16 achiote recipes

Yucatan-style grilled shrimp marinated in achiote paste, orange juice, garlic, and warm spices. Smoky, tangy, and shockingly easy once the marinade does its work.

A tasty Puerto Rican sauce using bell peppers, tomatoes, garlic and onions.

Armenian garlic cheese ball with farmer's cheese, walnuts, fresh dill and parsley, blended smooth and rolled in crunchy walnut pieces. A no-cook appetizer served with toasted pita.

Grilled chicken adobo marinated in Yucatecan achiote paste, orange juice, cinnamon, and basil. Stains the chicken deep red-orange and delivers smoky, citrusy flavor straight from the Mexican Caribbean coast.

Poc-Chuc, the classic Yucatan grilled pork steak marinated in sour orange and achiote paste, served with habanero-spiked pickled red onions. Traditional Maya-style barbecue straight from Merida.

Whole fish wrapped in a banana leaf with garlic, tomato, cilantro, and achiote, then roasted on a comal or dry skillet. A traditional Central American pachay recipe that's simple and full of smoky, earthy flavor.

This flavourful marinade has the right balance of spices that makes your Turkey incredibly delicious.

This recipe was given to me by a friend who is an ex-patriot now living in Playa del Carmen on the Yucatan Peninsula of Mexico. I serve this with yellow rice and grilled avocado halves.

These scrumptious and tasty arepas can be served as an appetizer or a main dish.

Prefer chicken instead? Well, let's do Chicken Habanero

Authentic Yucatán cochinita pibil with achiote-marinated pork, banana leaf wrap and habanero orange salsa. Traditional Mayan pit-style slow-roasted pork for tacos.

This recipe will produce a notably hot chili. But there are plenty of points where you can modify the heat level. You can substitute a bell or poblano pepper for the fresh hot peppers, substitute olive oil for the chile oil, and adjust or eliminate the hot sauce and/or cayenne pepper.

Huachinango: grilled red snapper marinated overnight in achiote (annatto) paste with garlic, orange juice, and oregano. The Yucatecan fish classic with deep red color and citrus-spice depth.

Pateles are Puerto Rican green banana tamales: grated green banana and potato dough wrapped around achiote-spiced pork in banana leaves, then boiled until tender. Holiday tradition across the Caribbean and beyond.

A thick, belly-warming chicken soup loaded with pearl barley, lentils, and tomatoes, seasoned with Adobo and Sazon for a Latin-inspired twist. Feeds six in under an hour.