Mexican Ingredients You Can Buy at Tesco and Sainsbury's

The Mexican Aisle Has Grown Up

Ten years ago, the "Mexican" section of a British supermarket consisted of Old El Paso taco kits, a jar of mild salsa and, if you were lucky, a bag of tortilla chips. Today, the world food aisles of Tesco, Sainsbury's, Waitrose, Asda and Morrisons stock an increasingly impressive range of genuine Mexican ingredients - dried chiles, chipotle in adobo, masa harina, canned beans, proper hot sauces and more.

This guide catalogues every useful Mexican ingredient you can find at the two largest British supermarkets - Tesco and Sainsbury's - and explains what to do with each one. For the items you cannot find at supermarkets, we will point you to Mexican specialist shops across the UK.

Canned and Jarred Goods

Chipotle Chiles in Adobo

Where: Tesco (world food aisle), Sainsbury's (world food aisle). Look for the Discovery or La Costena brands.

What it is: Smoked, dried jalapeno chiles in a rich, smoky tomato sauce. This is arguably the single most useful Mexican ingredient in a British kitchen - it adds deep, smoky heat and complexity to practically anything.

How to use it: Add 1-2 chiles (with their sauce) to soups, stews, marinades, scrambled eggs, pasta sauces, mayo or salad dressings. Blend into salsa for instant smokiness. Mix with sour cream for a chipotle dip. One can goes a long way - freeze the remainder in ice cube trays for future use.

Canned Black Beans

Where: Both supermarkets, multiple brands.

How to use: Drain, rinse and mash roughly for refried beans. Add whole to soups, stews, rice dishes and salads. Blend with garlic and cumin for a smooth black bean dip. Essential for burritos, tacos and nachos.

Canned Refried Beans

Where: Tesco (Old El Paso brand), Sainsbury's (own brand and Discovery).

How to use: Heat in a pan, spread on tortillas for molletes, use as a taco filling or burrito component. The canned versions are acceptable for convenience but taste noticeably better if you fry them in a little lard or oil with garlic and cumin.

Jalapeños (Jarred, Sliced)

Where: Both supermarkets, multiple brands.

How to use: Top nachos, tacos, burgers and sandwiches. Add to salsas and guacamole. Chop and add to scrambled eggs. The jarred version lacks the fresh snap of raw jalapeños but adds reliable heat and vinegary tang.

Canned Chopped Tomatoes

Where: Everywhere.

How to use: The base of countless Mexican sauces and salsas. Blend with chipotle for a quick salsa roja. Simmer for enchilada sauce. Use in rice, soups and stews. Italian canned tomatoes are perfect for Mexican cooking - the flavour profile is virtually identical to what Mexican cooks use.

Dried Goods

Tortillas (Flour and Corn)

Where: Both supermarkets stock flour tortillas in various sizes. Corn tortillas are available at Tesco (world food aisle) and occasionally at Sainsbury's.

Tips: Flour tortillas freeze well - buy in bulk and defrost as needed. For corn tortillas, the supermarket versions are acceptable but noticeably inferior to those from Mexican specialist shops. Always warm tortillas before serving - in a dry pan for 30 seconds per side, or wrapped in a damp tea towel in the microwave for 20 seconds.

Tortilla Chips

Where: Both supermarkets, multiple brands.

Tips: Look for brands made from corn rather than wheat. Tesco's own-brand lightly salted tortilla chips are surprisingly good and inexpensive. Use for nachos, chilaquiles and dipping.

Rice (Long Grain)

Where: Everywhere.

How to use: Standard long-grain white rice is the correct rice for Mexican cooking. Basmati works but is not traditional. Mexican rice is made by frying the rice first until golden, then cooking in tomato-flavoured stock.

Spices and Seasonings

Ground Cumin

Where: Both supermarkets.

How to use: The most important spice in Mexican cooking after chile. Use in bean dishes, rice, marinades, salsas and meat rubs. Buy whole cumin seeds and grind your own for significantly better flavour.

Smoked Paprika

Where: Both supermarkets.

How to use: Not traditionally Mexican, but an excellent substitute for the smokiness of dried chiles when you cannot source them. Use in marinades, rubs and sauces.

Dried Oregano

Where: Both supermarkets.

Note: Mexican oregano (Lippia graveolens) is a different plant from Mediterranean oregano (Origanum vulgare). Supermarket oregano is Mediterranean. The flavours are similar enough for most purposes, but Mexican oregano has a more citrusy, earthy character. For the genuine article, visit a specialist shop.

Chili powder and Cayenne

Where: Both supermarkets.

How to use: Generic chili powder is a blend (usually including cumin and garlic) - useful for quick seasoning. Cayenne is pure ground chile - use when you want heat without additional flavours. Neither replicates the complex flavour of specific Mexican dried chiles, but both are practical for everyday cooking.

Fresh Produce

Avocados

Where: Both supermarkets, year-round.

Tips: Buy 3-4 days before you need them and ripen at room temperature. A ripe avocado yields slightly to gentle pressure near the stem. Unripe avocados can be speed-ripened in a paper bag with a banana.

Limes

Where: Both supermarkets.

Tips: Mexican cooking uses limes the way French cooking uses butter - they go in everything. Buy a bag (cheaper per lime than individual) and keep in the fridge for up to 2 weeks. Microwave a lime for 10 seconds before juicing to get more juice out.

Fresh cilantro

Where: Both supermarkets.

Tips: Buy the living herb pots for longer life. Use stems as well as leaves - they have excellent flavour. If you are one of the people for whom cilantro tastes like soap (a genetic trait), substitute flat-leaf parsley with a squeeze of lime.

Jalapeno Chiles (Fresh)

Where: Both supermarkets, usually in the fresh chile section.

Tips: Green jalapenos are the standard. Red jalapenos are riper and slightly sweeter. Remove seeds and membranes for less heat. Freeze whole - they defrost quickly and retain most of their flavour.

What You Cannot Get at Supermarkets

For these items, visit Mexican specialist shops or order online:

• Dried chiles: Guajillo, ancho, pasilla, arbol, morita. Essential for authentic salsas and moles.
• Masa harina: Nixtamalised corn flour for making tortillas and tamales.
• Mexican chocolate: Abuelita or Ibarra brand, used in mole and hot chocolate.
• Queso fresco and Oaxaca cheese: Fresh Mexican cheeses.
• Epazote: A distinctive Mexican herb, sometimes available dried.
• Tomatillos: Small green fruits used for salsa verde (canned versions available online).
• Piloncillo: Unrefined cane sugar, used in desserts and drinks.

For recipes that make the most of supermarket ingredients, explore our recipe collection. Many recipes include notes on UK-friendly substitutions.

The World Food Aisle Strategy

Both Tesco and Sainsbury's organise their Mexican ingredients across two locations: the world food aisle (where you find canned beans, chipotle in adobo, tortillas and specialist sauces) and the regular aisles (where lime, avocado, cilantro and chiles live alongside other fresh produce and spices). Knowing to check both locations saves time and prevents missed items.

Waitrose deserves a special mention for stocking a noticeably wider range of Mexican ingredients than other mainstream supermarkets. Their world food section typically includes items like dried ancho chiles, masa harina, proper corn tortillas and Mexican chocolate that are harder to find elsewhere. If you have a Waitrose nearby, it is worth making it your primary source for Mexican cooking supplies.

Online Supermarket Mexican Ranges

Both Tesco and Sainsbury's online shopping platforms stock a broader range of Mexican ingredients than their physical stores. Items that may not be on the shelf of your local store - dried chiles, canned tomatillos, achiote paste - are often available for delivery. Searching for "Mexican" on either platform reveals the full range, which is growing noticeably year on year as demand for authentic Mexican cooking increases in Britain.

Ocado, which partners with multiple suppliers, tends to have the widest online range of Mexican ingredients among the mainstream delivery services. Products from specialist importers that would never appear on a supermarket shelf - artisanal hot sauces, small-batch tortillas, premium dried chiles - are increasingly available through Ocado's platform.

Building Meals from Supermarket Ingredients

With just the ingredients available at Tesco or Sainsbury's, you can make these complete Mexican meals without any specialist shopping:

• Taco night: Tortillas + chicken thighs + chipotle in adobo + canned tomatoes + lime + avocado + sour cream + cilantro
• Enchiladas: Tortillas + canned chopped tomatoes + chipotle in adobo + chicken or beans + cheese + sour cream
• Mexican rice bowl: Long-grain rice + canned black beans + canned tomatoes + cumin + fresh salad + lime
• Nachos (proper): Tortilla chips + refried beans + jalapenos + cheese + sour cream + guacamole
• Breakfast burritos: Flour tortillas + scrambled eggs + refried beans + cheese + hot sauce

None of these meals requires a trip to a specialist shop. All can be made in under 30 minutes. And all taste significantly better than the pre-packaged "Mexican" meal kits that occupy prime shelf space - those kits, with their tiny sachets of bland seasoning and their anaemic salsas, are the worst possible introduction to Mexican food. Buy the individual ingredients instead and you will spend roughly the same amount for a meal that tastes dramatically better.

For recipes that make the most of supermarket-available ingredients, explore our recipe collection. For the specialist items that take your cooking to the next level, visit Mexican shops across the UK.