Mexican Recipes
498 recipes found
Sauteed Shrimp In Ancho Chili Sauce
Quick Salsa
Craig Claiborne's Guacamole
Slow Cooker Chipotle-Honey Chicken Tacos
These may be the easiest tacos you ever make, but you’d never know it. The recipe hinges on just two ingredients: canned chipotles and honey, which slowly caramelize together for a glossy and incredibly tasty sauce. You may hesitate because there's so little liquid in the slow cooker with the chicken, but don't worry. That's how it's supposed to be. It allows the sauce to get a little sticky, which is exactly what you want. (Get the pressure cooker version of this recipe here.)
Palmitos Aguachile Verde (Chile-Lime Hearts of Palm)
If you love acid and heat, this is the dish for you. Aguachile, which is a Sinaloa-style ceviche, is made here with serrano chiles and an abundance of lime juice. That combination works perfectly with delicate palmitos, hearts of palm, that have a just-right balance in texture between creaminess and firmness. Pick up the nori sheets in the snack aisle to add just a bit of saltiness that replicates the briny ocean flavors of seafood-based aguachiles. Serve in a bowl with a generous side of tostadas or tortilla chips — and don’t forget the micheladas. To get vegetarian recipes like this one delivered to your inbox, sign up for The Veggie newsletter.
Pressure Cooker Chipotle Chicken Pozole
A pressure cooker is the perfect tool for making a quick pozole that tastes like it has simmered for a long time. Traditional red pozole usually requires toasting and puréeing dried chiles for a flavorful broth, but this one relies on canned chipotles for smoky complexity. Chipotles can be fiery, so feel free to use fewer peppers if you’re concerned about the heat, but don’t skimp on the adobo sauce: It’s milder than the peppers and is packed with loads of smoky, garlicky flavor. Serve the soup in bowls with plenty of crumbled cheese, diced avocado and crushed chips, for topping. The slow-cooker version of this dish uses bone-in, skin-on chicken thighs, carrots and celery, is available here.
The Original Nachos
The first nachos were said to have been invented in Piedras Negras, Mexico, in 1940, with just three ingredients. As the story goes, a group of women walked into the Victory Club in Piedras outside business hours. Aiming to please, Ignacio Anaya, the maître d’hôtel known as Nacho, ran to the kitchen and made a quick appetizer with ingredients he found. Today’s nachos know no end to their variations: They can have a number of seasoned layers, like these bricklayer-style nachos, or these vegetarian bean nachos, or simply be topped with cheese sauce, like those sold at concession stands. But the simplicity of its original, with its barely salted chips, nutty melted cheese and briny pickled jalapeños, is sure to charm true fans.
Tacos Dorados de Papa (Potato Tacos)
Everyone loves crispy potato tacos. Throughout Mexico, there are a variety of recipes with different ingredients, preparation styles and garnishes that make this dish unique in each household. In this version, cooked potatoes are seasoned with tomato, onion and garlic for an extra flavor, then topped with sour cream and cabbage coated in lemon juice for the perfect balance of creaminess and crunch. You could also pair the potatoes with cooked soyrizo for an even more memorable plant-based meal — make these your own with the fillings and garnishes you have on hand. Boil the potatoes ahead of time and store them in the fridge for up to a week until ready to use to make this an even quicker weeknight meal.
Watermelon Margarita
Mixing cocktails may seem intimidating, but it’s actually quite intuitive once you understand how to balance the alcohol, sweetness and acidity. In “3-Ingredient Cocktails” (Ten Speed Press, 2017), Robert Simonson presents the formula for a perfect margarita: 1½ ounces tequila, 1 ounce Cointreau and 3/4 ounce lime juice, shaken and served. Even easier to memorize, this version uses 6 ounces fresh watermelon juice — a sweet but subtle nod to summer — and 2 ounces each tequila, Cointreau and lime juice. Be sure to taste and add more watermelon juice if your margarita is too boozy, and extra lime juice or even a pinch of salt if it’s too sweet.
Mexican Martini
Originally the Mexican Martini was just a large margarita in Austin, Tex. But the presentation calls for the margarita to be served in a martini glass, with olives on a spear. Because it is about twice as large as a regular drink, customers are usually given the cocktail shaker and invited to pour it themselves.
Watermelon Sugar
Pearl of Puebla
Mexican Hot Chocolate
Mesoamerican women are believed to be the first to ferment and roast cacao beans, a crucial step in chocolate making that is still used thousands of years later. Then, it was prepared as a frothy, unsweetened drink for rituals and medicinal purposes. Later, Spanish colonists brought the ingredient back to Spain, where sugar, cinnamon and vanilla were added, making it more similar to the spicy-sweet beverage we know today. This recipe is adapted from Churrería El Moro, a restaurant in Mexico City known for churros and hot chocolate. To get the signature foamy top, use a molinillo, a Mexican wooden whisk, or a wire whisk to make it light and frothy. And while it’s not traditional, you can also put the hot chocolate in a blender for about 2 minutes.
Pressure Cooker Chipotle-Honey Chicken Tacos
If you have an electric pressure cooker, you can throw together a big batch of spicy chicken and black bean tacos in about 30 minutes. Smoky canned chipotles in adobo and honey do most of the heavy lifting here, combining to create a glossy, spicy-sweet sauce. Chipotles can pack varying levels of heat, so if you want your tacos on the milder side, use only one or two peppers. You can always drizzle with hot sauce at the table. The pickled onions are not absolutely necessary, but they add acidity and crunch that contrast nicely with the spicy shredded chicken. (Get the slow cooker version of this recipe here.)
Slow-Cooker Chicken Tortilla Soup
While the origins of tortilla soup (also known as sopa Azteca or sopa de tortilla) can be traced to central Mexico, it has many variations, often characterized by a brothy chicken base flavored with puréed roasted tomatoes, chiles and garlic, and topped with fried leftover tortillas and other garnishes. In this nontraditional slow-cooker version, tomatoes, onion, garlic and chile are charred under the broiler (on a foil-lined sheet pan, for easy clean-up), then go straight into the slow cooker, where they add savory depth to the chicken soup. (No slow-cooker? Use the stovetop version of this recipe.)
Slow Cooker Shortcut Chicken Pozole
Part of the joy of pozole is topping it generously and exactly as you like, and this take on the original dish is no exception. Traditional red pozole often requires toasting and then puréeing dried chiles for a flavorful broth, but this version relies on canned chipotles in adobo sauce. Adjust the chiles to your taste: more if you like it, less if you don’t. This brothy, smoky-spicy chicken soup is sensational with crunchy add-ons like crushed chips, shaved cabbage and red onion. The pressure-cooker version of this recipe is available here.
Elotes (Grilled Corn With Cheese, Lime and Chile)
Whole ears of corn are a classic street food in Mexico, where they are either grilled or boiled, then often dressed with some combination of lime, chile, mayonnaise and grated cheese. This grilled version calls for all of the above, which get mixed together into a creamy, bracing topping, and slathered all over the hot, sweet ears. It's not strictly traditional, but it does make it easier to assemble the corn and its dressing before serving. Or place the various topping in small bowls and let guests have the fun of garnishing their own. And if you don’t have a grill, the broiler works too though watch the ears carefully so they don’t burn.
Grilled Corn, Asparagus and Spring Onion Salad
In this cookout perfect salad, corn, asparagus and spring onions benefit from the deep flavors of the grill. Their outer layers get a rustic char, their full sweetness is released, and they go from raw to cooked while maintaining a crunchy bite. Still warm, they’re doused in one of Mexico’s most fun ways to dress grilled vegetables or potato chips, an easy-to-eat sauce where umami, citrus and heat converge. The mixture is typically referred to as salsa preparada, meaning you simply mix these sauces together to “prepare” your food. You may wonder if the soy, Worcestershire and Maggi sauces compete, but each has a different character of sazón, which is whisked with plenty of fresh squeezed lime juice and a punch of chile oil. If more heat is desired, you can add a splash of your favorite hot sauce. This salad is great solo as an appetizer, but it is even better served right next to grilled meats.
Pollo Asado
Pollo asado, Mexican marinated and grilled chicken, uses pigmented annatto seeds to get its signature brick red color. Annatto seeds can be found in Latin supermarkets or online, but a cube of prepared achiote paste is a suitable sub. This recipe uses two types of dried chiles, for which there are no substitutes; however, if they’re hard to come by, swap them out for a can of seeded chipotles in adobo for a different, but still delicious, smoky vibe. The acidity from the citrus in the marinade helps tenderize the chicken legs, but a limit does exist; keep it under 12 hours. Serve the chicken alongside pickled onions and warm tortillas for quick tacos, or beans and rice.
Carne Asada
Nothing beats carne asada tacos, the smoky richness of charred sliced steak stuffed into tortillas. Carne asada translates to “grilled meat” and refers to the many variations on this dish, as well as parties that center around grilling the marinated meat. Esteban Castillo, the author of the cookbook and blog “Chicano Eats,” combines the intensity of a dry spice rub with a citrus juice marinade in his recipe. Sometimes, he pours some beer into the mix too, but this version, fresh with cilantro, garlic and scallions, already gives the steak big, aromatic flavors.
Tajín Grilled Chicken
Tajín is a Mexican seasoning made from dried, ground red chiles, sea salt and dehydrated lime juice. It is great sprinkled over fresh cut fruit like mango and pineapple, or rimmed on an ice cold margarita. But it is also an easy way to add chile and lime to your favorite grilled meats, rubs or sauces. In this dish, the lime in the Tajín balances out the sweetness from the agave syrup, while the red chiles complement the smoky flavor of the chipotles. Serve the chicken as is or on toasted hamburger buns with a schmear of mayonnaise, chopped grilled scallions, cilantro leaves and sliced pickled jalapeños. This Tajín sauce also would pair well with grilled bass, cod or salmon, or with shrimp skewers.
Bricklayer-Style Nachos
Bricklayer-style beef, or puntas al albañil, made with tender pieces of beef, salty bacon and sometimes chorizo in a chunky fire-roasted salsa, is a beloved taco filling in Mexico. Once a common snack available near construction sites in central Mexico, it became popular beyond street food stands, expanding into homes and restaurants over the years. Here it’s used as the foundation for nachos, topped with mounds of melted cheese, tangy queso fresco, creamy avocado and crunchy scallions for a hearty, delicious meal.
Shrimp and Mango Tacos
This sweet and pungent combination of mango, shrimp, chilies and cumin is as quick to put together as a stir-fry. Indeed, if you don’t have corn tortillas on hand, serve the shrimp with rice.
Pistachio Green Mole (Mole Verde de Pistache)
Many Mexican moles require hours of cooking and a laundry list of ingredients, but this green mole does not. This vibrant vegan version is made with herbs, baby spinach and pistachios, and the sauce comes together in about 30 minutes. This recipe calls for zucchini or summer squash, but feel free to swap in another roasted vegetable, depending on the season. The chef Enrique Olvera included it in his “Tu Casa Mi Casa” cookbook to show how fresh and seasonal a mole can be.