What Are Garnaches?
Garnaches (also spelled garnachas) are a beloved street snack made from a fried corn tortilla topped with seasoned black beans, habanero curtido (pickled onion relish), and freshly grated cheese. They are a fixture of school canteens, market stalls, and house parties across northern and central Belize — especially in Mestizo communities in Corozal, Orange Walk, and Belmopan. The same snack appears under similar names in Guatemala and southern Mexico, reflecting the shared Mestizo food traditions of the Yucatan-Belize-Guatemala corridor.
Garnaches are addictive! Belizean garnaches are a popular, tasty appetizer for parties, or just as a snack.
Garnachas, as any Belizean knows, are a common snack or party food. I grew up eating them at recess while in primary school in Corozal. Students could buy a garnacha for 15 cents each. If you had a shilling you could get one garnacha and a ten-cent ideal. Amazing.
Why are Belizean Garnaches so great?
The simple stack of delicious ingredients is what makes the Belizean Garnacha a delicious salty, spicy, and creamy treat. The ingredients of a Garnacha are also something that many people have on hand or can get readily. See our recipes for all the ingredients (except the cheese): Homemade Fried Tortillas, Black Beans, and Curtido. If you haven’t made garnaches yourself already, try making them for an appetizer or snack soon! Leave us a comment, and tell us how the recipe worked for you!
Lactose-free Garnaches?
You can just leave off the cheese, but you might think that’s boring and sad. There are many types of lactose-free cheeses: vegan, soy, and yogurt-based. Many of them aren’t very tasty, but we have found Go Veggie, Dairy Free Grated Topping to be a good dairy-free substitute for garnaches if you can’t just go cheese-less!
This recipe for Belizean garnaches will make about 12 garnachas or enough for 4 people. Maybe :).
Prep Time
15 mins
Cook Time
15 mins
Yields
12 garnaches
Belizean Garnaches Recipe
Frying the tortillas
- Fry your tortillas, this step can be done up to one day ahead. Fried tortillas should be stored in an air-tight container or bag.
- Heat vegetable or peanut oil. Stale tortillas work best, so if your tortillas are fresh, we recommend drying them in a warm oven spread out on the rack.
- Test the heat of the oil by placing one tortilla in the oil. When it’s hot enough the chip will float immediately and bubble vigorously.
- Cooking time for a whole corn tortilla will vary depending on the heat. You are looking for a nice golden color but don’t burn the tortillas.
Belize Style Black Beans
- Make the blended black beans.
- Warm your beans on the stove.
- If the consistency of the beans is thin or watery, you will want to simmer them until they have a thicker consistency.
Quick Curtido Recipe
- While your beans simmer, make the curtido.
- Dice onion place in a glass jar or container and with distilled white vinegar.
- Dice habanero, carefully. The oils from the habanero will burn your skin!
- Add habanero and salt to onion and vinegar in a jar.
- Set aside curtido jar.
Assemble the Garnaches
- Grate cheese, set aside.
- Time to assemble the garnaches! Take a tortilla chip, and spread ground black beans on the chip.
- Top with grated cheese and curtido, and enjoy!
Shop This Recipe
Masa Harina
Garnaches start with a corn tortilla – diaspora cooks who can’t source factory-made tortillas build them from masa harina, the same nixtamalized corn flour the northern Belize market stalls use.
Oil Thermometer
The recipe calls for oil hot enough that a tortilla floats and bubbles immediately – a clip-on thermometer holds that window without guessing.
Cast Iron Skillet
A cast iron skillet holds the frying temperature across twelve tortillas without the oil dropping between batches the way a thin pan does.
About Joe Post
Joe Post is the founder and editor of Belize News Post. He grew up in Corozal Town, Belize, on the Caribbean sea with a view across Corozal Bay to Cerro Maya. He has lived in Costa Rica, Kenya, England, Spain, and the United States. He grew up cooking alongside his mother and grandmother, and has personally tested the vast majority of the recipes on this site. He started BNP in the early 2000s as one of the few independent Belizean news sources online. Over the years, the food became the stickiest thing. News comes and goes. Food stays.
Where’s the sauce? I love the corrido recipe!
Thank you for your comment! We love cortido too… it goes well on so many Belizean foods!
Why are these called recipes if they don’t show ingredients and measurements?
Thanks for the comment. We have restored this recipe. Let us know how your Belizean garnaches turned out!