20 of our absolute favorite Mexican and Tex-Mex recipes to make for dinner! Restaurant cheese enchiladas, meaty quesadillas, crispy flautas, creamy refried beans, smoky pollo asado, and carne asada that's still sizzling as it hits the table. Every recipe has been made countless times and genuinely tastes as good as our favorite restaurants.
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Why You Can Trust These Recipes
I grew up in the South, known for the best Mexican and Tex-Mex restaurants in the country, run by hardworking Mexican families who take fierce pride in serving delicious food. These are the Mexican and Tex-Mex recipes that first shaped my understanding of this vast, hugely popular cuisine.
Later, living in NYC introduced me to Chavela's, Maya, La Esquina, Dos Caminos Soho, Rosa Mexicano, and more. But after moving to Italy with no authentic or good local Mexican food options in my city, I've recreated my favorite restaurant recipes to fill that void and any craving we ever have for it!
With grocery and gas prices soaring, a full Mexican spread at home runs roughly a quarter of what you'd pay at a restaurant for the same meal. A homemade Cinco de Mayo or enchilada dinner for four lands in the same ballpark as what you'd spend on just one person at a restaurant, even before spicy margaritas or the tip. Time to save and eat better at home!
Mexican & Tex-Mex Main Dishes (Tacos, Enchiladas, Grilled Meats & More)
1. Authentic Tex-Mex Cheese Enchiladas (with Red Enchilada Sauce)
The dish that drove me down the recipe-development rabbit hole. Corn tortillas dipped in real red ancho chili gravy, filled with shredded cheese and minced white onion, rolled tight, blanketed in more sauce and cheese, and baked until the edges crisp up and the middle becomes molten. Garnish with white onion, jalapeño slices, cilantro, and tomatoes, or nothing at all!
2. Authentic Tacos al Pastor
Charred, spicy marinated pork with grilled pineapple on warm corn tortillas, finished with cilantro, pico de gallo, and fresh lime. The marinade is where the magic lives: guajillo and ancho chiles, achiote paste, citrus, pineapple, vinegar, garlic, and spices that give al pastor its unmistakable color and flavor. No vertical trompo required - a hot skillet or grill is actually recommended!
3. Pollo Asado (Mexican Grilled Chicken)
Juicy, achiote-and-citrus marinated chicken grilled until the edges lightly char. Use chicken thighs like me, or bone-in chicken, breasts, or your favorite cuts. I include oven and stovetop instructions too. This meat is my go-to for just about any Mexican chicken recipe we make. It's a little smoky, deeply flavorful, all from a 5-minute marinade that does all the work.
Cook a double batch to make tacos, quesadillas, tortilla soup, burrito bowls, and flautas throughout the week.
4. Best Ever Restaurant-Style Carne Asada Steak (For Two or a Crowd)
The citrus-and-chile marinated grilled steak (see a theme here?) that makes any dinner restaurant-worthy without the crowds or the bill! A little beer, lime juice, orange juice, garlic, and seasonings do all the heavy lifting; the high-heat sear does the rest. Scales easily from a date-night platter for two to a backyard spread for twenty. It's the perfect fajita meat.
5. Pollo Asado Tacos (Grilled Chicken Tacos)
Smoky achiote-marinated grilled chicken thighs, sliced and piled onto warm corn tortillas with onion, cilantro, and a squeeze of lime. The grilled-chicken answer to tacos al pastor above. We love this so much, and it's healthy without feeling "bland healthy"!
6. Chicken Tortilla Soup (Easy Authentic Mexican Recipe)
A deeply flavored authentic guajillo and tomato broth, ladled over pollo asado and finished with crunchy fried tortilla strips, avocado, Monterey Jack, crema, lime, and more. This is the soup I order to size up a new Mexican restaurant, because if this simple soup is solid, I can usually expect the rest of the meal to follow suit. This homemade version is one people would actually pay money for!
7. Chicken Flautas (Crispy Flautas de Pollo)
This dish should be illegal! Flour tortillas rolled tight around a pollo asado filling (yes, that same chicken I can't stop raving about) with white cheddar, green chiles, and quick-pickled onions, then fried until the shell is shatteringly crisp. Served on shredded lettuce with sour cream, guacamole, and salsa. Fry them, bake them, or air fry them - they taste like they came straight from a Mexican restaurant, but without any heaviness after you eat them.
8. Chicken Quesadillas (Pollo Asado Quesadillas)
Crisp, golden quesadillas filled with pollo asado and a melty blend of cheeses, caramelized onions, and peppers, quick pickled shallots, and a little corn for a pop of texture and sweetness. Griddled in a hot cast iron skillet until the outside is crispy and golden. These are not your average chicken quesadillas!
9. Easy Turkey Tinga Tacos (Best Way to Use Up Leftover Turkey)
Smoky, tangy chipotle-tomato shredded turkey that turns Thanksgiving leftovers (or a rotisserie chicken any night of the year) into the easiest tacos you'll make all month. Served on hard or soft shells with shredded lettuce, queso fresco, and a drizzle of hot sauce. Weeknight-fast, deeply flavored, kid-approved, and burrito-friendly.
10. Easy Cheeseburger Quesadillas (with Vegetarian Option)
What happens when a Southerner craves a smash burger and Mexican food at the same time? This quesadilla! It tastes just like a burger, but even easier to make, and eats like the quesadillas you already know and love!
Delicious seasoned ground beef, melted sharp cheddar, pickles, onions, tomatoes, and a tangy special sauce inside a crispy golden flour tortilla - 12 minutes start to finish. The plant-based version with Beyond Meat also tastes great!
11. Extra "Beefy" Above + Beyond Tacos (Vegetarian)
The "meaty" vegetarian tacos I make for vegetarian and meat-eating friends interchangeably because everyone loves them. Beyond Beef mince seasoned well and tucked into blue corn tortillas with pico de gallo, avocado-lime crema, pineapple salsa, and queso fresco. The trick is treating the plant protein the way you'd treat real ground beef.
12. Five-Minute Pan-Seared Flank Steak
The fastest steak technique in my arsenal - five minutes total in a screaming-hot cast iron skillet, seasoned with kosher salt and black pepper, sliced thin against the grain, and ready to fold into tacos, fajitas, or burrito bowls. Flank is one of the easiest cuts to cook, and dollar-for-dollar it beats ribeye when you're feeding a crowd.
13. Four-Minute Perfectly Grilled Argentinian Red Shrimp
Argentinian red shrimp seasoned and grilled in four minutes flat turns an ordinary Tuesday into shrimp taco night. Seasoned with garlic and spices, then cooked on a screaming-hot grill or grill pan (or cast iron skillet) until perfectly tender. Pile into warm corn or flour tortillas with avocado, cilantro, and a squeeze of lime.
14. The Best Way to Save and Repurpose Overcooked Steak (Street Tacos)
The best thing to do with overcooked steak or steak leftovers - turn it into steak tacos. A few seasonings and a splash of this and that, and you've got a perfectly delicious meal instead of throwing $30 of beef in the trash. Save this one for the next time your grill betrays you.
Sauces, Sides & Building Blocks
15. Easy Guacamole Recipe (Restaurant Table-Side Guacamole)
Skip the $15 tableside restaurant guacamole and make your own guac at home instead. I share the #1 restaurant trick that may change the way you make it forever. Easy and totally customizable!
16. Red Enchilada Sauce (Authentic Tex-Mex with Ancho Chiles)
The red chili gravy that makes every single thing it's combined with and used for taste like it came straight from your local Mexican restaurant. My adaptation of the legendary chili gravy from La Fonda on Main in Houston, with that signature red oil slick floating on top. Ready in 30 minutes and freezes beautifully. (I almost never have a freezer without a backup of this sauce in it!)
17. Easy Two-Minute Chipotle in Adobo Sauce
The four-ingredient pantry hack that saves you from buying a whole can of chipotles in adobo just to use one pepper. Chipotle powder, garlic powder, tomato paste, and red wine vinegar - two minutes flat for the same smoky, tangy heat scaled to exactly what your recipe needs.
18. Restaurant-Style Cilantro Lime Rice (Better Than Chipotle)
Bright green, lime-forward, fluffy, and rivals Chipotle's version, ready in about 25 minutes. The trick is rinsing the rice properly and finishing it with fresh-squeezed lime juice off the heat so the citrus stays bright. Reheats like a dream for burrito bowl lunches, Mexican poke bowls, or next to main entree on this list!
19. Easy Authentic Refried Beans (From Scratch or Using Canned Beans)
Ultra-creamy, yet sturdy refried pinto beans that anchor every plate at every good Mexican restaurant in the South. Three ways to make them: dried beans low and slow on the stovetop, pressure cooker in a fraction of the time (my preferred way), or a 15-minute canned version.
My finishing touches are what take them from delicious to the kind of beans you might fight your family for😉! Use them as a side or as the base of huevos rancheros (recipe coming soon!)
20. Pollo Asado Marinade (Mexican Chicken Marinade)
The achiote-citrus marinade behind every pollo asado dish on this list. Sour orange (or orange and lime juice), achiote paste, garlic, jalapeños (optional), Worcestershire, and a little soy - the marinade that gives Mexican grilled chicken its deep red color and smoky, deeply delicious flavor. Make a batch, and you're halfway to tacos, quesadillas, tortilla soup, and flautas.
How to Build a Full Mexican Spread (For 4 People, Around $30 in Groceries)
Prices aren't getting any cheaper. Depending on where you live, a Mexican restaurant meal for four with margaritas runs around $120 minimum once you tip out. Built from this list, it's roughly $25 to $35 depending on what you're making.
Here's the playbook for a Cinco de Mayo dinner, a weekend dinner party, or a Taco Tuesday your kids will love:
- The classic combo plate (~$28): Cheese Enchiladas + Cilantro Lime Rice + Refried Beans. Serves 4 to 6 generously. Make the enchilada sauce the day before and use dried beans, which are cheaper and make the best refried beans.
- Pollo asado night (~$30): Pollo Asado + Cilantro Lime Rice + Refried Beans + Guacamole. Set out warm tortillas so everyone builds their own tacos, quesadillas, and rice bowls.
- Taco night (~$32): Carne Asada or Tacos al Pastor + Cilantro Lime Rice + Refried Beans. Set out warm tortillas, lime wedges, queso fresco, and pickled jalapeños.
- Vegetarian-friendly spread (~$25): Above + Beyond Tacos + Cilantro Lime Rice + Refried Beans + Guacamole. Also perfect for omnivores.
- Date night for two (~$15): 4-Minute Argentinian Red Shrimp tacos + Cilantro Lime Rice + Guacamole. Twenty minutes start to finish.
Mexican & Tex-Mex Recipe FAQ
Tex-Mex is its own cuisine, born along the Texas-Mexico border and shaped by Tejano cooks over more than a century. The hallmarks are yellow cheese (cheddar) instead of queso fresco or Oaxaca, ground beef instead of carne, cumin as a defining spice, and a heavy reliance on flour tortillas alongside corn. Authentic interior Mexican food doesn't typically use cheddar and cumin in the same quantities, or flour tortillas in the way Tex-Mex does. Both are delicious. They're just different cuisines that happen to share a border.
Tacos exist in both cuisines but look very different. Mexican tacos typically use small soft corn tortillas with simple, traditional fillings like al pastor, carnitas, or barbacoa, finished with onion, cilantro, and salsa. Tex-Mex tacos often use hard shells or larger flour tortillas, and lean toward seasoned ground beef, shredded cheddar, lettuce, tomato, and sour cream. The al pastor, pollo asado, and chicken tortilla soup recipes in this roundup are traditional Mexican; the cheeseburger quesadilla is unapologetically my own Tex-Mex-burger fusion.
If you're going to someone else's house, bring something that travels well and reheats easily. The cheese enchiladas hold up beautifully in a 9x13 pan you can rewarm at the host's place or assemble and bake when you arrive. Refried beans transport really well in jars or other airtight containers, and reheat easily on the stove. The pollo asado marinade makes a great host gift in a small Mason jar with a handwritten label. If you're hosting and want one or two make-ahead recipes to anchor the menu, the enchiladas and chicken tortilla soup are the answer.
Cheese enchiladas with red chili gravy, beef fajitas, crispy beef tacos, queso (chile con queso), nachos, elotes, refried beans, Mexican rice, chiles rellenos, flautas, taquitos, chili con carne, breakfast tacos, pollo asado, tacos al pastor, chicken tortilla soup, and burritos.
Yes. The red enchilada sauce, chipotle in adobo, refried beans, pollo asado marinade and the cooked chicken, and the al pastor marinade and cooked pork all keep beautifully for three to 4 days in the fridge or up to three months in the freezer. Cilantro lime rice is best made same-day, but can be prepped in advance and gently reheated. Cheese enchiladas can be assembled and refrigerated unbaked for up to 24 hours, then baked when guests arrive. Carne asada and the steak/shrimp recipes are quick enough to cook to order.
Both spellings are accepted. Style guides like AP and Merriam-Webster use the hyphenated "Tex-Mex." Most restaurants and food publications also hyphenate it. You'll see "tex mex" without a hyphen all over the internet because of how people type into search bars, but the formally correct spelling is hyphenated.
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