Vegan Mexican Recipes easy to follow, delicious, and healthy.

How to Make Champurrado

These cold winter nights call for a nice hot mug of champurrado. Champurrado is a pre-Colombian drink made with fresh masa, water, piloncillo, and Mexican chocolate. It is especially good with perfectly tender tamales.

Champurrado History

Champurrrado ingredients are quite simple but the combination is irresistible. Before the Spanish arrived in Mexico with their cows and their milk, champurrado was made with water.

It is said that the great Aztec emperor Moctezuma Xocoyotzin enjoyed this beverage which he drank in ceremonial vessels made of gold, sweetened with agave honey, and spiced with a bit of chile.

Fray Bernardino de Sahagún documented the consumption of atoll or atolli which was drunk by the indigenous warm or cold, for breakfast or sometimes as a meal in itself. It was also used for medicinal and ceremonial purposes.

Atole vs Champurrado

So what is the difference between atole and champurrado?? Atole is also a drink from pre-Columbian times that can be sweet or savory depending on the region in Mexico where you are. Traditionally, it is made by dissolving ground dried corn in milk or water and adding fruits or different flavorings to it. Champurrado is simply atole with chocolate added to it, in other words, chocolate atole.

How to Make Champurrado

Making champurrado is quite easy, the piloncillo and cinnamon are simmered in water until completely dissolved, then a Mexican chocolate tablet is added. Once the chocolate has melted into the piloncillo mixture the fresh masa is added. The masa thickens the chocolate creating a thick, sweet, and chocolatey drink. Then everything is frothed with a molinillo and served hot.

The Recipe: How to Make Champurrado

This authentic Mexican champurrado is made with water instead of milk, just like in pre-Columbian times.

If you want to use milk I recommend you use almond-coconut milk.
The recipe calls for fresh masa, but if you can’t find it you can use masa harina.
I’ve used Ibarra chocolate, but you can use your favorite Mexican hot chocolate.
Enjoy!!

Champurrado

5 from 1 vote

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Course: Drinks

Cuisine: Mexican

Keyword: champurrado, chocolate, vegan mexican

Total Time: 20 minutes

Servings: cups

Calories: 96kcal

Author: Dora S.

Ingredients

4 cups Water
1 Ceylon cinnamon stick
1/3 - 1/2 cup Chopped piloncillo (2-4 oz.)
1 Mexican Chocolate disk (I used Ibarra, chopped into 4 pieces)
½ cup Fresh masa for tortillas (nixtamal)

Instructions

Place 3 cups of water, chopped piloncillo, and cinnamon stick in a medium sauce pot and bring to a simmer. Simmer for 1 to 2 minutes or until the piloncillo has completely dissolved.
Add the Mexican chocolate and continue to simmer and stir until chocolate has completely dissolved, about 3 minutes.
In the meantime place the fresh masa in a large bowl and pour 1 cup of water over the masa. Use your hand to dissolve the masa into the water.
Strain the masa liquid, and pour it into the simmering hot chocolate. Stir and froth with a molinillo or whisk.
Simmer for 6 to 8 minutes or until the champurrado has thickened. Serve hot!!

Notes

If you like your champurrado on the thick side use ¾ cup of fresh masa, but remember, the champurrado will continue to thicken as it cools. I used Ibarra chocolate but you can use your favorite Mexican hot chocolate. If you can’t find fresh masa you can use 3/4 cup of masa harina.

Nutrition

12/27/2018/5 Comments/by Dora S.

Christmas, Main Course, Vegan Mexican Recipes

Vegan Espagueti Verde Recipe

This vegan poblano cream sauce pasta, which is my version of an espagueti verde recipe is creamy, spicy, and delicious! This creamy poblano sauce is made with a combination of almonds, roasted poblano peppers, garlic, and cilantro. It’s blended until smooth then poured over your favorite pasta. My family usually makes it for Christmas, along with tamales, pozole, and buñuelos. It’s one of those dishes that is easy to make in large quantities so it’s perfect to take to a potluck or family gathering.

This is the first Mexican recipe I veganized and published on this blog. I can’t believe it’s been 4 years of blogging professionally!! So much has happened since I started, and I’ve learned so much. But there’s still so much more to do and learn, and there are hundreds of vegan Mexican recipes yet to be made vegan.

Along the way, I’ve discovered an amazing community of people just like me who are Mexican or Mexican-American who have taken the plunge into veganism and sorely missed the food of their mamas and abuelas. People like me who realize that food is such a big part of our culture and simply don’t want to miss out.

I hope my recipes inspire you to go vegan if you’re not already one, and if you are one, that these recipes can help keep the traditions alive in your family without the cruelty or detrimental effects to your health that eating an animal-based diet brings.

The Recipe: Espagueti Verde

This “cream” sauce is made with raw almonds. You can use cashews instead if you like, but I think cashews are too sweet for this. It’s pretty amazing that you can make a cream sauce with nothing but some nut and a blender!!

If you do not have a high powered blender, you will have to soak the almonds the night before, and peel.
Toss the sauce with the pasta in a large bowl. Do not heat up sauce, if the sauce gets too hot it could break.
You can pour this on pasta or vegetable noodles. It also makes a great salsa for tacos.
If this is not spicy enough for you, throw in a jalapeño with the poblano peppers in the oven.
Enjoy!

spaghetti on green poblano sauce in a white bowl

Poblano Cream Sauce Pasta

This vegan espagueti verde recipe is creamy, spicy and rich. The roasted poblano cream sauce is perfect for tossing pasta in.

5 from 3 votes

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Course: Main Course

Cuisine: Mexican

Keyword: poblano cream sauce, vegan mexican, vegan pasta

Cook Time: 25 minutes

Total Time: 25 minutes

Servings: servings

Author: Dora Stone