Spanish Croquetas: The Béchamel Is Everything
Ham, egg, and chicken wrapped in a silky béchamel, fried golden — this is the Spanish appetizer that turns a backyard gathering into something worth remembering.
Dan Cooks5 min readPrint this post
The smoke does its magic. You just have to be patient enough to let it — and a great béchamel is no different.
I grew up learning that the best food doesn't come from shortcuts — it comes from patience and love. Down in Tampa, I spend most of my time at the grill, but every now and then a recipe pulls me back inside to the stovetop, and I'm grateful for it. These croquetas are one of those recipes. Spanish at heart, built on a grandmother's béchamel, and packed with Serrano ham, chicken, and grated egg — they're the kind of appetizer that stops conversation the moment the platter hits the table. My family goes quiet, then reaches. That's all the review I need.
The secret isn't fancy technique. It's time. You give the béchamel the time it needs, you chill it properly, and the rest takes care of itself. This is slow, deliberate cooking — the kind I respect most.
A Recipe That Travels Through Families
Croquetas started as a way to honor leftovers — a little chicken here, some ham there, folded into a rich sauce and fried until golden. There's something deeply Southern about that idea, even if it was born in Spain. We don't waste good food. We transform it.
The recipe behind these croquetas has been passed down through generations — grandmother to mother to grandchildren — and that lineage shows in every bite. The béchamel isn't just a sauce; it's the soul of the dish. Get it right and you've got something that tastes like it belongs on a family table that's been set a thousand times before. That's the kind of cooking I believe in.
The Béchamel: Don't Rush It
Here's where most people lose the plot: they get impatient with the béchamel. I understand — you're standing there stirring and nothing seems to be happening. But this sauce needs 30 to 40 minutes of near-constant attention, and every minute earns you something.
Start by sweating your onion in olive oil until it's fully soft — no crunch, no color. Then build your roux: butter and flour together, stirred constantly for a good two to three minutes until it smells nutty and toasty, not raw and chalky. That step matters more than people realize. From there, warm your milk and chicken stock together before adding them to the roux — cold liquid into a hot roux is how you get lumps. Add it gradually, whisk almost continuously, and simmer the finished sauce for a full minute or two after it tightens up. The starch needs that time to fully set. Skip it, and your croquetas will lose their shape in the fryer.
Once the ham, chicken, and grated egg are stirred in, pour the whole thing onto a plate, cover it tight, and put it in the fridge. Overnight is best. Cold béchamel shapes beautifully; warm béchamel is a mess.
Why the Sherry Matters
Two tablespoons of fino sherry doesn't sound like much, but it punches well above its weight in this recipe. Dry fino sherry carries a bright, almost briny character that weaves right into the olive oil and softened onion. When it hits the hot pan, those aromatics cook into the chicken and then into the béchamel itself — quietly bridging the richness of the butter and milk to the deep, savory punch of the Serrano ham. You won't taste sherry in the finished croqueta. You'll just taste something that's more complete than it would have been without it.
One note: use a fresh bottle. A stale sherry goes flat in the pan, and flat is the one thing this dish can't afford to be.
Substitutions that still taste like the recipe.
A few smart swaps if you can't find an ingredient or want to tweak the flavor profile — all chosen to keep the spirit of the dish intact.
- brandy
Shares fruity ester compounds with sherry
- bourbon
Shares lactone compounds with sherry
- port wine↑ sweet
Shares phenolic compounds with sherry — more sweet
- cornish hen
Shares pyrazine compounds with chicken
- turkey
Shares pyrazine compounds with chicken
- quail
Shares pyrazine compounds with chicken
- clotted cream
Shares lactone compounds with butter
- cream
Shares lactone compounds with butter
- mascarpone
Shares lactone compounds with butter
- half and half
Shares lactone compounds with whole milk
- low-fat milk↓ fatty
Shares lactone compounds with whole milk — less fatty
- whipped cream↑ fatty
Shares lactone compounds with whole milk — more fatty
- naan
Shares pyrazine compounds with bread
- focaccia
Shares pyrazine compounds with bread
- pita
Shares pyrazine compounds with bread
Whether you're feeding a backyard full of family or setting out a platter before a holiday dinner, these croquetas will do the work for you. Make the béchamel the day before, shape them in the morning, fry them just before your people arrive. The smell alone will pull everyone into the kitchen.
Fire up something good today — even if today, the fire is on the stovetop.
Croquetas de jamón, huevo y pollo (Ham, Egg & Chicken Croquettes)
Ingredients
- 2 tbsp Spanish Olive Oil
- 1 White Onion
- 250 g Chicken Breast
- 2 tbsp Fino Sherry
- 50 g Serrano Ham
- 2 Eggs
For the Béchamel
- 60 ml Chicken Stock
- 1 litre Whole Milk
- 75 g Butter
- 100 g All-Purpose Flour
- Sea Salt (to taste)
Coating
- 2 Eggs
- 250 g Fine Breadcrumbs
- Sunflower Oil (as needed)
Instructions
- 1.Heat the olive oil in a frying pan/skillet and sauté the onion until soft. Add the chicken breast and sauté for a few minutes. Pour in the sherry or wine and cook until the liquid evaporates and the chicken has taken some colour all over. Set aside to cool. When cold, finely chop the chicken as if you were chopping parsley, then set aside.
- 2.To make the béchamel, first gently heat the stock and milk in a saucepan. In another saucepan melt the butter over a medium heat. Start adding the flour, little by little, until it becomes fully integrated with the melted butter (use a wooden spoon). Start adding the warm milk and stock, little by little. To work the béchamel, change the spoon for a hand whisk, stirring almost continuously until the taste of flour has disappeared completely and you have a smooth sauce – it will take at least 30–40 minutes.
- 3.Add the grated eggs, ham and chicken to the sauce and stir for a few minutes before checking and adjusting the seasoning. When ready, the béchamel should be creamy and very shiny with a light texture, but never too thin. It should be cold before frying, so pour the sauce onto a large plate, cover with clingfilm/plastic wrap and transfer to the fridge to chill.
- 4.In a bowl, beat the eggs very well (this is important) and place plenty of fine breadcrumbs in two large dishes.
- 5.To stop the soft béchamel getting stuck on your fingers, grease your hands first with olive oil. Take a small portion of the béchamel with your fingers or with a spoon and lightly shape into a ball. Place it in the first dish of a spoon, coat each croqueta in beaten egg and then again in the breadcrumbs. Shape with your hands for the final time and repeat until all the béchamel has been used.
- 6.Heat the oil in a large frying pan/skillet or electric deep fat fryer to about 180°C/350°F. It is vital that this temperature is maintained to avoid the delicate croquetas splitting while they fry. Cook until crisp and golden. Serve the croquetas hot.
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