Mexican-Inspired Recipes

Use a 13-inch round serving plate with a rim to accommodate the caramel. Martha made this recipe on "Martha Bakes" episode 711.

Flavorful chicken thighs are oven-poached in an ancho chili powder-seasoned mixture of citrus juices before being pulled and shredded for topping on this hearty taco salad perfect for lunch or dinner.

Beef tacos are fun to put together and delicious to eat. Fill the tortillas with lettuce and beef, then each person can add his or her favorite toppings.

Shredded chicken, corn tortillas, plus a smoky chipotle sauce -- a delicious dinner in three steps.

A good margarita depends on the qualityof its ingredients; always use the best tequilayou can find. You'll get excellent results usinga citrus reamer, a small, fluted cylindricalwooden tool, to extract every last drop of juicefrom the limes.

If you order a bowl of authentic Mexican chile verde in the Southwest, you'll find hunks of juicy, tender pork shoulder that have been braised for hours in a tart tomatillo-chile sauce. While the original is worthy of a special weekend project, we wanted a recipe that we could make on any lazy Sunday and still be delicious. By using storebought ingredients that bring maximum flavor with the minimal amount of fuss, we created a hearty and warming chile verde that is practically hands-off. In a rush? Try the pressure-cooker version of this recipe, instead.

Get a freezable Mexican meal rolling in no time with a no-cook filling and a sauce made from pantry ingredients. Pepper Jack cheese and a combination of black beans and corn tortillas give this meatless dish complete protein.

A quesadilla is a tortilla typically filled with beans and shredded cheese then folded before being toasted or fried. Our version features cheese and cooked vegetables. Sour cream, shredded lettuce, sliced avocado, and bottled salsa make great accompaniments to quesadillas, so serve them on the side.

Cotija, also known as queso anejado, is a crumbly, aged white cheese; look for it in specialty food stores or Latin markets. Feta cheese can be used in its place. Serve with Ponzu-Braised Chicken or our Spiced Shredded Pork.

This Mexican favorite makes a festive dish for a Cinco de Mayo party or a fun family dinner.

This is a fresher take on esquites, Mexican street corn cups. Individual cups work well for entertaining, but the corn salad can also be made in a large serving bowl.

For an authentic touch, use fresh Mexican cheese (queso fresco) or aged (queso anejo) in place of feta.

This chicken stew uses the flavor of the whole chicken and tangy tomatillos and traditional Mexican enhancements such as cilantro, garlic, and onion to full advantage.

With simple ingredients, fish tacos are a light and easy meal. Here, they're served with a four-ingredient red-cabbage slaw and topped with fresh cilantro and a drizzle of sour cream. 

Dark chocolate and spices add richness to the Mexican chile sauce called mole (MOH-lay). Simmer it in a slow cooker along with chicken thighs for a warming weeknight dinner.

To fast-track this recipe, substitute 5 3/4 cups of coleslaw mix for the cabbage and carrots.

Beans, a good-quality pantry staple, make this meal healthy, delicious, and affordable.

These soft tacos use lean ground sirloin and low-fat corn tortillas as sensible substitutions. Skip the sour cream and guacamole -- opt for a fiery salsa instead.

As the days and nights turn cooler, dial up the heat with our easy pressure-cooker chile verde. Simply sauté an onion and brown a pork shoulder, then stoke the stew with green chiles and store-bought salsa. Invite some friends over, and you're ready to party. No pressure cooker? No problem—we made a one-pot version for the stovetop, too.

This sauce is an accompaniment to chef Zarela Martinez's Red Snapper Veracruz-style recipe.

Based on a Mexican classic, this recipe can be made as mild or as spicy as you like. Serve with plain white rice; stir in some chopped cilantro for added flavor.

The chipotle chiles in this stovetop casserole lend an earthy, subtle heat to the dish. This make-ahead meal is perfect for dinner on a cool fall night.

For your next batch of rice and beans, punch up both the flavor and the nutrition by adding sliced mushrooms for antioxidants, bell pepper for vitamin C, scrambled eggs for extra protein, and creamy avocado for healthy fats. 

The bold flavors of saffron, bay leaves, and garlic infuse Valencia rice, a Spanish variety perfect for slow-cooked dishes and the traditional base for paella. Here, the grains are cooked up with golden-brown chicken thighs and garnished with pimiento-stuffed olives. Saffron gives the rice its warm yellow hue.