17 Classic Tex-Mex Recipes Your Family Will Devour
Mexico by Way of Texas
Even if you've got picky eaters to contend with, Tex-Mex is the one cuisine that family members universally love. Taco Tuesday is as ubiquitous at family dinner tables as it is at Mexican restaurants, and salsa dethroned ketchup as the top-selling condiment in the U.S. all the way back in 1991, according to the New York Times. So if you find yourself in a dinner (or breakfast) rut, it's time to bust out these classic Tex-Mex recipes — from breakfast tacos to family game night bean dip — to spice up your family's routine.
1. Restaurant Style Salsa
First thing's first: You've got to have great salsa, whether it's for chip dipping or topping tacos. This recipe for restaurant-style salsa includes both canned and fresh tomatoes so it's both rich and fresh. Classic additions of onion, garlic, cilantro, and lime give it a familiar flavor profile. Leave the seeds and membranes in the jalapeno if you want it hotter.
If you don't have time to make your own salsa, just grab one of our top salsa taste test picks at the grocery store instead.
Recipe: House of Yumm
2. Grilled Skirt Steak Fajitas
While the dramatic sizzling plate might be unrealistic for dinners at home, you can still get that amazing smell when you cook up your own steak fajitas. The meat marinade in this recipe is fantastic, with soy sauce and lime juice as its flavor-packed base. You can use it on chicken if you prefer, and you can do it in a super hot cast iron skillet on the stove if you don't feel like grilling.
Recipe: Serious Eats
3. Instant Pot Refried Beans
Refried beans are a staple on a Tex-Mex plate. You can make them from scratch without having to soak the beans if you use an Instant Pot. Once you make your own beans with cumin, oregano, and bay leaves, you'll never go back to the canned stuff again.
Recipe: Well Plated By Erin
4. Frito Pie
Frito pie is like tacos (or sometimes chili) built on top of Fritos or other corn chips. This recipe for it sticks with classic, crowd-pleasing taco-seasoned ground beef mixed with beans, canned tomatoes, and corn. Cheese is melted all over the top in a casserole dish, but you can also serve individual portions right in small Frito bags, like a walking taco.
Recipe: Spend With Pennies
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5. Texas Caviar
At your next family party, break out a fresh batch of Texas caviar and watch everyone go nuts for the healthy snack. Despite its name, there's no fish — or fish eggs — in it at all. Instead, it's a corn, bean, and fresh vegetable mix that's equally as good as a dip or salad. Don't skimp on the cilantro, and add the avocado right before serving.
Recipe: House of Yumm
6. Ultimate Fully Loaded Nachos
If you bust out a full pan of nachos on your next family game night, you're going to be a hero. These are topped with a homemade nacho cheese sauce that's way easier to make than it sounds: all you need is cornstarch, evaporated milk, and cheese. This is a vegetarian recipe with lots of beans, but you can add any protein or toppings your family likes.
Recipe: Serious Eats
7. Breakfast Tacos with Chorizo, Potato, and Egg
Tex-Mex isn't just for dinner. Forget the pancakes and bacon and try these filling breakfast tacos instead. They're full of spicy Mexican chorizo sausage, and the bright red pan drippings flavor the diced potatoes and scrambled eggs as well. Though it calls for a homemade pico de gallo topping, you can use whatever salsa you have on hand.
Recipe: Food Network
Related: Start Your Morning Right: 25 Easy Breakfast Casseroles
8. Red Rice
The reddish colored rice that comes on the side of practically every Tex-Mex dish is pretty simple — and inexpensive — to make at home. Just puree some tomatoes (canned are fine!), onion, and garlic, and then cook it with rice and chicken broth. Adding frozen vegetables, like peas and carrots, make it look just like what you get at a restaurant.
Recipe: Pati Jinich
9. Slow Cooker Chicken Tacos
Slow cooker shredded chicken is a great weeknight taco filler, but so many recipes leave you with watery, bland, and dry chicken. This recipe includes enchilada sauce, chipotle chiles, and extra spices so it's full of flavor. Plus, you only cook it for a little over an hour so that you don't end up with mealy, overcooked chicken breast.
Recipe: Southern Living
10. Creamy Chicken Enchilada Soup
Come fall, there's nothing more comforting than a big bowl of soup, and this creamy chicken enchilada version fits the bill. You'll need some whole dried chiles, but they're getting pretty easy to find in large grocery stores, and certainly online. All the other ingredients, from bone-in chicken breast to canned beans and cream cheese, are easy to find. And a tip from someone who's made it: Blend a couple corn tortillas into the broth to help thicken it and give it a delicious roasted corn flavor.
Recipe: Serious Eats
Related: 30 Easy Soup Recipes That Last for Days
11. White Queso Dip
Smooth queso dip is more complicated than just melting some cheese in a pot, but it's not nearly as involved as you might think. Evaporated milk and cornstarch keep everything creamy and smooth as long as you keep whisking while you're incorporating the cheese. This recipe calls for American cheese, but buy the good quality version from your grocery store deli instead of Velveeta-like blocks. (But if you're a Velveeta fan, by all means ...)
Recipe: The Cookie Rookie
12. Taco Salad
Taco salad is so good, and you don't even need those silly bowl-shaped giant tortillas, either. It's a great way to fill your plate with tons of vegetables and protein, and most kids love it, too. There are two creamy dressing options in the recipe with two different levels of effort, so you can easily make this on a busy weeknight or go all-out on Sunday. We love taco salad so much that we've been known to make extra meat on taco night so we can make salads with the leftovers a couple days later.
Recipe: The Food Charlatan
For a second taco salad recipe option, check out Cheapism's "This Dorito Taco Salad Is the Summertime Side You NEED in Your Recipe Rotation."
13. Three-Cheese Chicken Enchiladas
Enchiladas with red sauce are a Tex-Mex classic. Instead of grabbing a can of enchilada sauce, try making your own next time. It just calls for tomatoes, some dried chiles, onion, and garlic. Then layer that on top of chicken-filled corn tortillas and top with three types of cheese for a decadent, comforting dish. This is a great way to use up shredded rotisserie chicken, too.
Recipe: Pati Jinich
14. Spicy Bean Dip
This hot bean dip recipe is super fast because it uses canned refried beans, but if you've got homemade that's even better. You mix the beans with cream cheese and sour cream so they're extra creamy, plus taco seasoning and canned green chiles for extra flavor. The fresh toppings after baking are optional, but highly recommended to offset all that rich cheese.
Recipe: House of Yumm
15. Easy Skillet Tamale Pie with Cornbread Crust
If you've never heard of tamale pie, it's kind of like a Tex-Mex shepherd's pie, with a chili-like filling on the bottom and cornbread on top. Corn, black beans, and ground beef meeet up with chili in this recipe, with lots of cumin and ancho chile powder for seasoning. The cornbread crust is rich and nutty with browned butter, but we won't tell if you just whip up a quick box of Jiffy cornbread for the top instead — we've totally done it ourselves.
Recipe: Serious Eats
16. Migas
A breakfast staple, migas are fried corn tortillas cooked with scrambled eggs. Browning the tortillas so they get crispy is the important first step, but then all you do is cook some garlic and jalapeno in the same pan, and scramble everything with the eggs. Salsa, tomatoes, beans, and cheese are all popular additions to this clean-out-the-fridge kind of dish.
Recipe: Pinch of Yum
17. Birria Tacos
Birria is so trendy right now, so if you make these tacos you'll probably be a superhero in your house. You can use a slow cooker or an Instant Pot to cook your beef with all of its chiles and spices. Once that's done and shredded, dip your tortillas in the broth and heat them up on a griddle for the full birria experience. Don't forget to serve some broth on the side for dipping.
Recipe: I Am a Food Blog
This article was originally published on Cheapism
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