78 Worst Rated Mexican Foods

Charales is a Mexican specialty dish consisting of small, deep-fried, minnow-sized fish consumed with salt, chilis, and a squeeze of lime juice. They are usually served as a snack or as an appetizer, although charales can also be used as a taco filling. There is also a dried version of charales that is especially popular during Lent, when the fish is cooked with nopales, green salsa, and wild herbs.Expand

Betabeles is a traditional beet salad. It's usually made with a combination of beets, sugar, cornstarch, orange juice, lemon juice, grated orange zest, salt, and pepper. The beets are boiled in a saucepan until the skin blisters, and the beets are then drained, cooled, and the skin is peeled off. Other ingredients are mixed in a saucepan and boiled until the sugar and cornstarch dissolve. The beets are added to the pan, the mixture is seasoned with salt and pepper and heated until the beets become hot. This beet salad is served immediately, while still warm.Expand

Frijoles puercos estilo Jalisco is a traditional dish originating from Jalisco. These refried beans have a number of varieties, and this is the Jalisco-style preparation that's usually served as a snack with drinks. The dish is usually made with a combination of cooked beans, chorizo, olives, jalapeños, bacon, lard, and shredded cheese such as queso ranchero or romano. The chorizo is crumbled and cooked with chopped baon in lard, then set aside. The beans are then cooked in the remaining lard, mashed, and mixed with the bacon, olives, chili peppers, and chorizo. The top is sprinkled with cheese, and the mixture is then served with toasted tortillas.Expand

Chongos Zamoranos is a Mexican dessert prepared with raw milk, egg yolks, and rennet tablets. The dish is ready when the milk curdles and develops a rubbery, sponge-like consistency, and it is then flavored with cinnamon and sugar. This dessert is traditionally prepared in earthenware clay pots (cazuelas), and it is served by topping the curds with sugar syrup that has separated in the pot. The word chongos in the name of the dessert means curds. Chongos Zamoranos is so popular in Mexico that it can even be bought in cans. It is believed that this dessert was invented in the colonial-era convents in the town of Zamora, hence the name. Nowadays, there are many presentations of chongos Zamoranos with different flavors, and people sometimes add liquor, coloring, or dried fruits into the dessert.Expand

Colima-style ceviche is made with a combination of finely chopped white fish, lime juice, salt, and onions. The liquid is strained after the fish has marinated, and ingredients such as tomatoes, chili peppers, carrots, olives, vinegar, coriander, and olive oil are added later, making this a dry-style ceviche with no excess liquid. It is recommended to serve Colima-style ceviche with toasted tortillas and hot sauce.Expand

Chinicuiles is a Mexican dish prepared with maguey worms that infest the root of the maguey and agave plants before they're harvested for human consumption. They're traditionally harvested in Tlaxcala and Hidalgo. These worms are the same ones that can be found at the bottom of a mezcal bottle. They are red, fleshy, and very nutritious, containing high amounts of protein. The worms can be roasted or deep-fried, and they are usually served in a warm tortilla with green tomatoes, lime, chili, and salt. Chinicuiles can often be found in Oaxaca's markets. The flavor is nutty, compared to pork cracklings.Expand

Torta de la barda is a traditional sandwich originating from the city of Tampico. The base is a crusty white bread roll called telera, bolillo, pan blanco, birote, or pan francés, depending on the region. The rolls are filled with shredded beef, pork rinds in green salsa, refried beans, pork cheese head, thinly sliced ham, cheese, tomatoes, onions, avocado slices, and Mexican chorizo. The sandwich is stuffed with a large number of ingredients because it was originally sold to marine and train station workers in the early 1930s from small stands that were setlled along the fence (barda) of the Tampico Marine Terminal and near the train station. Nowadays, during Lent, the sandwich is prepared with canned sardines instead of the meat fillings.Expand

Jumiles are Mexican stinkbugs that were consumed since pre-Columbian times as a snack, a medicine, and an aphrodisiac. These bugs are usually toasted in a skillet, then used as a taco filling. They can also be ground and added to salsas or guacamole. The flavor of jumiles is often described as a mix between mint and cinnamon, somewhat sweet and bitter. In the past, Mexican Indians used them to treat liver, stomach, and kidney problems, but these bugs also have anesthetic and analgesic properties, useful when numbing a toothache. Jumiles are especially popular in Taxco.Expand

Romeritos is a traditional dish from the southern parts of the country, usually prepared during the festive Christmas season and Lent. The name of the dish comes from a wild plant with the same name, similar to rosemary in appearance, and to spinach in terms of its tart and slightly salty flavor. The dish appears on the tables of both rich and poor people, and is usually prepared in a thick mole sauce with potatoes, nopales cactus, and dried shrimp patties.Expand

Aromatic capirotada is the Mexican version of bread pudding, consisting of old bread, chunks of nuts and fruits, cinnamon, brown sugar, sweet syrup, and cheese on top. The combination of these ingredients is traditionally baked in an oven. Fruits might include coconuts, apples, bananas, raisins, and dates, while nuts range from peanuts to pine nuts. Capirotada was originally a savory dish in pre-colonial Spain, when it was mostly associated with the Jewish people and the Moors. Over time, the dish made its way to the New World, where it became the tasty dessert that we know today. It is closely associated with Lent, being a great way to use up all of the leftovers before fasting. Capirotada is traditionally consumed on Fridays and Holy Days, and numerous Mexican people associate it with the Passion of Christ – the bread symbolizes Christ's body, the syrup is for blood, raisins are for nails, while the cheese symbolizes the Holy Shroud.Expand