Quesabirria is a popular Mexican street food dish, a fusion between birria (a traditional Mexican meat stew) and quesadillas. The dish originates from Tijuana and typically consists of large tortillas filled with birria-style cooked meat (usually beef) and a generous amount of melted cheese.
The tortillas are cooked on the stove until the cheese melts and the outside of the tortilla becomes crispy. Quesabirria is often accompanied by a side of broth, or consomé, for dipping, adding another layer of flavor to the dish.
MAIN INGREDIENTS
Tacos are the national dish of Mexico, dating back to the Mexican silver mines of the 18th century, when the word taco referred to gunpowder that was wrapped in a piece of paper and inserted into rocks. It was used to excavate the precious ore from mines and was called tacos de minero or miner's tacos. Today, the word is widely known to signify the leading street food and fast food item in Mexico – thin, flat griddle-baked tortillas topped with numerous fillings, folded and eaten without any utensils.
A taco is basically anything eaten on a soft tortilla, and there is an infinite variety of them. In Sonora, in the north of Mexico, they eat the classic carne asada - thinly sliced meat grilled over coals and topped with salsa, onions, guacamole, and a lime wedge.
VARIATIONS OF Tacos
MOST ICONIC Tacos
View moreMAIN INGREDIENTS
Carne asada tacos are the first tacos in history. It is believed that the first tacos appeared in the 1500s, made with thin slices of meat cooked over hot coals. The meat was placed in a corn tortilla and topped with guacamole, onions, chili peppers, and lime – also known as the carne asada taco.
Over time, people started to make other versions in different regions, and nowadays we are witnessing a true taco-mania, and it all began with the simple carne asada tacos.
MOST ICONIC Carne asada tacos
View moreGringas is a typical Mexican dish made with flour tortillas filled with al pastor marinated pork meat, cheese, and, most commonly, pineapple slices, although onions, chili sauce, and coriander can all be added to the dish according to the customer's preference.
The combination of these ingredients is then grilled in the same manner as a quesadilla. The tortillas are usually folded in half and consumed like a taco. The name of the dish, a feminine form of gringo, is believed to have come from the idea that flour tortillas are more popular than corn tortillas north of the Mexican border.
MOST ICONIC Gringas
View moreTacos al pastor is a Mexican dish consisting of thin slices of shaved pork from a rotating spit, placed on a tortilla and topped with onions, chopped coriander, pineapple chunks, chili, and salsa. The dish evolved from the Lebanese culinary traditions that arrived in Mexico in the late 19th century along with numerous immigrants.
It stems from the popular shawarma, but the Mexicans changed the spices and substituted lamb with pork. Tacos al pastor originated in the city of Puebla, and their name is translated to shepherd's style tacos. However, the addition of pineapple to the dish still remains a mystery to be solved.
MOST ICONIC Tacos al pastor
View moreChilaquiles are, at their most basic, an assembly of fried tortilla pieces drenched in chili sauce with optional meat and vegetables. The dish is popular both in Mexico and the United States as a great way to use up leftover, stale tortillas. The name of the dish is derived from chil-a-quilitl, meaning greens or herbs in a chili broth.
Today, there is a great number of regional variations of the dish, so in Sinaloa it is prepared with a white sauce, and in Mexico City, the dish is traditionally topped with epazote sprigs.
MOST ICONIC Chilaquiles
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Tacos gobernador (lit. governor's tacos) are Mexican tacos named after a Sinaloan governor. In order to prepare the dish, warm tortillas are filled with a combination of shrimps, grated cheese, coriander, onions, and tomatoes. The tortillas are then folded in half, brushed with butter, and cooked on a griddle over medium heat.
When served, tacos gobernador are often accompanied by lime wedges and hot chili sauce. Apart from Sinaloa, these tacos are also quite popular in Baja California.
MOST ICONIC Tacos gobernador
View moreQuesadilla is a simple Mexican snack consisting of a flour or corn tortilla filled with cheese that melts well. It is commonly folded in half and consumed. A quesadilla can also have some other ingredients on the inside such as meats, beans, or potatoes, but cheese is always mandatory (with the exception of Mexico City, where cheese in a quesadilla is often an afterthought).
Sometimes, it is cut into wedges and served with salsa or guacamole on the side, and it can be topped with vegetables such as diced tomatoes, onions, lettuce, or hot chiles. The origins of quesadilla are somewhat murky, but it is known that the cheese was brought to Mexico by the Spaniards along with other dairy products in colonial times, and the thin flatbreads were already a staple of the Mesoamerican people.
MOST ICONIC Quesadilla
View moreEnchilada Suiza is a popular Mexican dish consisting of enchiladas topped with a sauce based on milk or cream. The first one was made in a restaurant named Sanborn in Mexico City. The name of the dish can be translated as Swiss enchiladas because the Swiss immigrants introduced dairy-based sauces to Mexican cuisine.
MOST ICONIC Enchiladas Suizas
View moreTacos al carbon is a taco style where meat is grilled over hot coals. It consists of a corn flour or wheat flour taco filled with a variety of grilled meats such as skirt steak, although any type of meat will do. The taco is additionally topped with bell peppers, onions, and freshly chopped coriander.
It is recommended to serve them warm, preferably with a squeeze of lime juice and a dollop of sour cream on top.
MOST ICONIC Tacos al carbon
View moreTasteAtlas food rankings are based on the ratings of the TasteAtlas audience, with a series of mechanisms that recognize real users and that ignore bot, nationalist or local patriotic ratings, and give additional value to the ratings of users that the system recognizes as knowledgeable. For the “62 Best Rated Dishes With Tortilla” list until February 16, 2025, 789,953 ratings were recorded, of which 515,851 were recognized by the system as legitimate. TasteAtlas Rankings should not be seen as the final global conclusion about food. Their purpose is to promote excellent local foods, instill pride in traditional dishes, and arouse curiosity about dishes you haven’t tried.