Mexican cuisine is one of the most beloved ones around the world. Do you want to learn how to prepare amazing tacos, enchiladas, or any other traditional specialty? Here are the best Mexican cooking classes in 2022.
| BEST COMPREHENSIVE COURSE: Gabriela Cámara Teaches Mexican Cooking
Follow one of Mexico’s leading chefs in this in-depth introduction to Mexican cooking. You will start by preparing the most basic recipes and then learn how to assemble them into flavored dishes and street food specialties that will entertain your palate and that of your guests. |
| BEST QUICK TUTORIAL: 12 Recipes for a Perfect Mexican Dinner
A great collection of different Mexican recipes that you can choose from to prepare a full Mexican dinner without having any prior knowledge of Mexican cuisine. The right choice if you want to impress your guests with some creatively delicious dishes. |
| BEST BASIC COURSE: Mexican Cuisine
In this course offered by the cooking learning platform Scoolinary, a highly skilled native chef will guide you through the basic aspects of Mexican cooking and help you build your skills gradually until you can prepare more complex and mouth-watering dishes. |
| BEST PRACTICAL COURSE: All About Mexican Cuisine
The right course for those who want to go straight to cooking popular, delicious Mexican specialties and are less interested in covering the basics. Its flexible structure allows you to choose the recipes you want to learn first rather than watch each video in an orderly sequence. Great value for money and discounts are often available. |
| BEST LIVE CLASS: Aura Online Mexican Cooking Classes
A great combination of step-by-step learning, interactive cooking, and fun. These classes replicate the atmosphere of in-person courses and focus in detail on both basic and advanced aspects of Mexican cuisine. Taught by award-winning native chefs, they will give you the tools you need to bring your Mexican cooking skills to a whole new level. |
| BEST YOUTUBE CHANNEL: Cooking Con Claudia
While not a structured course, this free channel contains countless free recipes of both traditional Mexican dishes and more creative alternatives. New videos are published each week and the host’s teaching style is clear, friendly, and down-to-earth, as if you were learning how to prepare Mexican food from somebody you know very well. |
BEST COMPREHENSIVE COURSE:
Gabriela Cámara Teaches Mexican Cooking
by MasterClass 
COURSE CONTENT
If you are looking for a high-quality class covering the main aspects of Mexican cooking, consider enrolling in Gabriela Cámara’s course on Masterclass.
This online learning platform is renowned for featuring some of the most famous experts in each field as instructors. As one of Mexico’s top star chefs and restaurant owners, Gabriela Cámara was a natural choice as a MasterClass teacher.
Ideal for learners of all levels, this course will walk you through all the steps needed to prepare popular Mexican recipes that can be served at breakfast, lunch, or dinner.
The course is divided into 13 video lectures. After the introductory video, each video will focus on a specific recipe.
- Introducing the Teacher (around 5 minutes)
Learn more about your instructor, from her beginnings as a cooking enthusiast to her current success as one of the most acclaimed Mexican food chefs.
- Masa (16 minutes and 36 seconds)
A detailed overview of one of the most crucial ingredients in Mexican cuisine. Learn the preparation process step by step.
- Tortillas de Maíz (14 minutes and 18 seconds)
Here Gabriela will teach you how to make authentic tortillas, as well as how to store and reheat them.
- Raw Salsas (14 minutes and 21 seconds)
In this lesson, you will learn the preparation steps for both salsa verde cruda and salsa brava, the way they are made in Gabriela’s own restaurant in Mexico City.
- Tacos al Pastor (around 23 minutes)
The quintessential Mexico City street food. This will be your first full recipe, with each step of the process explained in detail, from the preparation of the single components to their final assembly.
- Pescado a la Talla (around 17 minutes)
Another popular recipe, Pescado a la Talla (literally Tala-style Grilled Fish), is a traditional dish originating in the city of Acapulco. In this lecture, you will use the same procedure used at Gabriela’s restaurant Contramar.
- Huevos Rancheros (12 minutes and 15 seconds)
This video lecture focuses on a Mexican egg-based breakfast classic and includes preparations from previous lessons.
- Salsa Tatemada (21 minutes and 9 seconds)
Another great lecture on preparing salsa. This one focuses on a simple yet amazingly flavored tomato-based recipe.
- Tostada de Atún (16 minutes and 27 seconds)
A light, tasty, and very popular Mexican fish-based specialty. Learn Contramar’s unique take on this recipe.
- Quesadillas Doradas (21 minutes and 21 seconds)
After introducing huitlacoche, this video lesson will teach you how to prepare Mexico City-style Quesadillas.
- Aguachile de Camarón (14 minutes and 48 seconds)
Step-by-step guide on how to prepare a delicious seafood appetizer.
- Tamales de Guayaba (25 minutes and 32 seconds)
Last but not least, a traditional Mexican dessert. To prepare it, you will use various skills you learned in the previous video classes.
- Final Lecture (4 minutes and 16 seconds)
A concluding video on how paying attention to each aspect in detail is the key to Mexican cooking mastery.
COURSE EVALUATION
Gabriela Cámara’s MasterClass is not just a simple collection of traditional recipes. This online course gives you a 360-degree overview of Mexican cooking, from preparing the most basic ingredients from scratch (no shortcuts!) to using the most important cooking tools properly to understanding the importance of food in Mexican culture.
Certainly, the teacher’s high profile is the main guarantee of the course’s superior quality. In addition to being featured in the Netflix show A Tale of Two Kitchens, she has been a semifinalist for the James Beard Foundation award (a prize for those who display exceptional talent and obtain great achievements in the culinary arts). Her teaching style is clear and engaging: like learning from a great chef who’s also a family friend. Not to mention the documentary-level visual quality of Masterclass videos, in which both lighting and editing are perfectly on point.
The course’s structure is much less rigid than it seems. Each video is not a standalone lecture. What you learn in the first part of the course (how to prepare mesa, tortillas, or salsas) will be then used to prepare more advanced recipes in later videos. It definitely feels more like a journey into the world of Mexican cooking that a sequence of recipe videos.
Among the additional featured, you will find a 54-page downloadable workbook. This text guide doesn’t just repeat what you learn in the video lessons but functions as a very handy supporting manual, listing all the necessary ingredients and tools, as well as offering interesting insights.
The main drawback of the course is that it’s only accessible with a yearly $180 MasterClass subscription. Still, considering the quality of the teaching provided and the availability of several cooking courses (taught by leading chefs like Gordon Ramsey and Massimo Bottura), one could argue that paying only $15 a month for a MasterClass subscription is essentially a bargain. And while some popular Mexican recipes (like enchilada or burrito) are absent from this course, it still provides one of the best overall introductions to this national cuisine.
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BEST QUICK TUTORIAL:
12 Recipes for a Perfect Mexican Dinner
by Twisted – YouTube Channel 
COURSE CONTENT
For those who want a quick but helpful introduction to Mexican cooking, this 13-minute video by recipe YouTube channel Twisted is among the best options available.
Like any good short tutorial for practical purposes, it doesn’t waste time dealing with a general overview of Mexican cuisine. Instead, it walks you through 12 delicious recipes that you can choose from to prepare a full Mexican dinner (or lunch).
It focuses on a very diverse sequence of dishes, thus catering to the tastes and preferences of different food lovers.
Here are the 12 recipes in question.
- Margarita Watermelon Punch Ball (Spicy)
- Crunchy Cheesy Chicken Tacos
- Fajita Cones
- Churro Mugs
- Sheep Pan Chicken Fajitas Crunchwrap
- Chicken Fajita Nachos (Slow Cook)
- Burrito Bowl
- Cheese Tacos Shells
- Mexican Lasagna
- Cheeseburger Taco Slider
- Mini Strawberry Cheesecake Tacos
- Chicken Fajita Wrap Bombs
COURSE EVALUATION
The main feature of this tutorial is that it is entirely visual and doesn’t use any audio commentary (just some happy Mexican instrumental music playing in the background).
It’s offered by the YouTube channel Twisted, a great collection of fun and creative recipes for food enthusiasts of all levels.
Each recipe is explained in only a minute or so, and yet it manages not only to cover all the necessary steps to prepare relatively complex specialties. Moreover, it shows each stage of the preparation visually while using text to describe the quantities for each ingredient.
If the video’s speed is too fast for you, you can always use YouTube player’s settings to slow it down and observe each step in detail.
As with most quick tutorials, this video goes straight to the action and doesn’t waste time giving you a proper introduction to Mexican cooking. It’s strictly for those who want to learn a bunch of different Mexican recipes and want to do it fast.
Overall, it’s a great choice if you want to impress your guest without having studied the basics of Mexican cooking.
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BEST BASIC COURSE:
Mexican Cuisine
by Scoolinary 
COURSE CONTENT
This course is offered by the online gastronomy school Scoolinary, a learning platform that focuses entirely on cooking lessons taught by premium chefs and experts.
It’s one of the best choices if you want to develop solid Mexican cooking basics while also learning to prepare some of the most popular recipes. The course will give you strong fundamentals, starting with how to process corn and then gradually moving to more complex dishes. Both cooking amateurs and professionals will find the course useful.
You can either buy the single course or subscribe monthly to Scoolinary and gain access to all courses available on this platform.
‘Mexican Cuisine’ by Scoolinary consists of 11 lessons. Here is a summary.
- Lesson 1 – Presentation
In this lesson, the course’s instructor will introduce herself and give you an overview of the different topics, tactics, and recipes covered in the course. You will also download a recipe book that will be useful throughout the course, and it’s available in multiple languages (English, Spanish, French, and German).
- Lesson 2 – Corn
Dedicated to the quintessential ingredient of Mexican cuisine, this lesson will guide you through the nixtamalization process, as well as the grinding of nixtamalized corn.
- Lesson 3 – Tortillas and Totopos
Here you will learn how to prepare tortillas, a basic Mexican specialty used in multiple recipes. The course will also show you how to make totopos, another corn-based type of food used in Mexican cuisine.
- Lesson 4 – Salsas (Sauces)
Learn to prepare the most important Mexican sauces, from guacamole to pico de Gallo to red and green sauces. They will be used later in more elaborate recipes.
- Lesson 5 – Chilaquiles
Prepare your first complex Mexican dish. Chilaquiles are a delicious breakfast specialty made by frying tortilla pieces, cooking them in salsa, and sprinkling them with cheese.
- Lesson 6 – Tortilla Soup
Another classic. The teacher will show you all the ingredients and steps needed to prepare this tasty Mexican soup.
- Lesson 7 – Shrimp Aguachile
Focusing on a great seafood-based recipe, this lecture will go into great detail and teach you how to prepare this dish in a way that is faithful to Mexican tradition.
- Lesson 8 – Quesadilla and Huitlacoche
Quesadilla is a popular Mexican specialty dating back many centuries. It consists primarily of tortillas, cheese, and other fillings. In this lesson, you will learn to prepare both squash blossom and huitlacoche quesadilla.
- Lesson 9 – Cochinita Pibil with Xnipec Sauce
A very old Mexican specialty dating back to Mayan tradition. Learn how to prepare the most mouth-watering version of this slow-roasted pork from the famous Yucatan Peninsula.
- Lesson 10 – Oaxacan Black Mole with Turkey
Originating in Oaxaca, mole negro (or black mole) is a traditional and complex Mexican sauce. Learn how to prepare it and pair it with turkey to create this amazing dish.
- Lesson 11 – Oaxacan Mole Tamal and Ramas Tamal with Red Sauce
To conclude the course, you will learn how to cook traditional and appetizing Mesoamerican specialties known as tamales.
COURSE EVALUATION
Mexican Cuisine by Scoolinary provides great value for money. For around $25, you’ll have access to enough teaching material to develop the most important Mexican cooking basics.
Paloma Ortiz, the course’s teacher, is not only a gastronomy graduate of the Culinary Institute of Mexico with years of experience in this field, but she also participated in various international cooking competitions as a representative of her nation.
You will find a quiz to test your knowledge at the end of each lesson. This is a great additional tool for an online course as it allows you to make sure that you internalize the most important concepts in each lecture.
Upon completion of this course, you will also receive a certificate, which allows those who work in the hospitality industry to showcase their newly acquired skills. Scoolinary also gives you the option of interacting with other learners and exchanging tips and opinions on the website’s online community.
While the course is taught in Spanish, subtitles in multiple languages (including English, German, and French) allow you to follow the lessons smoothly and even learn a bit of Mexican Spanish along the way.
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BEST PRACTICAL COURSE:
All About Mexican Cuisine
by APCA CHEF Online – Udemy 
COURSE CONTENT
Offered through the popular learning platform Udemy, this course by APCA CHEF Online is a handy practical guide for those who don’t want to “waste” too much time with the basics and prefer moving straight to the preparation of inviting Mexican specialties.
The course consists of 3 hours worth of video lessons plus 15 downloadable resources to assist you through the learning process.
At the end of the courses, you will be able to cook a great variety of Mexican specialties for all occasions and most requests from your guests.
All About Mexican Cousine consists of the following 16 lectures.
- Introduction (ca.30 seconds)
This very short preview video gives you a presentation of the recipes that you will focus on throughout the course.
- Beef Empanadas (ca. 16 minutes)
Tacos Learn how to cook a homemade version of this classic Mexican recipe with beef and picadillo filling.
- Beef Quesadillas (ca. 12 minutes)
Quesadillas are another traditional Mexican specialty. Learn how to give them the right amount of outside crispiness and inside juiciness.
- Burrito Egg Rolls (ca. 15 minutes)
A tasty and flexible recipe that can be eaten at any time of the day.
- Chicken Enchilada Sliders (ca. 9 minutes)
Learn the best method to mix chicken, enchilada sauce, cheese, and other basic ingredients into fresh rolls before baking them.
- Chicken Fajitas (ca. 15 minutes)
An easy, iconic chicken-based Mexican dish. This lesson will show you how to prepare it the right way.
- Chicken Pozole Soup (ca. 5 minutes)
One of the oldest Mexican recipes. Learn the right steps and combination of ingredients to give this chicken soup the perfect taste.
- Chili Cheese Crunchwrap (ca. 11 minutes)
This lesson will show how to combine the savor of chili cheese dogs and the practicality of a crunch wrap.
- Chocolate Ravioli (ca. 13 minutes)
A guide to preparing a delicious dessert with creamy Mascarpone.
- Corn Salad (ca. 7 minutes)
All the steps needed to cook a fresh and creamy salad with corn kernels, olive oil, red onion, salt, pepper, vinegar, and basil.
- Huevos Rancheros (ca. 10 minutes)
A classic Mexican breakfast specialty. Learn how to cook it by following a traditional recipe.
- Shredded Beef Enchiladas (ca. 12 minutes)
In this lesson, you’ll learn how to prepare delicious enchiladas made with shredded beef and a nice, traditional sauce.
- Shrimp Tostada (ca. 15 minutes)
An easy, tempting dish made with shrimp, onions, tomatoes, black beans, and avocado.
- Sweet BBQ Chicken Tacos (ca. 13 minutes)
Tacos are one of the most famous Mexican specialties. Learn how to prepare them with marinated BBQ chicken, black beans, avocado, and a nice lime cilantro sauce.
- Tamale Pie (ca. 12 minutes)
A traditional Mesoamerican casserole. Perfect for family lunches and dinners.
- Tortilla Soup (ca. 11 minutes)
Learn how to prepare this enjoyable comfort food using chicken breasts, beans, and corn.
COURSE EVALUATION
This Udemy course offers the right combination of quality teachers and recipe-oriented lessons. This a great option for those who want to learn Mexican cuisine flexibly and start cooking right away.
All lessons are thought by professionals, meaning you’ll be learning how to prepare Mexican specialties the way they are cooked in a real restaurant. Each video follows a very detailed yet simple step-by-step method, with the camera zooming in on each passage to make sure you get it right. And while the teachers are not native English speakers, their language knowledge is proficient, and there’s no risk you won’t understand the instructions.
You don’t need to follow each lesson in the exact order listed on the platform. If there are some specialties you are particularly interested in, you can focus on them first and leave the other ones for later.
On top of the video lessons, the course also includes 15 articles and resources to supplement your learning. Upon completion, you will also receive a course certificate to showcase your newly learned skills.
The course is very affordable for the amount of value it provides, and the platform Udemy also offers regular discounts to buy the course at a reduced price.
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BEST LIVE CLASS:
Aura Online Mexican Cooking Classes
by Aura Cocina Mexicana 
COURSE CONTENT
These live online video classes are provided by Aura Cocina Mexicana, an organization that specializes in Mexican cuisine education.
Based in Mexico itself, Aura’s team comprises five award-winning trainers who will introduce you to all aspects of Mexican cooking.
Online classes are available Monday through Sunday (4 times a day) and replicate the atmosphere and tone of in-person classes.
Aura Cocina Mexicana offers six different live online courses. Here is a quick summary.
- Mexican Classics (1 hour and 30 minutes – $25)
This class focuses on popular Mexican specialties like enchiladas, chilaquiles, and Mexican rice. The menu changes each month, meaning you can retake the same class several times over one year and learn new recipes in great detail.
- Street Tacos (1 hour and 30 minutes – $25)
A step-by-step cooking class revolving around one of the most beloved Mexican specialties: tacos. After an overview, you will learn how to prepare flour tortillas, red salsa, and taco fillings.
- Advanced Street Tacos (1 hour and 45 minutes – $25)
If you want to bring your tacos-cooking skills to the next level, this is the right class for you. With a new menu every month, this class will teach you how to prepare delicious variations of this beloved specialty.
- Mexican Fiesta (1 hour and 45 minutes – $25)
Learn how to cook a full fiesta menu that includes quesadillas, tortillas, guacamole, and margaritas. Each recipe is explained from scratch and with a step-by-step process.
- Mexican Churros (1 hour and 45 minutes – $25)
In this class, you will learn the procedure and the best tips for preparing churros, one of the most popular Mexican desserts. You will also learn the secrets to preparing the best chocolate and vanilla dips to serve churros with.
- Private Class (1 hour and 45 minutes – Starting from $250)
If you are looking for a more personalized teaching approach, this class is the right choice. It offers even more room for questions and two-way interactions with the teacher. You can also attend this class with friends and relatives. The price depends on the total number of participants.
COURSE EVALUATION
Aura online Mexican cooking classes provide a great mix of interactive learning, unique insights, and fun.
The teachers are all highly skilled native chefs who have been cooking at the highest level of Mexican cuisine for many years. The executive chef Graciela Montaño hosts her own cooking show on Mexican national television. She has also been featured on Forbes and NBC News.
While friendly and entertaining, the course is also very well organized. Before the class, you will be given a thorough list of the tools and ingredients necessary to prepare all the recipes included in the lesson. During the class, each recipe is explained with a clear step-by-step process with the addition of insights and tips. After the class, you will also receive a text guide to reproduce those dishes any time you want.
The interactive nature of the course allows you to receive instant feedback from the teacher, which is a great plus compared to non-live classes.
It’s also a great experience to share with friends or relatives. Some of the most enthusiastic course reviews include learners who attended the class alongside their dear ones connecting from multiple locations. It’s a great reunion opportunity.
With an almost 5-star rating and more than 4,000 reviews on Airbnb Experiences, it’s challenging to find some flaws in Aura Cocina Mexicana. One could argue that each class only focuses on a few recipes. Yet these change every month, allowing you to retake the class and learn how to cook different specialties each time. It’s also a guarantee that each recipe is explained in extreme detail, allowing you to achieve great results.
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BEST YOUTUBE CHANNEL:
Cooking Con Claudia
COURSE CONTENT
If you’re looking for a free, flexible source of detailed Mexican recipes, the YouTube channel Cooking Con Claudia is probably the best choice for you.
Hosted by a passionate food enthusiast and skilled cook, this channel is probably the most comprehensive English-language one in its niche.
After a little more than five years online, Cooking Con Claudia has reached more than 820 thousand subscribers. It publishes new recipes several times a week, alternating traditional specialties and more creative variations.
The best way to navigate this channel is by using the playlists section, where recipes are grouped into the following categories.
- Breads
- Tacos
- Burritos
- Enchiladas
- Tamales
- Soups
- Beef Recipes
- Chicken Recipes
- Pork Recipes
- Shrimp Recipes
- Aguas Frescas
- Drinks
- Desserts
- Holiday Recipes
- Other Cooking Videos
COURSE EVALUATION
This YouTube channel is not organized as a structured, step-by-step course. It’s ideal for those who aren’t in a hurry to learn Mexican cooking skills and prefer learning just a few recipes a week. It has published hundreds of videos over the years, meaning it’s very difficult not to find the Mexican specialties you’re looking for.
The channel creator (and main instructor) has a very down-to-earth teaching style, which gives you the feeling you’re learning how to cook from an old friend. She is a native of Mexico, and her English is very fluent and clear, plus, you can activate the auto-generated subtitles at any time.
Videos on this channel are of very good quality, and the camera always follows each step of the preparation up close, ensuring you won’t miss any of it.
Under each video, you will also find a detailed text description introducing each recipe, listing all the items you need to prepare each specialty and where to buy them online, as well as the ingredients and their measurement. The comment section also allows you to ask questions to the teacher, who replies very often to her followers.
While the high number of videos available may make the channel appear dispersive to somebody using it for the first time, their quality and publishing frequency make Cooking con Claudia one of the more extensive free resources for English-speaking Mexican cooking learners.
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Which of These Mexican Cooking Classes is Right for Me?
When choosing the course to enroll in or the tutorial to follow, you should ask yourself the following questions.
- Do I need to improve my skills fast, or can I take it slow?
- How much time can I dedicate to learning Mexican cooking each week?
- Am I interested in building my skills from the basics, or do I want to start cooking Mexican recipes right away?
Based on the answers to these questions, you can zoom in on the right educational resources to achieve your goals. The great thing about cooking is that it adapts to the desires and ambitions of each learner. Some are just Mexican food lovers who want to prepare tastier tacos and enchiladas, while others dream of becoming Mexican cooking pros and want to learn anything there is to know about this amazing national cuisine.
Have you tried some of these courses and want to give your feedback? Are you looking for additional tips on how to choose the right class for you? Let us know in the comments section. By the way, are you interested in improving your cooking skills in other areas too? Don’t forget to check our other culinary course reviews.
First published on November 17, 2022 – Last updated on November 18, 2022
Thank you for sharing this article. It was sure helpful. I have a friend who always wanted to learn intercontinental dishes including Mexican dishes. I’m sure he’ll be really happy if I forwarded this article to him. Although he’s applied for different classes online but he doesn’t seem to be satisfied with the classes. I really hope this will be helpful to him
Thanks for your feedback, Apexvilla. We definitely wish your friend a happy Mexican cooking learning!