{{Short description|Cuisine in the Southwestern United States and Northern Mexico}} {{Other uses}} {{refimprove|date=April 2026}} {{Use mdy dates|date=August 2017}} {{American cuisine}} [[File:CornmealProducts.jpg|thumbnail|upright=1.00|Examples of modern Tex-Mex dishes and ingredients including corn, tortilla chips, cheese, tacos, salsa, chilis, and beef dishes]] '''Tex-Mex cuisine''' (derived from the words ''Texas'' and ''Mexico'') is a regional American cuisine that originates from the culinary creations of Tejano people inspired in Mexican culinary traditions. It has spread from border states such as Texas and others in the Southwestern United States to the rest of the country. It is a subtype of Southwestern cuisine<ref>{{cite book |last=Walsh|first=Robb |title=The Tex-Mex Cookbook|publisher=Broadway Books |location=New York |edition=XVI}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1 = Feniger|first1 = Susan|last2 = Siegel|first2 = Helene|last3 = Miliken|title = Mexican Cooking for Dummies|publisher = Courage Books|year = 2002|location = Scranton|first3 = Mary Sue}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.lightmillennium.org/2005_15th/emartinez_tex_mex_cuisine.html|title=Mexicans in the U.S.A: Mexican-American / Tex-Mex Cuisine|last=Martinez|first=Etienne|website=The Light Millennium|issue=15|language=en-US|url-status=live|date=May 2005|access-date=April 15, 2026|archive-date=October 3, 2025|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20251003033326/https://www.lightmillennium.org/2005_15th/emartinez_tex_mex_cuisine.html}}</ref> found in the American Southwest.
==Common dishes== [[File:Selling baked beans and tortillas.jpg|thumb|left|upright=0.75|Preparing plates of tortillas and fried beans to sell to pecan shellers in San Antonio, Texas, photographed by Russell Lee in March 1939]] Some ingredients in Tex-Mex cuisine are also common in Mexican cuisine, but others, not often used in Mexico, are often added, such as the use of cumin, introduced by Spanish immigrants to Texas from the Canary Islands,<ref>{{cite news|author1=Jennifer Steinhauer |title=If It's Chili, It's Personal |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2014/02/12/dining/if-its-chili-its-personal.html |access-date=6 January 2015 |work=The New York Times|date=February 10, 2014|quote=it was Canary Islanders who brought a taste for it in heavy doses}}</ref> but used in only a few central Mexican recipes.{{fact|date=April 2026}}
Tex-Mex cuisine is characterized by its heavy use of shredded cheese, beans, meat (particularly chicken, beef, and pork), chili peppers, and spices, in addition to flour tortillas.{{fact|date=April 2026}}
Sometimes various Tex-Mex dishes are made without the use of a tortilla. A common example of this is the "fajita bowl", which is a fajita served without a soft tortilla.{{fact|date=April 2026}}
Generally, cheese plays a much bigger role in Tex-Mex food than in mainstream Mexican cuisine, particularly in the popularity of queso, which is often eaten with tortilla chips (alongside or in place of guacamole and salsa), or may be served over enchiladas, tamales, or burritos.<ref>{{cite web|last=Goodgame |first=Dan |url=https://www.texasmonthly.com/food/chile-con-queso/ |title=Recipe: Chile con Queso – Texas Monthly |date=15 July 2013 |publisher=Texasmonthly.com |access-date=2019-03-28}}</ref>
Nachos, although invented in the US-Mexico border town of Piedras Negras, Coahuila, became extremely popular in Texas before spreading across the US. They were named after its inventor, Nacho Anaya.{{fact|date=April 2026}}
Tex-Mex circa the 1950s relied on combination platters using American-style cheeses, did not often have margaritas, and involved pecans in desserts.<ref name=Sharpe101>{{cite magazine|last=Sharpe|first=Patricia|url=https://www.texasmonthly.com/articles/tex-mex-101/|title=Tex-Mex 101 |magazine=Texas Monthly|date=August 2003|access-date=2023-12-20}}</ref>
==History== [[File:Chili with garnishes and tortilla chips.jpg|thumb|upright=0.75|right|A bowl of chili served with traditional garnishes and tortilla chips]] The cuisine that would come to be called Tex-Mex originated with Tejanos as a mix of native Mexican and Spanish foods when Texas was part of New Spain and later Mexico.<ref name=HistoryChannel9.2.20>{{cite web|url=https://www.history.com/news/tracing-the-history-of-tex-mex|title=Tracing the History of Tex‑Mex|publisher=History Channel|last1=Pruitt|first1=Sarah|language=en-US|url-status=live|date=September 2, 2020|access-date=April 15, 2026|archive-date=April 16, 2026|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20260416011308/https://www.history.com/articles/tracing-the-history-of-tex-mex}}</ref>
thumb|upright=0.75|left|''Fajitas'', wheat ''tortillas'' used as ''taco'' wraps [[File:Chili-con-carne.jpg|thumb|Plate of ''chili con carne'' served Tex-Mex style, topped with pork, beef, cheddar, and monterey jack]] From the South Texas region between San Antonio, the Rio Grande Valley and El Paso, this cuisine has had little variation, and from earliest times has always been influenced by the cooking in the neighboring northern states of Mexico.<ref name=":0">{{Cite news|url=https://www.eater.com/2018/3/7/17081968/best-food-texas-tex-mex-barbecue|title=Everything You Know About Tex-Mex Is Wrong|last=McCarron|first=Meghan|date=7 March 2018|work=Eater|access-date=2018-06-13}}</ref>
The ranching culture of South Texas and Northern Mexico straddles both sides of the border, where beef, grilled food, and tortillas have been common and popular foods for more than a century.<ref name=":0"/>
A taste for ''cabrito'' (kid goat), ''barbacoa de cabeza'' (barbecued beef heads), ''carne seca'' (dried beef), and other products of cattle culture is also common on both sides of the Rio Grande.{{fact|date=April 2026}}
In the 20th century, as goods from the United States became cheap and readily available, Tex-Mex took on such Americanized elements as Cheddar, jack, and pimento cheeses.<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=NMBnDwAAQBAJ&dq=tex+mex+20th+century+american+cheeses&pg=PA16|title=Tex-Mex Cookbook: Traditions, Innovations, and Comfort Foods from Both Sides of the Border|isbn=978-0-525-57387-6 |last1=Fry |first1=Ford |last2=Dupuy |first2=Jessica |date=23 April 2019 |publisher=Clarkson Potter/Ten Speed }}</ref>
In much of Texas, the cooking styles on both sides of the U.S.-Mexico border were the same until a period after the U.S. Civil War. With the railroads, American ingredients and cooking appliances became common on the U.S. side.<ref>{{cite news|last=Walsh |first=Robb |title=Pralines and Pushcarts|newspaper=Houston Press|date = 27 July 2000|url=http://www.houstonpress.com/2000-07-27/restaurants/pralines-and-pushcarts/2/ |access-date = 11 December 2011}}</ref>
Around the 1970s the composition of dishes popular in Tex Mex changed; Ninfa's popularized the fajita beginning in 1973.<ref name=Sharpe101/>
A 1968 ''Los Angeles Times'' feature wrote "[i]f the dish is a combination of Old World cooking, hush-my-mouth Southern cuisine and Tex-Mex, it's from the Texas Hill Country."<ref>"Pedernales Recipes 'Good for What Ails.'" ''Los Angeles Times''. 12 September 1968. p. K30</ref>
===Outside the US=== In France, Paris's first Tex-Mex restaurant opened in March 1983. According to restaurateur Claude Benayoun, business had been slow, but after the 1986 release of the film ''Betty Blue'', which featured characters drinking tequila shots and eating ''chili con carne'', "everything went crazy." According to Benayoun, "''Betty Blue'' was like our ''Easy Rider''; it was unbelievably popular in France. And after the movie came out, everybody in Paris wanted a shot of tequila and a bowl of chili."<ref name=HoustonPress>{{cite web|url=https://www.houstonpress.com/restaurants/the-french-connection-6591134|author=Walsh, Robb|title=The French Connection|newspaper=Houston Press|language=en-US|url-status=live|date=November 23, 2000|access-date=April 15, 2026|archive-date=August 31, 2025|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250831213332/https://www.houstonpress.com/restaurants/the-french-connection-6591134}}</ref>
Tex-Mex became widely introduced in the Nordic countries and the United Kingdom in the early 1990s through brands like Old El Paso and ''Santa Maria'', and very quickly became a staple meal in the Nordics.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://theculturetrip.com/europe/norway/articles/how-taco-tuesday-became-taco-friday-in-norway/|title=How Taco Tuesday Became Taco Friday in Norway|author-first1=Danai|author-last1=Christopoulou|access-date=9 July 2021|date=23 July 2018|website=The Culture Trip|archive-date=January 22, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230122154116/https://theculturetrip.com/europe/norway/articles/how-taco-tuesday-became-taco-friday-in-norway/|url-status=dead}}</ref> Minor local variations on Tex-Mex in these areas are to use gouda cheese, or to substitute taco shells with stuffed pita breads. Previously, Tex-Mex had been sold on a limited scale in Stavanger, Norway since the late 1960s.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.nrk.no/rogaland/_-vi-solgte-taco-og-tortillachips-for-alle-andre-1.14297697|title=– Vi solgte taco og tortillachips før alle andre|language=nb|access-date=9 July 2021|date=23 November 2018|website=NRK}}</ref>
Tex-Mex has also spread to Canada, where it has become as naturalized as in the United States. The cuisine is also readily found in Argentina, India, Japan, Mexico, the Netherlands, Thailand, and many other countries.<ref name=HoustonPress/>
==Terminology== thumb|right|upright=0.75|Ingredients commonly used in Tex-Mex cuisine|alt=Small bowls containing corn, tomatoes, peppers, guacamole, and other ingredients [[File:Nachos with Guacamole.jpg|thumb|upright=0.75|Nachos with guacamole]] The word "TexMex" (unhyphenated) was first used to abbreviate the Texas Mexican Railway, chartered in southern Texas in 1875.<ref name=HistoryChannel9.2.20/> In the 1920s, the hyphenated form was used in American newspapers to describe Texans of Mexican ancestry.<ref name=HistoryChannel9.2.20/><ref>{{cite news|title=Tex-Mex|date=23 May 1922|newspaper=Mexia Evening News|location=Mexia, Texas}}</ref>
The ''Oxford English Dictionary'' supplies the first-known uses in print of "Tex-Mex" in reference to food, from a 1963 article in ''The New York Times Magazine'', and a 1966 item in the ''Great Bend'' (Kansas) ''Tribune''.<ref>"Tex-Mex", ''Oxford English Dictionary'' 1963, ''The New York Times Magazine''. 11 Aug 50/1 Star of the evening was her Texas or Tex-Mex chili. 1966 Great Bend (Kansas) ''Daily Tribune'' 19 Oct 5/4 "It's too bad that it has become known as ‘chili powder’ because some homemakers may associate it only with the preparation of ‘Tex-Mex’ dishes."</ref>
However, the term was used in an article in New York's ''Binghamton Press''<ref>{{Cite news|last=Spallone|first=Roz|date=20 May 1960|title=Miss New York State's crown just 'old hat' to family|page=15|work=Binghamton Press|url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/252622091/?terms=%22tex-mex%22%20taco|access-date=16 Mar 2021}}</ref> in May 1960 and a syndicated article appearing in several American newspapers on October 6, 1960, uses the Tex-Mex label to describe a series of recipes, including chili and enchiladas.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Tex-Mex Cookery: Chili, Enchiladas, Tacos|page=32|newspaper=The Record|url=http://www.newspapers.com/image/490585932/?terms=%22Tex-Mex%22|via=Newspapers.com|language=en-US|date=October 6, 1960|access-date=April 15, 2026}}</ref>
The recipes included the suggestion of "cornmeal pancakes" in place of tortillas, which at the time were not reliably available to readers outside of the Southwest.{{fact|date=April 2026}}
Diana Kennedy, an influential food authority, explained the distinctions between Mexican cuisine and Americanized Mexican food in her 1972 book ''The Cuisines of Mexico''. Robb Walsh of the ''Houston Press'' said the book "was a breakthrough cookbook, one that could have been written only by a non-Mexican. It unified Mexican cooking by transcending the nation's class divisions and treating the food of the poor with the same respect as the food of the upper classes."<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.houstonpress.com/2000-09-28/restaurants/mama-s-got-a-brand-new-bag|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150212015445/http://www.houstonpress.com/2000-09-28/restaurants/mama-s-got-a-brand-new-bag/|archive-date=2015-02-12|url-status=dead|title=Mama's Got a Brand-new Bag|first=Robb|last=Walsh|date=28 September 2000|newspaper=Houston Press}}</ref>
The term "Tex-Mex" also saw increasing usage in the ''Los Angeles Times'' from the 1970s onward while the Tex-Mex label became a part of U.S. vernacular during the late 1960s, '70s, and '80s.<ref>Wheaton, D.R. & Carroll, G.R. (2017). Where did Tex-Mex Come From? The Divisive Emergence of a Social Category. ''Research in Organizational Behavior'', 37, 143 – 166.</ref> Adán Medrano, a chef who grew up in San Antonio, prefers to call the food "Texas Mexican," which he says was the indigenous cooking of South Texas long before the Rio Grande marked the border between Texas and Mexico.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2019/04/22/dining/texas-mexican-food.html|title=Don't Call It Tex-Mex|last=Wharton|first=Rachel|date=2019-04-22|work=The New York Times|access-date=2019-04-22|language=en-US|issn=0362-4331}}</ref>
== Influential chefs == * Felix Tijerina was a successful restaurateur and civic leader who helped pioneer Tex-Mex cuisine through his dishes. :Born in 1905, Tijerina began working as a busboy at the Original Mexican Restaurant after moving to Houston in 1922. He rose through the ranks and opened his restaurant, the Mexican Inn, in 1929.<ref name=PlanetTaco>{{Cite book|last=Pilcher|first=Jeffrey|title=Planet Taco A Global History of Mexican Food|publisher=Oxford University Press, Incorporated|year=2012|pages=135}}</ref> :After serving in World War II, Tijerina opened a chain of restaurants named the Felix Mexican Restaurant.<ref name=TSHA>{{Cite web|title=TSHA: Tijerina, Felix|url=https://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/entries/tijerina-felix|access-date=2020-10-12|website=Texas State Historical Association}}</ref> :With mildly-spiced dishes and reasonable prices, Tijerina's restaurants catered more towards an Anglo audience. His ''spaghetti con chile'' special exemplifies how Tijerina americanized traditional Mexican food to appeal to the local Texans.<ref name=PlanetTaco/> :Tijerina used his influence and economic profit from the restaurant business to become active in politics. In 1935, Tijerina joined the local council of LULAC (League of United Latin American Citizens), and eventually became the national president of the organization, holding the position from 1956 to 1960.<ref name=PlanetTaco/> :Tijerina died in 1965, but his chain of Felix Mexican Restaurants continued to promote Tex-Mex cuisine until operations stopped in 2008.<ref name=TSHA/><ref>{{Cite web|last=Press|first=Houston|date=2008-03-21|title=Felix Mexican Restaurant Closes After 60 Years in Business|url=https://www.houstonpress.com/restaurants/felix-mexican-restaurant-closes-after-60-years-in-business-6406894|access-date=2020-10-12|newspaper=Houston Press}}</ref> * Josef Centeno grew up in San Antonio, becoming familiar with Tex-Mex cuisine through his Tejano family's cooking.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Roasted Cauliflower with Cilantro-Pecan Pesto Recipe|url=https://www.sunset.com/recipe/roasted-cauliflower-with-cilantro-pecan-pesto|access-date=2020-10-31|website=Sunset Magazine|language=en-US}}</ref> :In 2011, Centeno opened his first restaurant, Bäco Mercat, which became an instant success due to the multicultural menu.<ref name=LATimes8.1.20>{{Cite news|url=https://www.latimes.com/food/story/2020-08-01/baco-mercat-closed|last=Snyder|first=Garrett|date=August 1, 2020|title=Josef Centeno's downtown restaurant Bäco Mercat has closed permanently|work=Los Angeles Times|language=en-US|url-status=live|access-date=April 15, 2026|archive-date=August 2, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200802130114/https://www.latimes.com/food/story/2020-08-01/baco-mercat-closed}}</ref> :Centeno's most recent Tex-Mex restaurant, Amácita, opened in July 2019.<ref>{{Cite web|title=LA chef Josef Centeno has a Michelin star restaurant and a new cookbook, now he's on a mission to defend Tex-Mex cuisine|url=https://www.dailynews.com/la-chef-josef-centeno-has-a-michelin-star-restaurant-and-a-new-cookbook-now-hes-on-a-mission-to-defend-tex-mex-cuisine|date=January 2, 2020|access-date=April 15, 2026|website=Los Angeles Daily News|language=en-US}}</ref> :Centeno also wrote two cookbooks: ''Baco: Vivid Recipes from the Heart of Los Angeles'' (2017)<ref>{{Cite book|last1=Centeno|first1=Josef|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=5cXaDgAAQBAJ|title=Bäco: Vivid Recipes from the Heart of Los Angeles|last2=Hallock|first2=Betty|date=2017-09-05|publisher=Chronicle Books|isbn=978-1-4521-5578-4|language=en-US}}</ref> and ''Amá: a Modern Tex-Mex Kitchen'' (2019).<ref>{{Cite book|last1=Hallock|first1=Betty|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=JPCjDwAAQBAJ|title=Ama: A Modern Tex-Mex Kitchen|last2=Centeno|first2=Josef|date=2019-10-01|publisher=Chronicle Books|isbn=978-1-4521-5685-9|language=en}}</ref> :Centeno has become a leading chef in Tex-Mex cuisine, receiving praise for both his restaurants and his cookbooks. While the New Yorker listed Centeno's ''Amá: a Modern Tex-Mex Kitchen'' as one of the best cookbooks in 2019, the ''Los Angeles Times'' named Orsa & Winston as the "Restaurant of the Year" in 2020.<ref name=LATimes8.1.20/><ref>{{Cite magazine|last=Rosner|first=Helen|title=The Best Cookbooks of 2019|url=https://www.newyorker.com/culture/2019-in-review/the-best-cookbooks-of-2019|access-date=2020-10-31|magazine=The New Yorker|language=en-US}}</ref>
== Related cuisines == * Mexican cuisine * New Mexican cuisine * Southwestern cuisine * American cuisine * Texan cuisine
==See also== * Tex-Mex cuisine in Houston * List of Mexican restaurants
==References== {{Reflist}}
==External links== {{Cookbook|Tex-Mex Cuisine}} * {{cite web|url=https://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/entries/tex-mex-foods|author=Graham, Joe S.|title=Exploring Tex-Mex Cuisine: A Cultural and Culinary Journey|publisher=Texas State Historical Association|language=en-US|url-status=live|date=May 14, 2019|archive-date=November 28, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201128114803/https://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/entries/tex-mex-foods}}
* Robb Walsh's "Six-Part History of Tex-Mex" in the ''Houston Press'': ** {{cite web|url=https://www.houstonpress.com/restaurants/pralines-and-pushcarts-6564138/|author=Walsh, Robb|title=Pralines and Pushcarts|newspaper=Houston Press|language=en-US|url-status=live|date=July 27, 2000|archive-date=May 12, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150512224858/https://www.houstonpress.com/restaurants/pralines-and-pushcarts-6564138/}} ** {{cite web|url=https://www.houstonpress.com/restaurants/combination-plates-6563946|author=Walsh, Robb|title=Combination Plates|newspaper=Houston Press|language=en-US|url-status=live|date=August 31, 2000|archive-date=November 20, 2025|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20251120003942/https://www.houstonpress.com/restaurants/combination-plates-6563946/}} ** {{cite web|url=https://www.houstonpress.com/restaurants/mamas-got-a-brand-new-bag-6563658|author=Walsh, Robb|title=Mama's Got a Brand-new Bag|newspaper=Houston Press|language=en-US|url-status=live|date=September 28, 2000|archive-date=September 17, 2025|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250917182408/https://www.houstonpress.com/restaurants/mamas-got-a-brand-new-bag-6563658}} ** {{cite web|url=https://www.houstonpress.com/restaurants/the-authenticity-myth-6587532|author=Walsh, Robb|title=The Authenticity Myth|newspaper=Houston Press|language=en-US|url-status=live|date=October 26, 2000|archive-date=September 9, 2025|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250909050316/https://www.houstonpress.com/restaurants/the-authenticity-myth-6587532}} ** {{cite web|url=https://www.houstonpress.com/restaurants/brave-nuevo-world|author=Walsh, Robb|title=Brave Nuevo World|newspaper=Houston Press|language=en-US|url-status=live|date=December 21, 2000|archive-date=April 16, 2026|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20260416010120/https://www.houstonpress.com/restaurants/brave-nuevo-world-6562756/}}
{{Chicano and Mexican American topics}} {{Cuisine of the United States}} {{Mexican cuisine}} {{Cuisine}} {{Authority control}}
Category:Tex-Mex cuisine Category:American cuisine Category:Cuisine of the Southwestern United States Category:Mexican cuisine Category:Mexican-American cuisine Category:Texan cuisine Category:Culture of Texas