The following highlights some of the popular Traditional Tex-Mex Foods. If you manage to be in an Tex-Mex restaurant or you are visiting Texas in The United States, I recommend the following:
1. Breakfast Tacos
You may think that “breakfast taco” just means something wrapped in a tortilla and eaten in the morning, but since it can be eaten at any time of the day, that’s not entirely true. Instead, breakfast tacos seem to call for eggs, usually scrambled. But it’s all fair game from there. Potatoes, cheese and beans are common toppings, followed by sausage.
2. Burritos
This is another dish that has a strong presence in border cuisine even though it was born in Mexico, with a distinct personality apart from those found in the country, i.e. Tex-Mex cuisine has its own recipes for burritos, where American ingredients and combinations of foods such as rice, cheese, beans and meat are the norm.
3. Cheese Enchiladas
Tex-Mex enchiladas differ from Mexican enchiladas in a few ways. They look more polished and playful, and they are. But there are other differences, including the way the sauce is made. But the sauce is still thickened with a masa made from flour and oil. The result is a sauce that is rich in flavour, rich in base and lightly spiced.
4. Chili Cheese Fries
This dish consists of fries served with paprika and grated cheese. There are many origin stories associated with chili cheese fries, but none of them can be 100% confirmed. Texans claim that 16-year-old Don A. Jenkins invented the dish while eating lunch at the local Dairy Queen in Tomball, Texas. The dish is believed to have been invented in Michigan by two local waitresses who simply mixed the ingredients together.
5. Chili con carne
Chili is a kind of soup made with meat and beans, it is thick with spicy and intense flavours, it is usually spicy although this can change depending on the version being prepared as there are many varieties of chili, as with traditional dishes all families have their own recipe and although this dish is said to be a Mexican invention, it is now more associated with Tex-Mex food.
6. Chimichangas
This is a dish prepared with flour tortillas, as it happens very often the Mexican dish became part of the Tex-Mex culture and cuisine due to the proximity and with time it became an essential dish of this cuisine, we could consider chimichangas as a fried burrito since it is essentially flour tortillas stuffed and then wrapped to make them golden and crispy by frying.
7. Fajitas
It consists of strips of meat, whether chicken, beef or pork roasted with other vegetables such as onions and vegetables is served on flour or corn tortillas and accompanied by these, at present this dish is now quite popular around the world and although it was originally prepared with beef now we can find several versions of fajitas made even with shrimp and other products.
8. Nachos
Although nachos were born in Mexico, the dish was quickly adopted by Tex.Mex cuisine and is a clear example of this, as it is very often based on Mexican dishes prepared with American ingredients and suited to the border palate, Tex-Mex nachos are usually loaded with bean stew, meat and vegetables, as well as heavy and varied seasonings, with lots of cheese on top.
9. Puffy Tacos
The puffy taco is a signature taco dish of San Antonio. Fresh masa is pressed into slices and then quickly fried until it really puffs up into an airy, crispy crust that’s so tender it breaks when you bite into it. ) then add any amount of meat to the tortilla along with lettuce, cheese and salsa.
10. Refried Beans
It’s hard to imagine a Tex-Mex meal without refried beans. Pinto beans are often a favourite bean for creamy, earthy and slightly sweet dishes. While you can start with canned beans for a quick version, cooking beans from scratch makes the dish more flavourful.
If you found this list useful, here are some more Traditional North American Foods to try out on my Pinterest channel.