Authentic & Easy Mexican Dishes You Can Make For Cinco De Mayo + A Little History
It’s Cinco de Mayo on Friday! Many people head out for Mexican food or eat an Mexican-inspired meal for dinner that day. What you might not know is that it’s not a widely celebrated holiday in Mexico. In fact, I would say that more people celebrate it in the US than Mexico!
Cinco de Mayo is actually a celebration for one state in Mexico, Puebla. The date is observed to celebrate the Mexican Army’s unlikely victory over French forces at the Battle of Puebla on May 5, 1862, under the leadership of General Ignacio Zaragoza. It was a huge victory for the Mexican Army because, although considerably outnumbered, the Mexicans defeated a much-better-equipped French army. There were only 4,000 Mexican soldiers and the French army had 8,000 people fighting and they had not been defeated for almost 50 years!
So now that you know the real reason of Cinco de Mayo – you should make one of these dishes that my friend Janell of Saving You Dinero learned to make while she lived in Mexico. Her neighbour would always invite her family over to eat some of the most amazing Mexican meals. And now, she’s sharing those yummy recipes with us!
7 Authentic & Easy Mexican Recipes from Janell
On my dinner menu for Cinco De Mayo is Chicken Tinga Tostadas! This is so easy and makes a ton of tostadas to feed a crowd! It’s chicken cooked in a tomato sauce with spices and put on a tostada shell with refried beans, cojita cheese, and Mexican creama.
Tacos Al Pastor – these are by far our favorite Mexican tacos. We would go to a little taco stand by our house and order about 20 of them. My son, who was only 6 at the time, would easily eat 5 of these tacos. Plus they were so cheap! They cost about .50 cents each!
Chicken Taquitos – These are so simple! Fry up a bunch and cover with Mexican creama, Cojita cheese, and lettuce. This is a meal my whole family loves!
Authentic Green Salsa – This salsa is good on anything! Us it on tacquitos or make a double batch for Enchiladas!
Mexican Sweet and Cheesy Burger – We had friends that owned a burger restaurant in Mexico. They were so good! I had never had pineapples or cilantro in a burger before but it’s a delicious combination! If you want to grill for Cinco de Mayo – this is a must try burger recipe!
Picadillo – this is a yummy dish made with ground beef that is really cheap and easy! It’s really good with corn tortillas and Mexican Cream.
Tres Leche Cake (Pastel de Tres Leche)- You can’t have a party without cake! And there is no more famous Mexican cake than Tres Leche Cake. It’s really easy to make and it’s so moist and flavorful.
I also wanted to add this recipe for Cilantro soup. It’s so good! I never really used much cilantro until we moved to Mexico. They served this soup to us at a banquet once and it was so good!
Thanks so much to Janell for sharing these with us! We love Mexican food in our home – the more authentic the better! I can’t wait to try some of these Mexican dishes this week!
What’s your favourite Mexican meal?
Looking for even more Mexican-inspired recipes? Check these out:
Jennifer Soltys says
I’m so excited for a fiesta this Friday! OMG thank you for giving me a DESSERT option!!! Yum!
Merry Kuchle says
I am always looking for good Mexican food recipes! It is one of my favourite food types. Yum!
Kathleen says
I had no idea that’s what Cinco de Mayo was about. I knew it was a Mexican holiday but that’s all I knew. Interesting. I love a reason to eat Mexican!