Tacos al Pastor, Carnitas and 55 more Mexican classics, with the calories cut and the protein kept. 38% fewer calories on average, and every change costed.
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What's in it
| Recipes | Chapters | Average calorie saving | Dishes rejected |
|---|---|---|---|
| 57 | 8 | 39% | 3 |
Every dish, and what came off it
Each figure is per serving, computed from the ingredient list. The traditional column is the real dish, not a strawman: it's costed from its own ingredient list so the saving is a measurement rather than a claim.
| Dish | Chapter | Traditional | This version | Saving | Protein |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tacos al Pastor | antojitos | 880 kcal | 536 kcal | 39% | 45.2g |
| Carnitas | meat | 702 kcal | 328 kcal | 53% | 40.6g |
| Salsa Roja | salsas | 56 kcal | 22 kcal | 61% | 0.9g |
| Salsa Verde | salsas | 101 kcal | 33 kcal | 67% | 1g |
| Chilaquiles Verdes | antojitos | 520 kcal | 430 kcal | 17% | 24.1g |
| Enchiladas Rojas | antojitos | 881 kcal | 518 kcal | 41% | 49.5g |
| Quesadillas | antojitos | 696 kcal | 381 kcal | 45% | 19g |
| Tinga de Pollo | meat | 481 kcal | 308 kcal | 36% | 36.8g |
| Cochinita Pibil | meat | 843 kcal | 465 kcal | 45% | 43.6g |
| Pozole Rojo | soup | 669 kcal | 390 kcal | 42% | 40.9g |
| Sopa de Tortilla | soup | 493 kcal | 397 kcal | 19% | 35.6g |
| Frijoles Refritos | beans | 347 kcal | 190 kcal | 45% | 9.8g |
| Frijoles de Olla | beans | 351 kcal | 288 kcal | 18% | 19.3g |
| Arroz Rojo | beans | 347 kcal | 233 kcal | 33% | 7.8g |
| Elote | vegetables | 332 kcal | 194 kcal | 42% | 10.4g |
| Rajas con Crema | vegetables | 361 kcal | 173 kcal | 52% | 13.2g |
| Camarones a la Diabla | fish | 620 kcal | 350 kcal | 44% | 35.1g |
| Pescado a la Veracruzana | fish | 464 kcal | 309 kcal | 33% | 44g |
| Ceviche | fish | 276 kcal | 253 kcal | 8% | 26.1g |
| Mole Poblano | meat | 598 kcal | 425 kcal | 29% | 51.9g |
| Tamales | antojitos | 578 kcal | 352 kcal | 39% | 23.8g |
| Sopes | antojitos | 409 kcal | 369 kcal | 10% | 26.9g |
| Esquites | vegetables | 370 kcal | 207 kcal | 44% | 11.6g |
| Calabacitas | vegetables | 307 kcal | 183 kcal | 40% | 8.2g |
| Nopales | vegetables | 269 kcal | 111 kcal | 59% | 5.1g |
| Barbacoa de Res | meat | 690 kcal | 467 kcal | 32% | 46.6g |
| Birria | meat | 745 kcal | 593 kcal | 20% | 60g |
| Huevos Rancheros | antojitos | 421 kcal | 330 kcal | 22% | 17.5g |
| Machaca con Huevo | antojitos | 683 kcal | 471 kcal | 31% | 37.5g |
| Sopa de Lima | soup | 485 kcal | 320 kcal | 34% | 38.4g |
| Caldo de Pollo | soup | 432 kcal | 366 kcal | 15% | 46.4g |
| Chiles Rellenos | vegetables | 795 kcal | 310 kcal | 61% | 28.2g |
| Ensalada de Nopales | salsas | 317 kcal | 185 kcal | 42% | 10.8g |
| Aguachile | fish | 391 kcal | 228 kcal | 42% | 32.6g |
| Tacos de Pescado | fish | 825 kcal | 392 kcal | 52% | 41.2g |
| Flan | pudding | 336 kcal | 122 kcal | 64% | 6.9g |
| Arroz con Leche | pudding | 419 kcal | 280 kcal | 33% | 16.3g |
| Paletas de Fruta | pudding | 132 kcal | 77 kcal | 42% | 4.3g |
| Champurrado | pudding | 396 kcal | 160 kcal | 60% | 8g |
| Tres Leches | pudding | 617 kcal | 277 kcal | 55% | 13.8g |
| Pollo con Mole Verde | meat | 573 kcal | 432 kcal | 25% | 52.6g |
| Albondigas en Chipotle | meat | 518 kcal | 316 kcal | 39% | 33.9g |
| Fajitas de Res | meat | 868 kcal | 652 kcal | 25% | 50.9g |
| Enfrijoladas | beans | 751 kcal | 444 kcal | 41% | 22.7g |
| Tostadas de Tinga | antojitos | 586 kcal | 483 kcal | 18% | 47.1g |
| Coctel de Camaron | fish | 397 kcal | 271 kcal | 32% | 42.4g |
| Chile Verde de Puerco | meat | 642 kcal | 391 kcal | 39% | 43.2g |
| Papas con Chorizo | vegetables | 687 kcal | 376 kcal | 45% | 24.9g |
| Nopalitos con Huevo | antojitos | 266 kcal | 121 kcal | 55% | 13.6g |
| Sopa de Frijol | soup | 472 kcal | 389 kcal | 18% | 24.1g |
| Camarones al Mojo de Ajo | fish | 521 kcal | 210 kcal | 60% | 31.8g |
| Torta de Milanesa | antojitos | 983 kcal | 598 kcal | 39% | 46.3g |
| Pollo en Escabeche | meat | 382 kcal | 321 kcal | 16% | 48.4g |
| Ensalada de Betabel | salsas | 222 kcal | 96 kcal | 57% | 7.4g |
| Budin Azteca | antojitos | 663 kcal | 373 kcal | 44% | 41.8g |
| Tacos de Carne Asada | meat | 685 kcal | 533 kcal | 22% | 46.8g |
| Capirotada | pudding | 643 kcal | 290 kcal | 55% | 12.6g |
The ones I wouldn't touch
Dishes drafted for this book that didn't survive. If every dish survived lightening, that chapter would be a marketing device and you should trust none of the rest. Why some dishes cannot be lightened goes through the reasoning.
Guacamole
I drafted a version of this with 300g of frozen peas in place of the avocado.
It's on page 12 of this book that you should leave the avocado alone. I wrote that entry into the swap kit specifically because I'd seen guacamole made with peas, with courgette and with cottage cheese, by people who should know better, and I wanted to say so before somebody tried it.
Then I tried it.
In fairness to the peas, it's a perfectly good green dip. It's sharp, you can eat a lot of it, and with enough lime and jalapeno in there it tastes of something. What it isn't is guacamole, and putting it in the book under that name would make me exactly the person the swap kit warns you about.
Avocado is 160 kcal per 100g. It is fat, and the fat is the entire texture and most of the flavour, and there is nothing to swap it for because nothing else in the vegetable aisle does what it does.
Make it properly. Ripe avocado, lime, white onion, coriander, green chilli, salt. Mash it with a fork rather than a blender so it stays rough. Eat less of it if you must.
The pea dip is fine. Call it a pea dip.
Pico de Gallo
Pico de gallo is literally just raw tomatoes, onions, coriander, chillies and lime juice chopped up and mixed together. There's absolutely no fat to cut. There's no heavy starch to remove. It's just water, acid and crunch. If I try to force more protein into this by throwing in chunks of chicken breast or a handful of tinned tuna, I'm not making a salsa anymore. I'm making a salad or a bizarre ceviche, and that completely ruins what this dish is supposed to do. You can't hack a bowl of raw vegetables to make it leaner than it already is, and trying to do so is a massive waste of time. I refuse to wreck a perfect salsa just to hit a target, so this one stays exactly as it's always been. Make the traditional recipe, eat it with everything, and get your protein from the meat you serve it with.
Ensalada de Jicama
There's nothing here to take out.
A jicama salad is jicama, orange, lime, chilli and coriander, and it comes in around 130 kcal a serving before I touch it. The only fat in the bowl is a slick of olive oil, and taking that out saves you about 60 kcal across 4 people while making the salad drier and duller.
I drafted a version that added 400g of prawns to it, and it worked, but look at what that actually is. The original is a side dish you put next to something. Mine was a main course that happens to contain jicama. Comparing them and calling the second one a lighter version of the first is the sort of arithmetic this book exists to avoid.
If you want the prawn version, it's a good plate of food and it's basically an aguachile, which is on page 100 and has been Mexican for a lot longer than my idea was.
Make the salad as it is. Use the oil. It's already the lightest thing in this book.
Where the numbers come from
- FoodData Central, SR Legacy Release (April 2018). U.S. Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service. Public domain (U.S. Government work).
- McCance & Widdowson's Composition of Foods Integrated Dataset (CoFID) 2021. Public Health England / Office for Health Improvement and Disparities. Open Government Licence v3.0.
- FoodData Central, Branded Foods (October 2024 release). U.S. Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service. Public domain (U.S. Government work).
Retrieved 2026-08-21. Nothing in these books is dietary or medical advice. Danny Vale is a cook.