Tex-Mex or Mexican?



1. Taco Tortilla Texture

Pan Fried Crispy Chicken Flautas

Pan Fried Crispy Chicken Flautas

Tex-Mex cuisine prefers crunchy tortillas but in Mexican cooking, those crunchy tortilla counterparts are not used for tacos. They are utilized for flautas but not tacos. Considering the fact that tacos are supposed to be an easy, mobile meal, this makes a lot of sense.

2. Yellow or White?


Try the white, nuanced, tangy cheeses of Mexico that help balance the heat of the peppers.

Tex-Mex food uses a LOT of Cheddar or Colby cheese, which as a strong flavor of its own, but traditional Mexican food favors mild white cheeses that take on the flavor of the herbs and spices used in the dis. If your food is yellow with cheese you’re definitely a Tex-Mex cook!

3. Cumin or Coriander?


Mexican Mini-Quesadillas with Coriander

Tex-Mex cooking uses cumin heavily, while Mexican cooking favors using fresh coriander. They are plant relatives, but are not the same. Cumin is a warmer flavor while coriander tends to be just a little sweeter. Bot are lovely spices and can be used together.

4. Sweet Corn


Mexican Style Corn On The Cob

You won’t find sweet corn in very many Mexican dishes but it has become a necessary addition to all things Tex-Mex. Mexican uses whole corn on the cob in various dishes, but you won’t find those sweet little kernels very many recipes south of the border.

5. Burritos and Chimichangas

Ground Beef Chimichanga Recipe with Chicken

Mexican Ground Beef Chimichanga Recipe with Chicken

These two dishes are more Tex-Mex than Mexican, though they are both made in Mexico along the border. They aren’t common, and they are different than the explosion of flavor we are more accustomed to in the United States. They typically only contain meat, no colorful rice and veggies in the Mexican versions.

6. Canned Beans


Mexican Style Pinto Bean Recipe

This is definitely a Tex-Mex ingredient. In Mexican cooking the only bean you’ll find in a can is some refried beans. Any bean that retains its shape is cooked from scratch.

7. Ground Beef


Crock pot Picadillo, great for taco’s or stuffing peppers.

Ground beef is a common ingredient in Tex-Mex cooking but not in Mexican cuisine. It is used in picadillo to stuff chiles, but not as a main dish and not in tacos.
No matter which side of the border you hail from, Texas or Mexico, you’re in for yummy tastes and good times.


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