in two.

    3 min
  3. Step 3: Spread ⅔ oz butter on the cut sides of 1 Cuban bread or soft baguette and lay a piece of omelette in each.

  4. Step 4: Toast the sandwiches in a dry pan over a medium heat, pressing down with a heavy pan or a spatula, until crisp and golden on both sides, about 1 minute per side.

    2 min

Nutrition per serving

Calories
480 kcal
Protein
18 g
Carbs
48 g
Fat
23 g
Fibre
2 g

Nutrition values are estimates.

K
Recipe by

KrazyBadal

All recipes by this chef →

Good to know

How long does pan con tortilla take?
About 11 minutes in total: 3 minutes to prepare and 8 minutes to cook.
How many people does it serve?
2 as written. Change the servings above the ingredients and every amount scales to match.
Is it vegetarian?
Yes. It has no meat or fish.
What can I use instead of onion?
2 shallots per onion.
What can I use instead of eggs?
1 tbsp ground flaxseed + 3 tbsp water per egg, left for 5 minutes (baking only; vegan).

Reviews

No reviews yet. Be the first to cook it.

Rate this recipe

Sign in to rate and review this recipe.

Sandwich grecKebab baguette

In Paris, a "grec" is the late-night kebab sandwich named after the Greek-run shops that first sold it in the Latin Quarter. On rue de la Huchette and rue Saint-André-des-Arts near Saint-Michel, students queue after a night out for crusty bread or pitta stuffed with meat shaved from a turning spit, lettuce, tomato and onion, a garlicky white sauce, and, the Paris touch, a handful of fries pushed right inside. This home version marinates chicken thighs in spiced yoghurt, sears them hard and slices them thin, with oven fries. It contains milk, egg (in the mayonnaise) and wheat. Chef's tip: slice the meat thinly across the grain after resting; thick chunks don't feel like a grec.

by KrazyBadal 2 views

Crema de malangaMalanga root soup

Ask anyone raised in Havana what they were fed when they were ill and the answer is usually crema de malanga: a pale, velvety soup of the starchy root, gently scented with garlic and onion. It is also one of the first foods Cuban babies and grandparents alike are given, because it is soft, mild and filling. The classic mistake is grating raw malanga with bare hands, which can make your skin itch; peel it wearing gloves and rinse it well. Serve it plain or with a few croutons. Chef's tip: blend in the butter at the end rather than frying in it, so the soup tastes clean and creamy rather than heavy.

40 minCubanSoupsGluten free
by KrazyBadal 1 views

ZapiekankaOpen baguette with mushrooms and cheese

Zapiekanka is Polish street food born in the 1970s and perfected at the hatch windows around Plac Nowy in Kraków's Kazimierz district, where students and night owls queue for one at midnight. Half a long baguette is topped with mushrooms fried with onion, covered in grated cheese and baked until crisp at the edges and bubbling, then finished with a zigzag of ketchup and chives. The classic version has no meat at all. Use a hard cheese made with vegetarian rennet (many supermarket mild Cheddars and Goudas are). Chef's tip: fry the mushrooms until completely dry before they go on the bread; wet mushrooms make the baguette soggy instead of crisp.

by KrazyBadal 1 views
More recipes with:onioneggbutter