If you want to cook the awesome things you see on the menu of your favorite Mexican cafe, but are unsure as to how to go about the task, then you have surely come to the right place as we have the best recipes for beginners. Mexican food is absolutely delicious and so you must try cooking it yourself if you love eating it. You can start off with the simple recipes such as a salsa dip or a humble tortilla. Once you start cooking these, you can proceed to the more complicated recipes and before you know it, you will be cooking Mexican food like a pro!

The basics

Like mentioned above, you must start off with the simple recipes. Some easy Mexican items to try out initially are tortillas, salsa dips and simple Mexican rice. Let us take a look at the recipes of these delicious yet simple café foods.

Tortilla recipe

Ingredients – 3 cups all purpose flour, a pinch of salt, 1/3rd cup vegetable oil, 1 cup lukewarm water

Method – Put all the ingredients in a bowl and knead into a dough. Then cut small bits off the dough and with the palm of your hands, roll into small balls. Use a rolling pin and roll out these mini dough balls. Once they are flat, transfer on a hot pan and cook till they are light brown around the edges.

Salsa recipe

Ingredients – 1 large can tomatoes, 1 small can chile (finely chopped), 1 onion (finely chopped), 1 tsp garlic, 1 tsp cumin, 1 tsp tobacco sauce, salt and pepper

Mix all the ingredients in a bowl and keep in the fridge for a couple of hours. You can then use this sauce in your salads, use it as a dip or spread it on your tortillas.

• Mexican rice

Ingredients – 1 cup long grain rice, 1 tsp oil, 2.5 cups water, salt, 1 tsp garlic powder, ¾ cup tomato sauce

In a deep pot, heat the oil and toast the rice. When it is well covered in oil and toasted, add the water and the remaining ingredients and bring to a boil. Cover and simmer till the water evaporates and the rice is soft.

Using the basic recipes

So as you can see from the recipes above, Mexican cooking is not difficult at all. So it would be advisable to make the bread and rice at home and get some store bought sides of shredded beef, pork, chicken or fish. You can also use your salsa to add some extra flavors in a bland guacamole or you can throw in some veggies and make your very own salsa salad!

Once you are confident and get a hang of the flavors and spices of Mexican cooking, you will be able to proceed to the more complicated dishes that you see on the menu of a fine Mexican restaurant. So try out the above listed recipes for beginners and get set to cook like an expert in no time.