Papas a la Mexicana (Mexican Style Potatoes)

Papas a la Mexicana or Mexican style potatoes is a tasty and simple dish to prepare. Tender potatoes sauteed with jalapeños, plump juicy tomatoes, sharp yet sweet white onions and seasoned to perfection. It’s a dish the whole family will enjoy! For another yummy potato recipe check out these cheesy Mexican potatoes.

Papas a la Mexicana, a Mexican staple

Even though this Mexican potato dish is so simple, the flavors are amazing.

It’s a fast dish from prep to finish, naturally vegan, economical, and incredibly versatile.

The specific elements that make up this well known Mexican style potato dish have been used in Mexico for hundreds of years, even though the dish itself lacks a clear origin.

The vast majority of Mexican recipes begin with green chilis, tomatoes, and onions, which are consumed every day in one form or another.

What does a la Mexicana mean?

Cooking foods with the three veggies above – green chilis, tomatoes, and onions – is referred to as “a la Mexicana.”

In Mexican cooking, the phrase “a la Mexicana” is used to describe dishes cooked with the three basic components that resemble the country’s colorful flag: tomatoes – red, onions – white, and chilies – green.

If you’re looking for more recipes cooked “ a la Mexicana style” you should check out these eggs, steak and tuna recipes.

When to serve Papas a la Mexicana?

This adaptable vegetarian recipe can be prepared ahead of time and eaten for breakfast, lunch, or dinner. I usually make a large batch to serve as a main meal for lunch or dinner.

Mexican-style papas can be served as the main course together with other common side dishes like beans. For a full meal, add a fried egg on top, beans on the side, queso fresco, and corn tortillas.

Use it as a filler for some tacos, burritos, gorditas, or quesadillas.

Although papas a la Mexicana can be had at any meal, they are frequently served in the morning to be used to make breakfast burritos (with flour tortillas) or tacos de papas also known as potato tacos or taquitos (with corn tortillas).

With the remaining potatoes, we serve them as a side to other dishes like chicken, fish or chorizo to use up leftovers.

The ingredients are easy to find. You won’t have to seek out specific ingredients and make a special trip to a nearby Mexican supermarket. They are easily available in groceries. But you most likely already have most if not all of the ingredients on hand.

Ingredients needed

Gold potatoes

Gold potatoes are always available and they’re affordable year-round. Use all-purpose potatoes like Yukon Gold, or white potatoes but if you have other varieties, those will work too. The texture will vary with varying types of potatoes, but the dish will still be great.

The potatoes should be washed under running water then peeled (or not depending on your preference). Then, dice them into small pieces. I also like to dry the potatoes with a paper towel to soak up any moisture before cooking.

Roma tomatoes

You’ll want to pick out some nice, juicy, plump, ripe roma tomatoes in the market to go in our papas recipe. Although it is not common in Mexican cuisine, you may remove the seeds from the tomatoes before chopping them up.

Onion

Onions can be white or yellow. I like to slice them into thin slices but they can also be diced. It’s up to you.

Green chili

We’ll use jalapeño chilis for our dish but you could also use serrano chilies. The jalapeño seeds and veins can be discarded depending on whether you wish to lessen the heat.

Use gloves when handling chilis and promptly wash your hands after handling them especially if removing the seeds and veins to prevent inflammation.

Seasonings

Keeping it straightforward; this recipe only needs garlic powder, salt, and pepper. Feel free to add other seasonings and aromatics if you like but we like to keep it simple.

Some cumin, fresh oregano, and chopped cilantro are all suitable additions to this amazing dish.

Oil

We mostly use olive oil in cooking. Olive oil adds that extra flavor to dishes and we like the overall nuttiness and pronounced olive flavor. You can use sunflower or canola oil if that’s what you like.

How to make Mexican papas

Heat up the oil in a dutch oven or skillet over medium heat. If you want your Mexican papas (potatoes) to brown then I suggest using a big skillet. Once hot add the diced potatoes and cook for 5 minutes. Make sure to stir a couple of times.

Next add the onion and jalapeño. Season with salt, pepper and garlic powder and stir.

Cook for 3-4 more minutes or until the onion has softened.

Next add the chopped roma tomatoes and stir.

Cover and continue to cook for about 10 minutes.

After the 10 minutes the potatoes should be tender.

Check for salt and add more if desired.

Mexican potatoes recipe

Flavorful, hearty, and comforting, all from the crowd-pleasing humble potato.

You’ve got to give papas a la Mexicana a try. I think you’ll love it as much as we do!

If you try it, I’d love to hear what you think of it in the comments below.

Thanks for visiting!