20 Famous Foods in New Mexico To Eat on Vacation
Want to know what to eat in New Mexico? Traditional New Mexican food, of course! This guide lists the 20 most famous foods in New Mexico and some of the best places to try them. From the best restaurants in Santa Fe to burger joints in Hatch, explore the Land of Enchantment one bite at a time!
Authentic New Mexican cuisine combines flavors and foods from Native American, Spanish, and Mexican cultures. Some of the best New Mexican food specialties are similar to those found in other parts of the southwestern United States. However, as anyone from New Mexico will emphatically tell you, New Mexican cuisine is NOT the same as southwestern cuisine.
Particular ingredients, adaptations to specific conditions, and the interplay of various customs, traditions, and tastes have all played a part in shaping New Mexican cuisine. For instance, local farmers grow chiles unique to the state that are one of the keys to enhancing New Mexican fare.
In addition, there is a unique historical basis for almost every dish on our list. Granted, some of the history is debated, but there’s no question that the best food in New Mexico has evolved from its local ingredients and the resourcefulness of the people who work with them.
Unlike in many other foodie destinations in the U.S., such as San Francisco, NYC, and even Boulder, many of the best New Mexican restaurants are budget-friendly, family-run eateries. So, many of our suggestions below on where to find the best New Mexican food will be such places. These are definitely not fancy!
Green Chile Sauce
New Mexico is the chile capital of the world! Not surprisingly, chile peppers are the most distinguishing ingredient to New Mexican cooking, and Hatch chiles are the king of them all. These mild- to medium-heat chiles must grow in the valley or town of Hatch to be called “Hatch,” and they are the most coveted choice for Green Chile Sauce.
Although green chiles are unripened, they are the main ingredient in any authentic recipe for this iconic food of New Mexico. Most restaurants serving traditional New Mexican cuisine make their own version of green sauce with onions, garlic, roasted chiles, and seasonings. The result: a chunky, smoky, salsa-like sauce with a slight tang that can drench almost any New Mexican dish.
Order "Christmas" on traditional New Mexican dishes to receive half Green Chile Sauce and half Red Chile Sauce.
Red Chile Sauce
Red Chile Sauce, the other staple sauce of traditional New Mexican cuisine, uses dried red chile pods as opposed to raw or roasted chiles. When green chiles ripen, they turn red and the skin thickens, making them hard to peel and eat.
The dried pods are ground into a red chile powder and simmered with stock, onions, garlic, and seasonings into a thick, tasty, smooth sauce.
From northern to southern New Mexico, blankets of chile sauce smother all kinds of good food. Most often, you’ll be asked the official state question: “Red chile sauce or green?” If you can’t decide, order “Christmas” to receive half and half.
Bunches of dried red chiles bound together with string—known as “ristras”—are used to make some of the best food in New Mexico.
Huevos Rancheros
In Spanish, Huevos Rancheros simply translates to “ranch eggs.” The original recipe of fried eggs, tortillas, and beans heartily fed the workers on Mexican ranches. Huevos Rancheros is one of the typical Mexican foods that evolved into a popular Southwestern food and became a mainstay in New Mexican kitchens.
You’d be hard pressed to find a breakfast restaurant in New Mexico that doesn’t have a version of this dish. Many New Mexican recipes use blue corn tortillas in place of the more common yellow corn tortillas. Doused in red chile sauce and melted cheese, Huevos rancheros are a great way to start your day!
Huevos Rancheros are a popular New Mexican food for breakfast.
Chile Rellenos
Chile Rellenos, or stuffed chile peppers, also have Mexican roots. In the 1600s, nuns from Puebla, Mexico, created a stuffed chile known as chile en nogada—a large meat-stuffed chile with a walnut-based cream sauce. Over time, chiles were stuffed with everything from sardines to nuts and cinnamon, and in today’s New Mexico, Chile Relleno has its own connotation separate from its ancestor.
In New Mexican restaurants, chefs usually fill a whole chile pepper with cheese, dredge it through egg batter, and fry it. However, traveling vegetarians beware, Chile Rellenos can also contain meat. This is a traditional dish that chefs like to put their own fun twist on, even in fancy restaurants.
I don’t believe there’s a bad Chile Relleno in the state of New Mexico. Lambert’s Restaurant and Bar in Taos serves one of the most unique stuffed chiles, with bison and a crunchy gluten-free crust. Yum!
A unique Chile Relleno stuffed with bison at a New Mexican restaurant in Taos
Carne Adovada
Carne Adovada, a red chile pork stew, can be mildly spicy, or one of the most intensely spiced dishes you’ll ever eat. Either way, the pork should be fall-apart tender. It may be served on its own, or stuffed in an enchilada, burrito, or sopaipilla.
Carne Adovada is a true local favorite as it’s one of the few New Mexican specialties that is hard to find outside of the state. And in-state, it is more prevalent in Albuquerque than Santa Fe. If you see pork chop adovada, it will be an actual chop marinated in red chile, and not a stew.
The Albuquerque restaurant Mary & Tito’s lists 8 different Carne Adovada choices. This is definitely one of the most budget-friendly places to eat in Mew Mexico. No frills, but authentic to its core.
Two Carne Adovada dishes at Mary & Tito's restaurant in New Mexico
Breakfast Burrito
Undoubtedly one of the most popular foods in New Mexico for breakfast, Breakfast Burritos can have many different fillings, and all of them will be smothered in chile sauce. This morning mainstay is so engrained in New Mexican culture, the Department of Tourism created a Breakfast Burrito Byway of more than 50 stops.
Was the breakfast burrito invented in New Mexico? Legend has it that the Santa Fe restaurant Tia Sophia’s was the first eatery to put Breakfast Burritos on its menu. It does not claim to have invented the dish, however, since people have been putting things in a flour tortilla for ages and calling it breakfast.
Breakfast Burrito with sides of beans and posole, two other famous New Mexican foods
Green Chile Stew
Similar to its Mexican cousin Chile Verde, Green Chile Stew simmers for hours so that the pork within it melts in your mouth. The difference between New Mexico Chile Stew and the related dish that’s a famous food from Colorado? The chiles!
Restaurants in New Mexico focusing on the local cuisine will serve Green Chile Stew with fresh flour tortillas as an appetizer or side dish. When New Mexicans make this traditional dish at home, it’s usually for a meal. It’s the ultimate comfort food on a cold night.
My favorite recipes for this New Mexican chile stew use roasted green chiles rather than starting with raw green chiles, so these versions sometimes appear more brown than green. I love the Green Chile Stew at Palacio Cafe in Santa Fe and High Noon Restaurant & Saloon in ABQ.
Green Chile Stew is often brown; the color comes from the use of roasted green chiles.
Green Chile Cheeseburger
You can’t talk about famous food in New Mexico and not discuss Green Chile Cheeseburgers. In the simplest form, take a cheeseburger and top it with chopped Hatch green chiles. Some New Mexican chefs also put chiles in the meat, use whole roasted chiles, or add Green Chile Stew or other fun twists.
For fans of this popular New Mexican food, check out the Green Chile Cheeseburger Trail created by the state’s board of tourism. Some of the standout places include Sparky’s in Hatch, The Original Owl Bar and Cafe and the Buckhorn Tavern in San Antonio, Atrisco Cafe & Bar in Santa Fe, and The Owl Cafe in ABQ. You can also find a great Green Chile Cheeseburger at most of the breweries in Albuquerque that serve food.
Green Chile Cheeseburger with Hatch Green Chile Sauce
Red Stacked Enchiladas
New Mexican cuisine is loaded with different kinds of enchiladas. For starters, menus include any combination of red chile, green chile, meats, cheeses, vegetables, beans, blue corn tortillas, and yellow corn tortillas. But the hands-down, number-one New Mexican specialty are Red Stacked Enchiladas, also known as Enchiladas Montadas.
Instead of rolling the filling in a tortilla and topping it with sauce, these enchiladas are made by dredging the tortillas in red chile sauce that are then laid flat, layered with cheese, and stacked one on top of the other. The flat stack is often then topped with a fried egg. Both The Plaza Café in downtown Santa Fe and its neighbor down the street, Cafe Pasqual’s, serve excellent stacked enchiladas.
A very cheesy version of Red Stacked Enchiladas, or Enchiladas Montadas
Tamales
Tamales are an example of a traditional Mexican food that has become one of the staple foods of New Mexico. You can find different preparations, but the basic recipe stuffs masa (corn meal) with shredded meat and mole sauce and steams the combination in banana leaves or corn husks.
The majority of the tamales in New Mexico and Mexico use the corn husk. It’s the Oaxacan specialty that are wrapped in banana leaves with mole and often sold as a Oaxacan street food.
In New Mexico, red chile sauce replaces mole. Some chefs also choose to use local blue corn meal instead of traditional masa. For me, the most important quality of the best tamales is a hearty meat to masa ratio. The Shed in Santa Fe gets it right!
My favorite Tamales with Red Chile Sauce at a New Mexican restaurant in Santa Fe
Beans
Beloved as one of two official New Mexico State vegetables (chiles are the other), beans are the most popular side dish in the state. The front-runners—pinto beans, black beans, and refried beans—also make appearances in main courses and will substitute for meat in many vegetarian dishes.
Their prestige doesn’t end at state vegetable. Beans are also an integral part of the “Three Sisters.” To indigenous Americans, the Three Sisters—corn, beans, and squash—were known as the sustainers of life.
Traditional New Mexican meal with a side of Pinto Beans and Posole
Posole
Hominy is the main ingredient in the authentic New Mexican food Posole. It’s served most often as a side dish next to beans or sometimes as an appetizer as a Posole stew. This differs from Mexican Pozole, which appears most often as a main meal with heaps of cabbage and condiments.
I love Posole so much that although beans are so revered in NM, I sometimes substitute for them with more Posole. I have never been able to get New Mexico–style Posole outside of New Mexico, and it is such good stuff—this is my way of getting as much as possible when I can!
A side of Posole can be soupy, as pictured, or thicker like a stew.
Fry Bread
Fry Bread is a New Mexico traditional food with a history that dates back to 1844. During the Long Walk, the forced relocation of Native Americans from Arizona to New Mexico, Fry Bread was created with flour, sugar, and lard as a means of survival.
Today the Pueblo peoples of New Mexico still use the original recipes created by their family members who made that painful trek. The fluffy bread is light and airy and the size and shape of a plate. We especially liked the made-to-order Fry Bread at the Taos Pueblo (an amazing place to visit) and the Indian Pueblo Cultural Center in Albuquerque.
Authentic Fry Bread from the Indian Pueblo Cultural Center in ABQ
Sopaipilla
A relative of Native American Fry Bread, Sopaipillas (sometimes spelled Sopapilla) are more puffy and square in shape. Some restaurants in New Mexico will bring a basket of fresh Sopaipillas for the table with your meal. Some offer stuffed Sopaipilla on their menus for lunch or dinner. And some serve this traditional New Mexican food sugared for dessert.
You should obviously try all three! And more than once if possible! Tia Sophia’s in Santa Fe is a great place to eat Sopaipillas and many of the other New Mexico foods on this list.
One of the most famous foods in New Mexico, Sopaipillas
Frito Pie
A more recent addition to New Mexico food history, the Frito Pie was invented in the 1960s at a Santa Fe Woolworths that currently operates as the Five and Dime on the city’s historic plaza. Is Frito Pie really a popular food in New Mexico? Yup! Even Anthony Bourdain stopped into this humble establishment to taste the famous pie that’s not a pie at all.
The simple recipe consists of just 3 ingredients: Fritos (not tortilla chips, real Fritos in the bag), chili, and cheese. It doesn’t even require a bowl. Traditionally the bag is sliced open, the corn chips are sprinkled with shredded cheddar, and chili con carne is then ladled over the top. It’s a messy meal meant to be eaten with a plastic fork. Try before you deny.
The Five and Dime still serves the original Frito Pie that was invented at this location in Santa Fe.
Calabacitas
Calabacitas translates to “little squash.” And since squash boasts being one of the “Three Sisters,” you may have guessed that Calabacitas is an important dish of New Mexico cuisine.
Classic recipes include green squash, yellow squash, onions, and corn sautéed with green chiles until soft. It can be served as a side dish or as a vegetarian filling in burritos, enchiladas, and the like. El Pinto in Albuquerque has a delicious version.
Different kinds of squash that can be used for Calabacitas
Blue Corn Pancakes
New Mexican recipes using ground blue corn exist for almost anything that typically uses yellow corn. Common examples are tortillas and corn bread. But Blue Corn Pancakes go beyond the simple replacement of corn flour to create one of the most unique New Mexican foods.
Often Blue Corn Pancakes include piñon, the Spanish name for pine nuts. The best versions will be fluffy like classic pancakes with the flavor of corn and nuts. The best Blue Corn Pancakes I’ve had in New Mexico were at La Plazuela in Santa Fe.
A must-try traditional New Mexican food, Blue Corn Pancakes
Tacos
While Mexico City is the taco capital of the world, these tasty treats seem to be just as ubiquitous in New Mexico. You may have guessed that chiles and sauces are what sets the New Mexican Taco apart from others in Mexico and those served elsewhere in the U.S.
They are just as versatile as enchiladas and burritos, as you can fill tortillas with just about anything. However, in New Mexico, sometimes the tortillas are made with blue corn, and they are almost always soft. You can try La Choza in Santa Fe for Tacos, or any other restaurant we have on this list.
A variety of Tacos using yellow and blue corn tortillas
Biscochitos
New Mexico was the first state to adopt a state cookie, and that cookie is the Biscochito, aka Bizcochito. Created long before New Mexico was a state, the Biscochito cookie has Spanish, Indigenous, and Mexican influences.
The distinguishing flavors of Biscochitos are anise and cinnamon, with a hint of orange. The texture feels similar to a shortbread or butter cookie, and the shape can be be star or round, with or without scalloped edges.
Golden Crown Panaderia and Celina’s Biscochitos bake top-notch versions of these New Mexican treats in Albuquerque. But I’ve even bought them from food trucks.
The official New Mexico state cookie is the Biscochito.
Chocolate
Chocolate is a famous food of France, Switzerland, Belgium, and, yes, New Mexico. According to the New Mexico Department of Cultural Affairs, native New Mexico tribes drank Chocolate over 1,000 years ago in the Land of Enchantment. Maybe that’s where the nickname really came from.
Today, New Mexican chocolatiers create chocolate works of art using local ingredients like chiles, piñon, and prickly pears. Santa Fe even created a chocolate trail to highlight the importance of Chocolate in New Mexican culture.
A stop on the Santa Fe Chocolate Trail
Finding the Best Food in New Mexico
We have given you some great places to eat in New Mexico and hope you will be able to try some of them. And while I love eating at the mom and pop restaurants, there are a few high-end restaurants worth noting for a splurge. They do not serve traditional New Mexican food, but more creative fare influenced by the regional specialties.
In Santa Fe, celebrity chef Mark Miller of the Coyote Cafe pioneered the use of local ingredients in an inventive way. At Sazón, the James Beard Award winner Chef Fernando Olea serves incredible Oaxacan-influenced New Mexican dishes. And in Albuquerque, a dinner at Los Poblanos will stand out as one of your best New Mexican foodie memories.
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