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Best Encacahuatado in San Francisco

“A thick peanut sauce with tomato, chili & sesame—reserved for festive events, but worth the labor.”

Encacahuatado

What the real thing tastes like

Encacahuatado is a typical Mexican dish that consists of a thick peanut-like sauce with tomato, dried chili, sesame seeds ground and roasted together. The sauce is then stewed with chicken, pork, or beef. Because of its laborious preparation process, it is reserved for festive events such as birthdays, although it can also be found as an everyday meal. Encacahuatado is a common stew in the central region of Veracruz, where it is commonly made with pork. In Oaxaca, on the other hand, chicken meat is preferred, as it is in Sierra Norte de Puebla.

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Encacahuatado is a labor-intensive Mexican stew that transforms ground peanuts, tomato, dried chili, and sesame into a thick, complex sauce that clings to meat—chicken, pork, or beef depending on region. The dish demands time and care, which is why it surfaces most often at birthdays and celebrations, though it still appears on everyday tables. In Veracruz they favor pork; in Oaxaca and Sierra Norte de Puebla, chicken takes the lead. This is the kind of stew that announces itself as special.

Order it here when it has

  • complex flavor from multiple toasted elements
  • festive centerpiece
  • regionally rooted traditions

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