Rick Martinez

If you can spread peanut butter on bread, you can make these homemade tamales filled with pork slathered in a bright red chile purée. 

Sweet, spicy, sausage-y cornbread stuffing with corn nut magic dust for an extra hit of corn flavor.

Everything you could possibly want in a tostada (and then some): shredded chicken smothered with a smoky, spicy tomato salsa, bacony refried beans, and a smattering of cilantro and cheese.

Once you taste this classic Salvadoran dish, you’ll definitely want to experiment with the fillings.

The longer this cabbage relish ferments, the better it’s going to taste.

This easy guacamole recipe is best made in a Mexican mortar and pestle called a molcajete, but a bowl and a fork works fine. Just don’t rush to get it on the table. It takes a while for the avocado to absorb all the flavors you add to it. 

The shape of pastry tip you use for this churros recipe is very important. If the tip isn’t closed, or rounded off, the churros may break as you’re frying them (we used size 845 tips).

A great old-fashioned recipe is all about simplicity, ingredients, and technique. Stick with these steps, and you’re bound to nail it every time.

Crisp tostadas topped with cheesy sautéed poblanos and mushrooms, charred cherry tomato and serrano salsa, and fried eggs.

Firm yet tender veg is simply a matter of getting the quantity, time, and temperature right—and this roasted sweet potato recipe has all three.

Rick Martinez’s take on the popular Mexican pig-shaped cookie goes all out with a ginger-spiced dough and tons of sprinkles.

These beans cook with a combination of herbs, alliums, and chiles—and salt is added right from the start. No pre-soaking means this just might be the easiest pot of beans you'll ever make.

In this recipe, freshly baked gorditas get split open and packed with a saucy chile-shrimp filling, onions, avocados, and cilantro. Serve them with a generous squeeze of lime.

Traditionally, enfrijoladas are made by dipping stale tortillas into leftover frijoles from the night before. They are also great topped with a fried egg, or with roasted vegetables instead of chorizo to make this a plant-based breakfast.

Use plátanos manzanos—a short, fat, and incredibly sweet plantain variety—if you can find them. When pan-fried, the outside caramelizes and forms a hard shell while the inside becomes soft and custardy (like crème brûlée!). Look for them in Latin and Caribbean supermarkets or in the tropical fruit section of large supermarkets.

Crunchy chicharrones are ideal for soaking up bright tomatillo salsa, taking on an ultimate crispy-gone-soggy chewy texture. 

I love the flavor of orange zest and spices in a café de olla, so I created a concentrated syrup that is ready on demand to flavor any cold brew. Coconuts are grown all along the Pacific coast of Mexico; use coconut milk to add richness and even more tropical flavor.

This savory pie calls for roasting tomatoes to concentrate their flavor, then layering them with two kinds of cheese atop a garlic-butter crust for a result as dramatic as it is delicious.

Pork tacos al pastor may get the fame, but this fish al pastor deserves plenty of glory. A potent chile marinade adds lots of flavor before the fillets hit the grill, and a pineapple salsa is the perfect finishing touch.

When tomatoes are at their best, we recommend making the salsa roja. During the rest of the year (even in winter), tomatillos still have plenty of flavor and can be your go-to salsa base.