How to Host a Spanish Dinner Party

Do you want to host a Spanish dinner party with your family and friends? Here is a menu I just put together to make your night so fun and delicious!

I absolutely love a themed dinner – the first thing I do when hosting a dinner party is think of the menu and see what inspiration hits! If you’d like to read some of my best tips for hosting a cocktail/dinner party, look here.

So when I hosted a small dinner for some of my friends from church, I was inspired by a Spanish charcuterie board. There is so much you can do with the charcuterie board.

Save

Here are some of the elements of my Spanish charcuterie board

• Meats – the Spanish are known for their chorizo, a bright red cured meat that is extremely flavorful.  You can’t go wrong with jamon serrano (serrano ham), which has a milder taste compared to the chorizo – I would describe it as being similar to prosciutto!
• Cheeses – I’d say the most popular Spanish cheese (and my favorite) is Manchego cheese, it is savory, nutty – and goes well with all the meats. Manchego cheese is followed closely by Iberico cheese, which is similar to manchego but made out of goat’s milk – equally as delicious!
• Olives – Spain is a massive olive producer – I usually go to the grocery store and grab an olive from Spain. In my board I used manzanilla olives, which come from Seville, you can find those at any grocery store – but take a look around and see what olives look good!
• Crackers – choose whichever you’d like from the store that have a neutral flavor since the meats and cheese are flavor-filled!
• Jam/Marmalade – I found a Sevillian orange marmalade at Trader Joes and added it to my board! But other options include quince paste (a sweet/tart paste made from the quince fruit, popular in Spain), or just any other jam or honey you feel fits!
• Fruit and Vegetables – it’s always nice to add fresh produce to a board – you can add some pear slices, some mini cucumbers, or anything else you think pairs well!

You could also go for a more tapas route for your get-together too! Tapas are small bites or appetizers that people enjoy with a glass of wine or cocktails.

Here are my favorite Tapas recipes for your Spanish dinner party:

Tortilla Espanola (Or Spanish Omelette) – This is one of my favorite Spanish dishes – its hearty, filling, and has simple ingredients – the tricky part about making a tortilla Española is flipping the egg and potato mixture over, it can get messy if you aren’t careful! Here is a good recipe from Spanish Sabores if you want to give it a shot!

Save

Gambas al ajillo, or Spanish garlic shrimp is a delicious shrimp dish packed with garlic and lemon!

Save

Main Dishes for your Spanish Dinner Party:

At my last dinner, I served Ina Garten’s roasted vegetable paella that I really enjoyed! Although I wouldn’t call it traditional, since the original paella contains seafood, this version was simple and delicious! For paella you are going to want to use a traditional paella rice like a calasparra rice – which is similar to a risotto rice!

Save

If you want a more traditional paella, Tastes Better from Scratch has a great recipe!

Save

Drinks:

You can’t have a Spanish night without sangria! Sangria is a Spanish punch typically made with red wine, sliced fruits, and other liquor – it is so delicious and refreshing. If you want to save on time, you can grab a bottle of sangria already prepared at the store (I used the Costco brand at my last party and it was wonderful) and then you can add your own chopped fruit (apples, oranges, lemon, pear, nectarine) and serve it over ice!

Trader Joe’s has a delicious non-alcoholic chardonnay that you can doctor up by adding some chopped up fruit and making it a non-alcoholic sangria!

If you’d like to make your own sangria here are some great recipes:

Save

Save

Want to forgo the cocktails? Pick up a bottle of Rioja wine which is a full bodied red wine from Northern Spain, or a bottle of Cava – which is Spain’s take on champagne!

Dessert for your Spanish dinner party!

For my dinner party I ended up serving a guava cake that I was testing out for the blog (recipe coming soon!) but a tres leches cake isn’t technically Spanish (I think) but I feel like it goes with the vibe well!

I’ve shared this tres leches before on my easter recipe round-up here, but it’s a versatile recipe that can be completely made ahead and is just delicious.

Save

This would obviously be A LOT of cooking for a single dinner party, that’s why I always choose some shortcuts (like Costco sangria that I doctored up), something that you can make the day before (dessert), and something you can whip up quickly (the charcuterie board)!

What are some good Spanish dishes that I missed? I’d love to try them – leave them in the comments below!