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Learn Mexican Cooking

Toast chiles, press tortillas and build salsas from scratch.

Free to start. Built from a single prompt. No credit card.

Mexican cooking is a large family of regional cuisines built on corn, beans and chiles. Corn becomes masa through nixtamalization, which is why real corn tortillas taste so different from flour ones. Dried chiles like ancho, guajillo and pasilla are toasted, soaked and blended into sauces, while tomatillos, lime, white onion and cilantro give salsas their brightness. Once you can make a salsa, a pot of beans and a stack of tortillas, tacos, enchiladas and pozole follow. Learnr builds a personalized Mexican cooking course from one prompt with short interactive lessons.

How to learn Mexican Cooking, step by step

Stock dried chiles and key staples. Get ancho, guajillo and arbol chiles, a can of chipotles in adobo, masa harina, dried pinto or black beans, Mexican oregano, cumin, limes, white onions, tomatillos and cilantro. Store dried chiles airtight so they stay pliable.
Toast and rehydrate chiles carefully. Remove stems and seeds, toast chiles on a dry pan for just seconds per side until fragrant, then soak them in hot water and blend. Scorched chiles turn bitter, so pull them before they smoke.
Make three salsas. Try pico de gallo from chopped tomato, onion, chile and lime; salsa verde from charred or boiled tomatillos; and salsa roja from roasted tomatoes and dried chiles. Salt and taste each, since salsas need more salt than you expect.
Press corn tortillas on a hot comal. Mix masa harina with warm water until it feels like soft play dough, press balls between plastic, and cook on a very hot dry pan, flipping when the edges lift. A good tortilla often puffs on the second flip.
Cook beans and build tacos and enchiladas. Simmer dried beans with onion and garlic until creamy, salting near the end. Fill tortillas with braised meat or vegetables, or dip them in chile sauce and roll for enchiladas. Learn one filling at a time.
Handle chiles and meat safely. Wear gloves when cutting hot chiles and keep your hands away from your eyes. Cook ground meat fully and hold braises hot. Pair each new dish with a short Learnr lesson on the technique behind it.

What you'll learn

Toast, rehydrate and blend dried chiles into sauces
Make salsa roja, salsa verde and pico de gallo
Press and cook corn tortillas from masa harina
Cook a pot of beans and refried beans from dried
Assemble tacos, enchiladas and a simple pozole

What's inside your Mexican Cooking course

A sample path Learnr builds for Mexican Cooking. Your real course adapts to your goal and level.

1. Regions, the Mexican pantry and dried chiles
2. Fresh and cooked salsas
3. Masa, tortillas and the comal
4. Beans and rice
5. Tacos, enchiladas and braised meats
6. Soups, moles and next steps

How long does it take to learn Mexican Cooking?

Fresh salsas and beans can be learned in a week or two. Pressing good corn tortillas usually takes several batches to get the masa texture right. Complex dishes like moles take months of cooking to approach with confidence.

What you need before you start

Basic chopping and stovetop skills. A blender, a heavy skillet or comal and a tortilla press or two flat plates are enough to start.

Common mistakes to avoid

Burning dried chiles while toasting, which makes the whole sauce bitter. Toast them only until they smell fragrant.
Making masa too dry, so tortillas crack at the edges. Add warm water until the dough feels soft and smooth.
Salting salsas timidly. Taste and adjust salt and lime until the flavor pops.

How Learnr builds your course

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Mexican Cooking questions, answered

What is the difference between masa harina and cornmeal?

Masa harina is made from corn treated with an alkaline solution, called nixtamalization, then dried and ground. Cornmeal is untreated ground corn and will not form a tortilla dough.

Are all Mexican dishes very spicy?

No. Many dried chiles, like ancho, are more fruity and smoky than hot, and spicy salsas are usually served on the side so each person controls the heat.