Mexican food is a great way to spice up a family dinner any night of the year. From traditional enchiladas to tamales, Mexican food offers a tasty but healthy alternative to normal everyday food. Often times, this food is extremely easy to prepare and can be prepared with items that are easy to find in most markets. I can enjoy Mexican food every day of the year and I ALWAYS find new dishes and new ways to prepare it.

Let’s look at some of the important menu items in a typical Mexican dinner:

or Tortillas

Tortillas have been the staple food of countless generations of Mexicans and can be made from flour (common in the north) or corn (the traditional method and even more common in the south). Tortillas are primarily served alongside a meal such as bread and are also used in many regular dishes, rolled and baked for enchiladas, fried for tacos, or grilled for quesadillas.

o Beans (beans)

They are a good source of protein. These different varieties of beans are often boiled and fried. Beans can be an important component in a meal or served as a side dish.

or Chili peppers

Generally, the larger the chili, the milder it tastes. While the large poblano peppers are stuffed and served as a main dish, the small habañero is fiercely spicy. Quick Tip: To ask if a dish is spicy, say “is it spicy?” In fact, hotel menus often specify dishes that may not suit the palates of tourists.

or guacamole

This is an avocado mashed with onion, chili peppers, and cilantro (cilantro) and served as a sauce or a garnish.

or sauce

A salsa is essentially simply a dip, although it commonly relates to the red or green mixture of tomatoes, chili, onion, and cilantro that is served as a condiment or dip. Just be a little careful with ‘habañero sauce’ in seemingly harmless bottles like little ketchup jars, and taste some sauce first.

or Ceviche

A raw fish marinated in lemon juice, mostly in chopped salad.

or Renellos Chiles

Large poblano peppers are filled with cheese or spicy meat (picadillo). Chili peppers are generally mild, although the sauce can be spicy.

or Enchiladas

Tortillas covered with tomato and chili sauce and stuffed with vegetables, chicken or pork and then folded and baked. Even with the chili content, the enchiladas are quite mild. Swiss enchiladas are topped with sour cream.

or Huachinango

Red snapper is a common feature on menus at coastal resorts. It is often available “to taste”, cooked in a variety of methods.

or Quesadillas

These are cheese-filled tortillas that are folded and grilled. It is a staple dish that is mainly served with beans or a small salad and suits those who want to avoid spiciness.

o Mole sauce

A mole sauce is a wonderfully rich sauce made with an unusual combination of chocolate, chili peppers, and various spices. It can be red or green depending on the ingredients. The moles from Puebla and Oaxaca are mostly famous, hence the terms ‘mole poblano’ or ‘mole oaxaqeño’. This sauce is mainly served over chicken, although turkey is more traditional.

or pipian sauce

The pipián sauce is another of Oaxaca’s specialties and is green in color and made with pumpkin seeds. It is mainly served over chicken.

or Poc Chuc

It is a Yucatecan specialty in which the pork fillet is cooked with tomatoes, spices and onions.

or Chicken Pibil

Another of the Yucatecan specialties, Pollo Pibil is rarely found outside of this region. Traditionally it included chicken marinated in orange and spices and then grilled on banana leaves.

or Tacos

Tacos are tortillas fried until crisp. These are served with various fillings.

or Tamales

Tamales are cornmeal paste wrapped in banana or corn leaves and are mostly filled with chicken, turkey, or vegetables and then steamed.

or Cakes

These are Mexican sandwiches, often large muffins with large fillings.

o Toast

Thin, crispy tortillas served with guacamole, sour cream, chicken, and chili peppers.

Most of today’s Mexican cuisine is based on the traditions of Native Americans, including the Aztecs and the Mayans, combined with the cooking procedures brought in by the Spanish settlers. For example, quesadillas are a flour or corn tortilla with cheese (primarily a Mexican-style cheese like Queso Fresco), beef, chicken, and pork. The native part of this and several other traditional foods is chili. Foods like these are very colorful due to the rich variety of vegetables such as red bell peppers, green peppers, chili peppers, broccoli, cauliflower, and radishes in Mexican food.

Interestingly, Mexican food tends to vary by region due to different climates, geographies, and local ethnicities among the native inhabitants. Also these different populations were influenced by the Spanish to varying degrees. The northern region is known for its production of meat and meat dishes and the southeast of Mexico for its spicy dishes based on vegetables and chicken.

There are more exotic dishes, cooked in the Mayan or Aztec style, with ingredients from iguana to rattlesnake, spider monkey, deer and some insects. This is commonly known as pre-Hispanic food or pre-Hispanic food and while it is rare, it is still relatively well known.

Mexican cuisine combined with foods from the southwestern United States to form Tex-Mex cuisine.

Another subtle take on Mexican food is New Mexico food, which is prevalent in New Mexico, USA.