Mexican home cooking is built around three ingredients: corn, beans, and chiles, worked through techniques like nixtamalization, toasting and blending dried chiles into sauces, and slow braising. It isn't one cuisine but many regional ones, from Yucatecan citrus and achiote to Oaxacan mole. A handful of staples and four or five dishes will get you a real foundation.
What Is Mexican Cuisine Known For?
Corn is the backbone. Fresh corn is cooked in an alkaline solution, usually with cal (slaked lime), in a process called nixtamalization, which loosens the hull, boosts the corn's nutritional availability, and makes it possible to grind into masa for tortillas and tamales. This technique predates the Spanish conquest by centuries and is still done the same basic way in most tortillerías today.
Chiles are the other pillar, and they aren't interchangeable. Fresh chiles like jalapeño and serrano bring sharp, green heat to salsas and pickles, while dried chiles like ancho, guajillo, and pasilla are toasted, soaked, and blended into deep, fruity, sometimes smoky sauces that form the base of dishes like mole and adobo. Mexican cooking leans on layering: a base of blended chiles and aromatics, built up with spices, sometimes chocolate or nuts, then simmered for a long time.
Regional variety matters more here than almost any other cuisine on this list. Coastal states favor seafood and citrus. The Yucatan uses sour orange and achiote paste. Oaxaca is famous for its moles, of which there are several distinct kinds, not just the chocolate-based one most Americans know. Northern Mexico, closer to cattle country, favors beef and flour tortillas over the corn tortillas more common further south.
In 2010, UNESCO added traditional Mexican cuisine, using Michoacán as its representative example, to its Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity. The listing recognized the whole system: the milpa farming method of growing corn, beans, and squash together, nixtamalization, grinding stones, and the communal knowledge passed down mostly by women cooks.
Pantry Staples to Keep on Hand
| Staple | What it's used for |
|---|---|
| Masa harina or corn tortillas | Base for tacos, tamales, sopes |
| Dried chiles (ancho, guajillo, pasilla) | Sauces, adobos, moles |
| Fresh chiles (jalapeño, serrano) | Salsas, pickling, fresh heat |
| White onion and garlic | Base for almost every savory dish |
| Limes | Finishing acid, marinades |
| Mexican oregano and cumin | Seasoning blends and adobos |
| Dried or canned black or pinto beans | Sides, fillings, refried beans |