Mexican Recipes

27 recipes from Mexican cuisine, including Margarita, Carnitas and Huevos Rancheros. 13 are vegetarian and 10 take less than 30 minutes.

Baja Fish Tacos

The street food of Mexico's Baja California coast: strips of white fish in a light beer batter, fried crisp and piled into warm corn tortillas with shredded cabbage, a lime crema and fresh salsa.

🍳 Cooking⏱ 45 min🍽 4 serves

Chilaquiles Rojos

Mexico's breakfast for using up yesterday's tortillas — crisp fried tortilla wedges tossed in a red chilli and tomato salsa, topped with fried eggs, crumbled cheese, cream, onion and coriander.

🍳 Cooking⏱ 45 min🍽 4 serves

Flour Tortillas

The soft wheat flatbreads of northern Mexico — a simple dough of flour, fat, salt and warm water, rested so it rolls thin without springing back, then cooked in a dry, very hot pan until it puffs and freckles.

🍳 Cooking⏱ 60 min🍽 10 serves

Queso Dip (Chile con Queso)

Tex-Mex chile con queso — melted cheese in evaporated milk with jalapeño, onion and tomato, kept silky by a little cornflour and served hot with tortilla chips.

🥫 Sauce⏱ 25 min🍽 6 serves

Tortilla Soup

Mexico City's sopa de tortilla — a broth of charred tomato and dried chillies poured over crisp fried tortilla strips, then topped with avocado, crumbled cheese, soured cream and lime.

🍳 Cooking⏱ 60 min🍽 4 serves

Pozole Rojo

Mexico's festive red pozole — pork shoulder and hominy simmered in a broth coloured with guajillo and ancho chillies, served with a spread of shredded cabbage, radish, onion, oregano and lime for each bowl.

🍳 Cooking⏱ 170 min🍽 6 serves

Chicken Fajitas

The sizzling platter of Texas–Mexican border cooking — strips of lime-and-spice chicken seared hot with peppers and onion, then wrapped at the table in warm flour tortillas with guacamole, soured cream and salsa.

🍳 Cooking⏱ 45 min🍽 4 serves

Chicken Mole Poblano

Puebla's festive sauce of dried chillies, nuts, seeds, spices and a little dark chocolate, ground and simmered until dark and glossy, then served over poached chicken — the dish of weddings and the Day of the Dead.

🍳 Cooking⏱ 140 min🍽 6 serves

Birria Tacos

Jalisco's chilli-braised beef turned street favourite — tortillas dipped in the red fat of the stew, crisped in a pan around melting cheese and shredded meat, and dunked in a cup of the spiced broth.

🍳 Cooking⏱ 240 min🍽 6 serves

Loaded Nachos

The sharing plate born on the Mexico–Texas border in the 1940s — tortilla chips layered with cheese, black beans and pickled jalapeños, baked until melted and heaped with salsa, guacamole and soured cream.

🍳 Cooking⏱ 25 min🍽 4 serves

Cheese Quesadillas

Mexico's quick griddle snack — flour tortillas folded over melting cheese, sweet pepper and spring onion and toasted in a dry pan until crisp and golden outside and stringy within.

🍳 Cooking⏱ 25 min🍽 4 serves

Huevos Rancheros

The Mexican ranch breakfast — fried eggs on lightly crisped corn tortillas with fried black beans, smothered in a warm roasted tomato and chilli salsa and finished with crumbled cheese, avocado and coriander.

🍳 Cooking⏱ 40 min🍽 4 serves

Chicken Burrito

The big burrito of San Francisco's Mission District — a flour tortilla rolled tight around spiced chicken, lime rice, black beans, cheese, salsa and soured cream, then toasted in a dry pan so it holds together.

🍳 Cooking⏱ 75 min🍽 4 serves

Carnitas

Michoacán's slow-cooked pork — chunks of shoulder simmered in lard with orange, garlic and spices until tender, then fried in their own fat until the edges crisp, and piled into warm corn tortillas.

🍳 Cooking⏱ 180 min🍽 6 serves

Pico de Gallo

Mexico's raw table salsa — diced tomato, white onion, jalapeño and coriander dressed only with lime and salt, cut by knife so every piece stays distinct and crisp.

🥫 Sauce⏱ 15 min🍽 4 serves

Esquites

Mexican street-corn salad — kernels charred in a very hot pan, then tossed while warm with mayonnaise, lime, chilli and crumbled cotija, the cup-served version of elote sold from street carts.

🥗 Salad⏱ 20 min🍽 4 serves