Great Cinco de Mayo Menu Ideas for Your Next Party
Cinco de Mayo is coming up soon! You know what that means? It’s time to come up with a great Cinco de Mayo menu for your friends and family! Or… it’s time to come up with a great Mexican food item to take to your next Mexican Cinco de Mayo Fiesta. Or… it’s time to call that taco caterer. Either way, most of us know how delicious Mexican food is, right?
Read further along to find out more about some popular Cinco de Mayo Food ideas for your next Cinco de Mayo food party.
[There are affiliate links in this post. Read my disclosure policy to learn more]
Cinco de Mayo Historical Facts
Cinco de Mayo is translated as the 5th of May.
Contrary to popular belief, Cinco de Mayo is not Mexican independence day.
On May 5th, in the year 1862, the Mexican army beat the French army at the Battle of Puebla during what’s known as the Franco-Mexican war.
Also, many people do not know this, Cinco de Mayo is more popular in the United States than it is in Mexico!
[It’s only a minor holiday in Mexico].
In the United States, local Mexicans and Mexican-Americans take this day to celebrate their Mexican heritage and cultures.
[If you want to find out more information about why Cinco de Mayo is not commonly celebrated in Mexico, click here].
Cinco de Mayo Food in Mexico
As mentioned earlier, Cinco de Mayo is celebrated more in the United States than it is in Mexico.
In reality, only the city of Puebla actually celebrates Cinco de Mayo (makes sense since the battle between France and Mexico occurred on their land).
So, it is probable that typical food in Puebla will be eaten during a Cinco de Mayo fiesta (party).
Typical food from Puebla include the following:
- Mole Poblano – Chile and chocolate sauce normally poured over chicken
- Cemita – Sandwich that normally includes meat, cheese, avocado, onions, and jalapeño
- Tacos Árabes – Literal translation is “arab tacos”. They’re very similar to regular tacos except they use pita bread instead of taco shells or tortillas and they’re usually made with pork
- Rajas Poblanas – Strips of poblano peppers cooked in a cream sauce
- Molotes – Corn-based pastry, with fillings, served as an appetizer or snack
Mexican Food for Cinco de Mayo
Cinco de Mayo Snacks, Appetizers, and Finger Foods
Do whatever you want with this, but my brother and his Mexican friends used to grab bowls of Dorritos chips and pour hot sauce (Valentina) all over them and eat them like that. So, there’s that idea (haha).
Here are some other snack, appetizer, and finger food ideas for Cinco de Mayo:
- Chips and guacamole, salsa, or refried bean dip
- Nachos – Heated tortilla chips covered in cheese and other toppings
- Mexican street tacos
- Elote – Mexican street corn
- Quesadillas – Mexican dish of heated tortillas with cheese in the middle
- Taquitos – Literal meaning is “little tacos”. If you don’t already know, tacos are a traditional Mexican food that consists of a tortilla topped with meats and other ingredients. Taquitos are normally rolled and fried.
- Conchas – Pastries that are normally eaten for breakfast. However, they’re super sweet and yummy for snacks… the ones from Mexican bakeries taste the best if you have any near you.
- Ceviche: Typically served in many Latin American countries. This is a raw chopped fish dish that is marinated and cured in citrus fruit
- Jaiba – Similar to ceviche, but made with imitation crab meat
- Takis chips -These are hot!
Cinco de Mayo Main Dishes
You cannot go wrong with adding any of these Mexican dishes to your Cinco de Mayo menu. However, I can’t tell you which ones are my favorite, because I love them all 🙂
What I can tell you is that I almost always order a burrito when I go to a Mexican restaurant and I always eat tacos when I’m at a Mexican-themed party at someone’s house.
[I love making tacos for any occasion at home, too. They’re so easy to make]!
Here are some Mexican food main course ideas:
- Burritos – Large flour tortilla fully wrapped around meat, beans, rice, lettuce, and/or other ingredients
- Tacos – Folded flour or corn tortilla normally with chicken, beef, , fish, shrimp or potato inside (I LOVE potato tacos)!!!
- Quesadillas – Tortillas folded in half or two tortillas (one on top of one another) filled with cheese and sometimes with chicken and sauteed vegetables
- Flautas -Fried, rolled tortillas normally stuffed with chicken, beef, cheese, and/or other ingredients
- Taquitos – Similar to flautas but smaller. Normally filled with beef or chicken
- Enchiladas – Rolled tortilla stuffed with meat and topped with cheese and savory red or green sauce
- Tostadas – Toasted tortilla with the following ingredients normally layered on top: refried beans, meat, cabbage, cream, tomatoes, and other ingredients
- Tinga – Shredded chicken in spicy red sauce that’s normally eaten on top of a tostada. You can normally find tostadas in the Hispanic food section of your local grocery store.
- Pozole – Hominy stew that’s usually with pork or chicken. This stew is SUPER POPULAR for Mexican parties
- Chiles Rellenos – Stuffed chile peppers. They are normally filled with cheese.
- Chicken Mole – Chicken with special chile and unsweetened chocolate sauce
Cinco de Mayo Side Dishes
I would say some of the most popular Mexican side dishes are probably refried beans and Mexican rice. However, check out the dishes below for more information:
- Refried Beans – Normally pinto or mayocoba (my favorite kind) beans
- Frijoles Borrachos – Literally translated as drunken beans. They’re beans that are cooked in beer
- Frijoles Charros – Beans cooked in broth with bacon, onions, chiles, and other ingredients
- Mexican Rice – Rice made with a red tomato base
- Esquites – AKA: Elote en vaso. This is Mexican street corn kernels in a cup
- Homemade tortillas
Popular Mexican Hot Sauces for Your Cinco de Mayo Food Party
I have a confession…
I did not grow up eating hot sauce, even though I had tons of Mexican friends who always had it around their house. However, I can tell you that they ALWAYS, ALWAYS, ALWAYS had at least one of these kinds of Mexican hot sauces in their homes to dash on top of their food:
Cinco de Mayo Drinks
Gosh, I’m trying to think of my favorite Mexican drinks and it’s so hard to narrow them down for you!
I would say my top 3 favorite drinks are agua de pina (a type of agua fresca), jamaica, and horchata.
Read further to find more about these drinks.
[These are some popular non-alcoholic Mexican drinks that are super delicious and kid-friendly, too]!
Horchata
From what I’ve personally seen growing up in Southern California, I would say the most popular Mexican drink is probably horchata.
[Ok, so here’s a tip… please don’t get offended. So, when you order this at a restaurant, DO NOT pronounce the “h”. I’ve seen so many people make this mistake]
[The “h” is silent in Spanish].
So, what exactly is horchata?
It looks like milk, but I promise you it’s not milk!!
Horchata is a traditional drink that’s actually not specific to Mexico. Many Latin American countries make this … actually, Nigeria has a similar version called kunnu aya.
In Mexico, it’s normally made with soaked white rice, water, lots of sugar, cinnamon, and some milk (or no milk … it all depends on the preference of the person making it).
Keep in mind that if you do decide to make this super, duper delicious drink (I LOVE IT and HIGHLY, HIGHLY recommend it), you WILL need a blender and you will need to take some time to soak the rice overnight (or at least for a few hours).
Check out the video below to give you a better idea of what horchata is and how to make it:
[How to Make Mexican Horchata]
Agua de Jamaica
So, I’m not talking about the country, haha.
This drink is pronounced ha-mai-ka and it is one of my favorite drinks in the world! It really is!
And it’s SUPER popular in Mexico!
What exactly is jamaica?
Well, it’s actually a hibiscus drink.
Yes, a flower!
[It’s translated as water of hibiscus and it’s a type of agua fresca… which will be talked about further below]
Agua de jamaica is sweet, but can also be somewhat tart (depending, again, on who is making it and how much sugar they add).
This drink is so yummy and it tastes super refreshing, too, with lots of ice cubes!
If you choose to make this drink, you can find dried hibiscus flowers at your local Mexican grocery store, or you can find them on Amazon.
Aguas Frescas
So, aguas frescas literally translates to fresh waters. However, this drink is not just water (however, it is water-based).
Aguas frescas is water mixed with fruit and fruit juices.
The thing I love about aguas frescas is that you can basically use any fruit you can think of.
There are SO many different flavors from which to choose, such as watermelon, strawberry, pineapple, cucumber, mango, orange, guava, tamarind, and so much more!
You’ve got to at least include ONE of these drinks for your next Cinco de Mayo party!!
These Mexican drinks are SO EASY to make!
Take a look for yourself in the YouTube video below!
What I LOVE about this video is that they show you how to make 3 different flavors of aguas frescas: watermelon, pineapple, and lime. And again, it’s SO easy.
[How to Make Mexican Aguas Frescas]
Cinco de Mayo Menu for Desserts
You cannot have a Mexican Cinco de Mayo food party without some delicious Mexican desserts to add to your Cinco de Mayo menu! I’m telling you, you will regret it if you don’t include these oh-so-delicious desserts!!
[If you haven’t already tried flan before, you definitely have to! The other desserts are SO delicious, as well!]
These are my recommendations:
- Churros – Fried dough covered in sugar and cinnamon. Churros are common in other Latin American countries, too.
- Flan – Delicious caramel custard (super popular and I HIGHLY recommend). Although flan did not originate in Mexico, it is popular all over Mexico and Latin American, too!
- Tres leches – Very sweet and moist cake made with three different kinds of milk: sweetened condensed milk, evaporated milk, and regular milk or heavy cream. This is MY FAVORITE KIND OF CAKE EVER.
- Cajeta – Thick, caramel-like sauce hardened and shaped like a box
- Arroz con Leche – Literal translation is rice with milk. However, I would say it’s more like a rice pudding. It’s super easy to make, too.
- Buñuelos – Similar to churros, but they look like a round disk covered in cinnamon and sugar whereas churros look like a long stick
- Bionico – Fruit salad with topped with sweet cream, coconut shreds, and/or granola
Bionico: Not Your Typical Fruit Salad
Now, I wanted to touch a little bit on the bionico, simply because this is a nice twist to your typical fruit salad recipe.
Also, this is THE PERFECT DESSERT for your next Cinco de Mayo party! I’m telling you! 🙂
The bionico originated in Jalisco, Mexico around the 1990s [Yes, this is a fairly new thing… and it’s still pretty “hip”]
Although this is typically street food (I can remember seeing them all the time at my local swap meet when I lived in Southern California), it’s SO EASY to make at home!!
Watch the YouTube video below to see what I mean:
[How to Make Mexican Fruit Salad with Cream]
Popular Mexican Candy For Your Next Cinco de Mayo Party
Ok, so, unfortunately depending on where you live, you might have a hard time finding some of these Mexican candies for your next fiesta.
[One thing I miss about living in So Cal is the ease of finding these things … they were all over the place]!
Of course, thank goodness, a lot of these can be found on Amazon!!
These are just some of the popular ones I used to see all the time:
- Pelon Pelo Rico [Tamarind Jelly Candy]
- Duvalin Strawberry & Vanilla
- De la Rosa Mazapan [Mexican peanut candy – My favorite Mexican candy!]
- Paleta Payaso [Marshmallow lollipop]
- Cucharitas Tapatías Sabor Tamarindo [Tamarind Flavored Candy]
- Vero Mango Paletas [Hard candy chili pops–Mango flavored]
- Revolcaditas with Chili Watermelon [Hard watermelon-flavored candy with chili]
My FAVORITE, FAVORITE, FAVORITE Mexican candy is the Mazapan. It’s got a peanut butter taste and it’s soooo good.
FAQs About Food Ideas for Cinco de Mayo
What Do You Serve at a Cinco de Mayo Party?
There are plenty of options from which to choose since there are so many different Mexican food dishes that are super delicious and easy to make (not to mention… it’s quite easy to make large quantities of a lot of these foods, too).
Depending on the size of your party, these are some great food choices for your next Cinco de Mayo party:
- Taco bar
- Nachos
- Burritos
- Taquitos
- Flautas
- Carne asada
- Pozole
- Enchiladas
- Mexican street corn
- Chicken tostadas
- Quesadillas
- Chips and salsa or guacamole or refried beans
- Ceviche
- Jaiba
What are 3 Typical Foods Served at Cinco de Mayo?
Depending on the size of the party, three typical foods that you can serve during Cinco de Mayo include tacos, nachos, and chips and guacamole.
It wouldn’t be a bad idea to serve some popular Mexican sodas, either. Jarritos sodas are SO yummy and super popular. Depending on where you live, you can find them at your local Mexican market, the Hispanic food section of your local grocery store, or of course, you can get them from Amazon.
What’s the Best Mexican Dish?
Growing up in Southern California, I can tell you what I saw as some of the most popular Mexican food dishes.
These are some of the popular Mexican foods I saw in restaurants:
- Burritos
- Enchiladas
- Fajitas
- Flautas
- Taquitos
- Chiles Rellenos (stuffed chile peppers)
- Chilaquiles (breakfast – red or green)
- Huevos rancheros (breakfast)
- Menudo
- Quesadillas
These are some popular traditional Mexican food dishes I personally saw served, and ate, at my Mexican friends’ homes:
- Pozole
- Tostadas
- Tinga
- Tacos
- Tortas
- Sopes
- Birria
- Quesadillas
- Jaiba
- Ceviche
- Tamales (Normally during the holidays)
- Carne asada (Practically ALL THE TIME)
Final Thoughts on Mexican Cinco de Mayo Menu for Your Next Party
Cinco de Mayo is a great time to get together with friends and family and enjoy some excellent Mexican food!
I hope the Mexican food options mentioned above are some that you will seriously consider doing for your next Cinco de Mayo party.
