10 Easy Mexican Recipes for Beginners

Mexican cooking can seem intimidating at first, but many of its most iconic dishes are surprisingly easy to prepare. Here are 10 recipes that are perfect for getting started, arranged from easiest to most challenging. They all use ingredients you can find in UK supermarkets, with the occasional trip to a Latin grocery shop for the extras.

1. Chilaquiles Rojos

Chilaquiles rojos are the quintessential Mexican breakfast and one of the easiest dishes to make. All you need is tortilla chips (or fried tortillas), a simple red salsa, soured cream and fresh cheese.

Why it's perfect for beginners: it's very forgiving. Even if the salsa isn't perfect or the chips break up, the result is always delicious. The cheese and cream smooth over any imperfection.

Time: 25 minutes. Cost: ~£2.20/person.

2. Quesadillas

Quesadillas are as simple as putting cheese between two tortillas and warming them through. You can add whatever you like: ham, mushrooms, chicken, beans, strips of pepper...

Pro tip: use wheat (flour) tortillas for the basic version (available in any supermarket) or corn tortillas for a more authentic one. Mozzarella melts beautifully and is easy to find. For a Mexican touch, serve with a little salsa and guacamole on the side.

Time: 10 minutes. Cost: ~£1.30/person.

3. Guacamole

Guacamole is pure art in its simplicity: ripe avocado, lime, salt, coriander and onion. You don't need to cook anything — just a knife, a fork and 10 minutes.

The key to success: it all comes down to how ripe the avocado is. It should give slightly when you press it. In the UK, buy your avocados 3-4 days ahead and let them ripen at room temperature.

Classic mistake: mashing it too much. Guacamole should have texture — it isn't a purée. Mash with a fork, never a blender.

Time: 10 minutes. Cost: ~£0.90/person.

4. Molletes

Open bread topped with refried beans and grilled cheese, finished with pico de gallo. It's the perfect quick supper and a great way to use up day-old bread.

UK adaptation: if you can't find a bolillo roll, use half a baguette or a crusty country loaf. Tinned beans work perfectly. Grill for 5 minutes under the oven's grill.

Time: 15 minutes. Cost: ~£1.30/person.

5. Pico de Gallo

The fresh Mexican salsa that goes with everything: finely chopped tomato, onion, chilli, coriander and lime. No cooking, no fuss, ready in minutes.

What matters: a small, even dice. Ripe but firm tomatoes. Add the salt just before serving so it doesn't release too much water.

Time: 10 minutes. Cost: ~£0.45/person.

6. Mexican Red Rice

Red rice is the universal side dish of Mexican cooking. Unlike Spanish rice, it's toasted first in oil and then cooked in a tomato stock.

The 3 key steps: 1) Rinse the rice until the water runs clear. 2) Toast it in oil until golden. 3) Add the tomato stock, cover and do NOT lift the lid for 18 minutes. Those three steps are the difference between perfect rice and sticky rice.

Time: 30 minutes. Cost: ~£0.45/person.

7. Refried Beans

Refried beans are cooked beans mashed and fried with onion and lard (or oil). They're the most common side and an excellent source of plant protein.

Quick version: use tinned beans, fry some chopped onion, add the beans with a little of their liquid and mash with a fork in the pan. Ten minutes and you have home-made refried beans that taste better than any shop-bought version.

Time: 15 minutes (with tinned beans). Cost: ~£0.45/person.

8. Chicken Tacos

Shredded chicken in salsa (green, red or chipotle) served in a warm tortilla with onion, coriander and lime. The taco is the most iconic format in Mexican cooking.

Easy version: boil 2 chicken breasts with onion, garlic and salt (20 min). Shred with two forks. Mix with salsa (bought or home-made). Warm the tortillas in a dry pan. Assemble and enjoy.

Time: 30 minutes. Cost: ~£1.80/person.

9. Enchiladas Rojas

Enchiladas are filled tortillas (usually with chicken) bathed in red salsa and grilled with cheese. It's one of the most satisfying Mexican dishes there is.

Critical step: briefly pass the tortillas through hot oil before filling and rolling them. This stops them tearing as you handle them and helps them absorb the salsa evenly.

Time: 45 minutes. Cost: ~£2.70/person.

10. Carnitas

Carnitas are pork cooked slowly until it's tender inside and crisp outside. It's the most involved recipe on this list, but the result is spectacular.

Accessible version: buy pork shoulder (cheap and widely available). Cut into chunks and cook over a low heat for 3 hours with orange, garlic and herbs. Shred and brown in a pan for the last 10 minutes. Serve in tacos with green salsa, onion and coriander.

Time: 3-4 hours (but 90% of it is waiting). Cost: ~£2.70/person.

A Suggested Learning Plan

Don't try to make all 10 at once. Here's our recommended plan for the first few weeks:

1. Week 1: Guacamole + pico de gallo (practise flavours with no cooking)
2. Week 2: Quesadillas + molletes (an introduction to tortillas and beans)
3. Week 3: Chilaquiles + red rice (your first salsa + your first rice technique)
4. Week 4: Chicken tacos + refried beans (a complete combo)
5. Week 5: Enchiladas (salsa + filling + oven)
6. Week 6: Carnitas (slow cooking, advanced technique)

In a month and a half you'll have 10 Mexican recipes under your belt and a solid base for exploring more complex dishes such as mole poblano or tacos al pastor.

Where to Buy the Ingredients

Most of the ingredients for these 10 recipes can be found in ordinary supermarkets. For dried chillies, authentic corn tortillas and Mexican spices, visit the specialist Mexican shops in your area. And if you need substitutes, have a look at our guide to substitutes.

Explore our full recipe catalogue when you're ready for more culinary adventures. Mexican cooking is a whole universe — these 10 recipes are simply the front door.

Basic Ingredients You Should Always Keep In

In our experience, a basic Mexican store cupboard can be built for very little money and lets you improvise a Mexican supper any day of the week. Here's the essential list with rough prices:

• Wheat (flour) tortillas (~£1.10): for quesadillas, burritos and quick wraps. They keep for 2-3 weeks in the fridge.
• Corn tortillas (Latin shop, ~£1.80): for authentic tacos and enchiladas. They freeze without any problem.
• Tinned black beans (~£0.85): the base for a thousand recipes. Drained and mashed with garlic, you've got refried beans in 5 minutes.
• Chipotle chillies in adobo (Latin shop, ~£2.20): one jar lasts months. A teaspoon transforms any stew, salsa or marinade. It's like having "instant Mexican flavour" in the fridge.
• Ground cumin (~£1): cumin is to Mexican cooking what paprika is to Spanish. A little in the meat, the beans or the salsa makes all the difference.
• Limes (~£0.25 each): the acidity of lime is fundamental. A squeeze of lime over any Mexican dish lifts it immediately.
• Fresh coriander (~£0.80): if you don't like coriander (it's genetic, so don't feel bad), swap it for flat-leaf parsley.

With these 7 basic ingredients (total cost: ~£8) you can make at least 5 of the 10 recipes in this guide without buying anything else.

Beginner Mistakes and How to Avoid Them

We all make mistakes when we're starting out with Mexican cooking. These are the most common ones we see:

1. Adding all the chilli at once: Mexican food IS spicy, but the heat is built up gradually. Start with half of what the recipe says and adjust at the end. You can always add more heat, but you can't take it away.
2. Not warming the tortillas: a cold tortilla straight from the packet is a sad thing. Thirty seconds in a dry pan (no oil) on each side completely transforms the texture and flavour. If you have a gas hob, you can warm it directly over the flame for 10 seconds a side for a smoky touch.
3. Using passata in place of salsa: shop-bought fried tomato or passata is NOT Mexican salsa. Mexican salsa is made with raw or roasted tomato, chilli, onion, garlic and coriander. If you don't want to make salsa from scratch, buy a jarred Mexican salsa (the supermarket brands are acceptable to start with).
4. Overdoing the cheese: in authentic Mexican cooking, cheese is a complement, not the star. A little crumbled fresh cheese or a touch of grated mature cheese is enough. Mountains of melted cheddar are Tex-Mex.
5. Forgetting the acidity: almost every Mexican dish needs a touch of lime at the end. It's what balances the flavours and makes everything "wake up". Squeeze half a lime over your tacos, enchiladas or soup just before eating.

A Progression Plan: From Beginner to Intermediate

If you're just starting out with Mexican cooking, we recommend this progression based on difficulty:

• Weeks 1-2 (easy level): guacamole, quesadillas, home-made nachos. You only need the supermarket.
• Weeks 3-4 (easy-to-medium): chicken tacos with salsa, refried beans, Mexican rice. One trip to a Latin shop.
• Weeks 5-6 (medium): enchiladas, chilaquiles, sopes. You start working with dried chillies and cooked salsas.
• Weeks 7-8 (medium-to-advanced): a simple mole, tamales, carnitas. Recipes that take more time but not more skill.

Explore all our Mexican recipes organised by difficulty and find the ingredients you need in the specialist shops in your city. With practice and good ingredients, in two months you'll be cooking Mexican food without a second thought.