Tacos al Pastor
Antojitos🌶️
Marinated pork shaved off a vertical spit (trompo), served on small corn tortillas with pineapple.
Ingredients
Pork, achiote, guajillo & ancho chiles, pineapple, onion, cilantro, lime
Eat your way through the Yucatán
66 items
Tacos al Pastor
Marinated pork shaved off a vertical spit (trompo), served on small corn tortillas with pineapple.
Ingredients
Pork, achiote, guajillo & ancho chiles, pineapple, onion, cilantro, lime
Tacos de Cochinita Pibil
The signature Yucatán taco — slow-roasted pork in banana leaves, bright orange from achiote.
Ingredients
Pork shoulder, achiote (annatto) paste, sour orange, banana leaf, pickled red onion, habanero
Tacos de Carne Asada
Grilled marinated beef on corn tortillas with onion, cilantro, and salsa.
Ingredients
Skirt or flank steak, lime, garlic, onion, cilantro, corn tortilla
Tacos de Pescado
Battered or grilled white fish tacos with cabbage slaw and crema.
Ingredients
White fish, beer batter or grill, cabbage, lime crema, pico de gallo
Quesadillas
Folded corn tortilla with melted cheese — often filled with mushroom, squash blossom, or huitlacoche.
Ingredients
Corn or flour tortilla, Oaxaca cheese, optional fillings
Sopes
Thick hand-formed corn cake with a pinched rim, topped with beans, meat, lettuce, crema, and cheese.
Ingredients
Masa, refried beans, meat, lettuce, crema, queso fresco, salsa
Tlayudas
Oaxacan 'Mexican pizza' — giant crispy tortilla with beans, cheese, meat, and avocado.
Ingredients
Large corn tortilla, asiento (pork lard), refried beans, quesillo, meat, avocado, cabbage
Tamales
Steamed masa pockets wrapped in corn husk or banana leaf with sweet or savory fillings.
Ingredients
Masa, lard, broth, fillings (chicken, pork, mole, rajas, sweet)
Elote / Esquites
Grilled corn on the cob (elote) or in a cup (esquites), slathered with crema, cheese, and chile.
Ingredients
Corn, mayo or crema, lime, cotija cheese, chile powder (Tajín)
Marquesitas
Yucatán's signature crispy crepe rolled around cheese (yes, cheese) and Nutella or jam.
Ingredients
Crepe batter, Edam or queso de bola, Nutella, cajeta, jam, fruit
Sopa de Lima
Bright, citrusy chicken soup with crispy tortilla strips — Yucatán's signature soup.
Ingredients
Chicken, lima (sweet lime), tomato, onion, oregano, fried tortilla strips
Papadzules
Pre-Hispanic enchiladas — corn tortillas dipped in pumpkin-seed sauce, filled with hard-boiled egg.
Ingredients
Corn tortillas, pepita (pumpkin seed) sauce, hard-boiled egg, tomato salsa
Poc Chuc
Thin pork steak marinated in sour orange and grilled — served with pickled onion and beans.
Ingredients
Pork loin, sour orange (naranja agria), garlic, achiote, pickled onion, black beans
Salbutes & Panuchos
Puffy fried tortillas (salbutes) or bean-stuffed crispy tortillas (panuchos) topped with turkey, lettuce, tomato, pickled onion.
Ingredients
Fried masa, refried black beans, turkey or chicken, pickled red onion, avocado
Queso Relleno
A whole Edam cheese hollowed out and stuffed with spiced ground meat, baked and served in two sauces.
Ingredients
Edam cheese, ground pork, raisins, olives, capers, tomato sauce, k'ool (white sauce)
Mole
Complex sauce of chiles, spices, nuts, and chocolate — usually over chicken or turkey.
Ingredients
Dried chiles, chocolate, almonds, sesame, plantain, tomatillo, spices (depends on region)
Chiles en Nogada
Poblano stuffed with picadillo, draped in walnut cream sauce and pomegranate — the colors of the Mexican flag.
Ingredients
Poblano, ground meat, fruit picadillo, walnut cream, pomegranate seeds, parsley
Chilaquiles
Tortilla chips simmered in salsa (red or green), topped with crema, cheese, onion, and often eggs.
Ingredients
Fried tortilla chips, salsa verde or roja, crema, queso fresco, onion, eggs or chicken
Enchiladas
Rolled tortillas filled with chicken or cheese, smothered in chile sauce.
Ingredients
Corn tortillas, chicken or cheese, salsa roja or verde, crema, queso fresco
Pozole
Hearty hominy stew — red, green, or white — usually with pork or chicken.
Ingredients
Hominy (nixtamalized corn), pork or chicken, chiles, garnished with radish, lettuce, oregano, lime
Carnitas
Pork slowly confit-cooked in its own fat until tender and crispy — served as tacos.
Ingredients
Pork shoulder, lard, orange, bay, salt, served with onion, cilantro, salsa
Mixiote
Meat steamed in agave leaf parchment with adobo seasoning.
Ingredients
Lamb, pork or chicken, guajillo & ancho chiles, garlic, cumin, agave leaf wrap
Ceviche
Raw fish or shrimp 'cooked' in lime juice with onion, tomato, cilantro, and chile.
Ingredients
Fresh fish or shrimp, lime, red onion, tomato, cilantro, serrano or habanero, avocado
Aguachile
Spicier, brothier cousin of ceviche — shrimp in a punchy lime-chile broth.
Ingredients
Raw shrimp, lime, serrano or chiltepin, cilantro, cucumber, red onion
Pescado a la Talla
Whole butterflied fish painted with red and green adobos, grilled over wood.
Ingredients
Whole snapper, red adobo, green parsley adobo, mayo, garlic
Tikin Xic
Mayan-style grilled fish marinated in achiote and sour orange, wrapped in banana leaf.
Ingredients
White fish (often grouper), achiote, sour orange, garlic, banana leaf, tomato, pepper
Camarones al Mojo de Ajo
Shrimp sautéed in lots of garlic and butter with a splash of lime.
Ingredients
Shrimp, garlic, butter, olive oil, lime, parsley, chile guajillo
Pulpo / Octopus
Grilled octopus, often with garlic-chile butter or in a tostada with avocado.
Ingredients
Octopus, garlic, olive oil, chile, lime, sometimes chipotle aioli
Guacamole
Mashed avocado with lime, onion, cilantro, and chile — fresh and bright.
Ingredients
Avocado, lime, white onion, cilantro, serrano or jalapeño, salt, optional tomato
Pico de Gallo
Chunky fresh salsa of tomato, onion, chile, and cilantro.
Ingredients
Tomato, white onion, jalapeño or serrano, cilantro, lime, salt
Salsa Verde
Green salsa from tomatillos — tangy and bright.
Ingredients
Tomatillo, serrano or jalapeño, garlic, cilantro, onion, lime
Salsa Roja
Smoky red table salsa from dried or roasted tomatoes and chiles.
Ingredients
Tomato, dried chiles (guajillo, árbol), garlic, onion, salt
Salsa Habanera
Yucatán's famous fiery habanero salsa — use sparingly!
Ingredients
Habanero, sour orange, onion, garlic, salt
Xnipec
'Dog's nose' salsa — habanero, sour orange and red onion. Bracingly hot.
Ingredients
Habanero, red onion, sour orange, cilantro, salt
Chiltomate
Roasted tomato-habanero sauce served with eggs, panuchos, and grilled meats.
Ingredients
Roasted tomato, habanero, onion, garlic
Agua Fresca
Light fruit waters served in big glass jars — jamaica, horchata, tamarindo are classics.
Ingredients
Water, fruit (or rice/seed), sugar, ice
Horchata
Sweet, creamy rice drink with cinnamon and vanilla.
Ingredients
Rice, cinnamon, vanilla, sugar, water (sometimes milk or almond)
Jamaica
Tart, ruby-red iced hibiscus tea.
Ingredients
Dried hibiscus flowers, water, sugar, lime
Tamarindo
Sweet-tart tamarind agua fresca.
Ingredients
Tamarind pulp, water, sugar
Café de Olla
Coffee brewed in a clay pot with cinnamon and piloncillo (raw cane sugar).
Ingredients
Coffee, cinnamon stick, piloncillo, clove
Chocolate Caliente
Mexican hot chocolate, frothy and lightly spiced.
Ingredients
Mexican chocolate disc (cocoa, cinnamon, sugar, almond), milk or water
Atole / Champurrado
Warm thick masa drink — champurrado is the chocolate version.
Ingredients
Masa harina, milk or water, piloncillo, cinnamon, vanilla, (chocolate for champurrado)
Margarita
Tequila, lime, orange liqueur — frozen or on the rocks, salt rim.
Ingredients
Tequila blanco, lime juice, triple sec or Cointreau, salt rim
Paloma
The everyday Mexican tequila highball — bright, fizzy, less sweet than a margarita.
Ingredients
Tequila, grapefruit soda (Squirt or Jarritos), lime, salt rim
Michelada
Beer cocktail with lime, hot sauce, Worcestershire and a Tajín-salt rim. Hangover hero.
Ingredients
Mexican lager, lime, hot sauce, Worcestershire, Maggi, salt + Tajín rim, sometimes Clamato (chelada)
Mezcal Neat
Sip slowly with orange slices and sal de gusano (worm salt). Smokier than tequila.
Ingredients
Mezcal (espadín, tobalá, etc.), orange, sal de gusano
Cantarito
Tequila, citrus and grapefruit soda served in a clay cup.
Ingredients
Tequila, lime, lemon, orange, grapefruit soda, salt, clay cup
Tequila
Distilled from blue agave — blanco (clear), reposado (aged 2mo–1yr), añejo (aged 1–3yr).
Ingredients
100% blue agave (look for that on the label)
Mezcal
Smoky agave spirit from Oaxaca — made from many agave varieties.
Ingredients
Agave (espadín, tobalá, madrecuixe…), pit-roasted then distilled
Raicilla / Sotol / Bacanora
Lesser-known Mexican agave/desert-plant spirits — try if you see them.
Ingredients
Various agave or desert plant species, regional
Charanda
Mexican rum from Michoacán — great in tropical cocktails.
Ingredients
Sugar cane, distilled and aged
Churros
Fried dough sticks rolled in cinnamon sugar, often dipped in chocolate or cajeta.
Ingredients
Flour, water, oil, cinnamon sugar; dipping chocolate or cajeta
Flan
Silky baked custard with caramel sauce.
Ingredients
Eggs, condensed milk, evaporated milk, vanilla, sugar (caramelized)
Tres Leches
Sponge cake soaked in three milks — light, sweet, addictive.
Ingredients
Sponge cake, evaporated milk, condensed milk, heavy cream, whipped cream
Arroz con Leche
Cinnamon rice pudding, served warm or cold.
Ingredients
Rice, milk, cinnamon, sugar, vanilla, sometimes raisins
Cajeta
Mexican goat-milk caramel — drizzled on everything from churros to ice cream.
Ingredients
Goat's milk, sugar, baking soda, vanilla
Paletas
Artisan ice pops in fresh fruit flavors — mango with chile, coconut, hibiscus.
Ingredients
Fresh fruit, water or cream, sugar, sometimes chile
Nieve de Garrafa
Hand-churned sorbet/ice cream — try mamey, guanábana, leche quemada.
Ingredients
Fruit, milk or water, sugar, churned by hand in salted ice
Pan Dulce
Mexican sweet breads — conchas, orejas, cuernitos. Eat with coffee.
Ingredients
Flour, sugar, butter, eggs, yeast, colored sugar topping (concha)
Buñuelos
Crispy fried disc dusted with cinnamon sugar or drizzled with piloncillo syrup.
Ingredients
Flour, eggs, oil, cinnamon, piloncillo or sugar
Cocada
Chewy coconut candy bars sold by beach vendors.
Ingredients
Coconut, sugar, condensed milk, sometimes pineapple or almond
Chicharrón
Crispy fried pork rind — eaten plain, in salsa verde, or topped with lime and chile.
Ingredients
Pork skin, salt, oil, lime, hot sauce
Tostadas
Crispy fried flat tortillas topped with anything — tinga, ceviche, frijoles.
Ingredients
Fried tortilla, beans, meat or seafood, lettuce, crema, cheese
Fruta con Chile
Fresh fruit cup with lime, salt, and chile powder.
Ingredients
Mango, pineapple, jicama, watermelon, cucumber, lime, Tajín or chamoy
Mango con Chamoy
Mango drenched in tangy-sweet-spicy chamoy sauce.
Ingredients
Mango, chamoy (pickled fruit sauce), Tajín, lime
Tajín
The famous lime-chile-salt seasoning that goes on fruit, micheladas, and rims.
Ingredients
Chile powder, dehydrated lime, sea salt