📍 Izamal

Relleno Negro

Name: Relleno Negro
Prep time: 40 min
Cook time: 90 min
Total time: 130 min
Yield: 8 servings
Ingredients: 1 turkey or 1.5 kg pork, in pieces; 150 g recado negro; 500 g ground meat for the 'but' meatballs; 4 hard-boiled eggs; Tomato, epazote, and garlic; Habanero chile and corn masa

· Lunch

A turkey or pork stew in a dark broth of recado negro, with ground-meat 'but' meatballs and hard-boiled egg.

Editorial content by WorldBites · 2026-10-04 · Contact

⏱ 130 min🍽 8 servings📊 Difficult🏷 Commonly associated🌱 Gluten-free🌱 Dairy-free

Preparation: 40 min
Cooking: 90 min
Waiting and resting: 0 min

History

An ancestral stew of the Yucatán Peninsula that blends Maya cooking with Spanish influences. Its characteristic color comes from recado negro, made of burnt chiles and tortillas. In Izamal, the Yellow Town, it remains alive in traditional kitchens.

Ingredients

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Preparation

1
Dissolve the recado negro in broth with tomato, garlic, and epazote.
2
Cook the turkey or pork in that dark broth.
3
Prepare the 'but' meatballs with ground meat and a little masa.
4
Add the meatballs to the stew so they cook through.
5
Stir in the hard-boiled eggs toward the end.
6
Serve with tortillas and habanero chile.

Cooking tips

Meatballs must reach 71 °C and turkey 74 °C; the dark broth is not a doneness indicator.

Technique and preparation

What to check during preparation

Use black recado sold for cooking rather than intensely burning chiles in an enclosed kitchen. Dissolve it in broth and taste before salting. Shape meatballs evenly for consistent cooking. Check the main meat and meatballs separately because poultry, pork and ground meat require different temperatures. The dark broth color is not a doneness indicator. Add cooked eggs near the end.