Sonoran Mexican Food 101

Mexico is bigger than Western Europe, and Mexican food varies greatly by region. In Arizona, the most common Mexican food is Sonoran, meaning the cuisine of the Mexican state sharing a border with Arizona. Here’s a quick dive into the smoky, beautiful world of Sonoran food in Arizona.

Sonoran Mexican Hallmarks

Sonoran Mexican food traditions have come to Arizona in two main ways. First, some ingredients and practices have stemmed from the ancient peoples of the Sonoran Desert, which stretches from Sonora into Southern Arizona. Second, dishes have crossed the border into Arizona with people.

Sonoran cuisine has dozens of delicious trademarks: carne asada, mesquite-fired grills, cowboy beans and so on. A stark simplicity is its heartbeat. Take tortillas. In Sonora, flour tortillas are king. They are often enriched with humble lard and shaped from a simple process (relative to corn), forming a toasty, fragrant vehicle for no-nonsense tacos loaded with meat, salsa, onion and maybe cabbage for crunch. Simple. Soulful. Rugged.

Sonoran Mexican Staples

Stewed and refried pinto beans are both staples of Sonoran Mexican cooking. In Arizona, look for heirloom beans from desert growers like McClendon’s Select (pinto beans, black beans, Anasazi beans) and Ramona Farms (tepary beans).

Both the sweet squash meat and squash flower are used in tons of dishes — with cheese in quesadillas, served alone as sides and more. Cactus pads, also called nopales, have an okra-like texture and a vegetal, citrusy flavor. Their spines are removed with fire, and they do very well on the grill. Prickly pear fruit (“tunas”) can be found in both sweets and drinks.

Corn in its many, many forms is a bedrock of Sonoran cooking. From elotes (grilled corn on the cob) to atole (hot masa-based drink) to the masa in Christmas tamales, corn is everywhere.

Chile Varieties of Sonora

Sonoran cooking gets vibrancy from a host of chiles, including guajillo, ancho and chile de arbol. The region’s chile champ, however, is the small-but-mighty chiltepin. Chiltepins are smooth, crimson balls about the size of peppercorns. They pack a hard, bright, fruity heat.

Sonoran Mexican Proteins

In ranchland-rich Sonora, beef is the main meat. The primary beef dish is carne asada: thin sails of steak grilled hard over a hot mesquite fire, then chopped small.

Another favorite is machaca, sun-dried shredded beef. Beef offal cuts like lengua (tongue), tripas (tripe) and cabeza (head) are popular as well, especially at taquerias. Pork stars in tons of specialties, including barbacoa, tamales and pozole. Sonora has a long coast. Cooked and raw seafood are common. In Arizona’s heat, raw seafood dishes are beloved, like ceviche towers and platters of aguachiles.

Sonoran Spirits

An agave spirit like tequila, bacanora has an earthy, herbaceous flavor and less smoke than most mezcal. You can enjoy bacanora neat or in cocktails. Sotol is another popular spirit in Sonora. Sotol is grassier and less buttery than agave, as it’s distilled from a totally different plant, the “desert spoon.”

Cooking Methods of Sonoran Cuisine

• Grilling: In restaurants, taquerias, trucks and backyards, grilling over mesquite wood or charcoal is highly common for the whole local universe of meat, fish and vegetables.
• Stewing: Long-simmered bean dishes, soups and meats like barbacoa and cabeza are a comforting staple of Sonoran cooking.
• Raw: Many of the best Sonoran dishes are raw, like fresh oysters or aguachiles.

Sonoran Mexican Dishes

• Aguachilles: Often made with shrimp, scallops or oysters, aguachiles is similar to ceviche—only the ultra-fresh seafood is marinated in citrus for shorter, often for minutes or less.
• Burritos, or burros: Common for breakfast, lunch or dinner, Sonoran burros are on the starker, simpler side, with few distractions from the main protein.
  Beans: Long-stewed beans gain deep flavor with the help of aromatics like onion, herbs, spices and chiles. Best when topped with cheese.
• Carne asada: Sonora’s iconic dish — grilled steak chopped to juicy bits.
• Tacos: Sonoran tacos tend to use flour tortillas, protein grilled over a live fire, hot tomato-based salsa and minimal toppings.
• Menudo: After a night of drinking, this fiery soup of tripe, hominy and much more brings you back to life the next morning.
• Machaca: A sun-dried beef dating back to the days of pre-refrigeration, machaca is a nearly lost art in Arizona that lives on in a few restaurants, like Phoenix’s El Horseshoe and Tucson’s El Charro Café.
• Sonoran enchiladas: Sonoran-style enchiladas are not tubes, but fritters of corn or potatoes smothered in enchilada sauce.
• Sonoran hotdog: The Sonoran hotdog might be the greatest hotdog of them all. The difference makers: a soft-but-chewy bolillo roll and toppings like bacon, guacamole, pico, crema, beans and cheese.

America’s Best Mexican Food Field Guide

Visit Tucson offers a Mexican-food bible: America's Best Mexican Food Field Guide, a guide to where to find the greatest Mexican eats across the city. From fine dining to food trucks, you’ll find legendary tacos, top dogs, hidden gems and everything needed to experience Sonoran food and more in this UNESCO-lauded food city.