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Recipes with serrano chile

16 recipes that use serrano chile, with photos, step-by-step instructions and cook times. The quickest, Salsa verde cruda, takes 10 minutes. It is most often cooked with white onion, garlic and tomatillos.

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Pollo en salsa verdeChicken in green salsa

Tangy, fresh and deeply savoury, this is one of the most common weekday dishes in Central Mexican kitchens, from Mexico City to Puebla and Hidalgo. Chicken pieces are browned, then simmered in a sauce of boiled tomatillos, serrano chiles, garlic and coriander until the meat is tender and the sauce coats it. Serve with white rice, beans and tortillas. Chef's tip: a few potato chunks or nopal strips simmered in the sauce stretch it to feed more people.

55 minMexicanChickenGluten free
by KrazyBadal 0 views

Guacamole

In fondas around Mexico City and at Sunday carne asada gatherings across Puebla and the Bajío, guacamole is pounded to order in a basalt molcajete and carried to the table still in the stone. No sour cream, no garlic powder: just ripe avocado crushed over a paste of onion, serrano chile, cilantro and salt, sharpened with lime. It is a dip for warm totopos, a topping for tacos and a side for grilled meat, and it is best eaten within the hour. Chef's tip: grind the chile, onion and salt to a wet paste first, so the heat spreads through every bite instead of sitting in chunks.

15 minMexicanChutneys & DipsVeganGluten free
by KrazyBadal 0 views

Salsa verde crudaRaw tomatillo salsa

Raw green salsa sits in a bowl on nearly every taquería counter from Toluca to Mexico City, and families blend a fresh jar most mornings to spoon over eggs, tacos de guisado and grilled meat. Because the tomatillos are not cooked, it tastes sharp, grassy and almost citrusy, with a clean serrano bite. It takes ten minutes and keeps three days in the fridge, thickening slightly as the tomatillo pectin sets. Chef's tip: choose firm, bright green tomatillos that have split their papery husks; yellowing ones are sweeter and make a dull salsa.

10 minMexicanChutneys & DipsVeganGluten freeSpicy
by KrazyBadal 0 views

Salsa de molcajeteCharred tomato chile salsa

Market cooks in Puebla, Tlaxcala and the State of Mexico still blister tomatoes, garlic and chiles on a dry comal and grind them in the same volcanic-stone mortar that gives this salsa its name. The result is chunky, smoky and slightly sweet from the charred tomato skins, and it is served warm or at room temperature with grilled meat, quesadillas and barbacoa. A blender works, but the molcajete gives a rougher, juicier texture. Chef's tip: grind the garlic, chile and salt first, then the tomatoes, so the hard bits break down properly.

20 minMexicanChutneys & DipsVeganGluten freeSpicy
by KrazyBadal 0 views

Pipián verdeGreen pumpkin seed sauce

Pipián verde is one of the oldest sauces in central Mexico, thickened with ground pumpkin seeds long before chocolate moles appeared, and in Puebla it is often served during Lent with vegetables. Toasted seeds are blended with tomatillo, green chiles, herbs and lettuce leaves into a pale jade sauce that tastes nutty and gently tangy. Here it coats tender chayote and green beans; the same sauce is also made with poached chicken. Serve with rice and warm tortillas. Chef's tip: once the seed paste is in the pan, keep it at a lazy simmer, because boiling makes the sauce grainy and split.

60 minMexicanCurriesVeganGluten free
by KrazyBadal 0 views

Mole de ollaBeef and vegetable mole soup

Despite its name, mole de olla is not a thick mole but a brick-red soup, made in big clay pots on chilly days in Mexico City, Hidalgo and Morelos. Beef shank simmers until soft, then a guajillo-ancho broth carries chunks of corn on the cob, chayote, courgette, green beans and potatoes, finished with a sprig of epazote. It is served in deep bowls with chopped onion, chiles and lime, and tortillas for dunking. Chef's tip: keep the marrow bones in the pot; they enrich the broth and are a cook's treat on toast.

140 minMexicanSoupsGluten free
by KrazyBadal 0 views

Caldo de pollo mexicanoChicken vegetable broth

Mexican mothers make caldo de pollo for colds, hangovers and rainy Sundays, and every market has a stall serving it in huge bowls. Chicken is simmered with onion and garlic, then chunks of carrot, potato, chayote, courgette and corn cook in the clear broth. At the table each person adds a spoonful of red rice, chopped onion, coriander, fresh chile and a good squeeze of lime. Chef's tip: add the vegetables in stages, from hardest to softest, so nothing turns to mush.

90 minMexicanChickenGluten free
by KrazyBadal 0 views

PenequesCheese-filled masa pockets

Peneques are a Lenten and weekday favourite in the fondas of Mexico City and Puebla: thin masa pockets are cooked on the comal, stuffed with stringy cheese, coated in a fluffy egg batter, fried and then simmered briefly in a light tomato broth, like a chile relleno without the chile. They are soft, comforting and served with rice and beans. Oaxaca cheese is commonly made with animal rennet, so choose a vegetarian mozzarella or stretched-curd cheese if that matters to you. Chef's tip: dust the stuffed pockets with masa harina before battering so the egg clings instead of sliding off.

60 minMexicanVegetarianGluten free
by KrazyBadal 0 views

Tacos gobernadorShrimp and cheese tacos

Mazatlán's seafood restaurants claim the 'governor's taco' was created in the 1980s for a visiting state governor, and it is now a fixture along the Sinaloa coast: shrimp sautéed with onion, poblano and tomato, folded into a griddled tortilla with plenty of melted cheese until crisp and gooey. Serve with avocado, lime and a hot sauce. Chef's tip: buy shrimp that smell of the sea, never of ammonia, and cook them the same day.

30 minMexicanFishGluten free
by KrazyBadal 0 views

Enchiladas suizasCreamy tomatillo enchiladas

These 'Swiss' enchiladas were made famous in the 1950s at a Mexico City department-store café, where cream and melted cheese were the nod to Switzerland, and they remain a classic brunch in the capital's coffee shops. Chicken-filled tortillas are covered in a tangy tomatillo-serrano sauce enriched with cream, then baked until the cheese bubbles. Serve with rice or a simple salad. Chef's tip: blend the cream into the sauce off the heat, so it stays silky and doesn't split in the oven.

50 minMexicanChickenGluten free
by KrazyBadal 0 views

Tacos de requesón

Among the stews kept warm in clay pots at Mexico City's taco de guisado stands, requesón is a mild, creamy favourite: soft fresh curd cooked with onion, serrano and the pungent herb epazote. It is eaten in small doubled tortillas with salsa verde, often at breakfast. Requesón is made from whey left after rennet cheesemaking, so choose ricotta labelled vegetarian if that matters to you. Chef's tip: cook the curd only until hot and slightly dry; long cooking makes it rubbery.

20 minMexicanSnacks & StartersGluten free
by KrazyBadal 0 views

Ejotes con huevoGreen beans with egg

Cheap, fast and filling, this is the kind of dish that turns up on Mexican home tables on a Lent Friday, at breakfast or as the main course of a weekday comida. Green beans are blanched, tossed through a quick tomato and serrano sofrito and bound with softly scrambled egg. Spoon it into warm corn tortillas or eat it with frijoles de la olla and rice. Chef's tip: cut the beans on a slant into short pieces so every forkful catches some egg.

25 minMexicanVegetarianGluten free
by KrazyBadal 0 views

Bistec a la mexicanaBeef in tomato and chile

Red tomato, white onion and green chile give this dish the colours of the Mexican flag, which is why anything 'a la mexicana' is so loved. Fondas across the country make it every day from thin-cut beef, browned hard and then stewed until tender in a quick, juicy sauce. Serve it with arroz rojo, refried beans and a stack of hot tortillas. Chef's tip: ask the butcher for 'bistec' cut thin from top round, or freeze a piece for 30 minutes so you can slice it thinly yourself.

45 minMexicanMeatGluten free
by KrazyBadal 0 views

Puerco con verdolagasPork with purslane

Purslane grows wild between the maize rows of Central Mexico, and in the rainy season markets sell it in big damp bunches, mostly for this pork dish. Cubes of pork shoulder are simmered until tender, browned in their own fat and finished in green tomatillo salsa with the juicy, slightly lemony leaves. Eat it with white rice and corn tortillas. Chef's tip: keep the pork broth; a ladle of it in the salsa gives the stew its body.

95 minMexicanMeatGluten free
by KrazyBadal 0 views

Coctel de camarónPrawn cocktail

Beach stands from Veracruz to Mazatlán serve this cocktail in tall sundae glasses, the prawns swimming in a cold, tangy tomato-lime juice with onion, cucumber, coriander and avocado. It's eaten with a spoon and crisp tostadas, often with a splash of hot sauce, on a hot day by the sea. The prawns are cooked first; it isn't a ceviche. Chef's tip: save the poaching liquid, chill it and add a few spoonfuls to the sauce for a deeper seafood flavour.

20 minMexicanFishGluten free
by KrazyBadal 0 views

Chicharrón en salsa verdePork crackling in green salsa

This is a pork dish: sheets of chicharrón, deep-fried pork skin, are broken up and simmered in green tomatillo salsa until they soften into chewy, porky morsels. It's a fixture of Mexico City breakfast stalls and Sunday family tables, eaten in tacos, in a torta or with rice and beans. The sauce is sharp and lively, the crackling rich, and one pan feeds a crowd for very little money. Chef's tip: buy plain chicharrón from a Latin grocer or butcher, not flavoured snack crackling.

30 minMexicanMeatGluten freeSpicy
by KrazyBadal 0 views

Goes well with serrano chile