Tlacoyos are small, flattened masa pockets that are stuffed with either beans, cheese or fava beans and then grilled on a comal. They’re a Mexico City street snack made almost exclusively by women, and usually you can find them near any subway station, market or tianguis.
A well-made tlacoyo has a crisp exterior, creamy innards and a tang from a drizzle of salsa and a handful of diced nopales on top. They’re also healthy, since most tlacoyeras don’t add oil.
I have enthused about them before. But I’m not sure if I’ve ever made it clear that tlacoyos are actually my favorite Mexico City street snack. A freshly made tlacoyo is — as I have just learned in my slightly vulgar Mexican slang dictionary, purchased in the Centro Histórico — chingonométrico.
Here are some of my favorite tlacoyo photographs that I’ve taken over the years.
A piece of a bean tlacoyo topped with green salsa, on an Eat Mexico tour.
A tlacoyo de requesón.
A tetela, similar to a tlacoyo but smaller and triangle-shaped. We made this one at Susana Trilling’s cooking class in Oaxaca.
Folding tlacoyos — these were called “tlayoyos” — at the Mole Festival in Puebla in 2012.
Tlacoyos filled with alberjón, a type of garbanzo, and avocado leaf, at the Mole Festival in Puebla 2012.
Small blue-corn tlacoyos, also at Puebla’s Mole Festival.
Tlacoyos cooked on a clay comal at the Corn and Nixtamal Fair near Xochimilco, Mexico City.
A tlacoyo from the same Corn & Nixtamal Fair.
Tlacoyos from Tlaxcala.
My very own homemade tlacoyos, made in Madrid, Spain in the summer of 2012.
Tlacoyos are my VERY FAVORITE of all the mexican street foods. And unlike some of the others, they’re seemingly impossible to find outside of Mexico. Those ones from Tlaxcala look amazing… I’m so hungry right now!
So you’ve made them yourself… any suggestions on how / where to find a recipe to recreate them? I live in Canada so can’t always find the exact ingredients, but am willing to treasure hunt a bit to try to make these. 🙂 Thanks!
Por favor so usted puede averiguar donde puedo conseguir semillas de PEPINO A MARGO se agradesera
En Wash. State.
I tried these while in Mexico City a couple of years ago but have yet to see them in the Yucatan, where I’m travelling currently. Your photos make them look so delicious, I can’t wait to get further inland again!
You probably will never find them, they are a central mexico thing, just like you wont find sopa de lima in central mexico.
Are these sometimes also called memelas? I used to eat these all the time in Puebla, but I don’t recall them being called tlaycoyos.
Some of the best tlacoyos we’ve had were made by a woman and her assistant at the corner of Calle Puebla and Calle Orizaba, Colonia Roma Norte. Besides having delicious frijol or haba fillings, you had a choice of topping, such as quelites.
The most seriously “deadly” rich’n greasy tlacoyos seen recently were in a small tortillería on Calle Centenario in Ixmiquilpan, Hidalgo. The filling was of roughly mashed frijoles, lard and chile. But I did not try any. They were alluring but I was wary.
Later, on our return to Ixmi after Grutas de Tolantongo, we visited outside the Mercado Municipal de Ixmiquilpan, where we feasted on tlacoyos and surprisingly, pupusas made with crumbled chicharrón. Great stuff! We resisted ordering more, as we wanted to go inside the Mercado for a sit down breakfast.
Saludos,
Don Cuevas
Hope to try these one day. They look and soiunf delicious.
Hope you are all settled and that one day we will be able to meet….
Had my first ones while on one of your tours in DF in January! I’d never had one, but Ben took me to a small stand in El Centro next to the masa plant, and they were FABULOSO! Will definitely add them to my list of must-haves on future travels. Loved your pictures.
Lesley – I have only one thing to say about your photos: To see them is to taste them. Mmmmmmmm.
My family adores them and insists on them for breakfast every day when we’re in D.F.
Thanks!!
Daphne
Oh my goodness! Tlacoyos are sheer deliciousness. They are my favorite, too. I can never resist a tlacoyo de requesón. Mmmm!
My favorite tlacoyo stand is run by a husband-wife team. It is located right outside CENLEX-Casco de Santo Tomás, near the metro Normal stop.
I’ve also had some delicious “tlayoyos” de haba at the quaint “Los Jarritos” restaurant in Cuetzalan, Puebla.
I love your pictures from the Mole Festival. What variety! Thanks, Lesley!
OMGoodness! I’ve heard of tlacoyos, but I’ve never had them. After seein your pictures, they’re definitely on my list of foods to try the next time I go to el DF.
They are my favorite street food as well–espcially with habas. Contrary to most street food advice, I avoid freshly made tlacoyos and look for ones sitting on the side of the comal. After they’ve been sitting a while, then reheated, the outside tends to be a bit crunchier.
Tlacoyos lovers, I would love to have some of these — can you advise me please?! In a couple of days I’ll be staying overnite at the MEX Aeropuerto Ramada and in the afternoon going on to Tepoztlan. I would love to get to a tlacoyos stand and back to the airport in the 3ish hours I have open, without getting too lost. What would be the best way to do this? Thank you very much.
Hi Liz: I’m so sorry I didn’t see your comment until now — for some reason it was in my spam folder. I guess it’s probably not helpful now, but you could try to take a cab to the Centro Histórico (about 20 minutes from the airport) and ask around. Or you could tell your cabbie to take you to his favorite tlacoyo spot. You could also take a cab to the Mercado de Medellín in the Roma and get one there from the ladies out front. Keep in mind that they and others start running out of food around 3:30 p.m. I hope that helps and I apologize for the delayed reply!
So what exactly is the difference between a tlacoyo, and a gordita? I’ve eaten gorditas in the north of the country (Durango) and they’re nearly exactly the same as a tlacoyo; though gorditas I believe are often made of wheat flour rather than masa. Maybe that’s the main difference…?
Hi Andrew: There are several differences, probably the two biggest ones being the shape and how they’re served. Gorditas are circular and usually served by cutting into them (almost in half, but not entirely), and stuffing them with various fillings (chorizo & potato, cheese, occasionally shredded lettuce, etc), almost like a thin sort of sandwich. In Mexico City they’re made 99 percent of the time with nixtamalized corn, although I do know of one place that sells “northern style” gorditas made with wheat flour. You can also find sweet gorditas in front of churches sometimes, also made with wheat flour, but the nixtamalized corn version is overwhelmingly more popular.
A tlacoyo in Mexico City has an oblong shape, like a flattened football; they’re generally filled with either cheese, beans or fava beans, and they’re most commonly topped with cactus, cilantro and onion. You don’t generally slice them in half — most vendors make a straight cut into them lengthwise, from tip to tip, and then place the toppings on top of that, almost like you would a tostada. They’re also usually grilled on a comal, or perhaps drizzled with just a little oil. Gorditas, meanwhile, can be either deep-fried or grilled. Nobody to my knowledge deep-fries a tlacoyo.
Tlacoyos also change their name and shape outside Mexico City. In Puebla you can find small triangle-shaped ones, and I’ve seen several filled with alberjón and avocado leaf. I haven’t seen them in Oaxaca or further south.
I just read the NYT review you did and was hoping to find a link to some recipes on your page since you mentioned the “internship” with your favorite purveyor. Please share a recipe! The masses need to try their hands at tlacoyos!
Hi José: I know this is slightly annoying, but… there will be a recipe in my book. After the book comes out I’m happy to share even a video of how to make them. I completely agree with you that the masses need to try their hands at them! I will tell you that the secret is using fresh, nixtamalized masa and not rehydrated nixtamalized flour. Plus no one gets it right the first time. Or the second, or the third. Thanks for your comment!