Recipes inspired by Sonoran Desert cuisine that can be made anywhere in the world and work beautifully for both Easter and Passover.

Every recipe is available on my website, and each one is just as at home at a seder or Easter table as it is on a Tuesday night in the Sonoran Desert.

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Appetizer: Chipotle Deviled Eggs with Caviar

Soup Course: Albondigas Matzo Ball Soup (Matzalbondigas) A Sonoran-style spicy matzo ball soup that’s been a reader favorite since it appeared in my Taste of Tucson cookbook.

Main Course: Sonoran Style Grilled Chicken Drumsticks with Molé Marinade

Side Dish: Dry-Fried Asparagus

Dessert: Triple Chocolate Flourless Chocolate Cake baked in a cast-iron skillet. Gluten-free, grain-free, and very, very chocolatey.

My Taste of Tucson cookbook features over 80 recipes inspired by this remarkable culinary landscape with dishes built around ingredients like chiltepin, Sonoran White Wheat, carne asada, and mesquite. Some of these recipes live on my website; others are tucked inside the cookbook, waiting to be discovered.

Now I want to bring this cuisine to a wider table.

How many of these dishes do you already recognize?

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My Taste of Tucson cookbook: the full collection, your starting point for exploring the region.

How to build the perfect Sonoran-Style breakfast burrito

Tucson’s famous Topopo Salad

Chiltepin Red-Hot Salsa - this is fresh salsa made with raw tomato and searing hot chiltepin chiles. It can be made in the blender in 5 minutes.

Mini Chimis from El Charro Cafe: bite-sized chimichangas from Tucson's oldest family owned Mexican restaurant, made with Sonoran White Wheat tortillas

Sonoran-Style Flat Enchiladas made with masa pancakes and served with chile colorado con carne

Sonoran Hot Dogs - the recipe featured in Taste of Tucson was provided by El Guero Canelo Chef Daniel Contreras.

Charro Beans: the saucy whole pinto beans you see featured in old Western movies

Tosti-Nachos: everyone’s favorite street snack

Learn how to make carne asada from BK Tacos chef Ben Galaz

Caldo de Queso: Sonoran -style cheese and potato soup with green chiles in a clear broth

All photographs ©Jackie Alpers 2026 - All rights reserved. Available for sharing upon request.

Sonoran is a unique regional cuisine originating from the Sonoran Desert which spans the lower third of Arizona, a small portion of Southern California, the Sea of Cortez, and the state of Sonora in Mexico. The symbiotic relationship with both Mexico and the desert itself has resulted in a unique style of Southwestern regional cuisine not found anywhere else in the world.

The Sonoran Desert is the most tropical desert in North America with temperatures consistently reaching over 100°F alongside the yearly summer monsoon season though sometimes it does snow, particularly in the mountain ranges that surround the Tucson, Arizona basin where I live. There are more species of plants here than in any other desert in the world, including the famous Saguaro which like many cacti produces edible fruit. Flora and fauna brought by European settlers, most notably wheat, cattle and citrus, flourishes here and has become as much of the backbone of the cuisine as the corn, chiles, tomatoes and beans native to the Sonoran Desert region.

Sonoran food is light and bright and vegetable forward. This is summer food – year-round. Two of the world’s top health resorts are located in the region and their menus reflect and embrace the multiple health benefits associated with Sonoran cuisine. Their chefs and nutritionists have taught me many of their healthy culinary techniques which I’ve incorporated into my recipes.

This article from Visit Phoenix says:

“Forget limiting it to labels like “Mexican” or “Southwestern.” Sonoran food spans cuisines, cultures and techniques — all connected by one thing: ingredients native to the Sonoran Desert.

Chefs here are inspired by what grows in this landscape: cactus paddles and fruits, mesquite wood, chiltepin peppers, heirloom corn, desert legumes, and seasonal produce from Arizona farms. These elements show up in menus citywide — from taquerías and trattorias to tasting menus and cocktail bars.

It’s a living, evolving cuisine that celebrates Phoenix’s desert terroir.”

Subscribe to my newsletter to learn more about Sonoran regional cuisine, and to get new and exciting recipes straight from my home in the Sonoran Desert region of the Arizona-Mexico borderlands.

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Charro Beans are the saucy, whole pinto beans that you see cowboys (charros) eating off tin plates by a campfire in old Western movies. Pinto beans cooked this way taste a whole lot better than doctored-up beans from a can (though I do use canned pinto beans for different reasons and situations). Sometimes I’ll eat these beans all by themselves with a bit of Queso Fresco on top as my whole meal.

I use both onion flakes and fresh onion in this recipe because I think it adds some complexity to the flavor. An entire head of garlic may seem like a lot, but the flavor mellows substantially as it cooks. Dried pinto beans are very economical. You can get a 16-ounce bag for less than the price of a cup of coffee.

This recipe is an excerpt from my cookbook Taste of Tucson and it was originally published on my dedicated recipe site at https://recipes.jackiealpers.com/charro-cowboy-beans/.

Find more recipes inspired by the Sonoran Desert region of the Arizona/Mexico borderlands at the archive link above.

Ingredients

• 1 head garlic

• 1 (16-ounce) bag dried pinto beans (2 cups)

• 2 quarts water

• 2 teaspoons sea salt (or more to taste, preferably Sonoran)

• ½ cup diced fresh tomatoes

• ¼ cup minced red onion

• 2 tablespoons red wine vinegar

• 2 tablespoons dried onion flakes

• 1 tablespoon dried Mexican oregano

• 1 tablespoon tomato paste

Instructions

1. Rinse the beans and examine them carefully. Remove anything that doesn’t look like a pinto bean such as small rocks or other debris. Pour the beans and about 2 quarts of water into a large Dutch oven or stock pot, making sure to leave 2 inches of water at the top of the beans. Stir in the chopped garlic and 2 teaspoons salt. Bring to a boil over high heat, then reduce the heat to medium and simmer uncovered until the beans are soft, 1 ½ to 2 hours. If the water evaporates too much during cooking, gently add more water so that the beans are always completely submerged.

2. DO NOT STIR THE BEANS! Apparently, stirring the bean pot at any point during the 2-hour cooking time is the sign of an unconfident chef, and you don’t want the beans to feel insecure about their fate.

3. Once the beans are soft, mince the remaining 3 garlic cloves and add them to the pot. Stir in the tomatoes, red onion, vinegar, dried onion flakes, oregano, and tomato paste. Simmer uncovered over low heat, stirring occasionally, for 30 minutes to reduce the liquid a bit. You want the beans to be slightly saucy, not soupy.  Taste to check the seasoning to see if you need to add more salt, pepper, oregano, or onion flakes, then cover with a heavy lid, remove from heat, and let sit for about 10 minutes to allow the flavors to merge before serving.

Hungry for more? Order my Taste of Tucson cookbook.

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Tortilla Soup Recipe Made with Rotisserie Chicken and RO-TEL

Spicy, 4-Cheese Baked Macaroni & Cheese

Salisbury Steak over Polenta with Mushroom Gravy

Biscuits and (Vegetarian or Not) Sausage Gravy

Cheesy Potato Casserole with Baked Potato Chip Topping

One Pot Arroz con Pollo with El Pato

Pinto Bean and Caramelized Ham Soup

S’Mores Microwave 2-Minute Mug Brownie

Campfire Style Cornbread Bread Pudding

...And booze. We also need booze.

Spicy Whiskey Cocktail

All of the recipes are available (for free) on my website. See the link in the recipe archive above.

Recipes.jackiealpers.com

Comfort Food Recipe Collection

https://recipes.jackiealpers.com/category/comfort-food-2/

Drinks and Cocktails Recipe Collection

https://recipes.jackiealpers.com/category/drinks-cocktails/

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Here are ten of my plant-based, vegetarian and vegan, flavor-filled Mexican and Sonoran style recipes showcasing Southwestern regional culinary influences from the Arizona-Mexico borderlands. All of these recipes are available at the plant based section my dedicated recipe archive also linked above.

Three Sisters Breakfast Bowl with Egg

Elote en Vaso: Sonoran Street Corn Cups

The Greenest Spicy Salsa Verde

How to Dry and Mill Chiles for Chile Powder and Custom Spice Blends

Vegetarian Sonoran Hotdogs

Black and White and Red All Over Nachos

Spicy Sonoran Potato Salad in Serrano-Cilantro Vinaigrette

Tortilla Mushroom Pizzas with Exotic Mushrooms

Chile Colorado Tostadas with Crispy Tofu

Mexican Chocolate Popcorn Treats

Please subscribe to my newsletter if it’s your first time stopping by.

Here’s a look at the Sonoran recipes I created for The Unofficial Elf Cookbook.

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Coca-Cola Brisket Tacos (made with an entire 2-liter bottle)

Tortilla Snowflakes

Pomegranate-Topped Guacamole Stars

Stuffed Mission Figs

Christmas-Style Seafood Enchiladas

Holy Molé Tamale Pie with Molé Comodo

Chicken Adobo braised in the “World’s Best Cup of Coffee” (diner setting)

Mesquite-grilled Empire “Steak” by Charro Steak’s Gary Hickey

Recipes + photography: @jackiealpers
Photo Director: @analogbass
Art Director: @susandazzo
Editor: @trevorcourneen
Publisher: @medialabbooks

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For example, I thought that most of the Chinese dishes that we consider to be American favorites were modified by Chinese chefs to fit American tastes and ingredients, but that’s not always the case.

The Chinese immigrants who arrived in Southern Arizona in the late 1800’s to help build the transcontinental railroad were primarily Cantonese. They often went on to open grocery stores and farms because their background was largely in agriculture. They also opened restaurants, which helped shape the American perception of Chinese food to the extent that Cantonese favorites like Honey Walnut Shrimp, chow mein, and ho fun became synonymous icons of Chinese American cuisine, when in fact all of these meals are straight-up Cantonese. To this day, many people believed that these dishes originated in the United States when in fact they originated in the Guangdong province of China.

Beef Ho Fun at Asian Spice.

Almost 150 years later Cantonese style Chinese food is still beloved and Phillip Tan, who grew up in Guangdong and worked as a chef at the 5-star Nan Hai Hotel in Shenzhen before opening Asian Spice restaurant in Marana over 10 years ago, is serving some of the most celebrated Chinese American food in the country. Asian Spice is one of only two Arizona restaurants to make the 2025 Yelp 100 list of top Chinese restaurants in the U.S. – an incredible honor because the ratings are truly a vote from the community. To quote the website, the awards are, “determined by a combination of user-submitted reviews, ratings, and the volume of reviews, with community managers and trend experts further curating the final rankings.”

Chef Phillip Tan in the kitchen at Asian Spice plating chicken fried rice.

Joyce and Phillip Tan decided to open Asian Spice in Marana after working for over ten years at restaurants in Tucson. Philip wanted to pursue the American dream and open a restaurant of his own with, “respect to the original recipes and of the highest quality.” The Tans love living and working in Marana because of the beautiful views, good traffic and nice people.

Takeout: Kung Pao Tofu with an eggroll, and Beef Ho Fun.

Tucked neatly into a Marana strip mall anchored by a grocery store chain, Asian Spice is outwardly unassuming, and there are only a handful of tables inside. When I visited on a Monday at noon there was a 20 minute waitlist for seating and a steady stream of dedicated customers picking up takeout and catering orders – a clear indicator of the exuberant love from both Marana locals, as well as Tucson folks traveling upwards of an hour for their favorite dishes.

Many dishes including the Beef Ho Fun can be frozen and eaten later.

Joyce explained how much they value their customers’ input and have even altered some dishes slightly over time based on their feedback. She said that in the Tucson area, “we lean towards wanting food that’s lighter and brighter, and more vegetables.” So they use light oil, as well as really light sweet sauces, so that they can “keep the dishes healthier and not too heavy.”

Chicken Fried Rice, made with a bit of butter at Asian Spice

Phillip also experimented with adding a little bit of butter to their fried rice in order to make it more flavorful (and also because they both like butter), and when they asked customers to do a comparison test the butter version handily won out. Joyce said that when she was a kid the fried rice she enjoyed at home was, “pretty simple, no butter, just the egg, and a little bit of sauce.”

One of the valued sous chefs at Asian Spice.

The Tans are grateful for the amazing support from the community and for their talented staff. Joyce Tan said, “We’re very proud of all the employees here working so hard, and the good job they do serving the customers, including everyone in the kitchen from the dishwasher to the chefs, and kitchen helpers. Everybody does a very good job. We can’t do that without them – the whole team makes this happen.”

Honey Walnut Shrimp Recipe from Asian Spice Chef Phillip Tan

Honey walnut shrimp is a Cantonese dish that originated in Hong Kong and made its way to the United States in the 1980’s and 1990’s, so it is a relative newcomer to the American Chinese food scene. It is often served as one of the early courses at Chinese banquets and has now become more popular and better known in the United States than it is in China.

Chef Phillip Tan has graciously provided Discover Marana with Asian Spice’s Honey Walnut Shrimp recipe. The batter for the shrimp is made with only egg whites, cornstarch and baking powder, so it’s gluten-free. Crisp shredded cabbage and carrots strike a perfect balance with the creamy, honey-sweetened sauce and honey glazed walnuts.

Prep time: 15 minutes

Cook time: 20 minutes

Yield: 4 servings

Special Equipment

Wok or Dutch oven, for frying

Baking sheet lined with a wire rack

Ingredients

1 cup walnut halves

½ cup honey, divided

¼ cup mayonnaise

2 tablespoons sweetened condensed milk

1 teaspoon rice vinegar

2 large egg whites

¼ cup cornstarch

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 pound jumbo shrimp (16 to 24 count), peeled and deveined

1 vegetable oil, for frying

2 cups shredded cabbage and carrot coleslaw mix

1 tablespoon toasted white sesame seeds

Instructions

Warm ¼ cup of honey in a large skillet over medium-low heat until thinned and shimmering. Add the walnuts and stir to coat. Continue cooking for 3-5 minutes until the walnuts have darkened, watching to make sure they do not burn. Transfer the walnuts to a wire rack lined baking sheet and separate with a fork so that the walnuts aren’t sticking together. Transfer to a bowl once cooled.

In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the remaining honey, mayonnaise, sweetened condensed milk and rice vinegar until smooth and creamy. Set aside.

Heat 1-inch of oil in a wok or Dutch oven to 350°F. Wash any residual honey from the wire rack, place back inside the baking sheet and set nearby.

In a separate large mixing bowl whisk together the egg whites until frothy, about 2 to 3 minutes, then add the cornstarch and baking powder and whisk until completely incorporated, about 1 minute longer. Toss the shrimp in the egg batter to coat. Working in batches carefully lower the shrimp one-by-one into the hot oil and cook for 60 to 90 seconds on each side or until lightly browned, being sure to not let the shrimp touch each other while cooking. Transfer to the wire rack and repeat with the remaining shrimp. Toss the shrimp in the honey mayonnaise sauce while still hot.

To serve, place ½ cup of cabbage mix on each serving plate, top with a portion of shrimp then garnish with honey walnuts and white sesame seeds. Serve immediately.

This article was written and photographed by Jackie Alpers for Discover Marana and first appeared on TucsonFoodie.com and Discover Marana.com.