Mexican Recipes

Mexican food blends indigenous ingredients and meals with Spanish influences to produce a hybrid cuisine that everybody seems to love. This is why the cuisine has gone on to become one of the most popular options wherever it is exported to.

Powered by a bold approach to spices and simple yet versatile forms (like the taco), Mexican recipes have become a key stop on any Epicurean world tour.

Staples of Mexican Food

Mexican cuisine relies on a handful of staples: corn, tomatoes, beans, chilies, and rice.

Corn, beans, and rice are both great ways to give a dish body. Even when they aren’t a part of the main dish, at least one of these will be served on the side to add some satisfying starchiness.

Tomatoes bring acid, which lightens up the meal. And chilies offer both heat and depth of flavor. Popular varieties include jalapeño, serrano, poblano, and ancho. You’ll find these spicing up almost any Mexican dish—even some candies.

Traditional Mexican Foods

• Mole: This sauce is produced by simmering dozens of ingredients together over a long period of time—including everything from chiles and nuts to spices and chocolate. Earthy yet sweet, mole offers complexity in flavor with a texture that’s compatible with just about anything. 
• Guacamole: An avocado-based dip, this side dish can accompany just about anything. Its fatty body makes it irresistible, while the brightness of lime juice, tomatoes, and cilantro make it interesting. 
• Tamales: Corn dough (or masa) is wrapped around sweet or savory fillings. These are then wrapped in corn husks or banana leaves to be steamed. The result is world-class comfort food. 
• Enchiladas: Like the taco and burrito, these are tortilla-based meals that hold meat, cheese, vegetables, and beans. It can all be garnished with any number of toppings—fresh onions, sour cream, or sauces.

Mexican Desserts and Drinks

Mexican desserts are an entire land of their own. Churros are made by piping dough into hot oil, then topping off this deep-fried dish with sugar and cinnamon. Flan offers smooth and creamy custard topped with gooey caramel. And tres leches cake is an airy sponge cake holding the unbelievably rich combination of evaporated milk, sweetened condensed milk, and heavy cream.

Meanwhile, Mexican beverages make revelry that much more delightful. Traditional drinks like tequila, mezcal, and horchata are the most common.

Mexican food builds an impressive amount of dishes using a handful of ingredients as pillars of the cuisine. From there, chefs in this country have gone on to give us some of the most versatile formulas in the history of eating—namely, the taco and burrito. But a full spectrum look at Mexican food shows that the appreciation and cultivation of flavor is an important part of the culture that goes far beyond any one dish.