Bring Spain’s Most Relaxed Tradition Into Your Own Home

What Is Spanish Aperitivo?

As I mentioned in my post about Spanish culture shocks it’s not that easy to eat dinner at 10PM for us Americans, so any opportunity to have a snack before dinner will always be appreciated. This is where the Spanish aperitivo comes in. And the great news is, we can do the Spanish aperitivo easily at home!

Like many of its European neighbors, Spain has a tradition of the aperitivo, which is basically just eating and drinking in anticipation of the main meal. In Spain the aperitivo was traditionally before lunch — though there are no hard and fast rules these days.

The Spanish aperitivo consists of a drink and a bite of something meant to whet the appetite (think: a bitter vermouth cocktail and a small bowl of marinated olives). The practice is similar to happy hour here in the United States, but it’s a little more relaxed (and definitely comes with better snacks). While the image of enjoying this on a patio in Sevilla in the spring is great, it’s also perfectly doable at home.

I love hosting an aperitivo because it’s a great way to get people together without all the work that can so often go with a big dinner party.

A lot of the time when you’re hosting, you have way too much to do to enjoy being with your guests: opening the front door when people arrive, taking coats, rushing around in the kitchen, while also attempting to mix a complicated cocktail and trying to have a good time and be the kind of cool, relaxed host that puts your guests in the mood to hang out.

With aperitivo, there’s no cooking or major drink mixing — just hanging. It’s a great last-minute option, or perfect when people have dinner plans but want to do a quick hang first.

How to Set Up Spanish Aperitivo at Home

Invite a few friends, or do it solo with music and sunshine. There’s no right or wrong way! The idea is just to chill and enjoy.

Timing: Weekends before dinner, or a lazy Sunday afternoon

Setup: Serve everything at once, no need for courses

Atmosphere: No need to set a fancy table (unless of course you really love that sort of thing, in which case, go for it)

Music tip: Throw on a Spotify playlist or, better yet, Spain’s Radio 3. They always have interesting shows that help me discover something new (bit of a lost art these days). Their selection can be overwhelming, but I like the shows Como Lo Oyes and Cuando los elefantes sueñan con la música.

Easy Spanish Aperitivo Drinks You Can Buy

Aperitivo is meant to be easy. Everything here is mix-and-match, serve-straight-from-the-jar, and no recipe required.

Spanish Vermouth (The Classic Choice)

One of the most common and classic Spanish aperitivo drinks is vermouth — a fortified, aromatized wine infused with herbs and spices. In other words, it starts as wine and is then fortified with spirits and infused with botanicals.

It’s worth noting that it’s quite different from the Italian version you might know from Negronis or martinis. Spanish vermouth is much lighter in both body and taste, and more citrusy.

There are two major types: red and white, just like wine.

• Red is a little richer and sweeter
• White is more herbal and dry

How to serve: Over ice with a slice of orange (or lemon for white), and optionally a bit of sparkling water if you’re a spritz person.

Spanish vermouth brands to look for in the U.S.:

Lustau — If you’re new to vermouth, their Red vermouth is a great starting point and available at Total Wine

Manuel Acha — I like their white vermouth and have seen it in a few stores around me. A little more intense/funky if you’re looking to be adventurous.

Yzaguirre, Miró, and Casa Mariol – some other great options that you might see around.

If you live in a state that allows alcohol delivery (lucky you!), Spanish Table has a ton of vermouth options.

Other Spanish Aperitivo Drinks

Tinto de verano – red wine + lemon soda + citrus. In Spain, lemon Fanta is most common, but you can use Pellegrino Limonata or even Sprite.

Sherry spritz– fino + sparkling water + lemon

Vermouth spritz – same idea, light and refreshing

Aperol or Campari spritzes– not traditionally Spanish, but in the same spirit (no pun intended. sorry)

Spanish beers– Estrella Galicia, Mahou, Alhambra. Estrella Galicia is my husband’s favorite (even though he’s from Madrid and should technically be loyal to Mahou). Total Wine carries it, so you can check their website to see if it’s in stock at a location near you. Important note: As far as I can tell, these three beers taste almost exactly the same.

Simple Spanish Aperitivo Snacks (No Cooking)

This is the fun part (at least for me cuz any excuse to eat potato chips is a good one!).

This can be pretty minimal if you want: olives, chips, and nuts are the classic. But if you’re looking for something more substantial, or have a light dinner planned, you can add some cheese, jamón, or even seafood tins.

The focus (especially if we’re drinking Spanish vermouth ) is salt and umami flavors. If you really want to go nuts, you could whip up some tapas, but since the idea here is a no-cook get-together, we’ll focus on easy options.

Going in order of substantial-ness, here’s what you can include:

The Basics

Olives – I love anchovy-stuffed but use whatever is your favorite

Potato chips – Torres if you can find them (if you try the jamon kind please inform me), but I also love good old Cape Cod chips.

Almonds – Marcona if available

Breadsticks or sliced baguette

Easy Assembly Required: Gildas

Originally a Basque pintxo, and my husband’s favorite. These require a bit of assembly but no actual cooking, and are one of my favorite aperitivo snacks.

Side note: I feel like these became weirdly trendy recently, so it would be great to see more of them in the U.S.

To make them: Skewer a green olive + anchovy + pickled guindilla pepper. And that’s it! Serve with a drink.

Slightly more filling

Cheese– Spanish cheeses like Manchego or Idiazabal are ideal. Can’t find those? Aged gouda, parmesan, or aged cheddar (like Kerrygold Dubliner) work great too, same nutty, salty flavors

Jamón – or sub with prosciutto if you can’t get the real thing

Tinned seafood – anchovies, mussels in escabeche, bonito. Ortiz brand anchovies and tuna are delicious and easily found on Amazon or at Whole Foods. Matiz brand is also widely available and reliable

Make Spanish Aperitivo Your New Weekend Ritual

This doesn’t need to be an insanely hyper-designed charcuterie board. It doesn’t need to become another stressful thing on your to-do list. Just open a few tins, pour a few drinks, throw on a playlist.

It sounds really summery, but aperitivo works in the winter too! Red wine and tinned octopus can be just as good as vermouth and chips in the sun.

Don’t get caught up in finding the perfect ingredients — the important thing is relaxing and enjoying. Drinks come with snacks to keep things light, and it’s never about excess. One drink, maybe two, and the point of the Spanish aperitivo is just to enjoy it and be together.

I wish this was more common in the U.S; everything doesn’t have to be hyper-scheduled. We all have things to do on the weekend that we don’t have time for during the crazy workweek, but why not plan a few things that aren’t necessarily productive, but are just for the sake of enjoyment?

Try it this weekend! Invite your friends, their kids, your family, your neighbors, or just enjoy it at home! Let me know how it goes in the comments 🙂

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