Traditional Mexican Food You Can’t Miss on Your Next Trip to Mexico

I remember my first encounter with Mexican food, at a small corner taqueria in Tulum. Four tacos on a paper plate, at a small plastic table by the side of the street. Each taco was different: chicken and red pickled onion, slow-cooked pork with a spicy tomato sauce, fish with half a boiled egg on top, and chicken with pico de galo. Every bite was like an explosion of flavour. No wonder my friend Alvin, who I was visiting in Tulum, took me here for lunch when I told him I wanted to try some really good Mexican food. The food was simple but incredible!

For the next few days, I tried as much Mexican dishes as I could: fresh ceviche at a beach restaurant, grilled octopus with a delicate mash potatoes, cured tuna and avocado salads, Huarache Azteca – tender marinated pork served with cactus and Oaxaca cheese, beef fillet served with cuitlacoche risotto, giant prawns cooked in different ways, and many, many, many tacos.

About Mexican Food

Firstly, it is very hard to define where the Mexican cuisine starts and ends. Each state in Mexico has its own traditional dishes, based on local ingredients and well as culture. We can talk about food staples, such as corn, chilli pepper, beans, tomatoes, and avocados, among many others. The Mexican food has been heavily influenced by many completely different cuisines, depending on historical events that took place in the country, as well as the new ingredients introduced by the Spaniards.  

The Mexican cuisine is a very important social and cultural aspect of life in Mexico. A lot of the regional cuisine is very tightly connected with festivals and religion. The ability to cook is considered an art in Mexico, especially that some of the dishes are very complicated to make. Cooking is, in many rural places around the country, a way to bring together the community.

The Best Mexican Food to Try  in Mexico

There are a few staple Mexican dishes that you will find around the country. In this article, we will dig deep to see what these Mexican foods are.

Tacos al Pastor

Tacos al pastor are among the best types of tacos in Mexico, and the most prevalent. Even though they are considered to be a Mexico City food, you’ll find tacos al pastor in places throughout the country.

In English, tacos al pastor means “shepard’s tacos,” or “pastor tacos,” as in a church pastor. Though they are the undisputed king of authentic tacos from Mexico, tacos al pastor have Middle Eastern origins.

Tacos al pastor meat cooks on what’s called a trompo, which means “top,” as in a children’s top toy. A trompo is basically an Arabian-style vertical spit, similar to what’s used to cook a gyro or shawarma. It made its way to Mexico in the late-1800s.

Not many know this, but Mexico had a large influx of Lebanese and Middle Eastern immigrants from about 1880-1935. They brought with them their cooking techniques, which would change Mexican food forever.

Tacos al pastor are served on small corn tortillas, and you can usually finish one taco in three bites. Most taquerías (taco shops) give two tortillas per taco. Next, the meat from the trompo is added, and you can ask for a slice of pineapple if you’d like.

When you’re served the tacos, you can then add diced white onion, cilantro, a squeeze of fresh lime juice, and salsa. Most taquerías offer several salsas to choose from, but you’ll always want to sample a drop before adding any to your tacos al pastor.

Fish Tacos

The fish taco, taco de pescado in Spanish, is a quintessential Mexican dish to try. Originating in the Baja Peninsula in Northern Mexico, there is conflicting history about who invented fish tacos. Many believe it was Asian immigrants who introduced locals to the practice of deep-frying fish, and this paired with traditional Mexican taco fillings was the birth of the fish taco!

Fish tacos can be served in a lot of different ways, and often the diner can make their own choices about salads and salsas. But the traditional version involves a piece of battered fish, lightly fried to be crispy on the outside and moist on the inside, wrapped in a flour tortilla (yes, flour is traditional, not corn despite what many foreigners may think!), with a chipotle mayonnaise sauce, guacamole, a cabbage/coleslaw type salad and a squeeze of lime.

Although fish tacos are traditional to Northern Mexico, they are popular all over the country, especially in coastal regions like Puerto Vallarta. If you’re close to the ocean, there is a good chance you will find some fish tacos around! Mostly served from small, local style restaurants, fish tacos are also on the menu in many fine dining establishments and are occasionally served up from street stalls.

Without a doubt the best fish tacos I ate on my six-month trip to Mexico was in Baja California Sur, in the area where they originated. The capital city of La Paz is a great place to sample this mouth-watering meal, and Netflix’s Taco Chronicles seems to agree, featuring the popular restaurant Taco Fish La Paz in their second season.

Mole

Mole (pronounced moe-lay) is one of the most beloved Mexican foods and best traditional Oaxacan foods. In fact, mole is the co-national dish of Mexico; it shares this title with chile en nogada.

Mole comes from Central Mexico, particularly the states of Puebla and Oaxaca (pronounced wa-ha-kah), but you can eat it in other parts of the country as well. However, many consider mole a quintessentially Oaxacan food, and say to get the best mole in Mexico, you have to go to Oaxaca.

While many have tried mole in places outside of Mexico may have tried mole, not everyone knows exactly what it is. Mole is both a marinade and a sauce. It usually comes served as a main dish, accompanied by a meat (often chicken or turkey), rice and tortillas.

Mole recipes will vary from town to town, and person to person. However, in general, mole consists of a combo of these ingredients: chilli peppers, red tomatoes, green tomatoes, fruits, chocolate, local spices, nuts and seeds. Some moles can have 30 ingredients, but 8-10 is closer to the norm.

The ingredients are heated over a comal (flat cooking surface) to bring out their flavours, crushed and worked into a paste. Next, they are mixed with water or stock, and slow-cooked for hours (sometimes days), till the mole thickens considerably.

The most common type of mole in Mexico is mole negro, which means black mole. This type gets its colour from chocolate and roasted chillis that turn dark red after they cook. However, there are actually seven types of mole you can try in Mexico, including mole verde (green mole) and mole colorado (red mole).

Tlayuda

I can’t imagine a more iconic Oaxacan food than the tlayuda. While the ingredients are familiar to other Mexican dishes, its preparation is unique to Oaxaca.

Creating a tlayuda starts with an oversized corn tortilla that is spread with a thin layer of pork fat (asiento). The tortilla is then layered with pureed black beans, stringy Oaxacan cheese, and various vegetables such as shredded cabbage, tomato, and avocado.

From my experience, the best tlayudas are then folded in half and grilled over an open flame. Options include adding tasajo (salt cured beef), chorizo, or other meats. Often tlayudas are served with a side of sliced radishes and the pungent herb, chepiche.

While the tlayuda is traditionally thought of as street food, many of the best restaurants in Oaxaca devote their entire menu to this traditional dish. I recommend trying one at Tlayudas Doña Luchita where the smell of the grill permeates the air.

Like so many traditional Mexican foods that revolve around the tortilla, the origins of the tlayuda date to pre-Columbian times when a process called nixtamalization was developed. By soaking corn kernels in limestone, it fortifies and preserves the corn before it is ground into a flour used to make a corn dough called masa.

Regionally, the Zapotec communities in the Central Valleys of Oaxaca have been responsible for preserving the tlayuda. Specifically in San Antonio de Cal, a town located about 20 minutes from Oaxaca City, which is known as the birthplace of the tlayuda.

Tortas

One of the many things that makes Mexico a food-lovers heaven is how much the food varies from state to state, and how passionate Mexicans are about the food of their home region.

Tortas are a type of sandwich known all over Mexico, but each state and even some regions have a very different system of constructing this Mexican staple.

In Veracruz, tortas are made from cloud-like bread and filled with beans, mild and crumbly cheese, and lettuce. The sandwich is then warmed slightly in the oven and served with a sweet sauce on the side.

In Guadalajara, Jalisco, however, we find the Tortas Ahogadas – or “drowned sandwiches”. Tortas Ahogadas are traditionally a left-over/hang-over meal consisting of carnitas between two pieces of day-old bread. You then “drown” the torta in a chile and onion sauce, thus the name Tortas Ahogadas. Kind of like a Mexican version of a beef dip!

In Oaxaca where I live, tortas are a little less structured than the near-religious constructions in Veracruz and Jalisco. Oaxaca is more known for its traditional foods like mole, but we also have great tortas! While the contents vary greatly, Tortas Oaxaqueñas are generally huge. They are served on a large but thin bun, filled with your choice of stuffings, and then heated on a flat-top grill just until the quesillo (Oaxacan cheese) melts.

While tortas are different all over Mexico, they consistently represent the working people. Like tacos, tortas are easy to find from take-out booths, street carts, and nearly any restaurant as an easy way to get a meal in during a busy work day.

Sopa de Lima

If you want to try a popular regional dish of the Yucatan Peninsula, you have to eat Sopa de Lima (lime soup). While it is rather simple, it is a very flavourful traditional Mexican dish.

Sopa de Lima is a chicken or turkey soup with vegetables and spices, but it is the local lima yucateca (Yucatan lime) that gives the soup its homely flavour. In most places, it is served with fried tortilla stripes in the soup to give the dish a crunch. However, some restaurants will serve tortillas on the side.

This post-colonial dish combines the Mayan and Hispanic cultures. Its current form dates back to the 1940s. It is a light soup, which makes it the ideal thing to eat on a hot day. While some restaurants serve it as a main dish, others serve it as a starter.

While it is traditionally cooked with meat, some restaurants including La Choza in San Miguel on Cozumel also serve a vegetarian version.

Chilaquiles

Chilaquiles are a traditional Mexican dish consisting of tortillas that are cut into pieces and fried. The tortilla pieces are then covered in a sauce, typically made with chilli peppers, and served with cheese, onions, avocado, and sour cream, and commonly topped with eggs or chicken.

The word chilaquiles is derived from the Nahuatl (an ancient Aztec language) word for “chillis and greens” but is thought to have been brought to Mexico in a Spanish cookbook in 1898. Nowadays, chilaquiles are popular throughout all of Mexico and are typically served as a hearty breakfast dish and often as a hangover cure!

Chilaquiles can be made with different types of sauces, depending on the region where they are prepared. In some parts of Mexico, the sauce is made with a tomato base (red chilaquiles), while in others it is made with a green chili pepper base (green chilaquiles).  Red chilaquiles are typically much more spicy if you can handle the heat!

If you’re ever in Mexico, be sure to try chilaquiles at a local restaurant. Or, if you’re in Playa del Carmen, head to La Cueva del Chango, one of the best Playa del Carmen breakfast restaurants serving up some of the best chilaquiles in town.

Chalupas

If you visit Mexico and expect to find the same chalupas you’re accustomed to at Taco Bell, then you’re in for a pleasant surprise. Authentic Mexican chalupas aren’t at all like the fast food American version. They’re better.

Chalupas are one of the tastiest antojitos (snacks) you can try in Mexico.  Originally from Puebla, it’s a traditional Poblano dish that’s also become popular in neighboring south-central Mexican states like Hidalgo and Guerrero. You can taste it when you opt for a food tour in Puebla.

Unlike the Taco Bell version that’s basically an American taco made with a thicker and chewier piece of flatbread, authentic chalupas poblanas consist of thin pieces of fried corn masa topped with either red or green salsa, shredded meat (usually pork or chicken), and chopped white onions.  They remain soft and just a little bit crunchy after frying and can be topped with other ingredients as well like mole poblano, sesame seeds, and cotija cheese.

Chalupas are absolutely delicious and one of the most popular antojitos you can find in Puebla. They’re available everywhere – at markets, street food stalls, fondas, and fine dining restaurants.  You’ll even find them served as appetizers at Puebla’s best restaurants like El Mural de los Poblanos and Restaurante Casareyna.

Mole poblano and chiles en nogada may be the more celebrated dishes but you’ll definitely be missing out if you visit Puebla without trying chalupas.  Aside from El Mural and Casareyna, another great place to try them is La Casa del Mendrugo.

Panuchos

Traveling to Mexico’s state of Yucatán? Don’t forget to try panuchos, small fried tortillas that are stuffed with beans and topped with vegetables and some meat. 

Panuchos are believed to have originated in Merida, the capital of Yucatan, and today they are served in many restaurants around the state in places like Izamal, Valladolid and Coba. 

You can also try panuchos in traditional Yucateca restaurants across the country in places like Mexico City or Guadalajara. 

According to the legend, the recipe was created by Don Hucho, owner of a food stall along the Camino Real, around the middle of the 19th century.

Don Hucho prepared bread with beans and boiled eggs. Travelers called it “Don Hucho’s bread.” But as the bread was changed to a corn tortilla, the dish got the new name, panuchos.

Panuchos are usually served as an appetizer, however, they are also a great alternative if you are a vegan or vegetarian, as you can ask to make them without meat, and add more vegetables instead. 

Making panuchos is simple: you need 1 lb of prepared corn masa dough, refried beans and vegetables that you want to put on top. 

The base remains the same, but you can customize the toppings however you like. Some of the most popular ingredients are salsa, lettuce, red onion and avocado. Add salt and pepper to taste. 

Conchita Pibil

The Mexico region of Yúcatan has many riches for the culinary traveller. From the small towns to cities like Cancun and the colonial city of Merida, the food of the Yúcatan is distinct from the rest of the country.

Perhaps no food is so iconic from the region as Cochinita Pibil, broadly known as the pulled pork of Mexico. While the description may be accurate, it leaves the most important part of the story untold.

Cochinita Pibil is made from roasting a small pig underground for hours, using a carefully constructed smoke pit and a unique combination of native herbs and other organics. Its history dates to the pre-Hispanic days of the Maya who made the dish with wild boar or venison,

The dish is made from rubbing a pig with a mixture of ground garlic, achiote seeds and other traditional spices. In the Yúcatan Peninsula, bitter orange juice is also added. The pig is wrapped and steamed in a smouldering pit lined with rocks that hold the heat. Hours later the succulent meat is pulled apart and served simply in corn tortillas.

My first taste of Cochinita Pibil was in Merida in a taco from a corner street cart, and while the dripping shreds of meat looked like barbecue, the flavours were unlike anything I’d ever eaten.

You’ll find this dish on the street and in every restaurant on the peninsula. Many local tours now also offer the full experience of seeing it cooked and disassembled, followed by a traditional meal.

Chile en Nogada

Among all the delicious food from Puebla, the Chile en Nogada is an iconic dish and a delicacy that you must try. It is considered also the official Mexican dish although some would argue that it’s the Mole Poblano represents Mexico. 

Regardless, Chile en Nogada was apparently invented on the occasion of Mexican independence, and its colors represent the Mexican flag, the white sauce, the red pomegranate, and the green parsley. 

And since it includes some seasonal ingredients you can only find it from July through September. If you eat it at another time of the year it’s probably missing some of the original ingredients.  Although it’s originally from Puebla you can find it in other parts of Mexico. 

The chile en nogada blends salted and sweet, and many different textures and flavours altogether. It’s definitely not for everyone. 

The original one is a breaded sweet pepper filled with a mix of meat, dried fruits, and spices, cooked together and stuffed into the pepper, which is covered in a white sauce made with different nuts (NOGADA), decorated with pomegranate seeds, and green parsley. 

Being an elaborate and laborious dish that requires about 6 hours of preparation, it cannot be cheap. So one of the ways to make sure you are eating the Chile en Nogada in the right restaurant is the price. If it’s cheap it cannot be good.

Nowadays they also make vegan Chile en Nogada, which is not the same thing, obviously, but it allows vegans to enjoy this delicious Mexican dish.

Chapulines

Chapulines is the plural word for chapulín, which means grasshopper in Spanish – and that’s exactly what they are! Roasted grasshoppers.

A historical snack dating back to the 16th century, Chapulines are prepared by first drying the grasshoppers in the sun, and then roasting them with a variety of flavourings. The resulting snack is crunchy, savoury, and nutty in flavour. 

Chapulines are traditionally from the Oaxaca region of Mexico, but the snack is also gaining in popularity in trendy areas like Mexico City and Tulum. 

All over Oaxaca City, you’ll see women on the street with huge piles of Chapulines selling the crunchy treat to passers-by. Or, in the markets or at festivals other sellers will come by with baskets of the snack. 

Chapulines are considered casual snack food. Usually flavoured with salt, chilli, garlic, and lime, their flavour can be compared to that of a savoury potato chip. 

Today, Chapulines are starting to make waves outside of Oaxaca as a health-food alternative to potato chips, since they’re so similar to the standard crunchy deep-fried chip loved around the world, but have more protein and fibre and less fat. 

Tamales

One of my family’s favorite dishes in Mexico are tamales. Made from steamed masa (ground corn mixed with water and lime) and containing a filling, tamales have been a part of Meaoamerican cuisine as far back as 8,000 to 5,000 BCE. Today, they are popular for breakfast, a late-night snack, or holiday celebrations.

In Mexico, the preparation of tamales varies depending on the region. My family and I were lucky enough to be able to sample various kinds of tamales from our travels around Mexico.

In the northern and central Mexican regions, tamales are steamed in corn husks and filled with chicken or pork. While on the Yucatán peninsula, tamales are steamed in banana leaves. And in the city of Oaxaca, tamales are smothered in mole, a stewed sauce made from ground roasted chiles and spices. 

My family’s favourite experience with tamales was in Puerto Vallarta, during a cooking class with Cookin’ Vallarta. During the class, we learned how to prepare a tamal (singular for tamales): mixing the masa, preparing the filling, wrapping the corn husk, and steaming the tamal. And at the end of the class, we had a chance to taste our culinary creations. 

Many Mesoamerican origin stories tell of how humans were created from corn. So dishes like tamales serve not only a utilitarian purpose (providing sustenance), but also a cultural one too. Taking the class with Cookin’ Vallarta was a great opportunity to connect with centuries old traditions!

Chicharrones Preparados

When in Mexico there are so many food dishes to choose from, but whenever in Mexico City one dish you can’t afford to miss out on is the delicious Chicharrones preparados. It’s true, there are so many different types of Chicharron you can try in Mexico, but this is a dish that has been served throughout Central Mexico for years, and the best place to try it is on the streets of Mexico City. It is like a flatbed of crunchy goodness that you never want to end.

The base is made from Chicharron de harina which is a dry dense flour-based snack, is then topped, just like a Pizza, with a fresh wad of shredded cabbage, a generous serving of sliced avocado, tomatoes, and then furiously splattered with best-tasting cream cheese you have ever tried. You will notice that Chicharrones preparados are purely street food snacks and can be found sold as lunchtime snacks during the day.

Usually in parks, outside schools, and sometimes in dedicated shopfronts. It is a custom to add Valentina hot sauce on top to get that extra spicy kick that most Mexicans love when it comes to food. Check out La Casa del Chicharrón in Mexico City to see just how magnificent they are.

Poc Chuc

One of the best traditional Yucatan foods, you’ll want to try poc chuc when visiting the Yucatan Peninsula in Mexico. While you can find it in other parts of Mexico, this is a dish you’ll want to sample locally to really appreciate it.

Poc chuc (pronounced pock chook) is a thin pork filet that’s marinated in recado blanco, then grilled. In traditional Yucatan food, there are three recados, or spice paste mixtures, that you’ll find in most dishes — recado blanco (white), recado rojo (red), and recado nengro (black).

After marinating, the poc chuc is splashed with juice from the naranja agria, then grilled. Naranja agria means “sour orange,” but it’s also sometimes called Seville orange. It is a type of citrus fruit that grows in the Yucatan Peninsula, and only a few other places on Earth.

Though it seems like a basic and simple dish, poc chuc allows two of the most important Yucatan ingredients to shine: pork and naranja agria.

Poc chuc comes served with the condiments you’d get with most Yucatan dishes, spicy habanero salsa and pickled red onion, but also some other accompaniments.

These include frijol colado, Yucatan-style refried black beans, and chiltomate (pronounced chill-toe-mah-tay), a non-spicy, roasted tomato salsa. As with most dishes in Mexico, you’ll also get tortillas on the side.

Marquesitas

I first tried marquesitas in Bacalar, Mexico near the Belize border. However, I’ve also seen them sold in Cozumel, Playa del Carmen, Isla Mujeres, Merida, and even Mexico City!

Marquesitas are a sweet dessert that was created in the 1930s by an ice cream business owner in the Yucatan region of Mexico. He integrated the sweet taste of jams with the salty taste of queso de bola, and it became a success. 

The name comes from the daughters of a Marquis who frequented the ice cream shop and bought the sweet often. 

Nowadays, the most popular combination seems to be Nutella and Edam or Parmesan cheese. The combination of sweet and savoury is really tasty!

The ingredients of the marquesita consist of a dough of flour, egg, milk, and butter that is pressed on a grill to make a thin crepe. Then, the cheese and sweets are added and rolled. The dough firms to an ice cream cone consistency as it cools. 

Although they are originally from Yucatan, these sweets can be found in other states of Mexico. Typically, marquesitas are sold on street carts by small food vendors in a zocalo or other busy area of town in the evenings. 

Churros

In its simplest form a churro is a stick of fried dough but to me, it is so much more. Perfectly piped pieces of pastry fried until crisp and dusted with cinnamon sugar, it’s easy to see why churros are a favourite Mexican food.

The exact origin of churros remains a mystery. Legends tell of nomadic shepherds frying dough in the mountains of Spain and enterprising Portuguese sailors carrying the recipe from the Orient, but no one knows for sure. What is certain is how they came to be a Mexican staple.

Spanish immigrant Francisco Iriarte arrived in Mexico City in 1933 to discover churros were not known here. He opened a small cart in the Zocalo, introducing churros to Mexico. By 1935 he had found so much success he opened his first churrería location in the centre of Mexico City.

90 years later churros have become a modern classic of food in Mexico. Available across the country from street vendors to high-end restaurants, churros are now a part of the culture.

While I’ve tried churros all over Mexico my favourite place to enjoy them is where it all began, at Francisco’s churrería, El Moro. El Moro now has 12 locations across Mexico City, including the original in the Centro Historico. They are easily spotted with their hand painted blue and white tiles and constant line of locals waiting outside.

Today, the churrerías remain as a family business using Francisco’s original recipe. I like to pair mine with the condensed milk dip and a traditional Mexican drinking chocolate, for a satisfying after dinner treat.

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