Our best Mexican recipes make authentic Mexican guacamole, tacos al pastor, chilaquiles, and elotes based on Mexican dishes we love from our favourite Mexico City spots to sopa de tortilla we learnt to make in San Miguel de Allende. If you’re like us and use Mexican holidays such as Day of the Dead and Cinco de Mayo as an excuse to make Mexican food – and Mexican-American and Tex-Mex, because Mexican food is wonderful in all its incarnations – then browse our Mexican recipes.
If you’re cooking up a Mexican feast for Mexico‘s Day of the Dead holiday, which is currently underway, do browse this compilation of our best Mexican recipes – which include authentic Mexican recipes, as well as Mexican dishes from north of the border, because Mexican-American cuisine and Tex-Mex cuisine are the hijos of the mother cuisine after all.
That means we have genuine traditional Mexican recipes that we learnt to cook and made in our kitchens in Mexico City and San Miguel de Allende (please try the sopa de tortilla!), as well as recipes for Mexican dishes that we became enamoured with on our very first trip to Mexico in our late twenties when we backpacked all over the country (that’d be our authentic Mexican guacamole).
But we also have recipes for Mexican dishes from the USA, from a Tex-Mex chilli con carne that Terence has been making since we first moved in together many moons ago to my ultimate nachos, which I’ve been making for decades, which is a ‘loaded’ iteration of the far simpler Northern Mexican dish invented in the 1940s.
Before I share our best Mexican recipes, I have a favour to ask. Grantourismo is reader-supported. If you’ve cooked and enjoyed our recipes, please consider supporting Grantourismo. For instance, you could buy something on Amazon, such as one of these classic cookbooks for serious cooks or cookbooks for culinary travellers; book a cooking class or meal with locals on EatWith; or buy a handcrafted KROK, the best mortar and pestle ever, made by artisans in a village in Thailand. We earn a small commission at no extra cost to you.
And if you’re looking for more cooking inspiration, we have many hundreds of recipes from around the world in our archives from places we’ve lived, travelled and loved. Note that you can save your favourites by clicking on the heart on the right of any post to create your own private account. Now let me tell you all about our best Mexican recipes.
Best Mexican Recipes from Sopa de Tortilla to Tacos al Pastor
Our best Mexican recipes include recipes for everything from sopa de tortilla to tacos al pastor. But before you scroll down to the recipes, we have a few tips to share.
If you have access to corn tortillas (or Amazon to order them) by all means use corn tortillas in the recipes that call for them. We can’t source them here unfortunately, nor can we find Mexico’s corn flour called masa harina here to make our own tortillas. But when we can, we will and we’ll share a recipe.
However, we encourage you to if you can get hold of some masa harina. It’s also worth investing in a cast-iron tortilla press. We have made flour tortillas but most of the time we have had no choice to use store-bought wheat flour tortillas.
In some recipes, we recommend restaurant-style tortilla chips, which can easily be found online if you can’t source them locally. We have made totopos by frying wheat flour tortillas, but we rarely have leftover tortillas, so we tend to use plain unsalted tortilla chips made by a Mexican restaurant here in Cambodia.
Authentic Mexican Guacamole Recipe
Topping our list of best Mexican recipes is one of the most popular recipes on Grantourismo, our authentic Mexican guacamole recipe, which will make you a genuine Mexican guacamole of the kind a Mexican abuela (grandma) might make.
This is the kind of guacamole that’s made table-side at good traditional Mexican restaurants in Mexico City. It’s all about the creamy luscious texture, bright green colour and full flavour of perfectly ripe avocados.
I’ve been making this authentic Mexican guacamole recipe for over 30 years, since we tasted our first guacamole in Mexico City on our inaugural trip to Mexico in the mid-Nineties.
This authentic Mexican guacamole recipe is super easy to make and is best served with a bowl of fresh tortilla chips and washed down with classic margaritas or micheladas.
How you combine the ingredients – whether you mash them together with a fork or use a Mexican mortar and pestle called a molcajete – is a subject much-debated among Mexican chefs and cooking instructors, home cooks and foodies.
Authentic Mexican Guacamole Recipe Just Like Your Mexican Abuela Would Make
Mexican Salsa Macha Recipe for the Mexican Chilli Crisp from Veracruz
If you’re a chilli crisp lover, you’ll adore this Mexican salsa macha recipe for an addictively delicious Mexican salsa from Mexico‘s state of Veracruz, which can be used on everything from tortillas to salads. It’s an essential component of our shredded chicken and corn salad recipe, which is loaded with spicy flavours.
Salsa macha is often likened to the Chinese spicy chilli crisp Lao Gan Ma, one of our all-time favourite condiments, which we’ve been eating for as long as we’ve been living in Southeast Asia, which is 15 years this year! But salsa macha is more like homemade Sichuan chilli oil, textured with crispy dried chillies and seeds. Lao Gan Ma is denser and crunchier due to whole peanuts and beans. Regardless, they’re both delish!
We’ve been cooking Mexican food for almost as long as we’ve been cooking Asian food, yet I don’t recall trying salsa macha in Mexico, not on our first trip way back in the 90s when we backpacked all over Mexico and spent time in Veracruz, nor subsequent trips to Mexico. And it’s not a salsa you’d forget!
When I tried Terence’s first batch, I immediately became addicted to the stuff! When Terence revealed he was testing a Mexican salsa macha recipe, my jaw dropped. If I hadn’t been liberally dousing the salsa macha all over a big salad, in the same way we do a Chinese sesame, peanut and chilli oil on our bang bang chicken salad, I would have sworn it was Chinese. It’s soooo good! Now I drizzle it on breakfast eggs, chilaquiles, nachos, you name it.
Mexican Salsa Macha Recipe for the Mexican Chilli Crisp from Veracruz
Mexican Chilaquiles with Shredded Chicken Recipe
This easy Mexican chilaquiles recipe with fried eggs, shredded chicken and green salsa makes chilaquiles verdes, and it’s another one of our best Mexican recipes.
A pre-Hispanic Aztec dish, chilaquiles has long been a popular Mexican breakfast dish, but one that is eaten at any time of day. Filling and comforting, it makes for a fantastic lunch or dinner, while my Mexican friends used to tuck into late-night bowls after an evening spent bar-hopping and clubbing, swearing it was the best hangover cure.
It was at the retro charmer Café la Blanca in Mexico City back in the mid- to late-1990s that I became addicted to chilaquiles. Now by ‘addicted’, I mean that something drove me to Cafe la Blanca day after day, and when presented with the menu I felt compelled to order chilaquiles verdes over and over again rather than trying something else on the menu.
I still love making this dish as it takes me right back to Mexico City. To make your shredded chicken for chilaquiles, you can use all and any part of your leftover rotisserie chicken, or poach some chicken breasts and pull them apart when they cool down.
Mexican Chilaquiles Recipe with Fried Eggs, Shredded Chicken and Green Salsa for Chilaquiles Verdes
Tacos al Pastor Recipe Inspired by the Tacos at Salón Corona
Terence developed this tacos al pastor recipe in the downtown Mexico City penthouse apartment rental where we spent two weeks during our year-long grand tour of the world that launched Grantourismo way back in 2010.
This recipe was inspired by the tacos al pastor we ate obsessively at Salón Corona, a few blocks from the Mexico City apartment, and the tacos al pastor that Austin’s ‘taco mafia’ guys introduced us to for lunch at the humble Rosita’s Al Pastor the previous week.
Every time we ate tacos al pastor in Mexico and Austin, the simplicity of corn tortillas topped with pork, marinated with pineapple, spices and chillies, grilled on a vertical spit, and sprinkled with coriander (cilantro) and those beautiful Mexican white onions, reminded us of the wonderful shawarma we used to eat in the Middle East. Apart from the use of pork, of course.
After eating tacos al pastor way back on our first trip to Mexico in the early 1990s, and trying them again for the first time in years on a Mexico City street food tour, Terence he had to recreate tacos al pastor at home and try to give them the same flavour of tacos cooked on the streets of Mexico City. This is the result of that obsession.
Tacos al Pastor Recipe Inspired by the Tacos at Salón Corona and Rosita’s Al Pastor
Authentic Huevos Revueltos con Chorizo Recipe
This authentic huevos revueltos con chorizo recipe is based on the scrambled eggs with chorizo sausage dish we ate at Cafe El Popular about 15 years ago, on our second trip to Mexico.
I was already in Mexico City when Terence arrived in bleary-eyed one morning from a conference he’d been to in San Francisco, so I took him to my favourite breakfast spot.
It wasn’t the first time we’d eaten Mexico’s huevos revueltos con chorizo — scrambled eggs with chorizo sausage — but it felt like it was, as they were just so good.
In our recipe post, Terence writes about “the touch of heat, the way the chorizo became one with the eggs, colouring it with the oil released when the sausage was cooked… Cafe El Popular’s huevos revueltos became my favourite dish of all the breakfast eggs that we tried on that Mexico trip.”
Authentic Huevos Revueltos con Chorizo Recipe Based on Our Mexico City Favourite
Sopa de Tortilla or Tortilla Soup Recipe from San Miguel de Allende
This sopa de tortilla or tortilla soup recipe is a combination of a tortilla soup Terence has been making for many years, since our first trip to Mexico, and a tortilla soup he learnt to make from the lovely Marilau at her cooking school in San Miguel de Allende.
Terence has combined a few tips from Marilau’s recipe with his old recipe that he’s been using for years. He’s used Marilau’s amount of chillies in the recipe, but we actually prefer a spicier tortilla soup so he has used more Ancho chillies.
It’s very important to get the stock right for this sopa de tortilla recipe. Most stock-based soups were invented to extend the yield from meats that are used in a kitchen. But the quality of the stock made is as important as the quality of meat purchased.
Even if you only make stock as a home cook a few times in your life, at least try it. Only then can you judge other stocks and compare them to the store-bought varieties – most of which I find way too salty – the saltiness is there to disguise the lack of depth of flavour in the actual stock. The rest is easy and this sopa de tortilla is as authentic as it gets. It’s so good!
Sopa de Tortilla or Tortilla Soup Recipe from San Miguel de Allende, Mexico
Classic Mexican Shrimp Cocktail Recipe for Coctel de Camarones
This classic Mexican shrimp cocktail recipe for coctel de camarones makes the kind of prawn cocktails in tall old-fashioned glasses that you’ll be served in Mexico at marisquerias – restaurants, eateries and market stalls specialising in mariscos or seafood, from ceviche and seafood soups and stews to fried seafood and grilled fish.
If you’re a fan of seafood dishes and a lover of the retro prawn cocktail then you must make our Mexican shrimp cocktail recipe. It will make you a classic coctel de camarones of the kind served in vintage glasses at marisquerias or seafood eateries at markets or Mexican seafood restaurants in Mexico city and beyond.
In Mexico City’s markets, where I first became addicted to Mexican shrimp cocktails, they come in the sort of glasses that ice cream parlours served sundaes in back in the day – the glasses I blissfully scooped plump prawns out of coated in a spicy tomato sauce on our first trip to Mexico, vowing I’d live off those the entire six-week holiday.
Saturday was always my favourite day in the Mexican capital, as we’d take a taxi for the 30-minute drive to the southern suburbs to the Frida Kahlo museum, then we’d hit the San Angel and Bazar Sabado for some shopping and photography, before taking another cab to Mercado Coyoacán for the shrimp cocktails.
Traditionally served chilled, this Mexican shrimp cocktail makes for a cooling appetiser to kick off a seafood feast, and is the perfect treat on a sweltering hot day – especially washed down with icy Mexican beers. We’re in the midst of a heatwave here, so take my word for it.
Classic Mexican Shrimp Cocktail Recipe for Coctel de Camarones
Mexican Huevos Rancheros Recipe for a Contemporary Take on Traditional Mexican Ranch Eggs
This huevos rancheros recipe makes a contemporary-styled Mexican ‘ranch eggs’ with a poached egg rather than fried eggs and it’s another of our best Mexican recipes.
With Terence’s modern reinterpretation of this classic Mexican breakfast eggs dish, you get a little velvety egg yolk, the chilli bite of the spicy salsa, a little crunch from the corn ‘powder’, and the robustness of the refried beans with each mouthful.
Conceived over a decade ago for Weekend Eggs it still looks and feels contemporary and tastes just as delicious as the traditional Mexican breakfast dish.
We thought we’d update this Mexican huevos rancheros recipe, so more of our readers get to find it and cook it. Click through for an easy-to-follow huevos rancheros recipe video, which Terence made in Mexico.
Mexican Huevos Rancheros Recipe for a Contemporary Take on Traditional Mexican Ranch Eggs
Huevos con Chorizo Recipe for Scrambled Eggs with Spanish Chorizo
This huevos con chorizo or scrambled eggs with chorizo is one of our favourite Mexican breakfast eggs dishes ever and another of our best Mexican recipes.
However, this huevos con chorizo recipe was created in Spain for our edition of Weekend Eggs from Jerez, and deviates from the classic Mexican huevos revueltos con chorizo that we first fell in love with at Cafe El Popular in Mexico City years ago.
For starters, we use Spanish chorizo for this dish rather than Mexico’s soft chorizo sausage, which we adore so much. Even so, it’s become one of our favourite Mexican inspired breakfast eggs dishes made in Spain.
Huevos con Chorizo Recipe for Scrambled Eggs with Spanish Chorizo Made in Jerez
Red Chilaquiles Recipe with Fried Eggs for Mexican Chilaquiles Rojos con Huevos Fritos
Our Mexican red chilaquiles recipe with fried eggs for chilaquiles rojos con huevos fritos makes the popular Mexican comfort food dish eaten for breakfast, brunch, lunch, dinner or supper and it’s another of our best Mexican recipes.
Chilaquiles is a pre-Hispanic Aztec dish, pronounced chee-lah-KEE-lehs, which comes from the Nahuatl word for ‘chillies and greens’. Invented to make use of stale corn tortillas, chilaquiles are easy to prepare, versatile, and this version is vegetarian. If you enjoyed our green chilaquiles recipe with shredded chicken for chilaquiles verdes, above, you’ll love this, too
I have to confess that when I first fell in love with Mexican chilaquiles – which are essentially homemade tortilla chips, called totopos in Mexico, made from frying stale corn tortillas, which are then cooked in salsa, and served with Mexican cotija and crema – it was the chilaquiles verdes or green chilaquiles with shredded chicken, above, I become completely addicted, but this red chilaquiles also has a special place in my heart (and stomach!).
Red Chilaquiles Recipe with Fried Eggs for Mexican Chilaquiles Rojos con Huevos Fritos
Mexican Grilled Street Food Corn Recipe for Elotes
Another of our best Mexican recipes, this Mexican grilled corn recipe for the famous Mexican corn on the cob street food snack called elotes is our favourite type of grilled corn on the cob.
We became addicted to this in Mexico on our first trip to the country way back in 1993 and we ate it everywhere every chance we got, from Mexico City to Oaxaca, whether it was served either on the cob or in a cup.
If you can, grill the corn cobs for this Mexican grilled corn recipe over an open flame. Here in Cambodia, Terence typically grills on a traditional clay brazier as most Cambodians do, both at home and cooking on the streets.
Terence likes these coconut charcoal BBQ briquettes although he also uses this stovetop Korean BBQ grill pan. And that’s it, this is so easy.
Mexican Grilled Corn Recipe – How to Make Mexico’s Street Food Corn Called Elotes
Mexican Grilled Corn Salad Recipe
The beauty of this Mexican grilled corn salad recipe is that you can make it using leftover corn cobs and any other ingredients you might have had if you made our Mexican street corn cob recipe for elotes (link above) or you can make it from scratch.
I recommend leaving a few inner husks on, whereas most recipes advise removing them. They will burn a little and blacken and give the corn a lovely smoky aroma.
Take care if you’re doing these on a griddle pan in the kitchen and they catch on fire, although if you’ve soaked them in water with the corn, they should just smoulder.
As usual, we recommend grilling your corn over an outdoor barbecue or grill. We use a traditional clay brazier here in Cambodia. If we’re not using the clay brazier, we also like to use this stovetop Korean BBQ grill pan.
Mexican Grilled Corn Salad Recipe for a Taste of Mexico at Home
Mexican Street Corn in a Cup Recipe for Esquites or Elote en Vaso
This recipe for Mexican street corn in a cup makes the popular Mexican street food snack called esquites or elote en vaso, which consists of steaming hot corn kernels with Mexican crema, cotija cheese, lime juice, and ancho chilli powder that’s sold in a takeaway cup.
It comes with a spoon and you stir it all up and the first time you try it on the streets of Mexico City or Merida or Oaxaca, like a slap to the face – or a whack to a piñata – you realise what’s been missing in your life.
It is quick to come together, too, particularly if you made our Mexican street corn on the cob recipe and have some corn cobs leftover. If you didn’t, grilled corn cobs are easy to do.
If corn is not in season where you live, you could use a quality frozen corn brand or tinned corn kernels. Like peas, corn doesn’t lose its flavour from being frozen or canned.
If you don’t have access to Mexican crema, use creamy egg mayonnaise or sour cream – you can also try combining the two – and if you can’t get Mexico’s cotija cheese, crumbly feta cheese works. I also like to add a generous sprinkle of ground parmesan cheese – and I know I’m not alone! – I just hope my Mexican friends don’t read this.
Mexican Street Corn in a Cup Recipe – How to Make Esquites or Elote en Vaso
Easy Red Tomato Salsa Recipe
This easy red tomato salsa recipe makes a spicy Mexican salsa that Terence has been perfecting since our first big trip to Mexico and the USA way back when we first began travelling.
This salsa recipe is so versatile that we serve it with a big old bowl of chilli, with quesadillas and huevos rancheros, with my over-the-top nachos, and as a dip with corn chips and guacamole.
Given how easy this red tomato salsa is to make, we just can’t justify buying brands like Old El Paso. As well as costing a few times more than what a home-made salsa costs, store-bought jars of salsa lack the freshness of flavour that comes with using fresh coriander (cilantro), onion and lime juice.
My easy red tomato salsa recipe comes with a little twist, however… while most recipes will have you putting all the ingredients into a blender, if you do that the result will be a watery and weak salsa that will make your corn chips soggy before you even get them in your mouth.
What you don’t want is a ‘fresh’ salsa that tastes like a tomato salad. If we want a fresh salad with a big old bowl of chilli to cut through the heat, I’ll chop up some fresh tomatoes and lettuce to serve on the side.
So to get a salsa with a robust body, you need to drain your whole tinned tomatoes in a colander first to collect the juice. You should then only use the ‘meaty’ parts of the tomatoes in the salsa. Lots more tips in the post below.
Easy Red Tomato Salsa Recipe – How to Make Homemade Spicy Tomato Salsa
Mexican Chicken Tinga Taco Recipe
This easy Mexican chicken tinga taco recipe makes warm soft flour tortillas with delicious Mexican chicken tinga or tinga de pollo with grilled corn charred on a griddle pan, zingy pickled purple shallots and pickled purple cabbage, sprinkled with crumbly Mexican cotija and aromatic coriander.
Chicken tinga, which is essentially comprised of shredded chicken breast, has a soft texture and avocado is soft, so we felt our chicken tinga recipe needed a little crunch, hence we use corn. Chicken tinga is easy to make and it makes fantastic leftovers.
You make the chicken tinga then divide it between the tacos and garnish with the quick pickles, Mexican cotija, and fresh coriander, and serve with dishes of pickles, cotija cheese, lime quarters, coriander, and hot sauces.
Mexican Chicken Tinga Taco Recipe with Grilled Corn, Pickled Shallots and Purple Cabbage
Mexican Corn Salsa Recipe for Corn Pico de Gallo
This easy Mexican corn salsa recipe for a kind of corn pico de gallo – diced cucumbers, tomatoes, shallots, jalapeños, corn, and coriander, combined with a zingy dressing of vinegar, lime juice and olive oil – makes a fantastic topping for Mexican tacos or tostadas or a delicious dip or side to a Tex-Mex burrito or chilli con carne and it’s another of our best Mexican recipes.
This easy Mexican corn salsa recipe came about rather serendipitously during one of those times. Terence was refining his fantastic grilled chicken tacos recipe and we couldn’t decide whether to make a corn salsa or pico de gallo to go with the tacos, so we thought: why not combine them?!
Our Mexican corn salsa recipe makes a delicious combination of the two, a kind of corn pico de gallo and it’s so good! It’s also super easy to make, coming together in 15 minutes, plus it’s versatile.
You could add diced avocado or pineapple or kidney beans or red capsicum or whatever you like. And if you’re a corn lover, see our collection of best corn recipes.
Mexican Corn Salsa Recipe for a Corn Pico de Gallo for Taco Toppings, Dip and Sides
Mexican Migas Recipe with a Twist for a ‘Migas Tortilla’ Made with Homemade Crispy Tortilla Chips
This Mexican migas recipe with a twist makes a ‘Migas tortilla’ made with homemade crispy tortilla chips. In Mexico, migas is a scrambled eggs dish that uses up stale corn tortilla or wheat flour tortillas made into crispy tortilla chips.
Our inauthentic Mexican migas recipe makes a ‘Migas tortilla’, inspired by the Spanish tortilla, which Terence conconcted for our Weekend Eggs series. Instead of scrambled eggs with homemade crispy tortilla chips, the eggs are set into a form that more closely resembles a Spanish potato tortilla or Italian frittata.
We’ve published a few recipes made with wheat flour tortillas, which are from northern Mexico, simply because we can’t get corn tortillas or Mexico’s corn flour, called Masa Harina, to make our own, but we encourage you to use those if you can get them.
If you can’t get hold of Mexican cotija cheese (it’s available on Amazon), use a crumbly white cheese, such as a Danish cheese, or a feta cheese that is not too salty. We like hot sauces such as Tapatio and Cholula with this dish.
Pork Carnitas Recipe for Slow Cooked Pulled Pork Tacos de Carnitas
This traditional pork carnitas recipe makes the mouthwatering Mexican slow-cooked pulled pork that’s fantastic on tacos, tostadas, tortas, burritos, and more. Carnitas means ‘little meats’ and the pork is slow-braised until so juicy and tender it easily falls apart. The heat is then increased to get crispy bits of pork for delicious contrasts of texture and flavour.
Make a big batch. If you have any leftover carnitas, you can make some quesadillas with homemade pickled jalapeños, douse some hot sauce on top (we like Tapatio and Cholula), drizzle on some Mexican crema or drop a dollop of sour cream on there, and serve some refried beans on the side.
You could also roll the pulled pork up with shredded lettuce and diced tomato in big soft wheat flour tortillas to make burritos, or even scatter some pulled pork onto tortilla chips with some Mexican pickled vegetables and my spicy red tomato salsa to make a nachos to end all nachos. Whatever you do with the leftovers, make sure to wash down those ‘little meats’ with micheladas or margaritas.
Pork Carnitas Recipe for Mexican Slow Cooked Pulled Pork Tacos de Carnitas
Mexican Grilled Chicken Tacos Recipe for Tacos de Pollo Asado
This easy Mexican grilled chicken tacos recipe for tacos de pollo asado makes corn tortillas filled with incredibly delicious chicken pieces that are moist and flavourful thanks to a marinade of chipotle and spices such as cumin and paprika. Delightfully smoky courtesy of the griddle pan, you can also cook the chicken on a barbecue or grill.
Most of the time we’re happy to hang out in the kitchen and slow cook carnitas – we’ll share that recipe soon – but when we don’t, for a quick mid-week meal, Terence makes these super-easy but incredibly delicious grilled chicken tacos or tacos de pollo asado which we top with our tasty Mexican corn salsa.
So what makes this grilled chicken tacos recipe so quick and easy? Pollo asado, which is simply chicken (pollo) that’s grilled, barbecued or roasted (asado), consists of whole chicken pieces cooked on an outdoor barbecue or grill. Instead, Terence makes the easy version on a griddle pan to get that smokiness we love from cooking on an outdoor barbecue.
Easy Mexican Grilled Chicken Tacos Recipe for Tacos de Pollo Asado
Chilli Con Carne Recipe For Those Who Like Their Chilli Hot and Smoky
Our chili con carne recipe makes a good old bowl of chilli for those who like their chilli hot and smoky. This recipe is not one of those quick chilli recipes. It’s a hearty slow-cooked chilli con carne that takes a few hours to make – but it definitely doesn’t take a lot of work to make.
It’s also a chilli that will leave you with lots of leftovers if you make a big batch. We’ll eat a bowl of chilli the first night with some garnish, perhaps some Mexican cotija and maybe a salad. The next day we’ll make nachos with the lot, with a side of guacamole, and then we’ll usually finish off the batch of chilli con carne by making quesadillas.
If you’re making a Mexican food feast, kick it off with our tortilla soup from San Miguel de Allende, and serve some char-grilled corn on the cob called elotes or a grilled corn salad on the sides, and wash it all down with classic margaritas and micheladas.
Chilli Con Carne Recipe For Those Who Like Their Chilli Hot and Smoky
Chili Con Carne and Cheese Quesadillas Recipe
This chilli con carne and cheese quesadillas recipe could not be simpler. Especially if you’ve done all the hard work making the chilli con carne, above, and, hopefully, our red tomato salsa recipe. These quesadillas make a fantastic and super-easy brunch and lunch or even a casual dinner.
We love our Mexican comfort food and these cheesy chilli con carne quesadillas topped with salsa and sour cream are favourites wherever we are in the world. They are perfect for using that leftover chilli con carne from the night before – with the bonus that chilli always tastes better the next day.
They’re also fantastic as part of a full Mexican cum Tex-Mex food feast if you’re entertaining. You could kick off with a sopa de tortilla (tortilla soup) then fill your table with dishes of Mexican guacamole, salsa and sour cream, and platters of tacos al pastor, char-grilled corn on the cob or grilled corn salad, and our ultimate nachos.
Chili Con Carne and Cheese Quesadillas Recipe for an Easy Mexican Brunch or Lunch
Ultimate Nachos Recipe for the Most Delicious Nachos You’ll Ever Eat
Our ultimate nachos recipe makes the most delicious nachos you’ll ever eat while making use of leftover chili con carne. This is so much better than the melted cheese over tortilla chips that some pass off as nachos, despite that bare-bones nachos being not too different from the original Northern Mexican dish.
This is our super nachos with ‘the works’, which is how we like to eat our nachos. It’s an addictively delicious nachos that makes use of leftover chili con carne or my vegetarian bean chilli, which also makes this one of our best canned beans recipes if you’re looking for budget-friendly meals during these challenging times.
We top ir with a rustic red tomato salsa, plenty of freshly-made authentic Mexican guacamole, homemade sour cream, and slices of jalapeños, spring onions and black olives.
Ultimate Nachos Recipe – How to Make the Most Delicious Nachos You’ll Ever Eat
Breakfast Nachos Recipe with Fried Egg, Avocado, Escabeche, Chilli and Spicy Salsa
Our breakfast nachos recipe with fried egg, avocado, escabeche, chilli and spicy salsa makes a cheesy nachos topped with homemade Mexican escabeche or mixed vegetable pickles, vegetarian bean chilli, spicy tomato salsa, avocado slices, and sour cream. It makes a fun, filling weekend brunch if you’re in need of comfort food – or a hangover cure.
If you’ve made our ultimate nachos recipe, then you’re going to love our breakfast nachos recipe, which is another of our best Weekend Eggs recipe. If you’ve made our vegetarian bean chilli and Mexican escabeche or mixed vegetable pickles, then this breakfast nachos gives you a great excuse to use them – along with Terence’s easy tomato salsa, or chilli con carne if you prefer meat with your chilli.
Breakfast Nachos Recipe with Fried Egg, Avocado, Escabeche, Chilli and Spicy Salsa
Easy Vegetarian Chilli Recipe for Chilli Con Carne Sin Carne (Without Meat)
This easy vegetarian chilli recipe makes a chilli con carne sin carne (without meat) and it’s vegan without dairy accompaniments such as sour cream and cheese. While this bean chilli is a cinch to make and comes together quickly, it’s full of so much flavour thanks to the spices that even meat-lovers won’t miss the beef mince.
Back in the day, if we wanted a big ol’ bowl of chilli, Terence made his heavenly chilli con carne, which has a depth of flavour and complexity that my little ol’ vegetarian chilli, while still incredibly delicious, can’t match due to his use of a variety of chillies, bacon, beer, roasted dried spices, and multiple hours simmering on the stove.
Having said that, made with red kidney beans and loads of spices, this easy vegetarian chilli recipe makes one of our best canned beans recipes. It’s fantastic if you’re looking for wallet-friendly meals during these fiscally challenging times.
In the past, if we wanted to make my ultimate nachos and we didn’t have any leftover chilli con carne, I’d whip up this easy bean chilli in a matter of minutes to spread on top of the corn chips instead of plain refried beans. I highly recommend you do the same.
Easy Vegetarian Chilli Recipe for Chilli Con Carne Sin Carne (Without Meat) and It’s Vegan Too
White Bean Chilli Recipe for a Gently Spiced Crowd-Pleasing White Bean Chilli
Our white bean chilli recipe makes a chilli con carne with ground pork rather than beef and white beans instead of kidney beans, and it’s one of our best canned beans recipes. We use butter beans and cannellini beans, as well as corn kernels to add a little sweetness and crunch.
Gently spiced, it’s a crowd-pleasing bean chilli that’s perfect for feeding a group of friends or family, including kids, but you could always turn up the heat with more chilli. Follow our white bean chilli recipe and you’ll get a flavourful bean chilli that has warmth but isn’t fiery, yet if you like your bean chillies to be hot and you’re a spice-lover, you can easily dial up the heat.
While you can make this white bean chilli recipe in an hour and you’ll have an incredibly delicious bean chilli, if you want an even more deeply flavoured chilli you can do a few things: cook the ground pork longer, bump up the amount of spice, and increase the chilli.
White Bean Chilli Recipe for a Gently Spiced Crowd-Pleasing White Bean Chilli
White Chicken Chili Recipe with Shredded Chicken, White Beans and Avocado
If you make and enjoy the depth of flavour and level of spice of our white bean chilli, above, then you’ll love this white chicken chilli recipe with shredded chicken and white beans, topped with avocado, cheddar, radishes and coriander. It’s so addictively delicious, whenever I make it, I can’t stop eating it and put it on everything: tostadas, tacos, nachos and quesadillas.
Also gently spiced like the white bean chilli recipe, it’s another crowd-pleaser with the warmth coming from plenty of dried spice. If you want more heat, you can easily dial it up with the addition of fresh green chillies, or do as I do and sprinkle on red chilli flakes, which I stir in just before eating.
As with the white bean chilli and vegetarian chilli, this white chicken chilli recipe is one of our best canned beans recipes. It’s not only more affordable than a traditional meaty chilli con carne, the cannellini beans, butter beans and poached chicken breast make it super healthy.
White Chicken Chili Recipe with Shredded Chicken, White Beans and Avocado
White Chicken Chilli Tostadas Recipe
This white chicken chilli tostadas recipe makes an incredibly delicious yet quick and easy meal if you have leftover white chicken chilli in the fridge – or any leftover chilli beans or chilli con carne. Spread the chicken chilli on the tostadas, melt grated cheddar on top, garnish with coriander, jalapenos and avocado, and add a dollop of sour cream. Done.
If you made our deliciously addictive white chicken chilli recipe and our easy breakfast tostadas recipe with fried eggs and enjoyed those, then you’re also going to love this white chicken chilli tostadas recipe.
Of course there’s nothing stopping you from sliding fried eggs on these babies, too. Although I envisaged these tostadas more as a dinner or lunch dish and created them to use up leftover white chicken chilli and other leftovers, but use these as inspo and get creative.
White Chicken Chilli Tostadas Recipe for a Quick, Easy and Delicious Meal
Easy Breakfast Tostadas Recipe with Fried Eggs, Refried Beans and Pickles
This quick and easy breakfast tostadas recipe with fried eggs makes crispy Mexican tostadas topped with gently-spiced refried beans, fried eggs and homemade pickles, along with dollops of tomato salsa, sliced green chillies or jalapeños, crumbly Mexican cotija, and sprigs of fresh coriander. It’s nothing if not versatile, so add avocado, grated cheese, sour cream, whatever you wish.
Of course, fried eggs make everything better. If you need convincing of the comforting effects of fried eggs, see the post I shared yesterday on nine types of dishes that are better with a fried egg on top, from rice porridges or congees and steamed rice and stir-fries to fried rice and fried noodles, and chilaquiles, nachos, tacos and tostadas, to banh mi and potatoes. Any kind of potatoes.
There are few better recipes that testify to this than this easy breakfast tostadas recipe with fried eggs for crispy Mexican tostadas topped with spiced refried beans, enriched with soft fried eggs with runny yolks, garnished with homemade pickles, salsa, chillies or jalapeños, Mexican cotija, and sprigs of fresh coriander or cilantro to our American readers. This breakfast salad is a fantastic example of that.
Easy Breakfast Tostadas Recipe with Fried Eggs, Refried Beans and Pickles
Fried Eggs Breakfast Taco Recipe with Chorizo, Crunchy Potatoes and Spicy Chorizo Oil
Our fried eggs breakfast taco recipe with chorizo, crunchy potatoes and spicy chorizo oil makes a very satisfying weekend breakfast. Easy to make, it comes together quickly. Squeeze on some hot sauce, add a dollop of Mexican crema or crème fraiche, wrap it up, and tell us this isn’t one of the best breakfast tacos you’ve ever had.
Do try to get hold of the fresh Mexican chorizo, which is nice and soft and crumbly, but if you can’t always get it (we feel your pain) and you need to use Spanish chorizo instead (which we also love, don’t get us wrong), make sure you don’t fry it for too long as it can go very hard and chewy.
We adore soft fried eggs with runny yolks, but if you prefer firmer yolks, go for it, and then douse your taco in plenty of hot sauce or add a dollop of Mexican crema, creme fraiche or sour cream – or do both! Cotija cheese is a must if you have access to the Mexican cheese, otherwise use feta or another crumbly white cheese. We won’t tell.
Fried Eggs Breakfast Taco Recipe with Chorizo, Crunchy Potatoes and Spicy Chorizo Oil
Shredded Chicken Tacos Recipe with Avocado, Vegan Chilli and Mexican Pickles
This easy shredded chicken tacos recipe with avocado, vegan chilli and Mexican pickled onions and pickled cabbage makes a fantastic filling lunch or light dinner that’s a cinch to make and can be assembled quickly. Pop a fried egg on top for a breakfast taco and make extra shredded chicken from poached chicken and keep in the fridge for salads and sandwiches.
The beauty of this shredded chicken tacos recipe is that it’s a recipe born from leftovers. That means you can plan to make the recipes that made the dishes and condiments for a delicious filling lunch or light dinner – or breakfast, with eggs. Plan ahead and prepare the shredded chicken and chilli in advance and it also means no cooking – aside from warming up the tortillas in a pan.
Shredded Chicken Tacos Recipe with Avocado, Vegan Chilli and Mexican Pickles
Quick Pickled Vegetables Recipe for Mexican Escabeche in the Taqueria Pickles Style
This quick pickled vegetables recipe makes homemade vegetable pickles for Mexican escabeche and it’s one of our best pickles recipes. They’re not only delicious, they’re versatile, so you can adjust the pickle brine to your taste, softening the tang or giving them more bite. Also known as refrigerator pickles, these are the easiest pickles to make as there’s no cooking involved and they take no more than fifteen minutes to pull together.
If you’ve spent any time in Mexico, you will definitely remember tangy vegetable pickles. These crunchy pickles are in the style of the tangy Mexican pickles typically served at restaurants and taquerias in Mexico. They’re usually served in a small dish that waiters set down on the table when they leave your menus or take your order.
If you’re at a fonda or restaurant, they might come with salsa and tortilla chips or bread, at a fancy restaurant there might be a whole tray of different pickles, salsas and perhaps some guacamole, while at a more simple taqueria, you’ll get a dish of pickles when you order your cervezas.
You can use these quick pickled vegetables in the same way you would your jalapeño pickles, pickled onions and pickled cabbage. You can serve them with any number of Mexican breakfast dishes, on tacos, tortillas, nachos, chilli con carne, or vegetarian chilli, or as fillings for quesadillas and burritos. You can also pop them on sandwiches, burgers and hot dogs.
Quick Pickled Vegetables Recipe for Mexican Escabeche in the Taqueria Pickles Style
Published 5 May 2023; Updated with New Recipes and Republished 4 May 2025
Please do let us know in the comments below if you make any of best Mexican recipes as we’d love to hear how they turned out for you.
