Cinco De Mayo Recipes: Salsa, Guacamole And Other Easy Foods To Make For Your Fiesta

Contrary to popular millennial belief, celebrating Cinco de Mayo is about more than drinking margaritas. It can be a full-fledged celebration of Mexican culture, and that includes the country's wonderful and diverse foods.

“Food is what unifies us,” Amelia Morán Ceja, a Mexican chef in Napa Valley, California, told the Napa Valley Register. “This is what life is all about: sitting down to eat with your family, good food, great wine."

What better time to expand your palate than Cinco de Mayo, the celebration in honor of the Mexican army's win over the French at the 1862 Battle of Puebla? These recipes may be Americanized, but they're all simple. If you're throwing a Cinco de Mayo fiesta for amigos and need some comida, check out your options:

Guacamole

Per AllRecipes' instructions, peel and mash up two avocados in a bowl. Add one chopped onion, one minced clove of garlic and one diced tomato. Mix together, then squeeze the juice of a lime and add salt and pepper. Stick it in the refrigerator before serving with tortilla chips.

Salsa

This recipe from Real Simple should take you 10 minutes to make. Dice four tomatoes and mix with 1/4 cup of onion, 1 minced clove of garlic, 3 tablespoons of cilantro, 2 tablespoons of jalapeños, 1 1/2 tablespoons of lime juice and 3/4 of a tablespoon of salt.

Elotes

Cooking Light says to grill four ears of corn on the cob. While they're cooking, mix together 3 tablespoons of mayonnaise and 2 teaspoons of lime juice in one bowl. In another bowl, stir together 2 tablespoons of Parmesan cheese, some chili powder, cumin, ground red pepper and salt. When the corn is done — after about 12 minutes — coat it in the mayonnaise and dust with the cheese.

Carnitas

Set it and forget it. Per A Spicy Perspective, put bacon grease on the inside of a slow cooker, then add four pounds of pork butt cut into big pieces. Dump in five smashed cloves of garlic, one chopped onion, 1 cup of orange juice, 2 teaspoons of liquid smoke, salt, cumin, ancho chile powder and pepper. Let it cook on high for up to six hours, then remove it and shred. Serve with tortillas and your choice of topping.

Mexican Rice Pudding

Food Network's directions say to cook a cup of rice in seven cups of water with one cinnamon stick. Throw away the stick and drain the rice, then add a can of evaporated milk, a can of condensed milk and a cup of whole milk. Put it over medium-high heat until it boils, then let it cook on low for about 20 minutes. Stir in a little less than a cup of raisins and top with cinnamon.

Churros

Ixtapa Cantina recommends you put a pan over medium heat and stir together 2 cups of water, 1/4 cup of sugar, 1 teaspoon salt and 3 tablespoons of vegetable oil. When it boils, add 2 cups of flour. In a new pan, heat 6 cups of frying oil until it's 375 degrees. Pipe the churros or roll them into logs, then drop them into the hot oil. After about five minutes, take them out and top with a cinnamon sugar mixture. Enjoy.