Mi tía dice que el pimentón queda mejor con laurel que con orégano.

In this sentence, quedar means something like to turn out, to come out, or to work/be when prepared a certain way.

So el pimentón queda mejor con laurel means:

• paprika tastes better with bay leaf
• or more literally, paprika comes out better with bay leaf

If you said es mejor, that would sound more like a general statement that one thing is better than another. Quedar mejor is very common when talking about:

• food combinations
• how clothes look on someone
• how something ends up after being done

Examples:

• Esta salsa queda mejor con ajo. = This sauce turns out better with garlic.
• Ese color te queda mejor. = That color suits you better.

Here, que introduces the second part of a comparison.

The pattern is:

• mejor con X que con Y = better with X than with Y

So:

• con laurel que con orégano = with bay leaf than with oregano

This is a normal Spanish comparison structure. Even though English uses than, Spanish uses que.

Similar examples:

• Sabe mejor frío que caliente.
• Queda mejor con arroz que con pasta.

Because mejor already contains the idea of more good / better.

So:

• bueno = good
• mejor = better

You do not say más mejor in standard Spanish.

This is like English: we say better, not more better.

This is a great question, because article use with food words can feel inconsistent.

In el pimentón, the article is being used to refer to the ingredient in a general sense: paprika as a substance/product.

After con, it is very common in Spanish to leave out the article when talking about ingredients or materials in a general way:

• con laurel
• con orégano
• con ajo
• con aceite

So the sentence mixes:

• a general subject: el pimentón
• with ingredient complements after con, where the article is often omitted

You may also hear articles in some contexts, but omitting them after con is very natural when talking about recipes or flavor combinations.

In Spain, pimentón usually means paprika, the ground spice made from dried peppers.

Important note:

• In Spain, pimentón is a very common kitchen ingredient.
• In some other Spanish-speaking regions, usage may vary, and people may be more likely to use another term depending on the exact product.

In Spain you may also see:

• pimentón dulce = sweet paprika
• pimentón picante = hot paprika
• pimentón ahumado = smoked paprika

So for a learner of Spanish from Spain, reading el pimentón as paprika is exactly right.

Laurel means bay leaf or bay as a cooking herb.

In recipe language, Spanish often uses the singular noun to refer to the ingredient generally:

• con laurel = with bay leaf / with bay

If someone wanted to be more explicit about individual leaves, they could say:

• una hoja de laurel = a bay leaf
• dos hojas de laurel = two bay leaves

But in your sentence, laurel is just the name of the herb as an ingredient.

Because decir que normally introduces a statement of fact or reported speech, so the indicative is expected.

Here:

• Mi tía dice que el pimentón queda mejor...

The verb after dice que is queda, which is indicative, and that is completely normal.

You would expect the subjunctive after expressions of doubt, emotion, influence, unreality, etc., but not after a straightforward reporting verb like decir when the speaker is simply reporting what someone says.

Compare:

• Dice que queda mejor con laurel. = She says it goes better with bay leaf. → indicative
• No creo que quede mejor con laurel. = I don’t think it goes better with bay leaf. → subjunctive

In Spanish, family words usually do not take an article when they are used with a possessive.

So:

• mi tía = my aunt
• tu hermano = your brother
• su madre = his/her mother

You would not normally say la mi tía in standard modern Spanish.

But without a possessive, an article is normal:

• La tía de Ana
• Mi tía y la tuya
• La tía dice que... in some contexts, if the aunt has already been identified

It could be understood, but queda mejor sounds more natural here.

Why?

• quedar mejor is especially common for combinations, appearance, results, and how something works out
• estar mejor usually suggests a state or condition: is better, feels better, is in better condition

With food pairings, queda mejor is a very idiomatic choice.

So:

• queda mejor con laurel = sounds very natural
• está mejor con laurel = understandable, but less idiomatic in this exact context

This is the most neutral, straightforward word order:

• subject: el pimentón
• verb: queda
• adverb: mejor
• complements: con laurel que con orégano

Spanish word order is flexible, though, and you could move things around for emphasis.

For example:

• Mi tía dice que con laurel el pimentón queda mejor que con orégano.

This gives a little more focus to con laurel.

But the original version is very natural and probably the most neutral one.

Yes, orégano is masculine:

• el orégano

The ending -o often, though not always, suggests a masculine noun, and here that pattern works.

In the sentence, there is no article before it because it follows con in a recipe-style ingredient phrase:

• con orégano

But if you used an article, it would be:

• el orégano

The written accents show you the stress:

• tía → stress on tí
• pimentón → stress on tón
• orégano → stress on ré

Very roughly:

• TEE-ah
• pee-men-TON
• oh-REH-ga-no

The accent in tía is especially important because it shows that í and a are pronounced in separate syllables:

• tí-a not one merged syllable.

Yes, and in this sentence it actually does both jobs in different places.

There are two ques:

1. Mi tía dice que...

   • here que means that
   • My aunt says that...

2. ...mejor con laurel que con orégano

   • here que means than
   • better with bay leaf than with oregano

This is very common in Spanish. The same word, que, can have different meanings depending on structure.

By itself, it sounds more like a general opinion about flavor pairing.

Mi tía dice que el pimentón queda mejor con laurel que con orégano suggests:

• your aunt has a general cooking opinion
• she thinks paprika pairs better with bay leaf than with oregano

If you wanted to make it clearly about one specific dish, Spanish would often give more context, for example:

• En este guiso, el pimentón queda mejor con laurel que con orégano.
• Aquí queda mejor con laurel.

So the original sentence is naturally understood as a general statement about cooking.

Usually, no. In this sentence, dice is best understood as simple present:

• says

Spanish present tense often covers what English expresses with the simple present.

So:

• Mi tía dice que... = My aunt says that...

If you translated it as is saying, it would sound too tied to the immediate moment in English, unless the context specifically required that.