Mexican Cooking for Vegetarians: 15 Essential Meat-Free Dishes

Vegetarian Mexico: an age-old tradition

There is a persistent myth that Mexican food is all meat, cheese and lard. The reality is exactly the opposite: pre-Hispanic Mexican cooking was mostly vegetarian. Before the arrival of European livestock, the Mesoamerican diet was based on corn, beans, squash, chiles, tomatoes, avocado, nopales, flowers, insects and herbs. Meat existed (turkey, deer, rabbit, fish) but it was complementary, not central.

Today, this plant-based heritage lives on in everyday Mexican cooking, especially in rural and indigenous communities. Many of Mexico's most delicious dishes are naturally vegetarian - they are not "meat-free versions" of something, but complete dishes in themselves with centuries of tradition.

Here are 15 authentic vegetarian Mexican dishes you can recreate in your kitchen in Spain, all with accessible ingredients.

1. Enfrijoladas

Tortillas bathed in black bean salsa blended with epazote, onion and garlic. They are filled with fresh cheese and served with cream, sliced onion and sprinkled cheese. They are the perfect vegetarian breakfast - nutritious, filling and ready in 15 minutes if you have cooked beans.

In Spain: Use canned black beans (La Costeña or similar from Mexican shops), Burgos-style fresh cheese and sour cream. If you do not have epazote, a little cilantro works.

2. Bean tlacoyos

Tlacoyos are thick oval tortillas filled with bean, broad bean or requesón. They are cooked on a comal and served with green salsa, cream, crumbled cheese and nopales. They are street food from central Mexico - you find them in markets and tianguis, made by women who have spent generations perfecting the technique.

The masa should be thicker than a normal tortilla, and the filling is sealed inside. The secret is that the bean is well mashed and seasoned before filling.

3. Papadzules

The most elegant vegetable dish of Yucatecan cooking. Tortillas bathed in toasted pumpkin seed salsa, filled with chopped hard-boiled egg, with tomato salsa on top. The pumpkin seed salsa is green, creamy and has a delicate nutty flavor. It is a pre-Hispanic dish dating from before the conquest.

4. Chiles en nogada (vegetarian version)

The original version has minced meat, but there is a Puebla tradition of making them with a fruit and nut picadillo. Poblano chile filled with apple, pear, peach, walnut, almond and raisins, bathed in walnut sauce and decorated with pomegranate. The three colors of the Mexican flag on one plate.

5. Esquites

Corn kernels (sweetcorn) sautéed with epazote, serrano chile and onion, served in a cup with mayonnaise, grated cheese, chili powder and lime. It is the cup version of street elote and it is completely addictive.

In Spain: Use frozen or canned sweetcorn. Sauté it in butter with a little chopped guindilla and cilantro. Serve with mayo, grated Parmesan cheese (a substitute for cotija) and hot paprika.

6. Tortilla soup

Tomato broth with pasilla chile, garlic and onion, served with crisp fried tortilla strips, avocado, fresh cheese, cream and chile. It is comforting, deep in flavor and completely vegetarian if you use vegetable stock.

7. Grilled nopales with cheese

Nopales (cactus) are one of the most nutritious foods in Mexico: high in fibre, low in calories, with a slightly sour flavor reminiscent of green pepper and green bean. Griddled with melted Oaxaca cheese, salt and lime they are a simple and delicious dish.

In Spain, nopales are found in Mexican shops - fresh or canned. If you buy them fresh, remove the spines with a knife and cook them in water with salt and bicarbonate to reduce the sliminess.

8. Mushroom tacos

Mexico has an impressive mushroom tradition, especially in the forested areas of the center. Huitlacoche tacos (corn fungus), wild mushroom tacos or button mushroom tacos with epazote are a delicacy. Huitlacoche, known as the "Mexican truffle", has an earthy, smoky, umami flavor that is unique.

In Spain, substitute with seasonal mushrooms (boletus, milk caps, portobello). Sauté them with garlic, epazote or cilantro and a little serrano chile. Serve in tortillas with green salsa.

9. Rajas with cheese tamales

Corn masa beaten with lard, filled with strips of poblano chile (rajas) and cheese, wrapped in corn husk and steamed. It is the classic vegetarian tamale and one of the most popular across all of Mexico.

10. Zucchini flower quesadillas

Zucchini flowers are a star ingredient of central Mexican cooking. They are cooked with epazote, onion and chile, then put into a quesadilla with Oaxaca cheese. The contrast between the delicate flower and the melted cheese is irresistible.

In Spain: Zucchini flowers are found in markets during the summer, especially in the south. If you cannot find them, substitute with grated zucchini and a little spinach.

11. Green chilaquiles

Tortilla chips (tortillas fried in triangles) bathed in tomatillo green salsa, served with cream, cheese, onion and cilantro. They are the national breakfast of Mexico and are naturally vegetarian (without adding chicken). The key is that the chips absorb the salsa without completely losing their texture.

12. Molletes

Bolillo (a bread similar to a baguette) split open, spread with refried beans, covered with grilled cheese and served with pico de gallo. It is the perfect snack - quick, filling and delicious. In Spain, use a baguette or ciabatta.

13. Bean sopes

Sopes are round masa bases with pinched edges that form a container. They are filled with refried beans, lettuce, cream, cheese and salsa. They are an omnipresent street food in Mexico and completely customisable.

14. Mexican red rice

Red rice is the universal side dish of Mexican food. Rice fried in oil until golden, cooked in tomato sauce with onion, garlic, vegetable stock and a touch of cumin. It is served with a little cilantro and lime. It is simple but when done well it is spectacular.

15. Guacamole with tortilla chips

Authentic Mexican guacamole is minimalist: mashed avocado (not blended) with white onion, serrano chile, cilantro, lime juice and salt. No tomato (optional), no garlic (not traditional), no cumin. The star is the avocado and it should taste of it. Serve with corn tortilla chips or raw vegetables.

Why Mexican cooking is ideal for vegetarians

The ancestral combination of corn + beans + squash (the "three sisters" of Mesoamerican agriculture) provides a complete protein without the need for meat. The corn provides the amino acids the bean lacks and vice versa. Add the chiles rich in vitamin C, the avocado with its healthy fats and the nopales with their fibre, and you have a nutritionally complete plant-based diet that fed entire civilisations.

"Mexican food does not need meat to be complete. We have been proving it for 3,000 years."

Explore our Mexican recipes to find detailed step-by-step vegetarian options, and find the special ingredients in our directory of Mexican shops in Spain. If you prefer someone to cook for you, many Mexican restaurants have authentic vegetarian options.