Tacos in Oaxaca

Oaxaca, Mexico's most culturally diverse state, is better known for tlayudas, moles and memelas than for tacos, but its grilled tasajo and cecina, toasted chapulines and pit barbacoa fill tortillas across the state and in Oaxacan communities abroad.

Overview

Larousse's gastronomic dictionary calls Oaxaca the Mexican state with the greatest biological and cultural diversity. It has 570 municipalities in eight regions and is home to sixteen Indigenous peoples, more than half the population. The dictionary names mole as the festive dish par excellence, describes antojitos such as empanadas, memelas, molotes and tlayudas as typical evening food, and associates tlayudas with the Central Valleys and totopos with the Isthmus. Notably, it does not treat tacos as a regional specialty, mentioning only Mixe tacos of quelites. A street-food guide for visitors likewise observes that tacos are not traditionally Oaxacan, though they are widely sold. Larousse also notes that Oaxaca leads the country in agave grown for mezcal and is second in goat meat, and it lists barbacoa and tasajo among the state's characteristic meats.

Grilled meats

The tacos most closely associated with Oaxaca are built from its grilled meats: tasajo, thin dried beef; cecina, thin pork rubbed with chile; and chorizo. In the Pasillo de Humo of Oaxaca City's Mercado 20 de Noviembre, buyers choose meat by weight to be grilled on the spot and eaten with fresh tortillas, salsa, guacamole, grilled onions and fiery chile de agua. Late-night stands in the center sell tacos of suckling pig with crackling. Barbacoa is cooked in stone-lined earth ovens; the Michelin-listed Barbacoa Obispo Cocina Rural serves it in memelas, blandas and steamed tacos.

Chapulines

Oaxaca and Hidalgo's Mezquital Valley are the regions where the most insects are eaten, according to Larousse. Chapulines, grasshoppers boiled and toasted on a comal with garlic, lime, chile and salt, are harvested after the rains begin, from late May through September. Jeffrey H. Cohen, writing for Food Manufacturing, notes that grasshoppers have been eaten in the region for millennia and cites Bernardino de Sahagún's sixteenth-century account. México Desconocido distinguishes the finer alfalfa grasshoppers from those of the milpa, and Time Out México recommends Oaxacan grasshopper tacos in Mexico City.

Signature tacos

• Tacos de tasajo
• Tacos de cecina
• Tacos de chapulines
• Tacos de chorizo
• Tacos de barbacoa

Reviews

See also

• Tacos de tasajo
• Tacos de cecina
• Tacos de chapulines
• Tacos de barbacoa
• Tacos in Chiapas
• Tacos in Guerrero

References

1. "Oaxaca". Larousse Cocina (Diccionario enciclopédico de la Gastronomía Mexicana). Retrieved 2026-10-10.
2. "Ultimate Oaxaca Street Food Guide: The 17 Things You Must Eat in Oaxaca Mexico". Travel To Oaxaca. Retrieved 2026-10-10.
3. "Barbacoa Obispo Cocina Rural – Oaxaca". MICHELIN Guide. Retrieved 2026-10-10.
4. "Would You Eat a Grasshopper? In Oaxaca, It's Been a Tasty Tradition for Thousands of Years". Food Manufacturing. Retrieved 2026-10-10.
5. "¡Para tacos, sólo México!". México Desconocido. Retrieved 2026-10-10.
6. "De Ensenada a Yucatán: 13 tacos de otros estados que puedes comer en la CDMX". Time Out México. Retrieved 2026-10-10.