Mexican cuisine has many vegetarian options, with main ingredients like corn, beans, chili peppers, and tomatoes. Historically, indigenous Mexicans had a largely vegetarian diet, with fruits and vegetables like avocados, papayas, and sweet potatoes. Modern vegetarian Mexican food includes dishes like tacos, tamales, and quesadillas, and snacks like molletes and nopalitos. Vegan options are rarer due to the use of cheese, eggs, and cream.
There are many types of vegetarian Mexican food that can be satisfying and flavorful. In fact, many of the main ingredients in Mexican cuisine are vegetarian, such as corn, beans, chili peppers and tomatoes. Mexican vegetarian appetizers are usually made with vegetables, beans, and cheese, with tortillas or rice as a starch base. Some Mexican main dishes that contain beef or pork can easily be modified to be vegetarian, such as tacos or pozole. There are also plenty of Mexican snacks and vegetarian entrees, such as molletes, nopalitos, and just about any salsa.
Historically, indigenous peoples of Mexico did not have access to many different types of meat, and thus their diet was largely vegetarian. Besides corn and beans, the Mexican diet consisted mostly of fruits and vegetables, such as avocados, papayas, bell peppers, squash, cactus paddles, and sweet potatoes. Native Mexicans ate wild turkey meat and fished extensively. They ate no other meats until the Spanish brought cattle, pigs, goats and sheep to Mexico and incorporated beef, pork and other meats into the Mexican diet. Other examples of Spanish additions to the Mexican diet are lettuce, cheese, olive oil, oregano, black pepper, cilantro, rice and wheat.
In modern times, vegetarian Mexican food is still readily available in Mexico, although vegan Mexican food is rarer because many meatless Mexican dishes include cheese, eggs, and cream, which is similar to crème fraîche or sour cream. Authentic Mexican burritos are usually filled with a single ingredient, and vegetarian versions will likely include beans or rice. Tacos can be made with a wide variety of vegetable fillings, and tamales and quesadillas usually come in meatless versions as well. Chilaquiles, made with crunchy corn tortillas dipped in green or red salsa, sometimes include chicken, but can also be made with fried eggs. Other examples of Mexican vegetarian appetizers include chiles rellenos, which are made without meat in Mexico during the Lenten season, huevos rancheros, vegetarian pozole, and cold soup gazpacho.
Molletes are a common type of vegetarian Mexican food and can be eaten as a snack or as a meal. These sandwiches come in both sweet and savory varieties, both made with a crusty bun called a bolillo that is stuffed and then baked or broiled. A sweet muffin is made with butter, sugar, and cinnamon, while a savory muffin is made with beans and cheese. Nopalitos are pans of diced cactus that are often added to salads and other entree offerings. The salsa is almost always vegetarian and can be served with the Mexican version of tortilla chips, called totopos.
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