Ole! Hey friends! Today I'm sharing my favorite Mexican recipes in honor of Cinco De Mayo and I'm pumped. Cinco De Mayo often gets overlooked on my calendar because it falls somewhere between the beginning of Spring and Mother's Day - but this year, I thought it would be great fun to bring forth my favorite Mexican recipes that are both approachable and delicious!
The ingredients for these recipes are standard fair - meaning you probably already have all of them in your fridge or pantry. We are talking avocados, tomatoes, onions, bell peppers, rice, beans, limes and cilantro.
These recipes are super easy! They work great for celebrations with friends, and serve as delicious weekly meal prep ideas too. You can turn them into mains or side dishes - these recipes are that flexible! So if you are throwing a fiesta for Cinco De Mayo or if you are super busy looking for easy meal ideas for your family or even if you are cooking for a party of one, these easy and delicious recipes are for you!
The recipes in today's post really build on each other. I'm sharing my favorite guacamole, an easy 5 minute salsa, a baked rice dish (which incorporates the salsa) and stuffed bell and poblano peppers (which incorporate the salsa, the rice and the guacamole). So feel free to make any one of the above dishes or make them all! Let's get started shall we? Let's chat about Holy Guacamole! And Other Easy And Delicious Recipes To Celebrate Cinco De Mayo - starting with the yummiest of all - Guacamole!
Easy and Authentic Guacamole
Course: Side
Difficulty: Easy
Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: 0 minutes
Total Time: 10 minutes
Ingredients for Guacamole
2 ripe avocados (should be able to press into the avocados)
1 ripe medium- large tomato
1 jalapeno pepper (if you like your guacamole mild - skip this!)
1 small onion
1/4 cup cilantro
1 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp cumin powder
juice of 1/2 lime
salt and pepper to taste
Instructions for Guacamole:
1) Halve your avocados and scoop them into a bowl.
2) Using a knife, chop up your avocados in the bowl. Once chopped, used the back of a spoon to mash some parts of the avocado.
3) Chop tomato, onion, jalapeno pepper and cilantro and add to mixing bowl with mashed avocado.
4) Further mash and mix all ingredients. Avoid over mashing if you like your guacamole chunky.
5) Add garlic powder, cumin powder, salt and pepper and mix.
6) Squeeze juice from 1/2 lime and mix.
And that's it. The easiest guacamole recipe! Let's move on to my favorite 5 minute salsa!
The 5 Minute Salsa
Course: Side
Difficulty: Easy
Prep Time: 5 minutes
Cook Time: 0 minutes
Total Time: 5 minutes
Ingredients for Salsa:
1 can of 14 oz diced tomatoes (you can used fire roasted tomatoes if you like it really spicy)
1 small yellow onion
2 cloves of garlic
2 chipotle peppers in adobo sauce (skip this if you like your salsa mild!)
1 teaspoon of adobo sauce
1/2 cup cilantro
juice of 1 lime
salt and pepper to taste
Instructions for Salsa:
1) combine all the above ingredients into a blender or food processor
2) pulse everything together (low speed for chunky salsa and high speed for fine/well combined salsa)
3) remove from food processor/blender and serve immediately or refrigerate
The above salsa recipe is great because it's packed with a ton of flavor! Not only can you eat it on it's own with chips and guacamole, you can also add it to heartier dishes like the rice dish below.
Cheesy Bean and Rice Casserole
Course: Main
Difficulty: Easy
Prep Time: 20 minutes
Cook Time: 30 minutes
Total Time: 50 minutes
Ingredients for Casserole:
2 cups of white or brown rice (cooked)
1 can of pinto or refried beans
1 medium or large yellow onion
2 cups of shredded sharp cheddar cheese
2 teaspoons of paprika powder
1 cup of above salsa mixture
chopped cilantro and/or green onion for topping
Instructions for Casserole:
1) preheat your oven to 425 degrees
2) cook your rice of choice and set aside
3) chop your onion and fry until golden brown
4) add beans to onion and cook for 5-7 minutes
5) add 1 cup of salsa mixture to onions and beans and cook for 2 minutes
6) add in paprika powder
7) stir in your rice to above mixture and mix well until rice is integrated
8) spoon the above mixture into a baking pan and top with shredded cheese
9) bake for 15-20 minutes until cheese is golden brown
10) once out of the oven, top with cilantro and/or green onions
11) serve with a dollop of sour cream
And it's that simple! Comforting flavors and super easy to make! Now if you make the rice mixture above, before you pop it into the oven, then you can easily make the stuffed peppers below!
Mexican Style Stuffed Peppers
Course: Main
Difficulty: Easy
Prep Time: 10minutes
Cook Time: 30 minutes
Total Time: 40 minutes
Ingredients for Casserole:
assortment of bell peppers and/or poblano peppers
1 cup of rice mixture above
1 cup of shredded sharp cheddar cheese
chopped jalapeno peppers, cilantro and/or green onion for topping
Instructions for Stuffed Peppers
1) preheat your oven to 425 degrees
2) cut off the tops of your peppers and de seed them
3) spoon rice mixture above into peppers
4) top with shredded cheddar cheese
5) bake in oven for 30 minutes until peppers brown on the sides and cheese is melted
6) top with jalapenos, cilantro and/or green onions and a dollop of sour cream
7) serve immediately
And there you have it folks! Four easy recipes to celebrate Cinco De Mayo (or to make any day really!). If you try these recipes, I would love to hear from you! Leave a comment below, tag me in a photo on Instagram using #thisissimplicite or send me an email. If you would like to refer back to these recipes, go ahead and pin the image below! Happy Cinco De Mayo!
