Notes about Recipes in this book

• Manzano chile salsa (Salsa de chile manzano)

  • sometimes on February 27, 2025

    Made as written except that I wimped out on the salt and went with half a teaspoon less. My yield with 7 chiles was about a quarter cup short and it was still seasoned well for my taste. Highly recommend nitrile gloves and keeping a couple paper towels at your side to wipe the sticky seeds off on. Delicious and simple salsa if you like the flavor of manzano chiles, great with some poached chicken. As expected from manzanos this is solidly spicy even with the generous amount of oil. Not much to be done about that; use caution if you don’t care for heat. Wish I could find these chiles in good condition at my stores more often!

• Green salsa (Salsa verde)

  • excurvatus on December 12, 2019

    This is a good one. iId recommend (to my future self) to use less water next time. It was a lot of liquid for the blender, and it didn't require that much water. In a video for munchies, Gabriela says she uses 4c. I ended up draining the liquid through a fine mesh strainer after simmering.

• Chipotle mayonnaise (Mayonesa con chipotle)

  • Baxter850 on May 05, 2024

    Put this stuff on everything!!! Made it to go with the tuna tostada in the book. It would be great on a torte (chicken, beef or pork) or used for the mayo in a deviled egg!

• Soupy beans (Frijoles aguados)

  • excurvatus on December 12, 2019

    These are fine! simple! It's pretty amazing that Gabriela can instill me with enough confidence to cook beans from dry. They took about ~3.5-4 hours. Persist through the chalky beans, people! They're in the fridge now for other dishes throughout the week. They don't need to be fancy.

• Fried eggs with red and green salsas (Huevos divorciados)

  • excurvatus on December 12, 2019

    This was exactly what I expected. Really make sure your oil is hot for the tortilla frying. Mine were too chewy to cut easily with a fork and knife for the eating. A satisfying supper.

• Slow-cooked pork (Carnitas)

  • robin_j3n480 on May 03, 2026

    This dish is wonderful!! Double the recipe!!!!!

• Tuna or trout tostadas (Tostadas de atún o trucha)

  • Baxter850 on May 05, 2024

    Absolutely delicious. Used blue fin. I tried to fry a local mexican restaurant’s corn tortilla but it turned out too thick. Used store bought tostada that worked great although a bit large. Will definitely make again.

• Crab tostadas (Tostadas de cangrejo)

  • katiesue28 on May 06, 2020

    Absolutely delicious and so easy! I used napa cabbage as celeriac wasn't in season, but truly any vegetable with some crunch would be a good substitute. Green cabbage, celery, even bell pepper.

• Grilled pork tenderloin in charred-chile adobo (Costillar de cerdo en recado negro)

  • TrishaCP on August 09, 2019

    We really liked this recipe. The mole is time-consuming with all of the charring, but it is very flavorful (and more subtle than you might think). I only used a tablespoon of salt- I know chiles like salt but I wasn't going to go with the amount in the recipe (1/2 cup or something like that). Looking forward to trying more recipes from this book!

• Dulce de leche banana cream pie (Tarta de plátano con dulce de leche)

  • sberes on September 29, 2019

    Made the dulce in the instant pot (small can into jar ... close and put on trivet .. 10 cups water ... higher for 35 min) My crust never formed a ball so I dumped it in and pressed it down. It was awesome. The only change I made is I added 2tbs sugar to the topping instead of one. Over all this recipe is worth the effort !! Ps I used two large bananas and it was nowhere near enough to create that thick of a layer as the book picture shows !

• Hibiscus cooler (Agua de jamaica)

  • TrishaCP on June 26, 2020

    I used canela and it is very nice here.

• Flourless chocolate-walnut cake (Pastel de chocolate y nueces sin harina)

  • jenmacgregor18 on May 15, 2023

    This recipe has an error. It lists 1/2 cup of white sugar, in addition to the brown sugar, but it never tells you to add it to the recipe. I was making this late on Friday and I realized after I had spent all that time whipping my eggs and then followed the recipe to start adding the melted butter and chocolate. I stopped when I realized it wasn't added, but by then it was too late. I'd already added fat. I had to add the sugar and lost all of the volume in my beaten eggs. This turned out pretty darn flat as a result. It was cooked through and tasted okay. I was just frustrated. This is what happens when I bake while tired. There are other similar recipes that are better written. It's really similar to cloud cake (Richard Sax) with 1 cup of ground walnuts. Deb Perelman has a version of cloud cake and also a flourless walnut cake without any chocolate. I'd just use one of those in future.

• Baked rice and ground beef casserole (Costrada de arroz)

  • Anea25 on October 08, 2023

    easy and tasty. Good for batchcooking for the week used half the butter would skip the sugar on top next time and add more seasoning / spice to the meat filling

  • rchewing on March 28, 2025

    Used 2 eggs and 2 tsp sugar. Diced garlic in rice rather than whole cloves.

  • trilobite01 on May 10, 2026

    It's a very sweet recipe - I would also 1/2 the sugar. Not my favorite recipe.

• Slow-cooked pork in achiote (Cochinita pibil)

  • rchewing on December 31, 2023

    Use sour orange and pigs ear/cheek for more authentic result.

• Shredded chicken in tomato-chipotle sauce (Tinga de pollo)

  • Anea25 on February 18, 2024

    easy, versatile and yummy

  • sometimes on November 08, 2025

    Made a half recipe and used the chicken and broth from my usual recipe, otherwise as written. Straightforward chicken tinga which is always easy and tasty. The large amount of onions and attention paid to getting them browned but still a bit crunchy stood out to me. My onions were perhaps closer to medium sized and it could have even used a bit more. I probably could have done a better job cooking them; they stayed crunchy but only got great browning on about half, could have used a couple more stirs and enameled cast iron wasn’t ideal here due to heat concerns. Overall enjoyed this and will have to give it a bit more practice as the technique with the onions is what’s differentiating this. Enjoyed as tacos with cilantro, avocado slices, and lime but would double the chipotle next time.

• Nutella flan (Flan de Nutella)

  • dosojosazules on December 26, 2024

    Very tasty. Caramel was tricky-added 2 tbsp of light corn syrup and a squeeze of lemon to prevent crystallization

• Potatoes with roasted poblano chiles and Mexican sour cream (Papa con rajas y crema ácida)

  • sometimes on February 21, 2025

    Made mostly as written using the suggested crème fraiche since I didn’t make the crema acida yet. Only deviations were to use one ounce less crème fraiche due to shrinkflation, and to add a tbsp or two of water towards the end to loosen things up just a bit. A considerable amount of salt was also needed before serving, ok for a saucy dish like this. Made a nice dinner with freshly made tortillas and some beans. If I were to make this again with crème fraiche, I’d get it correctly salted just before adding to the pot, and also salt the onions as they cooked, to avoid dealing with huge pile of seasoned potatoes and unseasoned everything else

  • JDeMarois on February 12, 2026

    I crave this one from time to time, so comforting and delicious. The peppers are a bit fussy but it’s worth it. I usually just sub a cup of store bought crema instead of making her version.

• Kitchn

  Just like her restaurants, the book feels like a beach party for friends and family, filled with fresh fish, seasonal vegetables, pink beans, and warm tortillas.

  Full review