Mexican Lenten cooking: meat-free dishes for Holy Week

Lent and Holy Week are special times in Mexican cooking. During the 40 days that run from Ash Wednesday to Easter Sunday, Catholic tradition forbids eating red meat on Fridays, and many Mexican families extend this restriction across the whole season. Far from being a limitation, this has given rise to some of the most delicious and creative dishes in Mexican gastronomy.

Mexican Lenten cooking is a universe of flavours where the stars are nopales, dried shrimp, chiles, quelites (wild greens), pulses and the ingenuity of generations of cooks who turned restriction into culinary celebration.

1. Romeritos with mole and shrimp fritters

Romeritos are THE Lenten dish par excellence in central Mexico, especially in Mexico City and Puebla. They are a wild herb (Suaeda torreyana) with very small leaves and a slightly salty flavour, cooked in red mole with dried-shrimp fritters and boiled potatoes.

Ingredients:

• 500g fresh romeritos (in the UK, you can substitute baby spinach or purslane if you can find it)
• 200g prepared red mole (or make it from scratch with ancho and guajillo chiles, chocolate and spices)
• 100g ground dried shrimp
• 2 eggs
• 3 boiled potatoes, cubed
• 3 cooked nopales, cut into cubes

Making the shrimp fritters:

1. Grind the dried shrimp to a fine powder.
2. Separate the egg whites and beat them to stiff peaks.
3. Fold in the yolks and the shrimp powder, mixing gently.
4. Using a spoon, form small fritters and fry them in hot oil until golden on both sides.
5. Drain on kitchen paper.

Cook the romeritos in boiling water for 5 minutes, then drain well. Heat the red mole with a little stock, add the potatoes, nopales, romeritos and shrimp fritters. Cook everything together for 10 minutes so the flavours come together. Serve with red rice and tortillas.

2. Shrimp in chipotle sauce

A quick, elegant dish that is perfect for Lent. The shrimp are sauteed and bathed in a creamy chipotle sauce that is irresistible.

Recipe:

1. Clean 500g of large shrimp (peeled and deveined).
2. Make the sauce: blend 3 chipotles in adobo with 200ml of cooking cream, 1 clove of garlic and salt.
3. Saute the shrimp in butter over high heat for 2 minutes per side (until pink).
4. Pour the chipotle sauce over the shrimp. Cook for 3 more minutes over medium heat.
5. Serve with white rice and lime.

This recipe works just as well with king shrimp for a special Holy Week dinner.

3. Cheese-stuffed chiles in caldillo

Cheese-stuffed chiles are one of the most popular Lenten dishes across Mexico. They are made with roasted, peeled poblano chiles (Italian green peppers in the UK) stuffed with cheese, battered and bathed in a tomato caldillo. It is a comforting dish that satisfies without any need for meat.

See our complete guide to stuffed chiles for the detailed recipe with all the variations.

4. Broad bean soup with nopales

Broad beans are a very popular pulse in the Lenten cooking of central Mexico. This soup is simple, nutritious and full of flavour.

Recipe:

• 500g dried broad beans (soaked overnight) or fresh broad beans
• 2 nopales, cubed and cooked
• 3 guajillo chiles, toasted and soaked
• 1/4 onion
• 2 cloves of garlic
• Fresh cilantro, salt

Cook the broad beans in water until soft (1-2 hours for dried, 20 minutes for fresh). Blend the chiles with the onion and garlic, strain and fry the sauce. Add it to the beans along with the nopales. Cook for 15 more minutes. Serve with fresh cilantro and tortillas.

5. Nopal tacos with green salsa

Nopales (cactus paddles) are the star ingredient of Mexican Lent. High in fibre, low in calories and with a unique texture, they are perfect for tacos, salads and stews.

Quick recipe: Cut 4 cleaned nopales into strips. Saute them in oil with chopped onion, serrano chile, cilantro and salt over medium-high heat for 10 minutes, until they release their slime (mucilage) and it evaporates. Serve in corn tortillas with green salsa, fresh cheese and avocado. It is a light, nutritious and delicious taco.

6. Shrimp fritters in green mole

Similar to the fritters in the romeritos dish, but served in green mole instead of red. The dried-shrimp fritters are fluffy inside and have a concentrated marine flavour that pairs spectacularly with green mole made from pumpkin seeds.

Quick green mole: Toast 100g of hulled pumpkin seeds. Blend with cooked tomatillos (or green tomatoes), serrano chile, lettuce, cilantro, epazote (or parsley) and stock. Strain and fry. Submerge the shrimp fritters in the hot green mole.

7. Nopal salad

Nopal salad is a classic Lenten side and one of the most refreshing Mexican salads there is.

Recipe: Cook 4 cubed nopales in boiling salted water with onion and garlic for 10 minutes. Drain and rinse well (to remove the slime). Mix with chopped tomato, chopped white onion, fresh cilantro, serrano chile, lime juice, olive oil and salt. Add crumbled fresh cheese and avocado. Serve cold or at room temperature.

8. Veracruz-style fish

Veracruz-style fish is one of the great dishes of Mexican cooking and is perfect for Lent. It combines white fish fillets with a spectacular sauce of tomatoes, olives, capers, güero chiles and herbs.

Recipe:

1. Soften 1 chopped onion in olive oil. Add 3 chopped cloves of garlic.
2. Add 4 peeled, chopped tomatoes. Cook for 10 minutes.
3. Add 15 green olives, 2 tablespoons of capers, 2 pickled güero chiles (or mild chiles), 1 teaspoon of oregano, 2 bay leaves and parsley.
4. Place 4 white fish fillets (hake, sea bass, cod) on top of the sauce.
5. Cover and cook over medium-low heat for 15-20 minutes until the fish is cooked.
6. Serve with white rice and tortillas.

9. Lentils with plantain

Mexican-style lentils are different from Spanish ones: they include fried plantain, chipotle chile and cilantro. It is a humble but extraordinarily tasty dish that is perfect for the Fridays of Lent.

Recipe: Cook 300g of lentils with onion, garlic, tomato and a chipotle in adobo. When they are soft (25-30 min), season with salt and serve with slices of ripe plantain fried in oil (golden on both sides) and chopped fresh cilantro. The sweetness of the plantain with the smokiness of the chipotle is a magical combination.

10. Capirotada: the Lenten pudding

Capirotada is the traditional Lenten pudding in Mexico. It is a bread pudding with piloncillo (unrefined cane sugar), cinnamon, cheese, peanuts, raisins and dried fruit. Each region has its own version, but the essence is bread soaked in piloncillo-and-cinnamon syrup, baked with layers of ingredients.

Recipe adapted for the UK:

1. Make the syrup: boil 250g of piloncillo (or dark brown sugar) with 500ml of water, 2 cinnamon sticks, 3 cloves and 1 star anise for 15 minutes until you have a syrup.
2. Cut day-old bread (baguette or rustic loaf) into slices and toast them in the oven or in a pan with butter.
3. In an ovenproof dish, alternate layers of: toasted bread, sliced cheese (mild Gouda), raisins, peanuts, walnuts and sliced banana.
4. Pour all of the hot, strained piloncillo syrup over the top.
5. Bake at 180°C for 20-25 minutes until the bread absorbs the syrup and the cheese melts.
6. Serve hot. It is the most comforting pudding of Mexican Lent.

Mexican Lent in the UK

Holy Week is lived intensely in both Spain and Mexico, and although the traditions are different, Lenten cooking offers a meeting point. Many ingredients for these recipes are available in supermarkets, and the most specialist ones (nopales, dried shrimp, chiles) can be found in Mexican shops.

If you want to try these dishes without cooking, several Mexican restaurants offer special Lenten menus with traditional dishes such as romeritos, Veracruz-style fish and stuffed chiles. It is a beautiful way to experience Holy Week with a Mexican flavour.

Explore more recipes in our Mexican recipes section and discover the richness of meat-free Mexican cooking. Happy Lent and enjoy your meal!