Latin American

An ex-boyfriend’s mom—who emigrated from Colombia—made the best meat sauce—she would fry sofrito for the base and simply add cooked ground beef, sazón, and jarred tomato sauce. My version is a bit more bougie—it calls for caramelized tomato paste and white wine—but the result is just as good.

Mayocobas, or canary beans, are the quick-cooking pantry ingredient you should know about.

This Puerto Rican sancocho recipe is hearty, flavorful, and loaded with falling-off-the-bone beef, tender carrots, potatoes, squash, corn, plantain, and yuca.

Try Komal’s pan de elote recipe with fresh corn and rice flour; a Mexican sweet corn cake topped with silky corn whipped cream.

Charring the ingredients in the broiler builds intense flavor without lighting a grill.

Chicken thighs cooked inside parchment packets alongside onions and oranges makes for a flavorful dinner that’s almost entirely hands off.

Studded with poblanos and Yukon Gold potatoes, this Mexican-style picadillo is good enough to eat straight from the pan.

Part silky flan, part decadent chocolate cake, chocoflan, or impossible cake, as it is sometimes called, feels like a magic trick, inverting in the oven as it bakes.

This smoky, chile-laden salsa works both as a marinade and glaze for grilled chicken thighs.

This refried-bean-slathered gordita with all the fixings is a Mazatlán specialty.

A form of the classic Mexican stew, white pozole is made without chiles, letting the meatiness of the broth and sweetness of the hominy shine.

This colorful chimichurri recipe doubles as a marinade and works as an accompaniment to all cuts of beef—or anything else you want to gussy up.

On a blazing summer day, nothing hits quite like a sweet, sour, and lightly salty paloma cocktail that comes together in just a moment.

Frozen fire-roasted corn is a shortcut to smoky flavor and depth in a quick soup inspired by the flavors of the popular Mexican street snack.

This chicken stew seasoned with aromatic spices, tomato, and sofrito is ideal comfort for cold evenings.

Fast-cooking chicken thighs and convenient canned chipotle chiles come together for this streamlined version of traditional al pastor.

This tres leches cake recipe gets its tenderness from the addition of a fourth type of milk and a kick from a shot of rum.

Don’t toss those stale tortillas. Scramble them with eggs and give them a second chance at life.

Mexican esquites meets Chinese tiger salad. This crunchy, bright, sweet, juicy side is everything you want to eat in the summer heat.

This easy vegan taco recipe comes together quickly on a weeknight with crispy soy chorizo and a can of vegetarian refried beans.

Naranja agria (sour orange) gives this Nicaraguan grilled chicken its signature tang, but you can fake it using an orange and lime juice combo.

Potatoes and poblano chiles shine in this recipe for papas con rajas. Soaked with crema, the combo is a great side dish or vegetarian-friendly taco stuffing.

Your next batch of tacos, burritos, or nachos starts with this back-pocket carne asada recipe, supercharged with smoky chile and puckery fresh lime juice.

These vegetarian vampiro tacos swap out the classic carne asada for caramelized kabocha squash seasoned with smoked paprika, cumin, coriander, and cayenne.