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Try Mexican huaraches for a crispy, savory, and tangy antojito! While also a type of shoe, these huaraches start with thin oval masa cakes topped with garnishes like refried beans, salsa, chorizo, crema, and fresh vegetables. Learn how to make a completely plant-based version in this easy-to-follow recipe!
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❤️ Why you’ll love this recipe
- Fun to make: Ready to get your hands doughy?! There’s something incredibly satisfying about molding your own huaraches.
- Vibrant flavors: With toppings like vegan chorizo, salsa verde, cashew crema, and pickled onions, these huaraches are an absolute treat for the senses!
- Nutritious: Topped with protein-packed soyrizo and fiber-rich refried beans, these huaraches are delicious and nutritious.
- Vegan-friendly: This huaraches recipe is 100% plant-based. No compromise on taste or texture!
If you love huaraches, you should really check out our sopes, garnachas, panuchos, and tlacoyos.
🌽 What are huaraches?
Originating from Mexico City, huaraches are traditional Mexican flatbreads named for their oval shape, which resembles a huarache (sandal). The flatbreads are made from masa harina, a dough prepared from corn flour.
It’s first rolled into a cigar shape, then flattened in a tortilla press and cooked on a comal. Once cooked, it can be topped with foods like refried beans, red or green salsa, potatoes, meats, cheese, pickled onions, and crema.
Sometimes, a dollop of refried beans is stuffed inside the masa before it’s flattened. Although not necessary, it adds a unique flavor and texture.
🤔 Huaraches vs sopes
In the world of Mexican cuisine, there is often some confusion between antojitos like huaraches and sopes. While they share many similarities, there are a few distinct characteristics that set them apart.
Sopes are round with distinctive crimped edges, which effectively form a little bowl. This design is to help hold the toppings in place.
Huaraches are flat and oval-shaped, resembling the sole of a sandal. This means there is more surface area for an even spread of deliciousness.
📜 History of Huaraches
Back when Mexico City was known as Tenochtitlán, there was a canal (Calzada de la Viga) that ran through the area. People used this canal as a way to transport agricultural products from surrounding towns into the capital.
Along this waterway, there were many vendors selling food to feed hungry travelers. But in 1921, the entire canal was paved and tramlines were put in for a more efficient means of transporting goods across the country.
As the pavement went in, one street vendor was displaced from her normal spot. However, being crafty and resourceful, she began selling variations of her usual snacks (tlacoyos) in a different area.
Eventually, the name huaraches caught on and the rest is history! Nowadays, this popular food can be found all across the country with various toppings and sauces.
🌱 Are huaraches vegan?
Traditional Huaraches often contain non-vegan ingredients such as cheese, chorizo, and sometimes other types of meat. Here’s how we’ve made ours vegan:
- Chorizo: We use vegan chorizo, which can be made from soy, walnuts, or other plant-based proteins.
- Queso fresco: For a vegan alternative, you can opt for nut-based queso fresco.
- Mexican crema: We substitute regular Mexican crema with vegan Mexican crema made from cashews, but you can also use blended silken tofu.
🛒 Ingredients & substitutions
- Masa harina: Forms the base of the huaraches, giving the dish its characteristic nutty flavor and crispy texture. You can typically find masa harina in the international aisle of most large grocery stores or at Mexican food markets.
- Refried beans: Add a rich, creamy, and hearty element. We love the flavor of bayo refried beans in this recipe, but you can also use black beans or pinto beans.
- Salsa verde: Adds a tangy, spicy, and fresh note. Feel free to substitute salsa verde with other sauces like salsa roja or hot sauce.
- Vegan chorizo: Brings a savory, meaty, and spicy element. Use store-bought or homemade vegan chorizo, or substitute it with other types of vegan sausage.
- Other garnishes: We love to add other toppings like quick-pickled onions, vegan queso fresco, shredded lettuce, cilantro, vegan Mexican crema, and avocado slices. Feel free to customize these based on your preferences!
For a complete ingredient list and step-by-step guide, scroll down to our recipe card.
📝 How to make huaraches
Step 1: Prepare the dough
Start by combining the masa harina and salt. Add warm water and knead it into a dough. At this point, it should have a similar texture to play dough.
Step 2: Mold & press
Preheat a seasoned cast-iron skillet or comal to medium-high. In the meantime, break off pieces of masa to form large balls and roll each one into a cigar shape. Press them down until they are about ¼-inch thick. This is where your tortilla press comes in handy!
Step 3: Cook the huaraches
Cook the huaraches on the hot skillet until they start to curl up at the edges. Flip and cook them on the other side, then keep them warm in a towel or tortilla warmer. For an extra crunch, fry the cooked huaraches in a little oil until they’re golden and crispy.
Step 4: Assemble the huaraches
Now comes the fun part! Layer your Huaraches with refried beans, salsa, vegan chorizo, and your chosen garnishes. Happy eating!
If you have questions about this huaraches recipe, check out our FAQs or leave a comment down below!
🥗 Other garnishes for huaraches
Huaraches can be loaded up with an array of toppings to cater to individual preferences. Here are some more topping and serving suggestions:
🌡️ Storage & reheating
Huaraches are best enjoyed fresh, but if you do have leftovers, here’s how to store and reheat them:
- Fridge: Store leftover huaraches in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 4 days. It’s best just to keep them stored without toppings so they don’t get soggy.
- Freezer: You can freeze the cooked, non-fried huaraches (without toppings) for up to 6 months. Just make sure they’re completely cooled first.
- Reheating: To reheat, shallow fry the huaraches over medium heat for about 20-30 seconds per side, or until golden and crispy. Alternatively, heat them in a dry skillet for an oil-free version.
- Prep ahead: You can make the huaraches base a day ahead and store it in the fridge, ready to cook when you’re ready to serve.
♻️ Variations
- Protein: Try huaraches with al pastor, tinga, or jackfruit carnitas.
- Beans: Swap refried bayo beans for refried black beans.
- Sauce: Replace salsa verde with spicy red salsa or mild pico de gallo.
- Toppings: Try it with pickled carrots, radishes, or even a sprinkle of corn.
- Extra spicy: Add a drizzle of salsa taquera or hot sauce for a spicier version.
- Grilled vegetables: Add some grilled veggies for a hearty, smoky version.
🧑🍳 Top tips
- Perfect the dough: The masa should be pliable, not too dry or too sticky. Adjust the water and masa harina ratio as you knead until it feels just right.
- Consistency: Keep the thickness of your huaraches even for consistent cooking. This is why it’s really helpful to have a tortilla press!
- Use a baking dish: If you don’t have a tortilla press, you can also flatten your huaraches with the bottom of a large dish.
- Serve hot: Huaraches are best served hot, so have your garnishes ready to go when they come off the stove.
- Keep warm: While cooking the huaraches, keep the finished ones wrapped in a tortilla warmer or tea towel so they keep warm.
💬 FAQ
Yes, you can make huaraches without a tortilla press. All you need to do is use the bottom of a heavy skillet to flatten your dough.
The key to preventing masa from sticking to the press is placing two pieces of plastic on each side of the dough before pressing it.
Yes, you can bake huaraches at 375F for 10-15 minutes until they’re crispy. However, you really won’t achieve the same flavor as when they’re cooked on cast iron or a comal.
🍴 More Mexican recipes
If you enjoyed these huaraches, take a peek at some more Mexican-inspired vegan dishes like these:
- Picaditas: Tender corn cakes topped with red or green salsa and vegan cheese.
- Memelas: Oaxaca-inspired antojito starting with a base of corn and ending with toppings like beans, salsa, cheese, and more.
- Vegan Birria Tacos: Corn tortillas stuffed with shredded mushrooms and cheese.
Easy Mexican Huaraches Recipe
Equipment
- Tortilla press
Ingredients
Huaraches
- 2 cups masa harina
- 1 ½ cups hot water
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 2-3 tablespoons olive oil optional
Toppings
- 1 ½ cups refried beans
- 1 cup Salsa verde
- 1 ½ cups vegan chorizo
Other garnishes optional
- Pickled red onions
- Vegan queso fresco
- Lettuce
- Cilantro
- Vegan Mexican crema
- Avocado slices
Instructions
Dough
- Add the masa harina and salt to a mixing bowl and combine. Then, pour in 1 ½ cups of warm water to start and mix together using your hands.
- Knead the dough for a few minutes to hydrate the flour. Add more water or flour to achieve a texture similar to play-dough. Keep the bowl covered with a tea towel so it stays moist.
Press
- Preheat a seasoned cast-iron skillet or comal slowly to medium-high. Break off pieces of masa to form large balls (about 85-90 grams each). Roll each one between your palms into a cigar shape.
- If you have a tortilla press*, cut a zip lock bag into 2 pieces that will fit the press. Open the press and place one in the center on a piece of plastic. Cover with the other plastic piece and close the press down, shift the huarache and press down again, and repeat with the other end until it’s about ¼-inch think.
Cook
- Carefully remove the plastic pieces, then add a huarache to the hot pan. Let it cook on the first side ~2 minutes, or until the edges are starting to curl up. Flip and finish cooking on the second side. Keep the cooked huaraches in a towel or warmer.
- Once all huaraches are cooked, heat a little oil in a pan over medium. Lightly fry them until golden and crispy (optional).
Serve
- Serve them with a layer of refried beans, then salsa, chorizo, queso fresco, cashew crema, pickled onions, shredded lettuce, cilantro, etc. Happy eating!
Video
Notes
- Perfect the dough: The masa should be pliable, not too dry or too sticky. Adjust the water and masa harina ratio as you knead until it feels just right.
- Consistency: Keep the thickness of your huaraches even for consistent cooking. This is why it’s really helpful to have a tortilla press!
- Use a baking dish: If you don’t have a tortilla press, you can also flatten your huaraches with the bottom of a large dish.
- Serve hot: Huaraches are best served hot, so have your garnishes ready to go when they come off the stove.
- Keep warm: While cooking the huaraches, keep the finished ones wrapped in a tortilla warmer or tea towel so they keep warm.
- Nutritional information is a rough estimate and should not be taken as health advice.
Nutrition
Note: We’ve updated this post to include new information and helpful tips about the recipe.
Excited to come across this… What brand of the products do you recommend on the soy chorizo, crema, and queso fresco.
We usually make our own and have recipes for all of these on our website. But, Tofutti makes good dairy-free sour cream that you can thin out with lime juice or water for crema, Vivo Life makes a great plant-based feta cheese that can be substituted for the queso fresco, and Yves makes soyrizo (although we haven’t had it in a long time!). Hope that helps!