50+ authentic Guatemalan recipes with step-by-step instructions. Pepian, tamales, kak'ik, pollo en crema, paches, tapado, and more -- written by a Guatemalan native with real ingredients and local tips.
Easy
Authentic Guatemalan arroz con pollo recipe -- chicken and rice baked with vegetables, olives, and …
Pre-Columbian Maya beverage
Easy
Authentic atol blanco recipe -- a thick, savory white corn drink served with frijol piloy, …
Easy
Authentic atol de elote recipe -- a warm, creamy drink made from fresh corn, cinnamon, and sugar. …
Easy
Authentic atol de platano recipe -- a warm, thick drink made from ripe plantains, cinnamon, and …
Medium
Authentic Guatemalan bunuelos recipe -- crispy fried dough balls soaked in anise-scented honey …
Easy
Authentic caldo de gallina recipe -- a nourishing Guatemalan hen soup with vegetables, herbs, and a …
Medium
Authentic caldo de mariscos recipe -- a rich Guatemalan seafood soup with shrimp, fish, crab, and …
Easy
Authentic caldo de res recipe -- a hearty Guatemalan beef and vegetable soup with corn on the cob, …
Easy
Authentic canillitas de leche recipe -- traditional Guatemalan milk candy sticks made with just …
Medium
Authentic carne guisada recipe -- Guatemalan beef stew with roasted tomatoes, potatoes, and carrots …
Easy
Authentic Guatemalan ceviche recipe -- cooked shrimp marinated in lime with tomatoes, onion, …
Easy
Authentic champurradas recipe -- Guatemalan butter cookies topped with toasted sesame seeds, perfect …
Medium
Authentic Guatemalan chiles rellenos recipe -- roasted peppers stuffed with meat and vegetables, …
Maya word meaning 'running nose' -- ancient Mesoamerican condiment
Easy
Authentic chirmol recipe -- Guatemala's charred tomato salsa with onion, cilantro, and lime. The …
Cacao originated in Mesoamerica -- Guatemala is the ancestral homeland of chocolate
Easy
Authentic Guatemalan hot chocolate recipe -- rich, thick, and made with real chocolate tablets, …
Easy
Authentic chuchitos recipe -- small corn masa tamales with chicken in tomato-guaque sauce, wrapped …
Easy
Authentic Guatemalan curtido recipe -- a vibrant pickled vegetable medley with beets, carrots, …
Easy
Authentic dobladas recipe -- Guatemalan fried folded tortillas stuffed with refried beans and …
Easy
Authentic dulce de ayote recipe -- Guatemalan squash slow-cooked in panela syrup with cinnamon and …
Easy
Authentic Guatemalan dulce de coco recipe -- sweet coconut candy made with grated coconut, condensed …
Medium
Authentic Guatemalan empanadas de platano recipe -- sweet ripe plantain dough filled with creamy …
Medium
Authentic enchiladas guatemaltecas recipe -- crispy tostadas piled high with ground beef, beet …
Medium
Authentic estofado recipe -- a slow-cooked Guatemalan meat stew with olives, capers, and prunes in a …
Advanced
Authentic fiambre recipe -- the legendary 50+ ingredient salad served on November 1st. Cold cuts, …
Easy
Authentic frijoles volteados recipe -- creamy refried black beans the Guatemalan way. The essential …
Traditional dish of Jutiapa and eastern Guatemala
Advanced
Authentic gallo en chicha recipe -- rooster slowly cooked in chicha, a fermented fruit and corn …
Medium
Authentic garnachas recipe -- small crispy Guatemalan tortillas topped with seasoned ground beef, …
Easy
Authentic Guatemalan guacamol recipe -- creamy avocado with oregano, lime, and onion. Different from …
Easy
Authentic hilachas recipe -- tender shredded beef in a rich tomato and guaque chile sauce with …
Easy
Authentic Guatemalan horchata recipe -- a refreshing cold drink made from rice, sesame, pepitoria, …
Patrimonio Cultural Intangible de Guatemala (2007)
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Authentic jocon recipe from Huehuetenango -- a vibrant green sauce of tomatillos, cilantro, and …
Patrimonio Cultural Intangible (2007) -- Q'eqchi' Maya Heritage
Advanced
Authentic kak'ik recipe -- the sacred Q'eqchi' Maya turkey soup from Coban, colored red with achiote …
Medium
Authentic Guatemalan molletes recipe -- sweet bread stuffed with custard cream, dipped in egg …
Traditional dish of Quetzaltenango (Xela)
Advanced
Authentic paches recipe -- Guatemalan potato tamales wrapped in banana leaves with a rich recado …
Patrimonio Cultural Intangible de Guatemala (2007)
Medium
Authentic pepian recipe -- Guatemala's national dish since pre-Columbian times. A rich meat stew …
Easy
Authentic platanos en mole recipe -- ripe plantains fried golden and bathed in a sweet-spicy …
Easy
Authentic pollo en crema recipe -- tender chicken pieces simmered in a rich cream sauce with loroco. …
Easy
Authentic pollo guisado recipe -- Guatemalan chicken stew in a roasted tomato and achiote sauce with …
Easy
Authentic polvorosas recipe -- delicate Guatemalan shortbread cookies with a jam center, dusted with …
Easy
Authentic ponche navideño recipe -- a warm, spiced fruit punch with pineapple, papaya, apple, and …
Medium
Authentic pulique recipe -- a thick Guatemalan stew of meat and vegetables thickened with masa, …
Easy
Authentic rellenitos recipe -- sweet mashed plantain stuffed with sweetened black bean paste, fried …
Advanced
Authentic revolcado recipe -- a rich, thick pork stew made with head meat in a tomato and guaque …
Easy
Authentic rosa de jamaica recipe -- a vibrant, tart-sweet hibiscus flower drink served iced. One of …
Easy
Authentic Guatemalan black bean soup recipe -- creamy, smoky, and topped with crema, dry cheese, and …
Ancestral Kaqchikel Maya Dish -- Patrimonio Cultural
Advanced
Authentic suban'ik recipe -- a ceremonial Kaqchikel Maya dish of meats in a rich chile recado, …
Advanced
Authentic tamales colorados recipe -- the red tamales Guatemalan families make by the hundreds for …
Advanced
Authentic tamales negros recipe -- dark, sweet tamales with chocolate mole, almonds, prunes, and …
Medium
Authentic tamalitos de chipilin recipe -- small Guatemalan tamales made with corn masa and chipilin …
Easy
Authentic tamalitos de elote recipe -- sweet tamales made from fresh corn kernels, wrapped in corn …
Garifuna culinary heritage of Livingston, Izabal
Medium
Authentic tapado recipe -- Guatemala's Garifuna coconut seafood soup with fish, shrimp, crab, …
Easy
Authentic torrejas recipe -- sweet bread dipped in egg batter, fried golden, and soaked in warm …
Easy
Authentic Guatemalan tostadas recipe -- crispy corn tortillas topped with guacamol, black beans, …
These are not tourist versions of Guatemalan food. They are the recipes I grew up eating – the ones my grandmother made, the ones you find at comedores in the mercado, the ones families spend all day preparing for holidays.
Guatemalan cuisine is one of the oldest living food traditions in the Americas. Dishes like pepian and kak’ik trace directly back to pre-Columbian Maya cooking, using ingredients like pepitoria (squash seeds), achiote, and chiles that have been cultivated in this region for thousands of years.
Every recipe on this page includes authentic Guatemalan ingredient names, metric and US measurements, and tips on where to find specialty ingredients if you are cooking from abroad.
Looking for food prices in Guatemala? Check our updated grocery prices and complete food guide.
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