Barbacoa: The Heart of Tex-Mex Barbecue

“The Cookbook You Need to Spice Up Your Summer” (Wall Street Journal, June 27, 2025):

“In Barbacoa, pitmaster Brandon Hurtado combines traditional Texas barbecue with Mexican flourishes and flavors. The result: delicious, approachable recipes that are as innovative as they are appealing. […] If you want to be crowned the barbecue champion of your backyard, this one’s a winner.”

Enhance your backyard BBQ experience in big and bold ways, with the first-ever book on Tex-Mex and Mexican smoke-cooked barbecue.

You’ve seen multiple books on Southern BBQ and African-American BBQ, but nothing on the third great barbecue tradition—Hispanic barbecue. Here to fill that gap at last is Brandon Hurtado, the most celebrated practitioner of Tex-Mex barbecue around. His Dallas-area restaurant, Hurtado Barbecue, appears on Texas Monthly’s authoritative list of the top 50 barbecue joints in Texas and in Southern Living magazine’s ranking of the 50 best barbecue restaurants in the entire US South.

Barbacoa presents Brandon’s masterpiece recipes for everything from Pulled Pork Carnitas and Lobster Tostadas to Barbacoa con Papas and Brisket Birria Tacos—and beyond. You’ll find intensely flavorful recipes for:

• Smoked meats like Mexican Hot Chicken, Beef Rib Chili, and Pork Belly Burnt Ends
• Tacos, tamales, tortas, and enchiladas filled with meats and veggies from the smoker 
• Amazing sides and appetizers, from Garlic Habanero Pickles to Hatch Chile Mac and Cheese to Al Pastor Wings
• Flame-Kissed Breakfasts, such as Brisket Benedict, Chorizo Biscuits and Gravy, and Smoked Menudo 
• Rubs, Mops, and Sauces like Cilantro Lime Crema and Ancho Mustard Vinaigrette
• Perfect desserts for BBQ, from Smoked Blueberry Cobbler to Mexican Hot Chocolate Pecan Pie

If you want to master the most deeply flavored barbecue on earth—and that, in a nutshell, is what Tex-Mex barbecue is—you cannot do better than to learn from a master like Brandon Hurtado. His book promises a lifetime of smoke-infused flavor and deep enjoyment.