Our Most Popular Tex-Mex Recipes Make For an Easy Dinner

For me, this is the epitome of Tex-Mex cuisine. A huge tortilla stuffed full of beef, beans, and cheese and then topped with a rich flavorful gravy and more cheese! Yum! These are similar to enchiladas but with more filling. The beauty of this recipe is how customizable it is. Fill it with whatever your heart desires. With a couple tweaks, this recipe is easily made vegetarian friendly. Pro tip: Don’t try to stuff your burrito with vegetarians. They don’t like it. Don’t ask! The gooey cheese and hearty beef mixture bring this dish to new levels of comfort. If a meal could hold you through the night, this would be it!

This is how I am making my crab cakes from now on. Jalapeño, cilantro, and chili powder give this dish a one-up on other crab cake recipes. At least in my humble opinion. If you’re anything like me, you’re a baller on a budget and crab is expensive. We’ve made these with canned tuna instead, and they were just as good. Ok, maybe not quite as good as crab, but a close second. Serve these as an appetizer or a dinner. I like mine with hot sauce or some sort of spicy southwestern sauce. Even just a squeeze of lemon will suffice. Make extras because these delicious snacks won’t last long!

Vegetarians rest assured that this is 100% meat free. No tweaks are needed. This is a dish anyone can eat. Well, except vegans, but that’s going to have to wait for another day. I’m a carnivore through and through, but I do love me some veggies. With this recipe I swear you don’t even realize you’re not eating meat. All your favorite southwestern flavors are present, plus gooey melty cheese. Make it with extra cheese. Your future self with thank you. I look at this recipe as a template. You can add or remove whatever tickles your fancy. “Tickles your fancy?” Where the heck did that come from? Who am I? Apparently, I’m 117 years old now.

Finally, we get to the nachos! I’ve yet to meet a single person that doesn’t like nachos. And if I ever meet one, I’ll politely explain that we can’t be friends. I just don’t need that sort of negativity in my life. The sheet pan is the only way to make nachos. We need wider plates of nachos, not taller. Spread them out so all the chips get that topping love. No chips left behind (NCLB). Yet another dish that can be made to suit your likes and dislikes. By using cubed cooked chicken (shredded would work, too) you get to skip having to cook the meat and get straight to building your ‘chos. Whenever we visit our local warehouse store, we make sure to grab a rotisserie chicken. Having cooked chicken on hand is a lifesaver during those hectic weeknights. These get baked with just the chicken and cheese until the cheese gets all melty. We set ours up like a taco bar and let everyone put on their own toppings. I like mine with sour cream, guacamole, black olives, and extra hot sauce!

This is another dish that I wouldn’t believe was vegetarian if you didn’t tell me so. Great flavor and a breeze to put together. I used to spend so much time rolling up my enchiladas and praying they didn’t fall apart. It never seemed to go as planned. Years ago, while shopping at a local Mexican market I asked the gentleman wrapping up my Tamales what the trick was to get the tortilla to roll perfectly. He laughed and said at home he doesn’t roll them. He does it casserole/lasagna style. He said you achieve the same result with half the work. To this day, this is how I make my enchiladas. It’s so easy to put together and bake until all the cheese is melted, and the sauce is slightly bubbling. Let cool for 5-10 min and then use a metal spatula to cut into squares and serve. You won’t be able to refrain from going back for seconds!