Cinco de Mayo Party Food Ideas

Cinco de Mayo Party Food Ideas

Cooking meals for holidays is so much fun, but it often proves to be very overwhelming. Even (especially?) when you really enjoy cooking, it’s all but impossible to pick a few recipes to serve that your group will love and that won’t take hours and hours to prepare. With Cinco de Mayo less than two weeks away, I’ve put together some of my favorite Cinco de Mayo party food ideas. I’ve included a range of simple to impressive but not overly complex dishes with something for everyone.

Cinco de Mayo Party Food Ideas - Cheesy Avocado Quesadillas via Damn Delicious | https://www.roseclearfield.com

Appetizers

You can’t beat a batch of freshly made salsa, pico de gallo, or guacamole with your favorite chips. Fill out the appetizers table with homemade jalapeno poppers, quesadillas (pictured), chicken skewers, or shrimp cocktail.

Cinco de Mayo Party Food Ideas - Weeknight Chicken Tacos via How Sweet Eats | https://www.roseclearfield.com

Main dish

My go-to main dish for Mexican food is tacos. I love serving them to a group of people because you can create a taco bar with different toppings. We eat a lot of old school ground beef tacos in our house, but I love chicken tacos (pictured), too. When I’m at a restaurant, I always go for fish tacos. Consider making a couple of different meats for your family or friends.

I could spend this whole post just sharing taco recipes, but a few other great options include steak tacos, barbacoa beef tacos, shrimp tacos, and black bean and corn tacos. If you’re ambitious, make your own tortillas. (I don’t, so no judgment.) Provide adorable taco holders to keep everyone’s taco creations together.

Of course, you shouldn’t feel limited to tacos. Burritos and enchiladas are perfect for Cinco de Mayo party food, too. If you want to limit the carbs, offer the option to build tacos or burritos in bowls, iso guests can layer the ingredients of their choosing without a tortilla.

Cinco de Mayo Party Food Ideas - Mexican Street Corn via Little Spice Jar | https://www.roseclearfield.com

Side dishes

Keep your side dishes classic with homemade yellow rice and refried beans. Cilantro lime rice and Mexican street corn (pictured) are other great options. I linked an ear corn recipe there, but you can also make street corn salad or dip!

Bailey's Pumpkin Spice Tres Leches Cake | https://www.roseclearfield.com

Desserts

The only Mexican desserts I make are Mexican hot chocolate cupcakes and tres leches cake. If you want a tres leches cake variation, try chocolate or Bailey’s (pictured). You could even make tres leches cake donuts! I absolutely love churros, so I had to include a churro recipe or two here. My votes are for baked churros or churro cheesecake bars.

Cinco de Mayo Party Food Ideas - Perfect Pitcher Margaritas via Two Sisters Kitchen | https://www.roseclearfield.com

Drinks

It wouldn’t be a Cinco de Mayo party without festive drinks. There’s nothing wrong with keeping things simple and making a batch of margaritas (pictured). For those who are more ambitious with their mixology, try ginger beergaritas or any one of the other amazing margarita variations Jessica mentions in this post. (It has a lot of other great Cinco de Mayo party food, too!) If you want a non-alcoholic drink, whip up a batch of horchata.

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What Cinco de Mayo party food do you like to serve at holiday celebrations?

I want to hear about your favorite food in the comments!

Pin this post for easy access to the Cinco de Mayo party food ideas later!

Cinco de Mayo Party Food Ideas

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9 thoughts on “Cinco de Mayo Party Food Ideas”

  1. You’ve got me craving a margarita real bad!! Ahhh. We had tacos yesterday for dinner, but I’m pretty sure I could eat them every single night!

  2. We are not party people, but we’re actually planning to attend a gym potluck next Friday. I was trying to decide what to bring, but now I’m thinking tres leches! Of course, there’s a pretty good chance my husband wouldn’t let it out of the door because it’s one of his favorites, but I might have to take that risk because I think everyone at the gym would love it.

  3. Usually my friends and I go out to celebrate “Cinco de Mayo” – and although we have made our reservations already. I am definitely going to have to have my own party also, such great recipe ideas!!! Can’t wait to try the desert and of course the Margarita!!!
    I will have to look for my pics of last years celebration!

  4. Great ideas. I love Mexican food especially tacos and enchiladas. My favorite are Mole enchiladas (like a chocolate spicy sauce). For deserts I like Bunelos which are very delicious. Give these a shot some time.

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