Latin American Recipes & Food Ideas

These crispy fried fish tacos have become a weekly quarantine staple in my household that everyone — including my children — eats with gusto.

Add these to your weekly rotation.

This loaded quesadilla isn't playing around.

They're the answer to dinner tonight.

Tender, flavor-packed carnitas in a fraction of the time.

Let the grill do all the work for you.

It's sweet, salty, spicy, and tangy all at once — pretty good for a side dish that comes together in minutes.

This is how you banish boring chicken breast forever.

Grab the chips and guac.

Try this fresh spin on chicken.

Need we say more?

This chicken just needs lime, cumin, and not much else.

This is the fastest salmon dinner I know.

There are some enchiladas that are pure over-the-top indulgences, oozing with cheese at every turn. These are not those enchiladas. You’ll certainly find gooey, melty cheese in every bite, but this version comes with a more wholesome twist and is all about the veggies. These family-friendly enchiladas are packed with sweet roasted butternut squash, tender corn, and smoky black beans, and then topped with a super-simple, ultra-fresh green salad.

The classic pork and hominy Mexican stew, from the family kitchen of Lesley Téllez, who tweaked this to be fast and weeknight-friendly.

It's sure to be a new weeknight favorite.

It's exactly what we want to eat right now.

Your meal plan needs a nacho night. Here's how to nail it!

If you’re looking for a taco recipe that appeals to almost everyone, this is it. They’re vegetarian (and can be made vegan, too, if you leave the cheese off), as well as gluten-free and kid-friendly. The roasted sweet potato and black bean filling comes together in just about 30 minutes, meaning it’s just the thing to make on Meatless Monday, Taco Tuesday, and really any other day of the week, too. This easy recipe is sure to become a repeat on your dinner roster.

Eddie Garza of Dallas, Texas, is a cookbook author who wrote and developed 150 vegan Mexican recipes to honor the 150 pounds he lost. These silky black bean tamales are one of his family's favorite recipes for Thanksgiving.

This vegan weeknight meal combines everything you love about enchiladas — the savory filling, corn tortillas, and bright salsa — with the ease and comfort of a casserole. Instead of typical rolled enchiladas, we spread the warm kale-and-mushroom filling between layers of corn tortillas. Think of it like an enchilada lasagna. I held my breath as my meat-loving husband plunged his fork into the wide section of casserole layered on his plate.

It's on the table in less than 30 minutes.

A one-skillet meal that's sure to be added to the weeknight rotation.

This all-purpose marinade makes any protein shine.

Poking around the kitchen the other morning, I discovered a handful of eggs, two leftover tortillas, a knob of cheese, and a jar of salsa. It was clear what I had to do: Make migas. “Migas” is the Spanish word for “crumbs,” and in Spain it’s a dish typically comprised of stale bread and other ingredients.

You’re either an eggnog person, or you’re not. I’m convinced that most people who say they don’t like it are holding a grudge not against its flavor, but against the fact that it has the potential to get you totally bombed and make your clothes no longer fit all in one go. For me, it’s that slick layer of fat that builds on the roof of my mouth if the eggnog is too fatty.

What do you get when you combine purple corn, fruit, and spices? Chicha morada, a refreshing Peruvian punch that just might become your new summer beverage staple! Gloriously-hued chicha morada is an Andean drink made from purple corn, or maíz morado. Maize-based beverages have existed in the region since Pre-Columbian times, and this one has a fruity, tangy, spiced note from the addition of ingredients like pineapple, apple, lime, cinnamon, and cloves.

Pisco Punch made with a traditional Peruvian Pisco is the ideal big batch drink to celebrate a warm-weather happy hour. The key ingredient in the classic recipe is gum syrup (an emulsifier using gum arabic that may be difficult to source). When made from scratch, this ingredient wouldn’t exactly work for our 10-minute happy hour, but I easily fixed the problem.

If you like your chicken with golden, crackly skin and extra-juicy meat, you’ve come to the right place. Peruvian roasted chicken is exactly that, which is likely why it’s become so popular over the past few years. While there are restaurants and fast-casual spots popping up all over the country devoted to it, our homemade version is so easy that you’ll quickly be convinced to make it yourself.

When it comes to holiday drinking, eggnog is only the beginning. Many cultures and cuisines proudly claim a Christmas punch and this week we’re bringing you The Global Punch Bowl with five festive punches, each with a story of their own. It takes time to realize the importance of some traditions and flavors in your life. That’s how I feel about sorrel punch, the drink my dad always insisted we make at Christmas, even though we very rarely got around to it.

Around the World in 30 Soups: This month we’re collaborating with chefs, cookbook authors, and our own Kitchn crew to share a globetrotting adventure in soups from countries and cuisines around the world. Today’s stop: Jamaica. Here Michelle and Suzanne Rousseau, sisters and authors of the gorgeous Caribbean cookbook, Provisions, share their take on pinda stew. The creamy vegetarian-friendly dish centers around peanuts, which grow abundantly on the island.

An arepa primer.

Around the World in 30 Soups: This month we’re collaborating with chefs, cookbook authors, and our own Kitchn crew to share a globetrotting adventure in soups from countries and cuisines around the world. Today’s stop: Colombia. This amazingly flavorful soup comes from the kitchen table of Sara Kate, one of Kitchn’s founders, passed to her by a Colombian friend who shared the secret ingredient of this traditional soup.

While on a recent trip to South America, I was served an incredible variety of fresh produce assembled into platters of lightly dressed salads. As a vegetarian, my hosts were concerned I wasn’t getting enough food; “Look at these salads I’m making!” I said every day at lunch. I was so into these Chilean small salads, I’ve been making a composed version of the fare offered to me almost every evening since I’ve returned.

While spending time in Santiago, Chile I had the opportunity to learn a simple, elegant dessert from Chef Mauricio Valdovino. His recipe for chilled papaya soup utilizes ingredients the country is known for; it’s bursting with fresh, tropical flavors. The chilled soup also comes together in less than ten minutes and would be perfect for a spring gathering. Join Chef Mauricio in making this quick, easy dessert.Chile’s agricultural landscape is as diverse as it is bountiful.

Pisco is mostly known for its role in the famed Pisco Sour cocktail. But this spirit has a personality all its own. We love Pisco in big batches of punch for all sorts of summertime soirees. So we’re kicking off the 4th of July with a Star- Spangled Chilean Pisco Punch perfect for toasting the occasion.Made from grapes Pisco’s characteristics vary depending on where they were grown and how they were aged, for example in stainless steel or oak barrels.

When it comes to holiday drinking, eggnog is only the beginning. Many cultures and cuisines proudly claim a Christmas punch and this week we’re bringing you The Global Punch Bowl with five festive punches, each with a story of their own.

The coconut rice and curried corn in this recipe could very well be eaten separately, and they would make fine additions to lunch or dinner, but the combination of the two is truly special. I call for my homemade Jamaican curry powder, giving the corn a complex spicy, sweet, and slightly sour flavor profile. Even if you don’t plan to make a whole 4th of July feast on your own, this is one of those dishes that always impresses when you show up at someone else’s cookout.

If you can boil a pot of water, you will have no trouble making these delicious and refreshing pops. The rich sweetness of the mangos is mellowed out by the creamy coconut milk infused with bright and aromatic makrut lime leaves, which are often paired with coconut milk in savory Southeast Asian dishes. The lime and orange juices provide brightness and faint acidity.

My favorite way to eat fruit and cheese with a bit of buttery, flaky pastry on the side.

This strong and sweet brew is Cuba's history in a cup.

I feel like there are people who like all the food on their plate to touch and people who like the different dishes to maintain their own space into carefully managed sections of the plate. I am firmly in the first camp and unsurprisingly a great fan of food in bowls for this very reason.

They're packed full of bacon and sausage.

Around the World in 30 Soups: This month we’re collaborating with chefs, cookbook authors, and our own Kitchn crew to share a globetrotting adventure in soups from countries and cuisines around the world. Today’s stop: Mexico. We asked Gonzalo Guzmán, chef at San Francisco’s Nopalito and author of the eponymous cookbook, to share his take on one of the soups that speaks most to him of Mexico.

A couple of shortcuts and a trimmed-down ingredient list make it the easiest ever.

If I could urge you to make one meal in your slow cooker this month, these chicken enchiladas would be it! We don’t eat enough enchiladas in my house, mostly because my brain equates rolling enchiladas with too much work for a weeknight, but these slow cooker enchiladas are layered, not rolled, and each layer is stacked with delicious flavor.

With these beans stocked in your fridge or freezer, endless delicious meals await.

Complete with sizzling steak in a flavor-packed marinade.

This method of cooking salmon leaves it beautifully bright, intact, and never dried out.

Freeze your leftover rice and turn it into this sweet and simple spiced-up pudding for a quick dessert. It only needs five ingredients.

Corn and sunflower sprouts jumped out as a perfect accompaniment for the Mexican themed Goat Taco dinner party I had going that night.

You’re going to want to keep this salad firmly planted in your summer meal plan rotation and at the ready for all of your picnics and potlucks. It is what I consider a multi-purpose, do-it-all salad — one that everyone can eat. It gets its bulk from protein-rich pantry staples like quinoa and beans, and picks up freshness, crunch, and color from a medley of veggies before it’s tied together with a zippy chile-lime dressing.

Slaws don’t have to be made just of cabbage — there are so many other delicious crunchy vegetables out there! Refreshing jicama and beautiful red cabbage get tossed together with tangy lime juice, spicy jalapeños, and cilantro for a great slaw to serve with tacos or tamales. The vegetables and dressing for this slaw can be prepped up to three hours in advance, but keep them separate until you are ready to serve.

Chile verde is more than a simple stew. Pork shoulder is rendered into supple, tender meat after a slow simmer in a sauce of roasted tomatillos, peppers, cilantro, and oregano. The resulting meat and sauce can be poured over rice or tucked into a tortilla. While the salsa verde requires a little prep work up front, the rest of the cooking is hands-off, thanks to the trusty slow cooker. This is a perfect dish to perfume your house when the weather gets crisp this fall.

Coconut, chicken, turmeric, peanuts, tomatoes — how can you say no to this Brazilian-inspired stew?

Let me guess — when chili is on the docket, you blindly reach for a can of diced tomatoes and the jar of red chili powder. I’m no different, but this time around we’re going to shake things up with a vibrant chili verde from the slow cooker. Fill your shopping basket with tomatillos, jalapeños, poblanos, cilantro, and oregano, and set aside the ground beef to reach for a pork shoulder instead.

Don’t get me wrong — I’m a big fan of breakfast burritos, but I like the harder-to-find breakfast quesadilla even more. It just has that perfect ratio of crispy, browned tortilla, melty cheese, and eggs. Here’s one that you can have pre-made in the freezer, so any weekday morning can start with a quesadilla. While quesadillas are great hand-held foods, you do have to watch for dripping cheese and escaping filling when they’re cut into wedges.

You can quench a taco craving with fish tacos, chicken tacos, cauliflower tacos, or breakfast tacos, but a ground beef taco is the quintessential taco in my book. When weeknight cooking calls for serving a crowd, trade tortillas for tender noodles and serve it hot and bubbling straight from the Dutch oven. This weeknight pasta checks all the right boxes with family-friendly flavor, a streamlined ingredient list, and simple one-pot prep. Flour or corn? Hard or soft?

What if I told you that you didn’t need to pick up a knife or turn on your oven to make a delicious lasagna? Yes, it’s true — this lasagna only has six ingredients and cooks all in one pan. Ready to learn more? I usually only make traditional lasagna once a year because it just involves too many ingredients and too much of my time.

Most small homestyle restaurants in Mexico City serve a variation of this dish — hearty meatballs smothered in a smoky tomato sauce, with lots of warm tortillas for sopping it all up. Occasionally it’s the star in the three-course, economically priced meal called comida corrida, a lunchtime tradition in the city.

I am interested in real working kitchens and so I asked JJ if I could come over and scope out his “office.” He invited me for salsa on what ended up being the hottest day of the year so far. We pushed the chiles to the limit, and without air conditioning, we slurped salsa from spoons while we we kicked back and talked about how a regular guy like JJ in a regular apartment (and tiny kitchen) in Brooklyn can make a great Mexican chef’s recipes make sense to the rest of us.

We just ate asparagus FIVE days in a row and would have been pretty asparagused out if it hadn’t been for this exciting new discovery – asparagus salsa! Green salsa, or salsa verde, usually contains tomatillos or copious amounts of herbs but this version gets it vivid color from asparagus spears.We first tasted a variation of this sauce at an event catered by Guerra’s Gourmet in Washington’s Yakima Valley.

Lizano-style salsasweet and spicy peach salsa This salsa was originally a happy accident, an experiment with roasting peppers and cleaning out the fridge. It has a tiny handful of ingredients: peppers, tomatoes, and onion, with lime and salt for balance. Charring the peppers over the gas stove or under the broiler makes this more than the sum of its parts, however, introducing a smoky sweetness and depth to the salsa.

I had only been living in the Bay Area for a few weeks — boxes still unpacked, favorite shoes still missing — when I boarded a puddle-jumper plane bound for San Diego to be with an old and dear friend while she got married. She met me at the airport with two other friends, and before heading to the hotel, before diving into pre-wedding prep, and before even catching our breath, we were off to get tacos.

If you’re getting a little bored of plain old scrambled eggs every morning, here’s something to spice them up a bit — literally! A few spoonfuls of this spicy fresh (and make-ahead) salsa sprinkled over your eggs will wake you up better than a cup of coffee. This meal came to us from Gabriela of Gabriela’s Kitchen in one of the very first recipe contests we ever ran on The Kitchn!

This is everything you love about a classic breakfast burrito, layered into an egg casserole.

When paired with acidic ingredients, such as pineapple and lime, raw rhubarb holds it color and crunch in this fruity salsa. It’s great in fish tacos, but it’s equally good served with crisp corn or sweet potato chips. The raw rhubarb in this salsa is a fresher take on this often-cooked veggie. When left uncooked rhubarb is crunchy, juicy, and pucker-inducing, similar to fresh cranberries. Raw rhubarb lures you back for another bite, and then another.

Smoke itself can be one of the best accomplices in a recipe featuring corn, mostly because corn doesn’t shrink in its presence. Rather than being masked by the assertive flavors of the flame, the sweetness of corn is amplified. Now take those sweet and smoky flavors and use them as a backbone for this salsa, which we highly recommend you use as the condiment of choice this summer. Scooping it up with chips is only the beginning.

If you love the way ripe summer tomatoes and peaches play together, you will simply love this blend of tomato and mango.

This brilliant dinner hack is thanks to you, dear Kitchn readers. When we shared our recipe for slow cooker fajitas, many of you commented that your favorite riff on that concept was slow cooker salsa chicken. The premise is simply combining your favorite salsa with chicken breast in the slow cooker until tender. The result is deliciously seasoned, shredded chicken that’s perfect for tacos, burrito bowls, or even taco salads.

If there was ever a time to keep tortilla chips stocked in your pantry, it’s now. When tossed with lime juice, spicy chipotles, and fresh cilantro, a humble can of black beans and an ear of fresh summer corn are transformed into a bold, full-flavored salsa you’ll want to eat with everything. It’s both a crowd-pleasing dip and the base of a no-cook summer supper. First and foremost, like any salsa, this one is a crowd-pleasing party dip.

It's rich, silky, and deliciously smoky.