Essential Mexican Ingredients Guide: Mexican Pantry Staples

Tortillas are thin, round, flat pieces of bread made from either flour or corn. Tortillas can be used as a wrapper for any type of food, as in tacos or burritos, or treated as a utensil. Once fried, they become tortilla chips, which can be used to make chilaquiles. Baked in layers with chile sauce and beans, tortillas transform into enchiladas. Larger, more elastic flour tortillas are used for more substantial meals like burritos.

Tortillas are considered an integral component to any Mexican meal. They’re the backbone of the vast family of foods known as antojitos (“little cravings”), typical street snacks or appetizers in Mexico City. They’re usually small, savory bites intended as precursors to the main event (think tacos dorados or tostadas) or as a late-night bite after a few drinks. In Mexico City, the word quesadilla is something of a catchall, used to describe almost anything folded up in a corn tortilla.

Fresh lime juice is a common garnish or component on just about every dish you can think of, bringing bright, clarifying acidity and tang to spicy, charred meats, hearty beans, and stews like pozole, and seafood aguachile. Orange juice is a common addition to marinades for braised meat like carnitas or barbacoa, adding a subtle sweetness as the acids help break down tougher meat fibers.

Both dried black beans and pinto beans have a place alongside any number of Mexican dishes. Whether slow-cooked into a simple batch of frijoles de la olla, repurposed as refried beans, or pureed into enfrijoladas, they’re both a weeknight comfort food and celebratory staple.

With more than 60 types produced in Mexico, chiles are a staple crop and fundamental component of Mexican cuisine. The wide array of chiles available in the country adds complexity, depth, and, of course, heat, to countless dishes.

Fresh chiles can be used to add color, texture, and heat to any dish. They’re typically eaten raw and only need to be washed, deseeded, and destemmed before serving. Dried chiles bring the most to a dish when they’re toasted on a griddle or comal, deseeded, and destemmed. They also need to be soaked in hot water for about half an hour before being used in a recipe.

1. 1. Jalapeño: The most recognizable of all fresh Mexican chiles, jalapeños have a smooth green or red appearance and medium spiciness. They can be eaten straight or stuffed, pickled or fried. They are often served whole and charred as an accompaniment to tacos.
2. 2. Poblano: This large green or red pepper hails from the city of Puebla. Poblanos are typically mild, though spice levels can vary widely (the ripe reddish version tends to be the hottest). They’re most often stuffed to make chile rellenos, but try adding them to guacamole or soups.
3. 3. Serrano: Smooth, green serranos originated in the mountainous regions of Puebla and Hidalgo. Like jalapeños, serranos have a bright, fresh kick with a medium to medium-hot spice level that varies depending on their size. While serranos can serve as a flavorful garnish for a variety of dishes, they are primarily sliced up and mixed into salsa, pico de gallo, and guacamole.
4. 4. Árbol: Bright-red chiles de árbol are long and slender, and they’re often used to make decorative wreaths or garnishes. In cooking, they bring a serious cayenne-like spice and earthiness to salsas and sauces. Toast and fry them before rehydrating them to intensify their heat and nuttiness.
5. 5. Habanero: Small, round, and orange or red upon maturity, habaneros pack a serious punch in terms of heat, so use them wisely and take precautions (i.e., wear plastic gloves) when preparing them. While habaneros originated in the Amazon, Mexico’s Yucatán Peninsula is the modern world’s largest producer of habaneros. The spicy pepper is most commonly used in salsas and sauces.
6. 6. Guajillo: Guajillo are a large, thin chiles that have bright red skin and a mild kick with some natural sweetness and a touch of earthy flavor. Guajillos are frequently used in pastes and rubs.
7. 7. Ancho: Ancho chiles are the dried version of ripe, red poblano chiles. Ancho chiles vary in spiciness, but they are generally mild to medium and have a lightly smoky, fruity flavor that’s well-suited to marinades as part of an adobo, or chile paste.
8. 8. Cascabel: Also known as the “rattle chile,” cascabels take their name from the sound they make when shaken (the seeds rattle around inside of the shell). Mild and earthy, they can be added to sauces, stews, and more; in salsas, they pair particularly well with tomatillos.
9. 9. Pasilla: Pasilla, which translates to “little raisin,” boasts—true to its name—dark wrinkly skin and a deeply sweet dried-fruit flavor. Thanks to a heat that isn’t overpowering, it’s often used in Oaxacan mole sauce alongside savory Mexican chocolate and other complex sauces. Learn more about pasilla peppers in our guide.

In Mexico, different salsas serve different purposes and speak to different traditions. Each region has its own specialty salsa based on the local ingredients and local palates. Salsas crudas are uncooked; others, like Salsa Tatemada, or “charred salsa,” rely on the deep flavor of charred vegetables.

Serve them with tamales—fresh ground masa combined with any number of sweet or savory fillings, conveniently wrapped in their own compostable plates, folded corn husks—or huevos rancheros, one of the most iconic Mexican breakfasts: fried eggs atop day-old tortillas. (Use two salsas and you’ve got huevos divorciados!)

1. 1. Salsa verde: This raw, creamy salsa made from tomatillos, garlic, serranos, avocado, onion, and lettuce, is simple to make, packs medium heat and a lot of fragrance. Learn how to make salsa verde with our recipe.
2. 2. Salsa roja: This salsa combines serranos, onion, and cooked tomato to build a deep, jammy flavor and medium heat.
3. 3. Salsa brava: The name of this salsa translates to “fierce,” and with good reason—the raw habaneros featured are super spicy. This quick-pickled salsa of onions and chiles perfumed with seeds and herbs has a bright, fresh flavor that pairs well with seafood, tostadas, sopes, and more. You can find chef Gabriela Cámara’s salsa brava recipe.
4. 4. Salsa tatemada: All of the ingredients in this rich, smoky salsa are blistered on a hot comal before they’re combined in a molcajete (a Mexican-style mortar and pestle made from volcanic stone). Featuring fresh serrano chiles and their dried counterparts, morita chiles, salsa tatemada can be made with other types of chiles as well (you can substitute the fresh serranos for jalapeños and the morita for dry chipotle chile).

There are dozens of varieties of Mexican cheeses: Some are fresh and some are aged; some are smooth and creamy, and others are dry and crumbly. Here are a few of the most common and versatile types to experiment within your cooking.

1. 1. Queso fresco: Meaning literally, fresh cheese, queso fresco is soft, moist, and crumbly, making it perfect for sprinkling over antojitos (little snacks) and beans. It’s made from whole milk and can vary in saltiness. It’s often sold wrapped in banana leaves or corn husk. Queso añejo (old cheese) is aged queso fresco with a harder, drier texture and is often sold pre-grated.
2. 2. Cotija: This aged cheese, named for the town of Cotija in the state of Michoacán, has a strong salty flavor, making it an ideal topping for beans, salads, antojitos, and more (it’s commonly sprinkled on top of elote, or grilled corn). At room temperature or colder, cotija dry and crumbly, but it will soften slightly when warmed.
3. 3. Crema: A naturally soured, slightly thickened cream that’s like a combination of American sour cream and French crème fraîche. Crema is typically used as a garnish after cooking, crema adds a rich and tangy bite to soups, vegetables, and tacos.
4. 4. Panela: Panela is a soft, white cheese made from skim milk, which makes it firm and flexible (it will not melt when heated). Panela is gently salted and can be eaten plain as a snack, or it can be sliced and used as a sandwich filling.
5. 5. Queso de Oaxaca: Known as quesillo in Oaxaca, queso de Oaxaca looks like a ball of white string cheese (not unlike mozzarella). It’s creamy and mildly flavored, and it melts easily, making it an ideal stuffing for quesadillas or chiles. It can also be shredded and used as a garnish on top of soups, tostadas, and beans.

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