Mexican Potatoes (Papas a la Mexicana)
Mexican potatoes, or papas a la Mexicana, is a simple, flavoursome dish made with just four everyday ingredients. The potatoes turn soft inside with a touch of crisp on the outside, while the tomatoes, onion and chilli add juiciness and gentle heat. It’s a budget-friendly side that pairs beautifully with all kinds of meals.
When I want to bring a little vibrancy to my dining without too much effort, I sometimes opt for these papas a la Mexicana. Depending on the type of potato I use, the finished dish varies somewhat, but they’re always very tasty and deeply satisfying.
Dive Right In
- Why You’ll Want To Make Mexican Potatoes
- Mexican Style Potatoes
- Ingredients, Additions and Substitutions
- How To Make Mexican Potatoes
- How To Serve Mexican Potatoes
- Other Potato Recipes You Might Like
- Keep In Touch
- Pin It
- The Recipe
Why You’ll Want To Make Mexican Potatoes
- Budget-friendly – a filling side that doesn’t stretch the purse.
- Comforting yet vibrant – simple and satisfying, but lifted by fresh, bright flavours.
- Flavoursome – soft potatoes with a little crispness, balanced by juicy tomato, onion and a touch of chilli heat.
- Just four ingredients – all easy to find and affordable.
- Quick and easy – no complicated steps or special equipment needed.
- Naturally vegetarian and vegan – no substitutions required.
- Scalable – easy to make for one or for a crowd.
- Versatile – works as well for breakfast as it does for lunch or dinner.
Mexican Style Potatoes
When you get a recipe that ends with a la Mexicana, it not only means a Mexican style dish, but also one that’s made with food the colours of the Mexican flag. That’s red, white and green.
For these papas a la Mexicana, the red is represented by the tomatoes, the white by the onion and the green by the chilli.
Potatoes, as we know them today, are not native to Mexico. But just like us in Europe, they’ve been growing and using them for several hundred years. They arrived via the Spanish conquistadors in the sixteenth century, although wild Mexican species were used in the breeding of some of our modern varieties.
Mexican potatoes is a humble yet vibrant dish that encompasses the flavours of everyday Mexican cooking. The potatoes are soft and comforting but with a satisfying crispness. Then there are sweet and juicy bursts from the onion and tomatoes accompanied by a gentle nudge of heat.
It pairs really well with any number of recipes, not just Tex-Mex ones. Try it as a delicious breakfast or lunch dish, served with a fried egg or scattering of cheese.
Ingredients, Additions and Substitutions
With only four simple ingredients, Mexican potatoes, is the sort of dish you can make at almost any time. Although if you count oil and salt, there are actually six.
Chilli
A green chilli is best for this recipe as it provides the requisite green colour for the finished dish. Green chillies also have a different flavour profile to red and are usually milder. But if you only have red chillies, go ahead and use them.
What type of chilli you use is up to you. Go for mild, medium or hot according to your taste preferences. If you don’t like too much heat, remove the seeds and membranes, otherwise leave them in.
In Mexico, they tend to use poblano, hatch, jalapeño or serrano peppers. I used a cayenne. It lets you know its there, but only just.
Oil
I’ve used a mix of sunflower oil and extra virgin olive oil for this recipe. The olive oil gives flavour and the sunflower is a good frying oil and helps to crisp up the potatoes.
Onion
You’ll need a small to medium onion and an ordinary brown one is perfect. If you have a large white one, just use half of it. Because of the colour, it’s best to steer clear of red onions.
Potatoes
You can use pretty much any type of potatoes you like for this recipe. Waxy potatoes will give a firmer texture and take a little longer to cook and floury ones will have a fluffier texture and take less time to cook.
White potatoes are more traditional, but other colours are fine if you don’t mind a different appearance.
Tomatoes
Firm ripe red tomatoes with few seeds are best. You don’t want to end up with a watery dish. Roma tomatoes, or other types of plum tomatoes are ideal, though I’ve not used them here.
I went with two smallish medium sized tomatoes, but one large-medium is fine to use too.
How To Make Mexican Potatoes
The only real effort required in this simple recipe is dicing the veg. And maybe a bit of stirring whilst the potatoes are cooking.
Please refer to the recipe card at the bottom of this post for cooking temperatures and quantities of ingredients used.
Step 1. Prepare Veg
Scrub the potatoes, then dice them into small cubes. The smaller they are, the quicker they’ll cook. The key to good papas a la Mexicana is to ensure they’re all more or less the same size. This is so that they’ll cook evenly and you won’t end up with either mush or semi-raw lumps.
Peel and finely chop the onion, dice the tomatoes and chop the chilli into fairly small pieces.
Step 2. Cook Potatoes
Heat a large non-stick frying pan over a medium high heat. Try to use a pan that’s large enough for the potatoes to cook in a single layer. This means they’ll cook faster and more evenly.
Pour in the oils and swirl around the pan.
Add the potatoes and a large pinch of salt. Fry, stirring occasionally, until they’re just about tender. An inserted knife should glide in rather than meet much in the way of resistance.
How long the potatoes take to cook will depend on what type of potato you’ve used and how small you’ve diced them.
Don’t worry if they start to go brown and crispy, that’s all to the good.
Top Tips
If you use a good non-stick frying pan, you won’t need to use as much oil.
Alternatively, you can use leftover boiled potatoes or pre-boiled potatoes. In this case, dice once cooked, then fry for a couple of minutes before adding the onion.
Step 3. Add Remaining Ingredients
Add the onions and fry for a further two minutes, by which time they should have turned translucent. Stir once or twice whilst they’re cooking.
Add the chilli and tomatoes and fry for a further three minutes. Again, give an occasional stir. As soon as the tomatoes have cooked through, the dish is done.
Taste test, if you think it needs another pinch of salt, add it now. Serve straight away whilst still warm.
Top Tip
If you have any leftovers, reheat in an air-fryer where they’ll get beautifully crispy. Set it at 180℃ (350℉) and fry for ten minutes.
Dress It Up
There are several additions you can make to dress this simple dish up, if liked:
- Add a small clove of grated garlic along with the onion.
- Spice it up with ¼ tsp dried oregano, ½ tsp of cumin seeds (added along with onion) or a few twists of freshly ground black pepper.
- Scatter with some chopped fresh coriander leaves (cilantro) or parsley.
- Crumble some cotija or queso fresco over the top. If you can’t get these, feta cheese makes a good alternative.
How To Serve Mexican Potatoes
In Mexico, papas a la Mexicana is traditionally eaten as a flavoursome side dish at breakfast or lunch. It’s often served alongside eggs, beans and warm tortillas.
It works naturally with many vegan and vegetarian Mexican recipes. Wrap in a warmed corn tortilla, stuff into tacos and burritos or use as a filling for quesadillas.
I like it with refried beans alongside some soured cream and guacamole and for a real feast, smoky sweetcorn pepper fritters.
Breakfast or brunch: Serve alongside huevos rancheros and smashed avocado for a filling start to the day. Some warm tortillas wouldn’t go amiss either.
Lunch or supper: Pair with a black bean salad, a white bean salad or a corn and feta salad. Or just serve with a fried egg and maybe a scattering of feta cheese.
Hearty meal: For a more substantial plate, serve warm with quiche, stuffed squash or bean burgers. Don’t forget the greens.
Vegan option: Combine with things like vegan toad-in-the-hole, tofu schnitzel or roasted cauliflower for a balanced and satisfying meal.
Other Potato Recipes You Might Like
- aloo gobi: cauliflower & potato curry (vegan)
- courgette tempeh hash (vegan)
- easy Spanish tortilla
- parsnip & potato mash (vegan)
- rosemary chips
- vegetarian tartiflette
Keep in Touch
Thanks for visiting Tin and Thyme. If you try this simple recipe for Mexican potatoes, I’d love to hear about it in the comments below. And do please rate it. Have you any top tips? Do share photos on social media too and use the hashtag #tinandthyme, so I can spot them.
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If you’d like more Mexican style recipes, follow the link and you’ll find I have a few of them. All delicious, of course.
Choclette x
Mexican Potatoes. PIN IT.
Mexican Potatoes (Papas a la Mexicana)
Ingredients
- 1 tbsp sunflower oil
- ½ tbsp extra virgin olive oil
- 250 g potatoes scrubbed well and diced to about 1cm (½ inch)
- 1 small onion peeled and finely chopped
- 2 small ripe tomatoes weighing around 60g in total – diced
- 1 green chilli mild, medium or hot – roughly chopped
- ¼ tsp sea or rock salt
Instructions
- Heat a large non-stick frying pan over a medium high heat. Pour in the oils and swirl around the pan.1 tbsp sunflower oil, ½ tbsp extra virgin olive oil
- Add the potatoes and a large pinch of salt. Fry, stirring occasionally, for 10-15 minutes until they’re tender.250 g potatoes
- Add the onions and fry for a further two minutes, by which time they should have turned translucent. Stir once or twice whilst they’re cooking.1 small onion
- Add the chilli and tomatoes and fry for a further three minutes. Again, give an occasional stir. As soon as the tomatoes have cooked through, the dish is done.2 small ripe tomatoes, 1 green chilli
- Taste test at this point. If you think it needs another pinch of salt, add it now. Serve whilst still warm.
Notes
- adding a small clove of grated garlic along with the onion
- spicing it up with ¼ tsp dried oregano, ½ tsp of cumin seeds (added along with onion) or a few twists of freshly ground black pepper
- scattering with some chopped fresh coriander leaves (cilantro)
- crumbling some cotija or queso fresco over the top. If you can’t get these feta cheese makes a good alternative.