My Sonoran style grilled chicken is made with sweet Hungarian smoked paprika mixed with hot New Mexico chili pepper, some ground unsweetened chocolate (inspired by molés), and a good California red wine blend. Healthy chickens are happy chickens. Look for free range, organic chickens who were raised without added hormones.
Mexican Recipes
Chelada versus Michelada: What’s the Difference?Â
This super-refreshing citrus beer cocktail is served in a chile and salt rimmed glass over ice. It’s kinda like a beer margarita. I love it because it’s a big drink that lasts a long time and it has considerably less sugar and calories than a margarita.Â
Hibiscus Agua Fresca Cooler
This hibiscus agua fresca isn’t too sweet, so you can drink it all day long and even into the night (perhaps with vodka!) It’s healthy too.
The Whisky Smash: Cocktail Recipe
A Tucson Sonoran craft cocktail made with Earl Grey tea and whisky muddled with pomegranate seeds, finished with bitters and fresh ground pepper.
Sonoran-Style Street Corn Hot Dogs
I’m pretty sure I invented the Elote Dog when I first developed this recipe for The Food Network in 2018. Since then Elote Hot Dogs, inspired by Sonoran-Mexican Street Corn have become a sensation with hot dog enthusiasts all over the word coming up with their own version. Here’s my recipe for hot dogs topped with elote, mayo, lime and spices and served in a bolillo roll.
Keto Arizona Cheese Crisp
The cheese crisp is the perfect comfort food. A cross between a Mexican pizza an an open-faced quesadilla, Southern Arizona restaurants started selling the dish more than 50 years ago and it’s become a staple of our local Sonoran style cuisine.Â
Sonoran Quinoa Burrito Bowl
Healthy burrito bowl recipe with quinoa, black beans and avocado tossed in a chipotle lime vinaigrette dressing.
Sweet Corn Paletas Recipe
Why isn’t corn used in more desserts? It’s naturally sweet, and the kernels add a nice pop. These paletas are made with sweet corn, cinnamon and Tajin.
Three Sisters Masa Pizza
Corn, beans and squash are three of the earliest domesticated crops grown by Native Americans in the Sonoran region. For this recipe, prepared corn masa, which is usually used to make tortillas or gorditas, is pressed into a cast iron skillet for the crust. If you’ve never tried tepary beans, this recipe is an excellent way to experiment with them, but you can substitute black beans instead if you want.
Sonoran Style Breakfast Taco Cups
Recipe for healthy breakfast taco cups. Low-carb tortillas filled with eggs, bacon, pinto beans, cheese and salsa.
Cincinnachos! Cincinnati Chili-Cheese Nachos
Ohio meets Arizona! Cincinnati chili cheese nachos. “Cincinnachos” are the best of everything for snacking season. Cincinnati Style Chili, tortilla chips, kidney beans, cheddar cheese, raw onions and jalapenos.
Sweet and Spicy Grilled Chicken Wings
These Sonoran grilled chicken wings are more spicy-hot that sweet. The heat index will vary greatly from the chili flakes and bbq sauce used.
Haunted Halloween Gingerbread Houses
Haunted Halloween gingerbread houses including a Dia de los Muertos house inspired by the sugar skulls that typically signify the holiday.
Chopped Liver, Chicharrones and Cornichons
A crunchy, keto Sonoran and Jewish deli snack mashup that is definitely not kosher. Chopped liver pate smeared onto pork rinds and topped with cornichons!
Carne Asada Tacos
Yay! It’s National Taco Day! Here’s a recipe of one of my favorite kinds – Carne Asada, from the book Knack Mexican Cooking by Chelsie Kenyon. Please note: these are not the Sonoran Style carne asada tacos from my Taste of Tucson cookbook but they are damn good none the less! Photos by me.
Mexican Shakshuka
Recipe for Sonoran-style Mexican Shakshuka made with eggs simmered in a spicy tomato cream sauce and topped with melted cheddar.
Salsa Scrambled Eggs With Gorgonzola
Eggs scrambled with Gorgonzola and Salsa. A salty, spicy twist on a traditional breakfast dish.
Spicy Sonoran Potato Salad
Here in Southern Arizona, our famous Sonoran style Mexican food is often garnished with pickled red onions and Mexican limes. I’ve incorporated those flavors into this mayonnaise-free spicy potato salad tossed with a chile-lime vinaigrette.
Sonoran Style Chunky Guacamole
This chunky guacamole recipe from the Taste of Tucson cookbook is spicy, salty and creamy – yet crisp and bright with lots of citrus and a tiny bit of crunch.
Rolled & Baked Breakfast Tacos
Wake, roll and bake for breakfast with these crispy rolled and baked sausage, egg and cheese breakfast tacos.
Black and White Nachos
What’s black and white and read all over? My recipe for white cheese nachos with black beans and salsa rojo.
Spicy Chayote Spanish Rice
Recipe for a hearty, spicy Sonoran style Mexican Rice with Chayote and Black Beans.
Classic Caesar Salad Recipe
Recipe for both the Caesar salad from the 1967 Joy of Cooking and a modified version of the recipe by Jackie Alpers.

































