Oaxaca Street Food You Must Try
Oaxaca street food offers a kaleidoscope of colors and a cornucopia of flavors.
Food of Oaxaca
Oaxaca, Mexico is one of the country’s culinary capitals, renowned for the unique cuisine served up at its bustling restaurants and by the purveyors of its enticing street foods. Thanks to being featured on shows like “Street Food: Latin America” on Netflix, Oaxaca street food and the state itself are both becoming more celebrated with each passing year.
While Mexico itself has a rich food culture that’s thousands of years old, many outside of the country seem to think it’s all just tacos and burritos. While you will find these foods in Mexico City, neither is a key component of Oaxacan cuisine. Traditional Oaxacan food is so much more than that!
Each year, more and more foodies flock to the state’s capital, Oaxaca City, where they’re greeted by large, organic mercados (markets) and some of the lesser-known foods of Mexico—like tlayudas, tamales, chapulines (grasshoppers), and the ancient chocolate and corn beverage, tejate.
Though Mexico had been somewhat snubbed in the culinary respect department in the past, things have been changing for some time now. In fact, back in 2010, UNESCO declared traditional Mexican food an “Intangible Cultural Heritage of Mankind,” an honor shared with only one other country—France.
Downtown Oaxaca City is known for its historic architecture, as well as its delicious street food.
In plain English, that prestigious designation basically means Mexican food is one of mankind’s great cultural treasures worth preserving! Within Mexico, there are a few states and regions that get more culinary attention than others, and some like to dwell on what they consider “weird Mexican foods.” But at the top of that short list of exceptional gastronomic standouts, you’ll find the food of Oaxaca.
Just what are the most famous Oaxaca street foods to try when visiting Oaxaca? Let’s take a look at five of the street foods that make Oaxaca so special—and one non–street food that just couldn’t be left off the list.
Top 5 Oaxaca Street Foods
#1 Oaxaca Street Food: Tlayudas
These are the most famous of all Oaxaca street foods. But just what is a tlayuda (pronounced tuh-lie-you-da)? Known as Mexican pizza because it roughly resembles the Italian original, the similarities definitely end there.
Tylaudas start with a large, sometimes gigantic, tortilla. They are then smeared with asiento (pork lard) and placed on a charcoal grill or a cooking “comal.” This large, round, flat cooking surface is used to cook so many Oaxacan street foods.
After toasting the tortilla, beans, and onions, avocado and tomatoes are placed on top, along with quesillo. Oaxaca’s cheeses are beloved throughout Mexico and beyond, though none more so than quesillo, a string cheese whose origins date back hundreds of years. If you try only one traditional Oaxaca food, it should be tlayudas!
Quesillo, used to make Oaxaca’s most famous street food, tlayudas
After cooking for a minute or so, the tlayuda is folded over and the cheese melts it closed. For those who want to add meat, it is placed on top afterward. Meat choices can vary, but most tlayuda shops offer both cecina, a kind of dried steak meat, and chorizo (sausage).
When and Where To Eat Tlayudas in Oaxaca
Yes, that does say “when” to eat them! Tlayudas are traditionally a nighttime Oaxaca food. While nowadays, as Oaxaca’s tourism popularity grows and shops sell the local specialty day and night to cater to the increasing number of visitors, locals still wait until after sundown to enjoy their tlayudas.
After dark, vendors start setting up small charcoal grills outdoors in the streets to make tlayudas. The best tlayudas in Oaxaca are found in Centro Historico, the historical center of downtown Oaxaca City. There are numerous places to eat them as they are one of the city’s most beloved street foods.
The most famous Oaxaca street food, tlayuda.
Try tlayudas here:
Tlayudas El Negro: Vicente Guerrero 1029, Zona Feb 10 2015, Oaxaca, Mexico 68115
Tlayudas La Chinita: Calle Nuño del Mercado and Calle 20 de Noviembre, Centro Historico, Oaxaca, Mexico 68000
#2 Oaxaca Street Food: Tamales Oaxaqueños
Tamales are eaten all over Mexico, though tamales oaxaqueños (Oaxacan tamales) are made a little differently from those elsewhere. In most of Mexican cuisine, a tamal consists of a masa (corn) mixture, which is placed in a corn husk and steamed to cook. But in Oaxaca, cooks wrap their masa mixture in a plantain or banana leaf instead. The word for leaf in Spanish is “hoja,” so in Oaxaca, you’ll sometimes see tamales called tamales hojas (leaf tamales).
Oaxacan tamales are also stuffed and/or topped with other items, including frijoles (beans), rajas (roasted poblano peppers), mole con pollo (mole with chicken), and chipil (a local Oaxacan herb). There’s also a dessert version called tamales dulces (sweet tamales), made with such ingredients as raisins, pineapple, shredded coconut, and fruit marmalades.
You’ll find tamales all over Oaxaca, but check out the Mercado 20 de Noviembre (November 20th Market) for an opportunity to see an amazing variety all in one place. This bustling mercado is part shopping market, part food hall, so you can go from stall to stall in the food hall and try many different kinds of tamales.
A popular street food in Oaxaca, tamales come wrapped in banana leaves.
Try tamales here:
Mercado 20 de Noviembre: 20 de Noviembre 512, Centro de Oaxaca, Oaxaca, Mexico 68000
#3 Oaxaca Street Food: Memelas
Memelas (pronounced mem-ell-uhs) are definitely one of best foods to try in Oaxaca! Especially since they are unique to Oaxaca and its neighboring state of Chiapas, Mexico. A common breakfast and lunch street food, memelas are essentially open-face tacos, but with a thicker tortilla.
They are another Oaxacan specialty cooked on a comal. They are then crowned with all kinds of tasty toppings, including beans, meat, cheese, and salsas to name just a few. Unlike some of Oaxaca’s other famous street foods, memelas are the easiest to eat as grab-and-go snacks. And they’re some of the most satisfying food Oaxaca has to offer!
You can find them all over the city, but since the airing of the Oaxaca episode of Netflix’s “Street Food: Latin America,” there’s one place more popular than the rest: Memelas Doña Vale. Located in the Mercado Central de Abastos, this spot is now a must-try on any Oaxaca City foodie tour.
The chef, Doña Vale (Ms. Vale), is well known for two specialty Oaxacan foods: memelas and salsa morita. Salsa morita is a unique, hand-made salsa that features chile morita, a smoked jalapeño pepper similar to a chipotle.
The tasty Oaxaca street food, memelas, ring the edge of a comal.
Try memelas here:
Memelas Doña Vale: Mercado Central de Abastos, Juárez Maza S/N, Central de Abasto, Oaxaca, Mexico 68090
#4 Oaxaca Street Food: Tetelas
These stuffed, triangular-shaped snacks are a popular Oaxaca breakfast food, and a lunchtime appetizer or snack. Less commonly eaten as a street food than memelas, they are just as delicious, and traditionally vegetarian.
Tetelas (pronounced tet-tell-uhs) are stuffed with a black bean paste and quesillo string cheese, though you can sometimes find them stuffed with chicken and vegetables. Many tetelas also contain hoja de santa (holy leaf/Mexican pepperleaf), a pepper plant leaf commonly used in a number of Oaxacan dishes.
Tetelas are served hot so the quesillo (AKA queso oaxaca) is nicely melted within this triangular pocket food. Basically hand pies, tetelas are easy to eat on the go.
Tetelas make a great grab-and-go Oaxaca street food.
Try tetelas here:
Itanoni: Avenida Belisario Domínguez 513, Reforma, Oaxaca, Mexico 68050
#5 Oaxaca Street Food: Tejate
OK, you caught me: Tejate (pronounced tay-ha-tay) is a prehispanic chocolate and maize drink, not a food. While, admittedly, that ingredient combo may not initially sound appetizing, this centuries-old drink has stood the taste test of time. In fact, Oaxacans are so fond of it, they call it the bebida de los dioses (drink of the gods). How could I leave the drink of the gods off of the Oaxaca Must-Try list?
Tejate is hand made in large clay bowls by liquifying a mixture of toasted maize (corn), fermented cacao (chocolate) beans, flor de cacao (cacao flower), and the toasted pits of mamey (a tropical fruit). It is served cold, making it the perfect refreshing drink for a toasty day in Oaxaca City.
Since it has been made for so long, each region, city, family, and even person, can have their own unique way to combine the ingredients. However, even with these variations, tejate, at its essence, tastes like a richly complex chocolate milk—although that’s a gross oversimplification. It’s probably best if you just sample some for yourself.
It pairs well with a plate of Mexican cookies!
Traditional Oaxacan tejate
Try tejate here:
Flor de Huayapam: Mercado Benito Juarez, Las Casa S/N, Centro, Oaxaca, Mexico 68090
Mole in Oaxaca
While not a Oaxaca street food, per se, there’s really no way to talk about Oaxacan food without mentioning mole (pronounced moe-lay). This is the food most associated with the state of Oaxaca, although it’s eaten in restaurants as a sit-down meal.
It’s a traditional Day of the Dead food and something eaten for special occasions like Christmas. (Read next: Day of the Dead Recipes.)
Mole is both a marinade and a sauce, and there are seven distinct types with differing combinations of chiles, nuts, spices, fruits, and other ingredients. The most popular type is mole negro (black mole), which derives its color from chocolate. However, moles are so deliciously complex and varied, you should definitely try some other types as well.
One such option, mole amarillo (yellow mole), is commonly served in street-food form. While in Oaxaca, be on the lookout for empanada vendors offering empanadas de mole amarillo.
If you’re new to empanadas, they are a type of baked or fried turnover filled with any number of meats, vegetables, and cheeses. Empanadas de mole amarillo (yellow mole empanadas) are stuffed with chicken in a yellow mole sauce that gets its distinctive color from the yellow chilhuacle chile pepper.
A mouthwatering Oaxaca specialty, mole negro
Try mole here:
Empanadas del Carmen: Jesus Carranza 102, Centro Historico, Oaxaca, Mexico 68000
Las 15 Letras: Calle de Mariano Abasolo 300, Centro Historico, Oaxaca, Mexico 68000
Casa Oaxaca: Calle de Manuel García Vigil 407, Centro Historico, Oaxaca, Mexico 68000
Final Thoughts on Oaxaca Street Food
Though this list just scratches the surface of all the delicious food in Oaxaca, Mexico, it definitely highlights the fact that there is tons more to Mexico than just tacos—although there are some great tacos among the best cheap eats in Cabo San Lucas, and Mexico City’s tacos are undoubtedly the best on Earth!
However, Oaxaca cuisine, including Oaxaca street food, is in a class all its own.
The state of Oaxaca is charming, and besides its cuisine, it is also well known for its Day of the Dead celebration and Mazunte turtles. However, this onetime off-the-beaten path foodie destination is fast becoming one of the country’s culinary meccas. It’s definitely worth the trip!
We’d love to hear what you think of our list! Have you visited Oaxaca? If so, what did you think of Oaxaca cuisine? If not, what Oaxacan food are you looking forward to trying? Let us know in the comments section below!
