Avocado Sauce
Be sure to use very ripe avocados when making this sauce. MAKES 2½ CUPS INGREDIENTS 2 avocados, halved, pitted, and chopped coarse ½ cup sour cream ¼ cup water 3 tablespoons lime juice (2 limes) 2 tablespoons minced fresh cilantro Salt and pepper INSTRUCTIONS Be sure to use very ripe avocados when making […]
Spicy Chicken Flautas
WHY THIS RECIPE WORKS: Take a soft flour tortilla, roll it around a small amount of flavorful filling and fry it until satisfyingly crisp and golden brown, and you have a flauta. Spanish for “flute”, these crunchy, fun-to-eat rolls are similar to taquitos, but while taquitos are small and use corn tortillas, flautas are much […]
Chicken Chimichangas
WHY THIS RECIPE WORKS: To create great chicken chimichangas, we cooked the chicken right in a flavorful chile sauce. This kept the chicken moist and tender and ensured that it was packed with plenty of chile flavor. A bit of flour and some mashed pinto beans thickened the sauce and filling nicely. Cheddar cheese provided […]
Chorizo and Black Bean Chimichangas
WHY THIS RECIPE WORKS: Like burritos, chimichangas begin with flour tortillas rolled around a generous amount of filling. But unlike burritos, chimichangas are deep-fried until crisp and bronzed on the outside. For a flavorful chimichanga filling that would stand up to the crunchy fried tortilla, we started with Mexican chorizo. To impart extra layers of […]
Swiss Chard and Pinto Bean Burritos
WHY THIS RECIPE WORKS: We wanted a burrito that balanced the usual beans and cheese with fresh, hearty vegetables. To that end, we sautéed a pound of Swiss chard in aromatics and simmered it until tender. We mashed some of the beans into a paste with some vegetable broth and left the rest whole to […]
Chicken Burritos Mojados
WHY THIS RECIPE WORKS: Often found on taqueria menus, festive burritos mojados are draped with three distinct sauces—red chile sauce, white Mexican crema, and green tomatillo sauce—representing the colors of the Mexican flag. To re-create this dish at home without spending hours making multiple sauces, we used premade tomatillo salsa and boosted its flavor with […]
Ancho Orange Pork Burritos
WHY THIS RECIPE WORKS: In the Mexican state of Sinaloa, mildly spiced, orange-infused pork known as chilorio is one of the region’s most popular dishes. It’s so popular, in fact, that markets sell the pork ready-made. In traditional versions, the pork is slow-simmered until fall-apart tender, pulled into bite-size pieces and fried, and then cooked […]
Baked Beef and Bean Burritos
WHY THIS RECIPE WORKS: Supersized Tex-Mex burritos are mainstays in restaurants across the United States, and it’s hard to deny their appeal: They’re full of flavor and fun to eat. But making them at home can be surprisingly tricky —making the filling and assembling the burritos can be time-consuming, and the flour tortillas get soggy […]
Flour Tortillas
WHY THIS RECIPE WORKS: Supple and flavorful, homemade flour tortillas far surpass store-bought versions. Although we tried using a tortilla press to make even disks, a rolling pin worked better for this elastic dough. To make the process easier, we let the dough rest in the refrigerator, which firmed up the shortening so that the […]
Tamales
If you’re short on time, you can make a simple tamale filling by combining 12 ounces of shredded Monterey Jack and 3 tablespoons of minced pickled jalapeños; serve jalapeño-cheese tamales with Tomatillo Salsa. We found it easiest to use large corn husks that measure about 8 inches long by 6 inches wide; if the husks […]