How to Make Your Own (vegan) Mexican Food
Learning to cook your own food is empowering. Because with a few simple ingredients, you can knock up tastier, cheaper and more nutritious meals than store-bought (and nobody can afford to eat out all the time).
We all like Mexican food (especially when it’s washed down with a margarita!) So here are a few simple tips and recipes to start you off, and some good cookbooks.
One Pot Chilli Mac (The Simple Veganista) is made with crumbled tempeh, kidney beans, sweetcorn, peppers, tomatoes, pasta and spices.
Before cooking, read up on food safety for people and pets (many foods are unsafe near animal friends including sweetcorn cobs that are choking hazards). Bin allium scraps (onion, leeks, garlic, shallots, chives) and citrus/tomato/rhubarb scraps, as acids could harm compost creatures. It’s okay to put them in food waste bins (made into biogas).
For tinned foods, fully remove lids (put inside) or pop ring-pulls back over holes (and pinch tops closed) before recycling, to avoid wildlife getting trapped.
Mexican vegan pantry ingredients
- A lot of the ‘fat’ from Mexican food is from the tortillas. So make your own with Ela Vegan (keep fresh dough away from children and pets).
- Not all Mexican food is spicy, but it does of course spices. Choose zero-waste brands (in glass jars) and only buy what you need (say in zero waste shops) to avoid a cupboard full of old spices that have no taste.
- Black beans (and all beans!) play a part in Mexican food, these are easy to find in shops (it’s cheaper to buy dried but only if you have a pressure cooker, choose a new one for safety). Kidney beans need special boiling before cooking to avoid a toxin, so some prefer to use tinned). Refried beans sometimes contain lard, so go for vegan brands like SUMA (organic too).
- Mexican food tends to use rice over pasta, so cook it properly, and don’t eat leftovers after 24 hours (a food poison hazard). Some brands (like Biona) are now sold in paper (not plastic) packaging, look for them in health stores.
- Avocado is controversial due to farming methods. This is easy – just sub recipes with smashed peas!
- Queso is Mexican cheese sauce. There are plenty of vegan recipes online.
- Chillies are easy to find, just be sure to wear gloves when handling, or at least wash your hands before rubbing your eyes!
Simple Vegan Mexican Dishes
Fresh Mango Salsa (Ela Vegan) is a lovely start to your meal. For local food miles, you can sub with fresh peach. This is combined with bell peppers, jalapeño, red onion, coriander and lime juice.
Make your own lentil taco meat (Ela Vegan). Free from cholesterol, this is high in protein and calcium. And delicious when combined with herbs and spices, and served with salad.
One Pot Vegan Chilli (Cupful of Kale) is made with kidney and black beans, mushrooms, sweet corn and soya mince (Moving Mountains is a good brand).
Vegan Mexican Desserts
Mexican Chocolate Sweet Potato Pudding (The Vegan 8) is packed with nutritious vegetables, hidden among a wicked pudding exterior!
This vanilla custard flan (Addicted to Dates) is a typical Mexican dessert. You turn it upside down before serving, for the caramel sauce to cascade over the pudding.
Vegan Tres Leches Cake (Rainbow Nourishments) is the ‘national cake’ (their answer to our lemon drizzle!) It translates as ‘three milks’, and this recipe is super-simple to make.
Agua Fresca (natural slush puppies!)
Agua Fresca is the national drink of Mexico, it’s a simple blend of water and sugar, mixed with fresh fruits and sometimes lime juice. It’s sold on street stalls and a lovely alternative to slush puppy (a raspberry drink that’s blue is concerning?)
Avoid unpasteurised juice for pregnancy/nursing or weak immune systems.
Cantaloupe melon carries a slightly risk of salmonella poisoning, due to the netted ring. Keep cut melons in the fridge away from other foods, use a clean knife and wash the melon thoroughly underneath the rind, using up within a few days.
Greenscents Organic Fruit and Veg Wash is made with 97% organic ingredients, to help reduce exposure to potential threats like listeria, E.coli and salmonella, for cleaner food and peace of mind. Even organic fruits and vegetables can pick up bacteria in transport. Use code
Use code GSENGLANDNATURALLY for 15% off entire order (minimum purchase £20)
Although in Mexico, the drink is usually made with tropical fruits (like guava), you can make this a seasonal English drink, simply by subbing with local fruits like strawberry, raspberry, apple, peach, plum or cherry.
Simple Agua Fresca Recipe
This recipe makes about 4 to 6 servings.
- 4 cups fresh fruit, chopped (try strawberry/basil)
- 4 cups cold water
- 2 to 4 tablespoons sugar or agave
- 1 to 2 tablespoons fresh lime juice
- Ice, to serve
- Chop 4 cups of fresh fruit into chunks. Then add to a blender containing 2 cups of the water. Blend until smooth.
- Sieve the mix, using a spoon to press out the liquid. You can use the discarded pulp for baking or smoothies.
- Transfer the strained liquid to a large pitcher, and stir in the other 2 cups of water.
- Add sugar or agave to taste, starting with 2 tablespoons. Squeeze in lime juice for colour. Don’t add too much.
- Chill for at least 30 minutes to let the flavours settle, then serve over plenty of ice. Garnish each glass with a slice of fruit or mint sprig.
How to Make Mexican Horchata
If you fancy something a bit more creamy, try this recipe for Horchata (Broke Bank Vegan). This is another traditional refreshing Mexican drink, made with soaked rice, almond milk, cinnamon and real vanilla. And optional cane sugar to make it sweeter.
Pentire Margaritas (from Cornwall!)
Pentire Drinks is a Cornish brand that makes delicious no-alcohol drinks, made with local botanicals in sustainable packaging. Its Margarita drink (also in cans) is blended with lime, agave, sea salt and a dash of Mexican chilli, for a fresh and zingy cocktail that’s ready to drink.
Always pop ring-pulls back over can holes before recycling, to avoid wildlife getting trapped.
If you drink ‘normal tequila’, it’s rare for there to be a ‘worm in the bottle’. But this could happen with its cousin mezcal, so avoid.
Vegan Mexican Recipe Books
Make It Plant-Based! Mexican offers 50 recipes for soups, tacos, tortas and sweets (sub avocado with smashed peas, more local and ethical).
Recipes include:
- Vegetable Spicy Soup
- A Brothy Pot of Beans
- Grilled Mushroom Tacos
- Vegan Tres Leches (three milk cake)
Author Andrea Aliseda is a Mexican/American food writer and plant-based recipe developer based in Los Angeles, USA. Her work has appeared in many publications, where she also writes on food culture.
The Taco Tuesday Cookbook contains 52 recipes, one for every week of the year, each with colour photos. Learn to make:
- Cauliflower walnut tacos
- Mexican street corn tacos
- Jerk plantain tacos with mango salsa
- Sweet potato and black bean tostadas
- Black bean and cashew queso tacos
Also includes recipes for tortillas and tacos, and ideas for beans and rice dishes, salsa and taco sauces (mild to hot).
Comida Casera is by a Mexican-born chef, who shares over 100 plant-based Mexican recipes. This is a love letter to her food and culture! Written by a professional chef, find everything from comfort food to fine dining recipes.
Enjoy recipes for:
- Almond Queso Fresco
- Green Chilaquiles
- Pumpkin Seed Enchiladas
- Mushroom Carnitas Tacos
- Bean and Nopal Tostadas
- Potato & Poblano Stuffed Corn Cakes
- Mole Poblano Enchiladas
- Tres Leches Cake
- Vanilla Flan
- Tres Leches Cake
Dora Ramírez is a chef, recipe developer and photographer who was born and raised in Mexico, and graduated from the Culinary Institute of America in New York. She is passionate about teaching others the benefit of plant-based lifestyles from her home in Texas, USA.
Club Mexicana (Soho & Mayfair, London)
Club Mexicana is a London fast food chain, designed to smash conceptions that vegan food can’t be as tasty. These restaurants offer delicious menus of authentic Latino food, all from nutritious plant foods. You can also book gift vouchers that are valid for one year from purchase.
There are two restaurants, located at Soho and Mayfair. The chain started as a Saturday night supper club in a Hackney café, serving up 3-course taco feasts and lots of tequila! After serving up thousands of tacos at music festivals, it opened its first restaurant in Soho, and now also has one in swanky Mayfair!
Most restaurants are wheelchair-friendly, though one has a few steps, again check site for updates. Dogs are welcome (check site for details).
Founder Meriel is naturally gifted at creating Mexican plant-based food. So she did what many dream of doing – she ditched her advertising job and jumped in the kitchen, to found one of London’s freshest plant-based eateries (they are decorated in bright pink!)
She believes that people prefer eating in real communities, rather than using delivery apps to eat at home. And says that your life and work should be fun! In an interview, she says if you stick to your values, stay a decent person and are resilient enough to come back from knocks, you’ll succeed!
The Evening Standard recommends Club Mexicana, as one of the best 100 cheap eats in London!
The menus include:
- Classic or Loaded Nachos
- BBQ ‘Short Rib’ Tacos
- Baja To-Fish Tacos
- Served with Salsa and Tortillas Chips!
- Buffalo Chick’n Burritos
- Cheezeburger Burritos
- Churros (with chocolate and cinnamon)
- Frozen Margarita & Strawberry Daiquiri
- Beer Cocktails & Mocktails (no alcohol)
- Mezcal (no worm in the bottle, this time)
Mexico is Doing Good Green things!
As well as being mostly plant-based, Mexico (a large country in central American that borders the USA) is also home to a stunning coastline (including the world’s second-largest coral reef), and at the forefront of protecting its country from deforestation, air pollution and lack of clean water.
Home to over 200,000 species of wildlife and plants, there is a real urgency now. Local legislators are upping their game, with moves to ban over-tourism, which is harming marine life (snorkelling alongside whale sharks etc).
And a ban is imminent on performing dolphin shows, something that their friends over the border in the USA could learn from.
