Garnaches are a popular street food in Belize made by frying a corn tortilla and topping it with refried beans, pickled carrots, cheese, lettuce, and tomatoes. This recipe is so easy to make and even easier to love!
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My Opinions on Street Food
Street food… my favorite way to eat. Listen, I’m ALL. FOR. going out to eat at fancy restaurants (just ask my boyfriend, he’ll roll his eyes and tell you I’m right). But when I’m traveling in a new country, there’s nothing like some good street food.
I don’t know what it is about street food, but there’s something that makes eating from a vendor cart make the food taste infinitely more magical. Eating with your hands while you’re walking down brand new streets, seeing beautiful sights you’ve dreamt of experiencing? Life doesn’t get any more perfect than that. Imagine one of these Honduran Baleadas in your hands, warm and delicious as you explore the city.
Street Food in Belize
So today, I’ll be featuring a Belizean street food on the blog… Garnaches!
Belize’s neighboring, Spanish-speaking countries influence most of the street food in the country. Besides garnaches, other popular foods are tacos, panades (fried corn patties with fish and beans), and salbutes (hot, fried tacos).
So what are Garnaches?
A garnache is a flat, fried corn tortilla topped with refried beans, carrots, cheese, cabbage, lettuce, and tomatoes. This recipe for garnaches is purely vegetarian (and vegan!) and doesn’t include any meat. It would, however, be very easy to shred some chicken or pork and top your garnache with your protein of choice.
If you’re looking for an easy and authentic recipe from Belize, this is your go-to. You could make life complicated. You could make your own tortillas instead of buy them. You could make your own refried beans instead of buying from the can. I’m all for homemade, but I think that the beauty of this recipe has something to do with its ease. So buy the tortillas, pop open the can, and get enjoying these garnaches!
If you liked this recipe from The Foreign Fork, be sure to check out the Maamoul Date Cookies from Bahrain and this awesome Borscht Soup from Belarus. If you make this garnaches recipe, make sure to post a photo on Facebook and Instagram with the hashtag #TheForeignFork and tag @TheForeignFork. Leave a comment on the recipe, too, and tell me how you liked it! And don’t forget to come back next week to see some authentic recipes from the country of Benin.
Garnaches (Belize)
Ingredients
- 10 corn tortillas
- 1 can refried beans
- Cabbage
- One carrot, peeled and shredded
- One onion, thinly sliced
- ½ cup vinegar
- 1 tomato, chopped
- Cheddar block, shredded
- Oil for frying
Instructions
- Place the shredded carrots and sliced onions in the ½ cup vinegar and allow to soak for a few hours or overnight.
- Heat the oil to 325 degrees and fry the tortillas until crispy. Remove from oil and drain on paper towel.
- Heat the refried beans according to can directions.
- Top the fried tortillas with warm beans, pickled carrots and onions, shredded cheese, shredded cabbage, and tomatoes. Enjoy!
Lee says
These look delicious but in Belize, garnaches are topped with refried beans and dutch cheese.
The Foreign Fork says
Thank you Lee! I am spending the next year reworking all of my early recipes where my research wasn’t as great…. I will be editing this sometime soon, and am appreciative of your insight! Thank you!