When learning a second language, it’s important to familiarize yourself with the vocabulary related to one of life’s basic activities — cooking.
To assist you in your journey to improve your Spanish — and perhaps discover new recipes along the way — we’ve compiled a list of our current favorite Mexican food influencers. Following these folks’ accounts will help you practice listening to everyday Spanish in the context of cooking while solving one of life’s biggest questions: What am I cooking today?
Here are seven Mexican food influencers you should follow:
A La Cocina con Jacobina (To the Kitchen with Jacobina)
If you don’t have a Mexican abuelita, Jacobina will make you feel like you do.
Addressing her audience as “mis hijos” (my children) and sharing everything from traditional Mexican recipes to housekeeping tips, Jacobina has amassed an audience of over 4.5 million followers across Instagram, TikTok and YouTube. With no fancy utensils or modern appliances, Jacobina’s kitchen resembles that of an average Mexican household.
Some of her most popular videos include “How to Make the Perfect Rice?” “How To Make Entomatadas,” and “Chicken a la Coca Cola.”
Mandoka
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With an aesthetic inspired by a Renaissance style, Mandoka shares more than just recipes; her account aims to inspire others to indulge in culinary pleasures.
The account, which has amassed over 4 million followers across Instagram and TikTok, takes her followers on an auditory and visual journey through food. Each recipe is accompanied by a video in which María Paola narrates a creative story in Spanish, featuring a dish or an ingredient as the protagonist.
From exquisite fruit desserts to pastas and Mexican delicacies, Mandoka invites her followers to approach cooking with a dash of romance.
Robe Grill
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At just 21 years old, the founder of Robe Grill, Roberto Morales, has featured on his social media accounts international celebrities like actor Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson, ex-Formula 1 racer Sergio “Checo” Pérez and singers Olivia Rodrigo and Rosalía, to name a few.
Robe Grill stands out in social media for his delicious recipes a la parrilla (on the grill), amassing over 19 million followers across TikTok and Instagram.
His recipes feature a variety of dishes, mainly involving meat and seafood. The lively phrase “¡Que chille!” (Make it cry!) — which he exclaims after he has placed a piece of meat on the grill — has become his signature expression. He has also popularized giving a “nalgadita” (spanking) to the meat before cooking it, a distinctive gesture that originates from his hometown of Hermosillo, Sonora.
Mesa Sana
Mesa Sana, which translates as Healthy Table, features recipes for everyday life but with an original twist. Using everything from soups to salads to desserts, founders and sisters Andrea and Pamela Berrondo have amassed an audience of close to 1 million followers.
With their slogan “Stop thinking what you’ll cook for lunch – we’ll tell you!” some of their most popular recipes include salpicón de pollo, salpicón de pescado and beef aguachile.
The Berrondo sisters have also launched a cookbook and a weekly calendar of meals available at their website.
Homemade Always
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Belinda González, a Mexican American woman and founder of the account Homemade Always, will conquer your heart with the home style Mexican dishes she cooks from her terrace in Los Angeles. Unlike the other accounts, she doesn’t talk during the video. Instead, you’ll listen to the cooking noises with Mexican music in the background.
Her most popular recipes have reached over 15 million views, including her chilaquiles rellenos, flautas and caldo de camarón (shrimp broth). In addition to Mexican dishes, Belinda has combined her Mexican roots with U.S. food culture to develop original recipes such as pumpkin atole and horchata-flavored iced coffe.
Cocinero en proceso (A Cook in Progress)
Erik Domínguez’s account has amassed over 5 million followers across Instagram and TikTok. His videos show him cooking from a traditional Mexican kitchen, using big clay pots over a wood fire.
He always explains the procedures and ingredients he uses step by step, making him the perfect teacher to improve your Spanish.
His dishes and authentic Mexican recipes have taken him to the Max channel as part of a segment called “Chismecito Literario” (Literary Gossip), promoting HBO’s new series Como Agua Para Chocolate, based on the bestselling 1989 Mexican novel of the same name.
Cola de Gallo (Rooster Tail)
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Moving on from food into drinks, this influencer Cola de Gallo will show you how to prepare original drinks with Mexican spirits and beyond. Using unusual ingredients like candy canes, marshmallows and corn milk, his cocktail recipes vary according to the season.
Some of his most popular cocktails include watermelon mojitos, mezcal shots with strawberries and chamoy and a coffee-based cocktail, the carajillo, done with pumpkin spice flavoring. As part of his cocktails content, Cola de Gallo’s channel also features appetizer recipes.
The man behind Cola de Gallo, whose name remains unknown to date, also offers mixology workshops online.
Gabriela Solis is a Mexican lawyer turned full-time writer. She was born and raised in Guadalajara and covers business, culture, lifestyle and travel for Mexico News Daily. You can follow her lifestyle blog Dunas y Palmeras.
