Off the Galley Mike
Mike — Off The Galley
Six years as a Navy cook on submarines and destroyers, feeding 130 sailors from a galley the size of your bathroom. Now I cook the same big-flavor, no-nonsense food for my family of four — and share every recipe here. No culinary school. No fancy plating. Just real food that works, tested on the toughest critics afloat and the pickiest ones at home.
12 Best Tex-Mex Recipes to Make at Home
San Diego ruined me for bad Tex-Mex. First liberty, first taco stand, first real carne asada. After that, chain restaurant Mexican food was dead to me. These are the recipes I’ve been perfecting since those first tacos off base.
Carne Asada Tacos
Marinated flank steak, charred hot, sliced thin against the grain. Double corn tortillas, onion, cilantro, lime. The taco that started everything.
Ground Beef Tacos
Homemade taco seasoning, 80/20 beef, build-your-own bar. Taco Tuesday tradition that transferred perfectly from the mess deck to civilian life.
Loaded Nachos
Layer the cheese at every level. No naked chips. The secret is the layering technique.
Chicken Enchiladas
Rolled, sauced, cheesed, baked. Rotisserie chicken shortcut makes this a weeknight possibility.
Chicken Fajitas
Sizzling cast iron, peppers, onions, marinated chicken. The sound is half the experience.
Beef Burrito Bowl
Everything in a burrito, deconstructed in a bowl. Less structural engineering, same flavors.
Breakfast Burritos
Make a batch of ten, freeze in foil, grab and go. The galley morning watch strategy, adapted for home.
Guacamole
Good avocados, lime, salt, onion, jalapeño. Don’t overthink it. Don’t over-mash it.
Salsa Roja
Roasted tomatoes, jalapeños, garlic, blended. Better than any jar, ten minutes.
Cheese Quesadillas
Butter the outside. That’s the tip. You’re welcome.
Tex-Mex Rice
Toast the rice first. That’s the restaurant secret for fluffy, tomatoey rice.
Refried Beans
Creamy, smoky, fried in bacon fat. Lard is not the enemy.
Churros
Fried dough, cinnamon sugar, chocolate sauce. My daughter calls them donut sticks.
The Tex-Mex Night Spread
Pick a protein (carne asada, ground beef tacos, or enchiladas), add rice and beans, set out guacamole, salsa, and chips. That’s a Tex-Mex night that rivals any restaurant for a fraction of the price.
The Tex-Mex Pantry
Stock these and you can make any recipe on this list without a special grocery trip:
Ground beef, chicken thighs, flank steak. All three freeze well and thaw quickly.
Both corn and flour. Corn for tacos and enchiladas. Flour for burritos, quesadillas, and fajitas. Flour tortillas freeze perfectly — pull them from the freezer 10 minutes before use.
Black beans, pinto beans, diced tomatoes, tomato sauce, chipotle peppers in adobo. These form the backbone of nearly every Tex-Mex recipe.
Shredded Mexican blend cheese, sour cream, cotija. Cotija is the crumbly white cheese you see on street corn and elote — it’s available in most grocery stores now.
Limes (always limes), cilantro, jalapeños, onions, avocados, garlic. Buy avocados firm and let them ripen at home for 2-3 days.
Chili powder, cumin, paprika, garlic powder, onion powder, oregano, cayenne. This combination creates the base flavor of almost every Tex-Mex dish on this list.
Building a Tex-Mex Night
The best Tex-Mex meals are interactive. Set up a spread with one protein, rice, beans, and a toppings bar. Let everyone build their own plate. This approach feeds more people, produces fewer complaints, and costs significantly less than takeout. A full Tex-Mex dinner for four — protein, , , , , and chips — runs about $15-20 total. The same spread at a Mexican restaurant costs $60+.
Tex-Mex Rice
The red rice from every Mexican restaurant. Fluffy, tomatoey, and goes with everything.
Refried Beans
Creamy, smoky, and the side dish that makes everything better. Lard is not the enemy.
Guacamole
Good avocados, lime, salt, onion, jalapeño. Don’t overthink it. Don’t over-mash it.
Salsa Roja
Roasted tomatoes, jalapeños, garlic, blended. Better than any jar and takes ten minutes.
The San Diego Connection
First duty station, first liberty, first taco stand. That carne asada taco changed everything for me. I’d grown up eating Tex-Mex from chains — Old El Paso seasoning packets and shredded iceberg lettuce on crunchy shells. Real Tex-Mex and Mexican food blew my mind. After that, I started learning from the cooks in San Diego — the taco shops, the street vendors, the guys selling tamales from coolers outside the Navy Exchange. Every recipe on this list traces back to that education.
Taco Night Strategy
Taco night is the easiest dinner format that exists. Brown one protein with taco seasoning. Set out tortillas and toppings. Let everyone build their own. Done. My family does taco night every Tuesday — it’s become such a routine that my kids ask “is it taco day?” every Tuesday morning.
The build-your-own format is the key. My son loads up on cheese and sour cream. My daughter does meat, lettuce, and tomato. My wife makes hers with and . I build mine with everything. Four different tacos from the same ingredients. Zero complaints.
The Enchilada vs. Burrito vs. Bowl Debate
All three use the same base components — protein, rice, beans, cheese, sauce. The difference is the delivery method. are rolled in tortillas, covered in sauce, and baked — they’re a casserole-style dish best for dinner parties and weekend cooking. are wrapped hand-held meals — best for grab-and-go, meal prep, and lunch. skip the tortilla entirely — best for low-carb eating and when you want to load up on toppings without structural engineering.
Each has its place. Weeknight speed: bowls (no wrapping or rolling). Weekend comfort: enchiladas (worth the assembly time). Meal prep: burritos (freeze and reheat). Understanding when to use each format means you’re never bored with Tex-Mex, even if you eat it three times a week.
Chicken Enchiladas
Rolled, sauced, cheesed, baked. My wife requests these at least twice a month.
Breakfast Burritos
Eggs, cheese, sausage, salsa — rolled tight. Make a batch, freeze them, grab and go. Galley breakfast burrito was the fastest way to feed the morning watch.
Beef Burrito Bowl
Everything you’d put in a burrito but in a bowl. Same flavors, less structural engineering.
Making Tex-Mex Healthier
Tex-Mex gets a bad reputation for being heavy, but it’s easily the most adaptable cuisine for different dietary needs. on cauliflower rice cut carbs dramatically. on whole wheat tortillas add fiber. are a high-fiber, high-protein side. is loaded with healthy fats. is essentially zero calories. Even traditional Tex-Mex — when made at home with real ingredients instead of restaurant portions — is a balanced meal with protein, vegetables, healthy fats, and moderate carbs.
Quesadillas
Butter the outside of the tortilla before grilling. That’s the tip. You’re welcome.
Scaling Tex-Mex for a Party
Tex-Mex is the best cuisine for feeding groups because everything is shareable and customizable. For a Tex-Mex party of 12, here’s the spread:
(3 lbs flank steak, sliced) + (2 lbs). Total protein cost: about $25.
, , and warm tortillas (both corn and flour). Cost: about $5.
, , shredded cheese, sour cream, cilantro, limes, diced onion, jalapeños, shredded lettuce. Cost: about $15.
Total: $60 for 12 people. That’s $5 per person for a full Tex-Mex feast with appetizer and dessert. The same dinner at a Mexican restaurant for 12: $200+ before tip.
Carne Asada Tacos
Thin-sliced marinated steak, charred on the grill, corn tortillas, onion, cilantro. Simple. Perfect. San Diego changed my life. First liberty, first taco stand, first real carne asada.
Ground Beef Tacos
Taco Tuesday is a lifestyle. Seasoned ground beef, all the toppings, everyone builds their own. Taco Tuesday on the mess deck. The one tradition that transferred to civilian life perfectly.
Loaded Nachos
Sheet pan nachos loaded with everything. Layer the cheese between every level. That’s the secret. Midrats nachos — the 2am miracle. Now it’s football Sundays.
Churros
Fried dough rolled in cinnamon sugar. My daughter calls them ‘donut sticks’ and she’s not wrong.
The Leftover Revolution
Tex-Mex leftovers are more versatile than any other cuisine. Leftover becomes tomorrow’s . Leftover goes into a with scrambled eggs. Leftover and become the base for . Nothing goes to waste because every component is interchangeable. That’s the beauty of Tex-Mex — it’s a modular cuisine built for mixing and matching.
Every recipe on this list traces back to San Diego, to those first tacos off base, to a young sailor discovering that real food — made with real ingredients, by people who care — is worth learning to cook yourself. That’s the Tex-Mex journey. Start with and see where it takes you.
Tex-Mex is the most shareable, most customizable, and most budget-friendly cuisine you can cook at home. Once you stock the pantry, every dinner is twenty minutes away.
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