10 Best Mexican Cookbooks 2020 — Mexican Recipe Books

The Lopez family runs Los Angeles’s Guelaguetza Restaurante, the city’s lauded Oaxacan hotspot. And with this cookbook, co-owner, Bricia, introduces the cuisine to a wider audience. The southern Mexican state’s ingredients influence its popular dishes—like mole and barbacoa. You’ll find recipes for both those (and many other dishes you’ll want to bookmark), plus personal photographs and stories about the Lopez family in this book that reads like a love letter to Oaxaca. (Psst: Guelaguetza sells its own vegetarian, gluten-free moles online!)

Professors Luz Calvo and Catriona Rueda Esquibel focused this cookbook on plant-based recipes from indigenous Mexican cuisine. So, veg-heads: The Cauliflower Ceviche and Red Enchiladas Stuffed With Potatoes will be right up your alley.

Tender and juicy cuts of meat from the slow cooker are exactly what you need for classic Tex-Mex meals. It only makes sense, then, that blogger Vianney Rodriguez put together a collection including some of her fan favorite recipes that you can make with an Instant Pot, like Chile Con Carne, Classic Margarita Fajitas, and Tamale Pie.

Consider Margarita Carrillo Arronte’s cookbook your bible for modern Mexican cuisine. The extensive collection features more than 700 recipes for each of the country’s regions, covering everything from street food and snacks to desserts.

Esteban Castillo brings the same playful voice from his popular blog Chicano Eats to his debut cookbook. The Santa Ana-based blogger blends traditional Mexican fare—like tacos al pastor—with creative, original dishes, like cilantro-pesto rigatoni and guava cheesecake bars.

With recipes as colorful and vibrant as the cultural hotspot they come from, Gabriela Cámara dishes out recipes that are both traditional and on-trend in her hometown of Mexico City. Discover food the city is famous for like Chilaquiles Verdes and Flan de Cajeta.

This James Beard Foundation Cookbook Award-winning comes from chef and owner of beloved restaurant Nopalito in San Francisco, Gonzalo Guzmán. With a focus on organic and sustainable ingredients, this cookbook will teach you of all the basics of traditional Mexican cuisine.

Of course, you can’t forget about dessert. Author Alejandro Ochoa consulted his Veracruz-born grandparents for this collection of sweet treats like cacao pots de creme, Tamarind ice pops, and fried ice cream.

Sometimes you don’t have time to invest an entire evening into making dinner. Luckily, most of the tasty recipes from Jennifer Olvera’s cookbook, like Spicy Shrimp Tacos or Pork Carnitas, take 30 minutes or less to put together and cook.

Taco trucks don’t mess around when it comes to flavorful, satisfying Mexican food—at least Guerrilla Tacos owner Wesley Avila’s truck doesn’t. The native Angeleno shares the unique recipes made from traditional Mexican ingredients that have made his taco truck an L.A. must-go.