17 Traditional Foods To Try For Day Of The Dead

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Traditional Mexican foods and drinks are at the heart of the Day of the Dead. Between November 1st and 2nd of every year, Mexican families visit the graves of those who have passed or make ofrendas (offerings) to the dead on special altars (via Britannica). Largely, these ofrendas are foods and drinks their loved ones enjoyed while they were living. For example, you might offer conchas because they were your grandma's favorite pastry and champurrado since you have fond memories of drinking it with your grandpa. However, the food and drinks on the Day of the Dead are not only for the dead; families feast together.

The Day of the Dead (Día de los Muertos) originated with the indigenous people of Mexico. Scholars think it was connected with the changing seasons or asking the dead and nature to help bring a good corn harvest. Then, when the Spaniards converted the natives to Catholicism, they wrapped up the Day of the Dead traditions with All Saint's Day and All Soul's Day (via The New York Times). Over time, it's grown to be a colorful day of remembrance full of sugar skulls, tasty foods like tamales and red pozole, and drinks like atole and pulque. If you're lucky, you may find some of these tasty foods and drinks at a Mexican restaurant near you on el Día de los Muertos.

Another food you'll see at every Day of the Dead celebration is pan de muertos (bread of the dead). Elizabeth Hernandez of La Patrona Bakery told The New York Times that pan de muertos is "a symbol of their death, but at the same time, life." Pan de muertos has a texture similar to challah or brioche and often contains a dusting of sugar on top. Often, bakers add shapes on top that look like skulls and crossbones, but recipes vary regionally. Some contain sesame seeds while others may have anise seeds or orange blossom flavoring. Some bakers even add pre-made, painted caritas (little faces) to the top of the bread. You can even find some with a cream or chocolate filling (via Bloomberg).

Families usually make multiple loaves of pan de muertos or pick up multiple loaves from the bakery –- some for the family to eat and some to use as an ofrenda for dead loved ones (via Big 7 Travel). If you can find pan de muertos at your local Mexican bakery or restaurant, don't forget to pick up some Mexican hot chocolate to go with it.

Another Day of the Dead food tradition that takes a lot of effort to make and often involves the whole family is tamales. Tamales are packages of corn masa with sweet or savory filling inside. They're wrapped in banana, corn, or other leaves before being steamed (via NPR). The humble tamale has been around since at least 7000 B.C. While it's certainly not fast food, the leaf packaging makes it easy to transport, which has kept it popular throughout the years.

While Mexicans eat tamales year-round, it's also a big part of holiday traditions, including Día de los Muertos. According to The Takeout, sweet tamales are often placed on the Day of the Dead altar for children, while spicy ones are placed on the altar for adults.

Having been around for so long, tamales come in a variety of flavors and cooking styles. The folding method may differ. For example, corundas are triangular rather than cylindrical (via Big 7 Travel). Some villages still engage in an ancient practice that involves making a gigantic tamale called a zacahuil, which is wrapped in a huge banana leaf and can feed a large number of people. A baker in Veracruz makes one in an outdoor oven on the Day of the Dead that can feed over 100 people. It cooks slowly in a mud-enclosed oven overnight (via Mexican Sugar Skull).

Sopa Azteca (Aztec soup) is similar to what we normally call tortilla soup in the U.S. However, it has even more ingredients to enjoy. Thus, we think it's Mexican food that everyone should try. The sopa Azteca soup base starts with tomatoes, garlic, onions, chile peppers, Mexican oregano, and other spices. According to The San Diego Union-Tribune, dried chilaca peppers (chile pasilla or chile negro) are the peppers Mexican cooks most often use for making this soup. However, some regions use an ancho or arbol pepper instead. Once you've made the soup, you should top it with fresh ingredients like cheese (queso panela), Mexican crema, dried chiles, avocados, tortilla chips, and lime wedges. Every family's recipe is a little different, having been handed down through the generations.

If you're lucky, you can find Sopa Azteca on the menu at a Mexican restaurant or another type of restaurant as a part of its Day of the Dead menu (via Instagram). If you find it on a menu or make it for yourself, you'll instantly understand why tortilla soup is only a poor imitation.

Calabaza en tacha (candied pumpkin) is a very popular sweet dish that is common in the fall and around the Day of the Dead. The pre-colonial Mayans made calabaza en tacha by covering the pumpkin in honey and cooking it in a fire pit. However, today's cooks boil it and sweeten it with cane sugar instead (via Big 7 Travel). Like other Día de los Muertos dishes, the ingredients for this Mexican pumpkin treat differ regionally. In addition to pumpkin, it's usually boiled with water, piloncillo (cones of raw cane sugar), and cinnamon sticks. Some cooks also use orange juice and spices like anise and cloves.

According to Maricruz Avalos from M.A. Kitchen, it's good with a glass of milk. In fact, some people put the candied pumpkin in the milk. For a basic calabaza en tacha, you would drizzle the piloncillo syrup over the top. However, it's also nice with a drizzling of condensed milk or cajeta (Mexican caramel sauce) and a sprinkling of pecans or pine nuts.

Since calabaza en tacha contains sugar and cinnamon, the dish is reminiscent of the candied yams that we tend to eat in the U.S. in the fall. However, pumpkin yields bonuses that yams don't –- roastable seeds and pumpkin flowers. Roasted and salted pumpkin seeds and dishes containing pumpkin flowers are common additions to Day of the Dead feasts and altars (via Day of the Dead).

When making tamales, it's not uncommon to use the same corn masa flour to make a hot drink called atole. The Spanish word "atole" comes from the Nahuatl word "ātōlli." You may also hear this drink called atolli or atol de elote. The drink is especially popular during tamale-making holidays like the Day of the Dead and Christmas (via DBpeDía). Thus, it's a drink full of nostalgia and family memories.

Jasmin Alejandrez-Prasad from Popsugar says every family makes the drink differently, but the foundations are usually similar -– masa harina (corn flour), cinnamon, piloncillo (raw cane sugar), cinnamon, and vanilla. Some people toast the corn flour first, and others add other spices like anise.

Alejandrez-Prasad says, "The process of preparing atole is a ritual itself." So, it's important to be intentional with the preparation of atole when making it for a Day of the Dead ofrenda. She suggests being alone in the kitchen when you're cooking it. Then, "pour a cup for yourself and cups for as many ancestors as you wish to honor. Toast to their legacy, and sip in gratitude."

Chocolate has a long historical connection to the dead in Mexico. The Mayans used it to help escort people into the afterlife. When you offered chocolate to the dead, the Mayans thought it would travel with the soul and usher in rebirth. Not only was it believed to provide a link from the living world to the afterlife, but it was enjoyed by mourners of the deceased (via Huff Post).

According to Huff Post, families may leave Mexican hot chocolate out for children for Día de los Angelitos (Day of the Little Angels), which takes place the day before Día de los Muertos. Then, they will drink it again on the Day of the Dead to honor their adult loved ones. Drinking Mexican hot chocolate is especially customary as a part of the evening watch at the cemetery. Some people even pour hot chocolate into the graves.

While Mexican hot chocolate is popular throughout cooler months of the year, it's especially prominent during holiday celebrations like the Day of the Dead. The difference between Mexican hot chocolate and the hot chocolate we drink in the U.S. relates to the type of chocolate in it (often Mexican chocolate) and the addition of spices like cinnamon, nutmeg, and cayenne pepper (via Big 7 Travel).

Mexico's native marigold flower is everywhere during Day of the Dead celebrations since the celebration combines both Catholic and Aztec rituals. The marigold's connection with the celebration and Aztec beliefs have led Mexicans to also call it the Flor de Muerto (Flower of the Dead). Aztecs believed that marigolds could "help guide lost souls" with their strong smell. Marigolds placed on ofrendas and graves help guide the souls of the deceased to their families during the Día de los Muertos festivities and back to their graves afterward (via Newsweek).

With marigolds playing such an important role in Day of the Dead celebrations, it's no wonder they occasionally make their way into drinks like marigold-infused tequila or flor de muertos margaritas. While you can infuse your own alcohol with marigolds, it's also possible to find Araceli Marigold Liqueur in Arizona and California. Victoria Araceli Vann created this marigold-infused liquor with Día de los Muertos in mind (via Araceli Liqueur). The flavor is similar to an orange creamsicle (via AZ Central).

According to MasterClass, not all marigolds are edible, so you shouldn't throw just any marigold into your margarita without being sure. Citrus marigolds can lend a citrus taste, similar to an orange soda, to alcoholic beverages. French marigolds though will infuse a drink with more of a "dusky orange" taste (via The Chef's Garden).

Mexico's café de olla uses a special brewing method that originated during the Mexican Revolution when women attempted to make large quantities of coffee for the soldiers on the front lines (via La Monarca). The women made the coffee in gigantic clay pots and fortified it with sugar and spices to provide the soldiers with extra pep and energy. Even today, some Mexicans brew café de olla in earthy clay pots, but sometimes they make Mexican coffee in metal stovetop coffee pots instead. The coffee contains piloncillo (raw cane sugar) and spices like cinnamon, cloves, anise, and orange peels. Some recipes even include chocolate or alcohol.

Café de olla is another drink that shows up on the Day of the Dead because of the personal connections people have with it. Vanessa Ramirez told AZ Central that she likes to drink café de olla on Día de los Muertos in remembrance of her grandma Trini who "used to make it in a turquoise-blue, tin coffee kettle on a wood-burning stove."

In 2012, Nescafe introduced a Cafe do Olla flavor to help people celebrate "Día de los Muertos ... a su manera" (in their own way). Like basic Mexican coffee, it contains both cinnamon and sugar. The idea was to be able to drink their favorite Day of the Dead coffee from their favorite coffee brand (via PR News). If you're lucky, you may be able to find this Nescafe flavor from stores like Target.