20+ Healthy Recipes for Cinco de Mayo

Explore over 20 healthy Cinco de Mayo recipes packed with bold Mexican flavor and fresh ingredients for a light and fit fiesta this year!

Cook ModePrevent your screen from going dark
3 recipe collage of grilled shrimp, calabacitas, and taco soup images

While Cinco de Mayo might immediately make you think tacos and burritos, that isn’t the only delicious Mexican food on the menu. These simple and healthy recipes feature grilling, roasting, and slow cooking methods without compromising flavor or taste. You’ll find amazing dishes with lean protein, minimal added fat, higher fiber, packed with fresh veggies, and more to make them worthy of the most health-conscious efforts. So whether you are trying to eat better for the summer or just want to save some calories for an extra margarita or two, you’ll find the perfect recipes for your fiesta here!

Healthy Mexican Recipes

Celebrate with my top fresh, flavorful and vibrant Latin dishes from the site!

Fresh Salsas and Toppings

Skip the chips and serve these as toppings for the lean proteins and healthy sides below.

Easy Guacamole in serving bowl 1x1
Easy Guacamole
Easy Guacamole recipe for the perfect dip for tortilla chips with fresh avocados, tomatoes, cilantro, lime, and red onion ready in 5 minutes.
View the Recipe
Pico Salsa in bowl with chips 1x1
Pico De Gallo Recipe
Pico de Gallo is a healthy, easy, authentic Mexican salsa for your favorite Mexican dishes or chips. Make it in just five minutes.
View the Recipe
Mango Salsa in serving bowl 1x1
Mango Salsa
Mango Salsa is sweet, tangy, lightly spiced, and ready in minutes with mango, pineapple, red onion, bell pepper, cilantro, lime juice, and jalapeno pepper.
View the Recipe
Chopped up fruit, onions, tomatoes, peppers and herbs mixed together in a wood bowl
Pineapple Salsa Recipe
Pineapple Salsa is a bright, healthy, and fresh fruit salsa perfect to serve with everything from tortilla chips to tacos to fish and meat.
View the Recipe
Green salsa in a white bowl with chips on the side
Chipotle Tomatillo Green-Chili Salsa Recipe
Chipotle Tomatillo Green-Chili Salsa is a zesty salsa bursting with bold flavor. It's the perfect on any Mexican dish and a spot-on copycat!
View the Recipe

Well Seasoned Lean Proteins

Serve these tender, flavor packed proteins with some black beans and grilled veggies for a light but healthy Mexican meal!

Aerial view of sliced steak
Carne Asada Recipe
Easy Carne Asada marinated in a spicy citrus and grilled to perfection. Use this Mexican steak recipe for the best burritos, tacos, and more.
View the Recipe
Instant Pot Pork Carnitas shredded meat on baking sheet after roasting. garnished with orange slices, 1x1
Instant Pot Pork Carnitas
Instant Pot Pork Carnitas is the quickest, tastiest pork carnitas recipe! Tender shredded pork shoulder with garlic, citrus and warm spices.
View the Recipe
Shrimp on dish 4x3
Grilled Cilantro Lime Shrimp Recipe
Grilled Cilantro Lime Shrimp is a bright, zesty dish that comes together fast, delivering bold flavor, and is finished in just 30 minutes!
View the Recipe
Chicken thighs on the grill, skin-side-up 4x3
El Pollo Loco Chicken (Copycat) Recipe
El Pollo Loco Chicken marinated in citrus and pineapple juice with savory seasonings. The PERFECT copycat recipe with super crispy skin!
View the Recipe
Chile Verde in bowl with sliced jalapenos
Slow Cooker Pork Chile Verde Recipe
Slow Cooker Pork Chile Verde is an easy crock pot version for a classic Mexican pork stew with green chilies. Try it for dinner this week!
View the Recipe
Slow Cooker Salsa Verde Chicken Recipe
Slow Cooker Salsa Verde Chicken is a bold and flavorful dish. Use as a taco filling or make into a tasty soup for an easy weeknight dinner.
View the Recipe
Chile Beef Colorado in bowl with yellow rice
Beef Chile Colorado
Beef Chile Colorado is the most delicious no-bean, Mexican chili recipe. Tender chuck roast slow cooked in a red chili sauce with dried New Mexico chiles.
View the Recipe
Shrimp Fajitas plated with rice, mostly shrimp and veggies in shot
Shrimp Fajitas
Skillet Shrimp Fajitas recipe with plump shrimp, peppers and onions in homemade fajita seasoning. Make these easy fajitas for dinner tonight!
View the Recipe

South of the Border Soups

Your favorite Mexican dishes but in a healthy, hearty soup that can feed a crowd!

Taco-style Soup in a large pot
Easy Taco Soup Recipe
Easy Taco Soup made with ground beef, beans, veggies, and seasoning blend is the PERFECT way to enjoy the taco flavors you love in a bowl!
View the Recipe
Tomatillo Soup close-up in pot
Chicken Tomatillo Soup Recipe
Chicken Tomatillo Soup is a healthy Mexican soup made with chicken breast, canned whole tomatillos and beans simmered until thick and hearty.
View the Recipe
Cooked soup in a Dutch oven with sour cream dollop
Black Bean Soup Recipe
Black Bean Soup is an easy, hearty, healthy vegetarian recipe full of warm Mexican flavors. Made with canned beans and ready in 30 minutes!
View the Recipe
Chicken Taco Soup in bowl with tortilla chip garnish
Chicken Taco Soup
Easy Chicken Taco Soup is an easy weeknight dinner with chicken breasts and easy pantry ingredients like chili beans, black beans, corn and green chilies.
View the Recipe
Chili's Chicken Enchilada Soup copycat is creamy, rich, slightly spicy and thick blended together and topped with chunks of chicken breast meat.
Chili’s Chicken Enchilada Soup (Copycat) Recipe
This creamy, flavorful Chili's Chicken Enchilada Soup copycat delivers the same rich, spicy, comforting taste you love in every spoonful!
View the Recipe
Bowl of Ground Beef Taco Soup in a white bowl with sour cream and cheese and chips
Slow Cooker Taco Soup Recipe
Slow Cooker Taco Soup is an easy, hearty, flavorful soup. Add the ingredients to the crockpot in the morning, and it will be ready by dinner!
View the Recipe

Healthy Sides and Veggies

Get your daily fiber and veggies with these zesty Tex-Mex sides.

Sautéed vegetables in a light cheese and cream sauce on plate.
Calabacitas (Mexican Zucchini) Recipe
Calabacitas (Mexican Zucchini) is a quick and easy Mexican side dish, made of sautéed vegetables in a light but creamy, cheesy sauce.
View the Recipe
Chipotle Copycat Black Beans in a pot
Chipotle Black Beans (Copycat) Recipe
Chipotle Black Beans (Copycat) recipe with a wonderful blend of seasonings and citrus, this easy recipe brings the taste of Chipotle Grill.
View the Recipe
Rice with cilantro and lime in serving dish.
Cilantro Lime Rice
Cilantro Lime Rice is an easy tasty Mexican side dish, made with fresh ingredients and ready in just 30 minutes. Better than takeout!
View the Recipe
Avocado Tomato Corn Salad in serving bowl on butcher block
Avocado Tomato Corn Salad
Avocado Tomato Corn Salad is the perfect side dish with creamy avocados, fresh tomatoes, crisp cucumbers, and corn all tossed in a zesty lemon dressing.
View the Recipe
All salad ingredients in bowl before tossing
Southwest Salad Recipe
Easy Southwest Salad recipe is loaded with tasty toppings and topped creamy avocado cilantro dressing. This might be your new favorite salad!
View the Recipe
silver mixing bowl with mixed bean salad
Mexican Bean Salad Recipe
Mexican Bean Salad is a light, healthy salad that is perfect to serve as a side for meals or as a salad topper! Try this zesty salad soon!
View the Recipe

These tasty healthy recipes mean you don’t have to skip the flavors or the celebration this Cinco de Mayo! Be sure to let me know in the comments which ones were your favorite. And if you’re looking for more robust flavors without the compromise, be sure to check out my collection of 20+ Healthy Lunch Bowl Ideas or my Hearty Fresh Salads Collection. These are great for kids’ lunches or for meals on the go too!

3 recipe collage of grilled shrimp, calabacitas, and taco soup images and ingredients lists

About the Author: Sabrina Snyder

Sabrina is a professionally trained Private Chef of over 10 years with ServSafe Manager certification in food safety. She creates all the recipes here on Dinner, then Dessert, fueled in no small part by her love for bacon.

Sabrina Snyder is a professionally trained personal and private chef of over 10 years who is the creator and developer of all the recipes on Dinner, then Dessert.

She is also the author of the cookbook Dinner, then Dessert – Satisfying Meals Using Only 3, 5 or 7 Ingredients, published by Harper Collins.

She started Dinner, then Dessert as a business in her office as a lunch service for her coworkers who admired her lunches before going to culinary school and becoming a full time personal chef and private chef.

As a personal chef Sabrina would cook for families one day a week and cook their entire week of dinners. All grocery shopping, cooking and cleaning was done along with instructions on reheating. As a private chef she cooked for private parties and cooked in family homes in the evenings for families on a nightly basis after working as a personal chef during the day.

Sabrina has been certified as a ServSafe Manager since 2007 and was a longstanding member of the USPCA Personal Chef Association including being on the board of the Washington DC Chapter of Chefs in the US Personal Chef Association when they won Chapter of the year.

As a member of the community of food website creators Sabrina Snyder has spoken at many conferences regarding her experiences as a food writer including the Indulge Food Conference, Everything Food Conference, Haven Food Conference and IACP Annual Food Professionals Conference.

Sabrina lives with her family in sunny California.

Dinner, then Dessert, Inc. owns the copyright on all images and text and does not allow for its original recipes and pictures to be reproduced anywhere other than at this site unless authorization is given. Read my disclosure and copyright policy. This post may contain affiliate links.

Categories

Leave a comment & rating

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Maximum file size: 10 MB.
Allowed formats: JPG, JPEG, PNG, WebP, AVIF.
Drop images here

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.