Looking to spice up your holiday menu? These Mexican Christmas recipes are perfect for celebrating Las Posadas, Navidad and Noche Buena!
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Mexican Christmas Foods
Christmas in my house has always been about two things – food and family.
Like in many Mexican households, Christmas Eve (Noche Buena) is almost a bigger deal than actual Christmas day! On Christmas Eve, my whole family gets together to sing songs to celebrate Las Posadas, we open presents at midnight and most importantly, we eat a lot of food!
From the moment we wake up until around 6pm, my family is in the kitchen making goodies like tamales, empanadas, pozole, buñuelos, ponche, and so much more!
Here are some of my favorite Mexican Christmas recipes to celebrate the big day.
Mexican Pork Tamales
An easy Mexican pork tamales recipe filled with tender pieces of pork simmered in a delicious red chile sauce all wrapped in a soft masa dough.
I grew up eating tamales every year for Christmas, New Years and other special occasions. Follow these simple step-by-step instructions to make your own authentic Mexican tamales right at home!
Pozole Rojo
This Pozole Rojo (Red Posole) is a comforting and hearty Mexican soup/stew filled with shredded pork and hominy in a warm red chile broth.
Pozole rojo is served year-round, but is often eaten at celebrations such as birthdays, Christmas, New Years, and other holidays.
Chicken Tamales
These tamales are stuffed with tender pieces of chicken in a flavorful chile verde sauce made from tomatillos and a blend of green chiles.
This recipe shares everything you need to know to make them perfectly on the first try!
Chicken Pozole Verde
Pozole Verde is a comforting Mexican stew filled with shredded chicken and hominy in a delicious green chile broth made from tomatillos, jalapeños, and cilantro.
It’s easy to make, hearty, and ready in only one hour!
Atole
Atole (pronounced ah-toh-leh) is a traditional Mexican drink that’s thickened with masa harina and sweetened with piloncillo, cinnamon, and vanilla.
It’s often enjoyed in chilly weather because it’s thick and creamy enough to warm you up on those cold nights.
Sweet Tamales
Sweet Tamales made with two types of raisins and sweetened with cinnamon and sugar.
These are easy to make and a sweet treat that pairs perfectly with a cup of atole or ponche.
Champurrado
Champurrado is a type of atole that’s made with Mexican chocolate.
This chocolate-based atole is prepared with milk, Mexican chocolate, and cinnamon, and is sweetened with a little piloncillo and vanilla extract.
Every sip is creamy, thick, and satisfying and will warm you up from the inside out!
Ponche
Mexican Ponche is a warm and comforting Christmas punch made with apples, pears, oranges and guavas, and spiced with cinnamon, cloves, tamarind and hibiscus.
It’s perfect for kids because they love to eat the warm pieces of fruit, but it’s also great for adults who often drink it with a splash of rum or brandy.
Buñuelos
Often served during the Christmas and New Years holidays, Mexican Buñuelos are delicious fried dough discs dusted with cinnamon sugar.
They’re crispy, crunchy, and a staple during the holidays.
Tamales de Rajas
Tamales de Rajas are traditional Mexican tamales filled with slices of roasted poblano peppers and cheese.
These tamales are naturally vegetarian and gluten free.
Marranitos
Marranitos (Mexican Gingerbread Pigs) are a Mexican pan dulce, or sweet bread, flavored with molasses and commonly found in Mexican bakeries.
They’re great served with a cup of milk, coffee, or champurrado!
Cranberry Margarita
Filled with holiday cheer, this Cranberry Margarita is the perfect Christmas and New Years drink!
Made with only 4 simple ingredients – cranberry juice, tequila, triple sec, and lime juice – it’s easy to make and comes together in only 5 minutes.
Arroz con Leche
Arroz con Leche, or Mexican rice pudding, will forever remind me of my family. It’s a comforting, simple, and easy dessert made from a few ingredients including long-grain white rice, sugar, milk, and cinnamon sticks.
It can be served hot or cold, and is perfect cozy treat for the holidays!
Rompope (Mexican Eggnog)
Rompope (pronounced “rrohm-poh-peh”) is really close to the traditional eggnog recipe. The main differences are that it’s made with only the egg yolks and adds slivered almonds for a hint of nuttiness.
It’s a delicious holiday drink that can be served warm or cold, and with or without alcohol.
Camote Enmielado
Camote Enmielado, or Mexican Candied Sweet Potatoes, is one of my favorite warm and comforting desserts to make when the weather starts to get cold!
Melt-in-your-mouth sweet potatoes are simmered on the stove in a syrup made from piloncillo, cinnamon, star anise, and cloves. It just doesn’t get any better than that!
Mexican Hot Chocolate
This Mexican Hot Chocolate made with 100% unsweetened cocoa powder, cinnamon and a hint of chili will warm you up from the inside out.
Feliz Navidad, friends!
Can’t wait to add to my mexican cookbook
All this food looks amazing i personally would give it a 10/10 thank you Isabel, It gives me a lot of ideas to make my family dinner!!!
I find the study material extremely instructive.
OMG, finally! Thank you for bringing back all of my memories in a flood. My mother (Isabel}, my tias and my Abuelita Celerina (nickname Sally) made all of these great dishes. They always got together to make Tamales and Menudo.
Your recipes are perfect!
Thank you so much Sally!
I love your page do you have a cookbook with all your yummy recipes I have made several recipes they are all delicious thanks bunches for your recipes
Hi Mary! We are currently working on publishing a cookbook, so look our for that Spring 2023! For now, you can sign up for our email newsletter and get our free e-book.
it is so nice to see what they eat for christmas
Not sure my family would like hominy. Can I purée them a bit so they can’t tell it’s hominy?
Hi Gloria! I’m worried if you puree the hominy, it would affect the overall consistency. I would suggest maybe trying a different recipe if you cannot use hominy. There are lots of great recipes on our site for you to choose from!
I would just replace it with corn. I do that with a lot of recipes that calls for hominy. I’m not a huge fan of it myself. As with any recipe, tweet it to your own liking!
What should I serve with the steak Fajitas.
Hi! You can serve steak fajitas with Mexican rice, salsa, and refried beans!
good ideas
My son is learning so much Spanish he is nine
I cook alot of Mexican food, but you have given me a few new things to try, and they look so delicious, and they seem easy enough for me, lol I’m a simple person so simple and easy recipe’s are the best for me. Thank you
Made the bunuelos. My mom did not make them often but our neighbor always gave us some.
So many memories of making some of these recipes growing up. There are a couple I have not made and am excited to try them this year! Thank you for taking me down memory lane and for your delicious recipes.
Love it
These are a wonderful collection!!!