Where to buy Spanish food in the US (online and in person)

When El Andaluz first moved here, the big question was where to buy Spanish food in the US? Over the past decade, it has gotten a lot easier to find Spanish foods in the States, both in person and online.

In Person Options

Whole Foods has a pretty good selection of Spanish foods. 

*tortas de aceite

*mitica brand "Spanish cocktail mix" (you know, the mix of corn nuts, toasted garbanzo beans, regular nuts you get at a spanish bar)

*marcona almonds

*picos (be still my heart! a breadstick isn't a pico so finding actual picos is amazing.)

(These nibbley foods are over by the SALAD BAR so okay, different perception of what you do with bar snacks, Whole Foods)

*Bomba rice, the beginning of many delicious arroces

*petit suisse (in the speciality cheese section)

*lots of cured meats, including very expensive American versions of jamon serrano

* the bakery breads are good, especially the Saint Germaine baguette. 

*Whole foods's frozen wild caught fish is the best…in general seafood in the US is not great and only gets worse as you move away from the coasts. So frozen is the way to go. 

*Whole Foods has quite a lot of produce imported from Spain, like clementines and peppers

Curiously, the only thing that isn’t very good at Whole Foods is the chorizo, it's like they only carry Italian cured meats which is not the same!!

Trader Joe’s 

Has quite a selection of Spanish products, e.g.

* the olive oil potato chips are close to spanish chips

* Marcona almonds

*Spanish olive oil  (we used to order Carbonell online but found TJs acceptable. By the way olive oil has no bite in the US, my first tostada in Spain always a bit of a surprise.)

*frozen paella !!! It's actually pretty good.

*And lots of cheeses and Spanish wines.

Local co-op grocers 

*are another good source for Spanish/European foods.

And there are spanish food storefronts in a lot of major US cities, prepare to be surprised.

Online Spanish Food options in the US:

Despaña is pretty good, they're my go-to for chorizo now. Lentejas con chorizo is a staple in our home and I have yet to find a good cooking chorizo. But, palacios brand and goya is okay.

Lately I’ve been doing pretty well with small sellers on Amazon, usually located in Miami or NYC. This is where I buy cola cao and nocilla for Don Loco.

La Tienda. I have been pretty disappointed by la Tienda. They have a lot but I don’t find the quality very good. Lots of fake sugars in the Christmas treats like marzipan and mantecados. Prices are high and I don't think the quality justifies the price. They always have promo codes for 15-20 percent off so definitely do not buy without googling for a promo code.

Random notes:

Manchego and other hard Spanish cheese are popular in the US BUT They do not taste very good, in general. prepare to be disappointed.

Also, wine in the US, even spanish wine, forget about it. In Spain I have yet to be disappointed in a glass of wine, in the US wine is marketed as a silly lady drink with cupcakes and flip flops and it is largely undrinkable. I mean yes you can get a good bottle but it can cost like 35 dollars. It is hard to pay that when it would be 3 euros at super sol. Plus I prefer beer. But, you can find Spanish brands like Marqués de Cáceres and Faustino V in regular old supermarkets.

Anyway, anyone have any other good source for Spanish food products in the US? Leave your comment below.

Click here for the Spanish translation

Nocilla chocolate hazelnut spread: Snack in Spain,  but Breakfast in America!