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Mexican Christmas Traditions

Instant Pot pinto beans

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This easy, no-soak recipe for Mexican-style Instant Pot pinto beans will have your beans on the table in less than an hour, tasting just as good as the slow-cooked version you grew up with.

You’re probably used to cooking frijoles de la olla for hours on the stove-top, or even using a slow-cooker for making Crock-Pot frijoles de la olla (one of the all-time most popular recipes on this blog). With just a handful of simple ingredients and the no-soak method, these Mexican-style Instant Pot pinto beans will be on the table in no time.

While the slow-cooked beans are great, most of us don’t always have the time to wait to feed our families. Enter the glorious invention known as the Instant Pot.

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Steak and chorizo tacos de alambre

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An alambre is a popular staple taquería dish in Mexico that contains meat, vegetables and melted cheese to hold it all together.

There’s a taquería in Mexico City called Las Brasas that’s famous, in part, for their large alambre selection. Located in the Plateros neighborhood since 1977, there’s more than a dozen types of alambre combinations on their menu.

tacos de alambre with agua fresca

My family has been obsessed with this place since we discovered it. So, I decided to make a copycat recipe at home! It’s an awesome, easy and quick weeknight dinner. You can get it together even quicker if you prep the veggies beforehand.

We also make a pork alambre at home as a red meat-free alternative to this version. That recipe is made with thinly sliced pork chops or pork tenderloin and bacon. Both versions are very filling and I sometimes double the recipe so I can take leftovers to work for lunch.

Watch this video to see how easy it is to make!

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How to peel and eat cactus fruit

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Cactus fruit, also know as cactus pear or prickly pear, comes from the nopal cactus.

Native to Mexico, the nopal cactus is sometimes called prickly pear cactus, but the plant’s Latin name is Opuntia. In Spanish, cactus fruit are called tunas. The fruit grows on the rounded edges of cactus paddles and has a thick skin covered in small spines. Once cut open, you’ll see they have a soft, juicy meat inside with lots of dark, round seeds.

Red cactus fruits

How to cut and peel cactus fruit

Using a sharp knife, cut the two ends of the fruit, making sure to cut all the way through to the flesh. Stand the fruit on one side and make a vertical cut through the skin (it’s OK if you cut into the flesh a bit). With your finger or the tip of the knife, lift a corner of the skin where you made the vertical cut and use your fingers to peel the skin away from the fruit. Discard the skin.

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The best strawberry margarita

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Margaritas are the most well-known cocktail from Mexico and the strawberry margarita is considered to be the most popular fruit-flavored version, both in Mexico and abroad.

The invention of the margarita dates back to 1942, credited to a bar in the Northwestern state of Chihuahua, where they began making this famous tequila cocktail in 1942. Today, you can get a margarita just about anywhere in the world. This version is a slightly slushy one, similar to the frozen margaritas you may have tried before.

Slushy strawberry margaritas with chamoy for rimming the glasses

If you love frozen margaritas, you might also like to try my prickly pear frozen margarita recipe!

Rimming your margarita glass with Miguelito (a powdered form of chamoy) lends a particularly Mexican sweet-and-sour flavor. Miguelito is available in most Mexican or Latin American markets in the same aisle as bottled salsas, as well as online. Miguelito is even available on Amazon Prime! I’ve used it to rim the glass for other margaritas as well, such as my mandarin orange margarita.

How to get extra strawberry flavor

If strawberries aren’t at peak season, your berries may not be very sweet or have that signature strawberry flavor you crave. A great way to enhance the strawberry flavor in your margarita is by using freeze-dried strawberries. They pack a lot of flavor without all the moisture and body of fresh berries.

Freeze-dried strawberries from Trader Joe's

Freeze-dried strawberries should be unsweetened and unsulfured. I buy mine at Trader Joe’s or Aldi, but you can also find them in many other supermarkets and online. A 1-2 ounce bag should cost less than $4. You can also find freeze-dried strawberry powder in 8-ounce bags. It’s more expensive up front but the per-ounce cost makes it less expensive in the long run.

Slushy strawberry margaritas on cloth coasters

Don’t be cheap when choosing your tequila

I use Don Julio Tequila Reposado in my strawberry margarita recipe because it has lemon citrus notes that complement the sweetness of the berries. It may be more expensive than you’ve spent on tequila before, but worth the price (750 mL costs around $40-50). Tequila reposado is aged in oak barrels from 2 months to 1 year. This rounds and softens the tequila, making it perfect for margaritas and mixed drinks.

Remember: buying cheap tequila always results in two things—a hangover and thinking you don’t want to drink tequila ever again.

What kind of triple sec goes best in a margarita?

Not all orange-flavored liqueurs are created equal. I prefer Cointreau which is a true triple sec with a subtle orange flavor and balanced between bitter and sweet. You can use whatever brand you like if you don’t have Cointreau. Stay away from cheap triple sec because it’s often unbalanced and too sweet. Cointreau is 80 proof and can be a bit pricey, but you don’t use much, so it should last awhile. Cheaper brands of triple sec are often lower, around 60 proof.

Grand Marnier is also a French 80-proof orange liqueur but is NOT a triple sec. Grand Marnier is a mix of cognac (a type of brandy) and triple sec, which technically makes it curaçao-style liqueur.

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Strawberry Margaritas

  • Author: Maura Wall Hernandez
  • Prep Time: 15-20 minutes
  • Total Time: 15-20 minutes
  • Yield: 2 servings 1x
  • Category: Beverages
  • Cuisine: Mexican
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Description

An easy slush margarita recipe that packs a big strawberry-flavored punch

Scale

Ingredients

  • 1 pound strawberries, hulled, juiced and strained
  • 1.5 ounces liquid cane sugar (such as Hey Shuga! brand)
  • 0.5 ounce Cointreau
  • 2.5 ounces tequila reposado
  • Juice of 1 lime
  • 1/3 cup unsulfured, unsweetened freeze-dried strawberries (I buy them from Trader Joe’s)
  • 1.5 cups ice

For rimming glasses:

  • Juice of half a lime
  • 2 tablespoons Miguelito or Tajín

Instructions

  1. Wash, hull, juice and filter 1 pound of strawberries. 
  2. Add 1.5 oz liquid cane sugar, 0.5 oz Cointreau, 2.5 oz tequila reposado and the juice of one lime to the strawberry juice. 
  3. In a small food processor, pulse 1/3 cup freeze dried strawberries until moderately ground.
  4. Pour strawberry juice mix into blender, add 1.5 cups ice and 1/3 cup freeze-dried strawberries.
  5. Blend on high until smooth and serve.

To rim the glasses: You’ll need two shallow dishes. Squeeze lime juice into one. Add 2 tbsp of Miguelito to the other. Dip the rims of the glasses into the lime juice first, then the Miguelito.  

Notes

If you don’t have a food processor, you can add the freeze-dried strawberries straight into the blender and just blend for an extra 60 seconds to make sure they’re fully broken up and incorporated. 

Keywords: strawberry, margarita

Other margarita recipes you should try:

Paloma (grapefruit margarita)
Watermelon margaritas
Spiced pear frozen margaritas
Warm winter margaritas

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