The Best & Most Popular Mexican Dishes You Probably Haven’t Heard Of

Tacos, burritos, and quesadillas have earned their place as the most famous Mexican dishes, conquering the world’s diners with their winning taste combinations.

Yet there is so much more varied and lesser-known Mexican food to discover, each with its own unique wow factor.

If you think you know Mexican food, check out these popular Mexican dishes you probably haven’t heard of.

An Introduction to Popular Mexican Dishes You Probably Have Heard Of

La comida in Mexico unifies its people, parties, and palates. And this tradition has been carried around the world, as people everywhere love tacos, tortillas, tamales, burritos, and quesadillas. These staples are often filled with delicious carne asada meat, a cornerstone of Mexican dishes, veggies, or rice.

On trips to favorite American Tex-Mex restaurants, we’re all used to getting finger-and-thumb deep into guacamole, sour cream, and queso dip, whether slathered on nachos or tacos. And most folks know their way around the ground beef delights of a chili con carne, a side dish of refried beans, or the deep-fried Tex-Mex classic, the chimichanga.

Spicy moles, popular in Mexico’s Puebla and Oaxaca states, are becoming more popular worldwide. These sumptuous sauces come in many colors and flavors, from chocolate to red or black. Sometimes used as a thickener, chipotles are typically added to dishes to create a unique taste. Most can be classified as sweet, sour, or spicy.

Mexican Food: The Start of Something Tortilla-ly Different

Tortillas are a staple of Mexican food. Fry a tortilla, and you have a tostada, served with anything from queso dip to ground beef or something sweet.

Here are some popular Mexican tortilla-inspired dishes you probably haven’t heard of but will keep you salivating until you try.

What Are Tlayudas?

Tlayudas are from the southeastern Oaxacan state and are a staple at home or in Mexican restaurants. Think plate-sized pizzas but with a corn tortilla base instead. Top your tlayuda with refried beans and bake it, then toss stringy cheese called quesillo, avocado, lettuce and tomato, cilantro, or whatever topping you choose, including chorizo.

Some prefer their tlayudas left open like pizza, while others like them folded and grilled like calzones. Visitors to the Oaxaca region will find many fast-food joints selling cheap tlayudas to locals.

What Makes a Tlacoyo Different?

Mexico’s ubiquitous masa de maiz — maize dough — is the backbone of a tlacoyo. These oval-shaped patties are stuffed with refried beans, meat, or cheese and then toasted or fried. Many establishments offer salsas, extra cheese, and onions to top them off.

This classic street food is more filling than its cousin, the sope, a fried masa base with savory toppings. You don’t see sopes that often in U.S. Mexican restaurants.

Tacos al Pastor vs. Carnitas

Tacos al Pastor (shepherd’s taco) and las carnitas tacos (which means “little meat tacos” in Spanish) are similar yet delightfully different.

Tacos al Pastor features a small corn tortilla taco with marinated pork grilled on a spit, using a cooking style similar to lamb shawarmas. Thin pork slices are shaved into the taco and topped with cilantro, onion, and pineapple.

Las carnitas tacos use slow-cooked pork — simmered, braised, then shredded — that’s then fried to crispy perfection. The meat is often marinated in orange juice and served with salsa verde, onions, queso fresco, cilantro, and lime wedges.

Don’t like pork? Mexico City has the beef belly-based taco de suadero as a traditional street food taco. This is one of the most popular Mexican dishes you probably haven’t heard of.

Chilaquiles Rojos vs. Chilaquiles Verdes

Chilaquiles are a popular Mexican dish for the mornings, especially for those with hangovers.

Corn tortillas are lightly fried, slathered in sauce, and topped with cheese, chicken, onion, and even fried eggs. Guacamole or refried beans may also come with your order.

A chilaquile rojo takes its name from the red sauce or mole in which it’s immersed, while the chilaquile verde is covered with salsa verde or tomatillo sauce. Be generous with the cheese and sour cream to enjoy this classic.

Popular Mexican Sandwiches You Maybe Haven’t Heard Of

If you crave bread, fear not; Mexican chefs have covered your hunger spot.

The pambazo sandwich features a special chili-soaked bread that’s fried and then loaded with chorizo, sour cream, potatoes, jalapeños, and cheese. It’s soggy but satisfying.

In Guadalajara, you’ll find tortas ahogadas, or the drowned sandwich. That same bread immersion happens, only this time in a spicy, tomato-based sauce. The torta ahogada is filled with slow-cooked carnitas pork and further livened with onions, lime, and avocado. It’s one for the spice-seekers.

Finally, molletes are halved Mexican bread rolls lavished with refried beans and cheese and toasted. Make it sparkle with salsa verde or pico de gallo garnish, and enjoy a Mexican cuisine powerhouse of a snack.

Some of Mexico’s Most Popular Soups, Stews, and Roasts

Some of Mexico’s most popular dishes are also among the country’s oldest.

Tamales are a classic example. Developed around the Aztec and Maya periods, tamales require a corn-based dough stuffed with meat, beans, or cheese. They’re then steamed inside banana leaves or corn husks.

Stuffed tamales carry enough nutrition and heft to qualify as a complete meal, whether eaten as street food on the go or as a sit-down meal. Mexican cuisine has plenty of filling meals for those with hearty appetites.

Cooking Underground: Cochinita Pibil

Cochinita pibil, from Yucatán, mixes Mayan cooking with flavors brought over to Mexico by conquistadors from Spain. Cochinita is a suckling pig cooked underground (pibil), a traditional Maya cooking technique, also sometimes called Mexican barbacoa.

Pork marinated in bitter orange and achiote tree seeds is wrapped in banana leaves. Next, it’s placed in an underground oven and covered with earth. Following a night of slow roasting, it produces a nutty, peppery, flavorsome pork.

Traditionalists serve cochinita pibil with corn tortillas, pickled red onion, and habanero chili peppers. Others stuff the succulent cochinita into tacos, enchiladas, or empanadas.

Pozole Rojo: Soup for All

Pozole is one of Mexico’s pre-Hispanic classic dishes. This filling soup traditionally includes meat, but vegan versions are becoming increasingly common.

Pozole rojo is made with hominy, pork (or beef or chicken), and red chile and accompanied with cilantro, lime, and shredded cabbage. Pozole blanco removes the red chiles, while pozole verde (green pozole) features green chiles and tomatillos.

Menudo Rojo

If Mexico were to have a national soup, menudo rojo would be it. Birthdays, weddings, and, indeed, any gathering at all suits a menudo rojo. It’s also famous for its restorative powers for those with hangovers, perhaps after a heavy Cinco de Mayo fiesta.

The traditional menudo rojo features hours-boiled tripe bathed in a spicy red chile broth alongside hominy and lime. Some swap out tripe for stewing beef.

Birria Brings That Christmas Feeling

Nothing tastes more like Christmas in Mexico than a fine spicy stew called birria.

Traditionally served on Christmas Eve, birria is a rich mix of fall-apart goat meat expertly seasoned with cinnamon, chile peppers, and ginger. The slow cooking of this dish means each ingredient packs its punch. Any home lucky enough to have leftovers might use the meat to make tasty Christmas Day tacos.

Chefs in states like Jalisco might use beef instead of goat to make birria de res, or beef birria.

The Taste of Freedom: Chiles en Nogada

Chiles en Nogada’s green, white, and red coloring match Mexico’s flag, making it an extremely popular dish during Mexican Independence Day celebrations.

Balancing sweet and savory tastes, poblano chiles are stuffed with a meat, nut, and fruit mixture called a picadillo and covered in a creamy walnut sauce called a nogada. Bright pomegranate seeds finish off this celebratory taste of freedom.

The Ancient Sopa Azteca (Aztec Soup)

The pre-Hispanic sopa Azteca, also known as sopa de tortilla, is a rich and spicy broth of unknown origin.

A tomato-based soup is topped with fried tortilla pieces, cheese, cream, avocado, and medium-hot chilies. Diners enjoy crunch, tang, freshness, and heat, with light relief from the cooling cream.

Yucatán Peninsula residents might be more likely to serve you a sopa de lima. This light broth combines chicken and lime before being topped with fried tortillas, creating a refreshing, year-round soup.

Are There Famous Salads in Mexico?

One not-so-well-known salad from Mexico is elote. Hailing from Mexico City, the original elote was a corn on the cob doused in mayo and then covered in crumbled queso fresco. There’s a sprinkling of ground chile and lime juice for the garnish. Elote salads keep the same ingredients but all in one easier-to-handle bowl.

In contrast is the tangy Yucatán tzic de venado — venison salad. Marinated venison is mixed with onions, tomatoes, and fresh limes to create a refreshing dish seldom found outside the region.

Popular Mexican Desserts You Might Not Know

Elote — sweetcorn — extends its virtues into the sweet side of Mexican cuisine. Pay de Elote looks similar to a cheesecake but has the creamy texture of a sweetcorn cake. Corn, condensed milk, butter, and eggs combine to make the yummy gluten-free option found nationwide.

Are you more of a muffin fancier? Gorditas de nata might be for you, with their milky aroma, sweet taste, and slightly chewy texture. Warmed fresh milk develops a film on top, and it’s this nata, like clotted cream, that forms the backbone of this treat. Enjoy with coffee or hot chocolate.

Another classic sweet is sopapillas. These dough fritters are fried until crispy and then dusted with sugar and cinnamon. Delicious!

Unusual but Incredible Mexican Appetizers

These unusual appetizers and small bites might not be everyone’s dream dish. But they remain popular across Mexico.

• Aguachile is a fiery ceviche served in coastal areas, with shrimp marinated in lime juice, cilantro, cucumber, and jalapeño chiles — a must-try for hot days on the beach.
• Do you like mezcal? Some people like to finish the bottle and eat the worm at the bottom, called the gusano de maguey.
• Chapulines are toasted grasshoppers covered in lime and a salt and chili powder mix called sal de gusano. You might have chapulines sprinkled on your guacamole, stuffed into a taco, or served alongside a beer or mezcal. Remember: They’re high in protein and low in fat!
• Escamoles, often called Mexican caviar, are edible ant larvae and pupae. They’re a classic street food and can be found in trendy Mexico City restaurants.

These appetizers are likely the most popular Mexican dishes you haven’t heard about.

A Review of Popular Mexican Dishes You Probably Haven’t Heard Of

Away from the world of tequila and tacos, there are scores of popular Mexican dishes you probably haven’t heard of, let alone tried.

Every region puts its stamp on the traditional dishes or invents its own. From the tongue-burning shrimps of aguachiles to the patriotic sweet and sour tang of chiles en nogada, there’s something for every palate. Hearty birria and the slow-cooked cochinita pibil appeal to those with big appetites, while soups and stews will warm any winter.

Furthermore, there are more ways to serve a tortilla in Mexico than there are exit strategies in Paul Simon’s song “50 Ways to Leave Your Lover.” The food rule in Mexico is that the only limitation is your imagination. So next time you hit a Tex-Mex place or your favorite local Mexican restaurant, ditch the enchiladas and ask them if they’ll serve you one of these authentic dishes.

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