34 Mexican Foods And Drinks To Make For A Dia De Los Muertos Celebration

The Mexican holiday Dia de los Muertos, or Day of the Dead, is a traditional celebration of loved ones who have passed away that takes place on November 1st and 2nd of each year. Families will create altars (or ofrendas) to the dead to encourage them to visit, adorning them with offerings and mementos such as flowers, photos, candles, and skull-shaped candies and sweets. Rather than a time of mourning, Dia de los Muertos is a party, the idea being that for a few days you can once again enjoy a meal and celebrate with those who have passed on. We’ve gathered up our 34 favorite (Mexican-inspired) party foods to get you started, but feel free to make whatever your dearly departed loved ones liked best.

Looking for something to get your party started? You can’t go wrong with classic guacamole or queso fundido. For mains, we’re thinking of things that are easy to serve to a crowd (you’re sharing with your family and the dead, after all), like our pozole, our salsa verde enchiladas, or our chiles rellenos. If your family is a little smaller, try our Mexican tostadas, our arepas, or our bean & cheese taquitos—because you assemble them individually, you can make as many (or as few) as you like. Next up, desserts, which some might say are the most important part of the celebration. We’ve included traditional pan de muerto, churros, tres leches cake, and flan, as well as some not-so-traditional spins, like our churro cookies, our sopapilla cheesecake bars, and our day of the dead cookies. Make a batch of any of these and the smell alone will be sure to bring your ancestors back from the beyond.

And don’t forget the drinks! This is the time to break out the good stuff, so we’ve included our Cadillac margarita and mezcal margaritas for those who are drinking, and our Mexican hot chocolate and horchata for anyone who isn’t. Check out the rest of our Mexican drinks for more ideas too.

As always, we hope these recipes will help broaden your perspective, and inspire you to try something new. We think the best part about appreciating a culture you’re not a part of is the opportunity to try something new, while also having the flexibility to (respectfully!) not be perfect about it.