Cecina de Yecapixtla, tasajo and cecina enchilada: Mexico's dried meats explained

What cecina means in Mexico

If you have come across cecina in Spain, you will think of cecina de León, a cured beef sliced thinly and eaten cold. In Mexico the word means something else: a very thin sheet of beef, salted and briefly air-dried, which is cooked on the comal or on the grill and eaten hot, in tacos, with beans, fresh cheese and salsa. It is an everyday meat in central and southern Mexico, found in markets, fondas and snack stalls, and almost unknown outside the country.

Alongside it sit two other meats from the same family: tasajo, the name used in Oaxaca and other parts of the south, and cecina enchilada, which is in fact pork. This guide explains what each one is, how they are prepared and how they are eaten.

Yecapixtla, the cecina capital

In the state of Morelos there is a municipality whose name is bound up with this meat: Yecapixtla. Anthropological studies of the region refer to it as the "capital of cecina", and its streets and its weekly market are full of shops that cut, salt and sell it. Cecina de Yecapixtla is known for its cut: the beef is opened out by hand into very long, very thin sheets, which are salted evenly and left to dry in the sun for a short time. Many households rub them with a little lard before storing them, which helps keep the texture soft.

According to the Morelos press, the Mexican Institute of Industrial Property (IMPI) recognised it as a Protected Geographical Indication, with a declaration published in the Diario Oficial de la Federación in early 2026 and limited to cecina made in the municipality itself. Reports describe an artisanal process handed down through the generations, using beef, salt and sun-drying, and a meat that is deep red, thin, tender and lightly salted.

Every year, in late October, the municipality holds the Feria de la Cecina y Tianguis Grande, which reached its thirty-second edition in 2025. It shows just how much this meat is part of local identity.

How cecina is eaten

Cecina is a quick meat: being so thin, it cooks in a minute or two per side on a very hot comal or over embers. It is served in strips with freshly made corn tortillas, grilled onion, nopales, beans, fresh cheese and green or red salsa. Cecina tacos are one of the commonest ways to eat it, as is a plate of cecina with its trimmings, typical of weekend lunches in Morelos and around Mexico City.

It turns up at breakfast too. Chilaquiles con cecina pair fried tortilla in salsa with the grilled meat, and in the Huasteca region enchiladas huastecas with cecina are a very common dish in local eateries. To make it at home, our cecina de Yecapixtla recipe explains how to salt and air-dry a sheet of beef if you cannot find it ready-made.

Oaxacan tasajo

In Oaxaca, beef that has been salted and dried in strips is called tasajo. It is a close relative of beef cecina, and many sources describe the two as equivalent, although the cut and thickness vary from place to place. Tasajo is grilled over charcoal and is one of the classic accompaniments to Oaxacan breakfasts and lunches: it goes alongside enfrijoladas or entomatadas, on tlayudas or simply with tortillas and salsa.

Two recipes show it well. Oaxacan tasajo is served grilled with trimmings, and tlayudas de tasajo place it on the large crisp tortilla with asiento (unrefined pork lard), beans and quesillo. In Oaxaca's markets you often find smoky aisles where tasajo, cecina enchilada and chorizo are grilled side by side.

A word of warning: the word tasajo is used somewhat differently from region to region, and in some areas it can also refer to pork. If in doubt at a market, it is worth asking.

Cecina enchilada, which is pork

Cecina enchilada shares the name but not the animal: it is pork cut into thin sheets and marinated in a paste of dried chillies, usually ancho or guajillo, with garlic, vinegar and spices. The marinade gives it a deep red colour and a slightly spicy, tangy flavour. It is cooked in the same way as the beef version, on a comal or over embers, and eaten in tacos, on tlayudas or as a plate with beans and salsa.

In Oaxaca it usually appears alongside tasajo and chorizo as one of the three pillars of the market grill. To try it at home, our cecina enchilada recipe starts with thin sheets of pork loin or leg and a dried-chilli marinade. Our guide to Mexican chillies will help you choose between ancho, guajillo and others.

The differences at a glance

• Beef cecina (Yecapixtla and central Mexico): beef in very thin sheets, salted and sun-dried; salty and slightly smoky once grilled.
• Tasajo (Oaxaca and the south): salted beef dried in strips or sheets, usually a little thicker; grilled over charcoal.
• Cecina enchilada: pork in thin sheets marinated in dried chillies; red in colour, spicy and tangy.
• Cecina de León (Spain): cured and smoked for months and eaten cold in slices. It is not interchangeable with the Mexican versions.

How to cook it well

The key is high heat and a short time. Heat the comal or a cast-iron pan until it is very hot, lay the sheet out flat and turn it as soon as it changes colour. Leave it too long and it toughens and tastes saltier. If your cecina is very salty, you can rinse it under water and dry it well before cooking. Serve it straight away, cut into strips, with warm tortillas, lime and a fresh salsa.

If you are serving it in tacos, have everything else ready first: warm tortillas wrapped in a tea towel, grilled onion or chopped onion with coriander, lime wedges and a green tomatillo salsa or a red chile de árbol salsa. Grilled nopales and fresh cheese complete the plate Morelos-style. Leftover cecina is never thrown away: chopped and fried with egg, it makes a very common thrifty breakfast.

Frequently asked questions

Is Mexican cecina eaten raw like cecina de León?

No. Mexican cecina is air-dried only briefly and is always eaten cooked and hot. It does not have the long cure of the Spanish product.

Are cecina and tasajo the same thing?

They are very similar: both are salted, dried beef. Tasajo is the name most used in Oaxaca, and the cut and thickness can vary.

Why is cecina enchilada red?

Because it is pork marinated in a paste of dried chillies, such as ancho or guajillo, which gives it its colour and a touch of heat.

What does the Yecapixtla geographical indication protect?

According to the Morelos press, it protects the name of cecina made in the municipality of Yecapixtla using its traditional process, so that only that product can be sold as cecina de Yecapixtla.

Sources

• Quadratín Morelos, «Protegen cecina de Yecapixtla» (IMPI recognition as a Protected Geographical Indication, declaration in the DOF, artisanal process and characteristics).
• Uno TV, «Todo sobre la Feria de la Cecina y Tianguis Grande en Yecapixtla 2025» (dates of the fair and its thirty-second edition).
• Dimensión Antropológica (INAH), 2013 article on Yecapixtla (Yecapixtla as the "capital of cecina").
• El Universal, «¿Qué tipo de carne es la cecina?» and «¿Cómo se hace la cecina?» (etymology, beef cecina, drying and the local microclimate).
• Mexico Travel and Leisure, «Cecina in English: Mexico's air-cured beef from Yecapixtla», and Time Out México, «Cecina en el DF» (pork cecina enchilada, Oaxacan tasajo and the variable use of the term).