Volcanic wines, grilled octopus, wrinkled potatoes and honey rum: 14 mouth-watering delicacies you have to try on a Lanzarote holiday

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Question: Where in the world can you go to eat sweet quesadillas for breakfast, tapas of grilled octopus and baby squid for lunch, salted grouper stew with wrinkled potatoes and chilli sauce for supper, and wash it all down with volcanic wines and honey rum?

Surrounded by sea, Lanzarote’s palate is naturally suited to endless fresh fish

Answer: Lanzarote, of course.

Situated 1,000km off the coast of Spain, Lanzarote is only four hours by plane from the UK. And its cuisine is a melting pot of delicious flavours, with traditional Spanish, African and Latin American dishes, alongside those of the island’s original aboriginal inhabitants.

Lanzarote's position means it benefits from a wonderful blend of cuisines

Surrounded by sea, Lanzarote’s palate is naturally suited to endless fresh fish. And as a volcanic island born from eruptions, Lanzarote farmers use dry farming methods, or ‘enarenado’, to cover the soil with picón, black volcanic grit, which retains moisture to prevent the sub-tropical desert climate from drying out the land. In this way potatoes, onions, and other green vegetables grow well here, as do grapes to be turned into delicious volcanic wines.

And that’s before we’ve even mentioned all the goats scurrying up and down the mountains and making the most fabulous cheese...

So, before we all get too hungry, here are 14 mouth-watering delicacies you have to try on a Lanzarote holiday...

1. Volcanic wines

Lanzarote is one of the biggest wine producers in the Canaries, with several wineries bottling excellent reds, whites, and rosés, and sweet Malvasia wines that taste a bit like sherry. 

All are grown on volcanic soil using dry farming methods. Some of the best vineyards producing this volcanic wine are Bodega Vulcano de Lanzarote, Bodegas El Grifo, Bodegas Rubicon and Bodega Los Bermejos.

The valley of La Geria is Lanzarote's main wine-growing region, where you'll find several world-class vineyards selling award-winning wines 

Some of the best vineyards producing this volcanic wine are Bodega Vulcano de Lanzarote, Bodegas El Grifo, Bodegas Rubicon and Bodega Los Bermejos

2. Goat's cheese

Goats can be found trip-trapping all over Lanzarote, which means one thing: plenty of goat's cheese. On Lanzarote they produce conejero cheese, made with three different types of rind, which appears on menus in all guises, often fried, served as tapas, or drizzled with sweet honey sauce. 

Visit Lanzarote’s award-winning dairy farm Finca De Uga and you’ll taste unctuous goat cheeses including Alegranza (made with unpasteurised goat milk matured for three months); Rojillo (made with goat milk rolled in paprika); Brume (goat lactic acid coagulated cheese with a maturing mould); and a goat's cheese made with rosemary.

There are goats all over Lanzarote, which means delicious goat's cheese abounds, too!

3. Queso Asado con Mojo

Cheese grilled with spicy mojo sauce on top? Yes, please. We’ll take a dozen, if you don't mind. 

This definitive Canarian starter can be found on most menus, with restaurant proprietors well practised in choosing the perfect cheese for melting.

(Basically, the harder the cheese, the better it will go gooey in the middle and lovely and golden and crispy up top.) 

Did we say 12? We meant 24.

4. Fresh fish

Lapas are grilled limpets with mojo verde

With 213km of coastline, Lanzarote’s menus - particularly those in El Golfo and Arrieta - are understandably jam-packed with fresh fish just off the boat. 

This island’s seafood supplies are seemingly unending, with boats rowing into harbour every day overflowing grouper tuna, sea bass, hake, swordfish, lobster, crab, prawns, mussels, octopus and squid. 

Plus anything else that calls the North Atlantic Ocean home.

Fish is served simply, usually grilled with garlic and olive oil. 

Mussels end up in paella, limpets are grilled and served with a spicy sauce called mojo verde (lapas), while octopus is grilled or sliced with paprika and baby squid are deep fried until crunchy as popcorn.

Fresh fish is served simply in Lanzarote, usually grilled with garlic and olive oil

Bigger ones are fried, stewed, or dried out and splashed with aguardiente (fire water), then set alight until chewy; cuttlefish finds its way into hearty stews, and prawns become mouth-watering gambas al ajillo – cooked with olive oil, brandy, chilli and heaps of garlic and served sizzling hot in a terracotta pot alongside crusty bread.

And then there’s sancocho, a local speciality stew made of salted sea bream; arroz caldoso de marisco, a rice seafood stew; and vieja, ‘old lady’, which is parrotfish cooked with its scales in oil and vinegar.

Hungry yet?  

5. Papas arrugadas

Roughly translated as ‘wrinkled potatoes’, this tasty little side dish comprises whole new potatoes grown in volcanic soil boiled in salty sea water until their skins wrinkle. Mostly, you’ll find these moreish morsels served with mojo picón (spicy chilli sauce) or mojo verde (green sauce, made with garlic and herbs, whether parsley, coriander, oregano, thyme, or a heady combination of the whole gang).

Papas arrugadas, or wrinkled potatoes, are usually served with mojo picón (spicy chilli sauce) or mojo verde (green sauce made with a mix of local herbs) 

6. Gofio Escaldado

Gofio, a toasted corn and maize flour - is a big Lanzarotean staple, and was eaten at every meal until the beginning of the 20th century because bread was still considered a luxury item. It’s still used to thicken soups, stews and even desserts. Gofio Escaldado is a big local specialty, a rich fish dish made with fish stock, gofio, vegetables and soft cheese.

7. Sancocho Canario

You’ll often find dried fish for sale in Lanzarote’s local food shops and markets. These dried, salty strips – which include tollos, a type of small shark – are then rehydrated to form stew: sancocho Canario. A local staple, the main ingredients in sancocho are salted fish - usually grouper, sea bass or hake - wrinkled potatoes and sweet potatoes. Sometimes gofio and mojo are added, for extra oomph. 

Traditional sancocho Canario is made from salted fish and potatoes

Paradise: And not only does Lanzarote look pretty, but its food and drink are delicious, too

8. Frangollo

This Lanzarote version of a bread and butter or semolina pudding, frangollo is a traditional dish made from millet flour, milk, butter, cinnamon, egg yolk, almonds, raisins and lemon zest. Delicious toped with toasted almonds, raisins and caramel sauce or custard.

9. Truchas

Christmas in Lanzarote means the delicious smell of truchas, little sweet pastries filled with a mixture of sweet potato, almonds, lemon zest and spices.  Delicious eaten warm, dusted with sugar! 

Festive treat: Sugary truchas are traditionally eaten at Christmas time in the Canary Islands

10. Quesadilla

Lanzarote's quesadillas are sweet, cakey treats made with flour, sugar, soft cheese, egg, lemon, and anise, and cooked in a traditional wood oven. Sometimes sold as cheesecake in shops, it’s never quite the same as the homemade version.  

11. Caldo de pescado

This chunky fish soup usually features popular meaty fish of Lanzarote – grouper, dentex or wreckfish – in a thin broth with hearty pieces of boiled potato and red peppers, plus lots of garlic, lemon and parsley. Comforting and refreshing in equal measure.

Fish, which is caught daily along the island's stunning coastline, is served simply

12. Cabrito or conejo stew

Due to the dry, mountainous landscape, you won’t see many cattle on Lanzarote, and though you’ll find imported prime cuts of meat in most high-end restaurant, local meats tend to be those of more sprightly, nimble, hardy creatures who require less by way of grass: goats and rabbits, mainly. 

A cocktail made me honey rum – ‘ron miel’ – is a popular variety of the spirit in Lanzarote

Expect many deliciously spiced cabra and conejo stews simmering away in great pots of meat, potatoes and other vegetables. 

Kid goat is very popular here in a puchero, a stew of various meat cuts, vegetables, lentils and chickpeas.

13. Bienmesabe

This extremely popular dessert is a thick, rich, heady, gooey, baked custard mix of honey, almond cream, ground almonds, egg yolks and rum. Seconds, please.

14. Ron Miel

Honey rum – ‘ron miel’ – is one of the most popular varieties of rum on the island.

The honey flavour is subtler and not as sweet or sticky as sugar, and locals can often be found drizzling it in their morning coffee for a sunrise kick.

Travel to Lanzarote and experience the ultimate foodie experience with British Airways  

Discover so much more than fabulous beaches and thriving tourist resorts holidays in Lanzarote. 

This beautiful island has something for everyone - including culture-loving couples, fun-seeking families and outdoor sport enthusiasts.

Fly to Lanzarote with British Airways from £82 each way.

Or enjoy a seven night holiday with return flights from just £249 pp