Mexican

Store-bought tomatillo salsa provides a shortcut to spicy and flavorful guacamole.

Make this street-food favorite at home with flavor-packed chipotle mayonnaise and crumbly Cotija cheese.

This version of Mexican seafood cocktail marries plump shrimp, sweet crabmeat, juicy tomato, smoky New Mexican chiles, briny olives, and creamy avocado.

There’s no need to roll these super-thin. In fact, a little heft keeps them moist.

Large jagged sheets of chicharrón, or pork crackling, can be found at any Mexico City market. Homemade chicharrón is wonderful with pico de gallo, any salsa, guacamole, or cooked in green sauce and served in a taco when soft.

There is a world of hot sauces out there, but our favorite for this cocktail is Cholula.

A classic Mexican beer cocktail you can sip all day long at the beach.

This spiced fish is served on a fresh corn tortilla with pickled red onion, Baja cream and slaw and a spoonful of your favorite tomato salsa—the best part is that most elements can be made ahead.

Oaxaca is known for its moles, and there are countless types. This recipe features dried red chiles and is often served with poultry.

Memelas are ubiquitous in Oaxaca, where they’re made with fresh masa dough. Since finding similar masa in the U.S. is hit or miss, we call for fresh corn tortillas, which technically makes this a tostada, hence the cheeky recipe name.

Seek out a tortilleria for fresh corn tortillas if possible; it makes a difference.

For a salsa that won’t send smoke shooting from your ears, be thorough about removing the seeds from the chiles—and even scraping out the ribs, the hottest part.

If you’ve never made posole, this is a good starter recipe. There are no hard-to-get cuts (like the pig’s head called for in many traditional versions), and most of the process is hands-off.

You can find loose hibiscus flowers at Mexican and Indian grocers, but if not, use 6 hibiscus tea bags instead.