Spanish Recipe: Prepare “Jicaletas” to Celebrate with Your Kids

Learn Spanish, Learning Activity, Spanish, Spanish Recipes

Mexican jicama fruit with green lime, chili powder and chamoy, illustrating the blog topic of Making Jicaletas with Your Kids

¡Feliz Día del Niño!

Here’s our gift from us at TruFluency Kids for you and your children: A Spanish recipe on how to prepare “jicaletas” to celebrate your kids during Children’s Day!

So it’s the perfect occasion to celebrate together with your kids in Spanish. Do this through a tasty treat and a fun cooking afternoon! It’s a great way for them to improve their language skills in an entertaining and delicious way.

What Are “Jicaletas”?

We know you’re all about preparing your kids something fun and delicious to eat on a special day. But most likely you still want to know what “jicaletas” are.

Well, it’s nothing too complicated. Basically, “jicaletas” are a Mexican snack that consists of jicama, a popular root vegetable in Mexico, on a stick. It looks like a lollipop but made out of vegetable! So, it’s fresher than a candy lollipop.

It goes with some spicy things as we’ll see below in the recipe.

The name comes from the mix of the words “jícama” (jicama) and “paleta” (lollipop). And they’re sold in food street stalls in Mexico.

Ingredients / Ingrediente

  • 1 big jicama – Una jícama grande
  • Chamoy – Chamoy (Spicy Mexican condiment)
  • Chili powder – Chile en polvo
  • “Miguelito” of different colors – Miguelito de colores (A popular Mexican chili powder)
  • Peeler – Pelador
  • Knife – Cuchillo
  • Wooden sticks – Palitos de madera

Instructions / Instrucciones

Are you ready to cook? Here’s what you have to do to make your own “jicaleta”.

Remember to encourage your kids to help you do it. This way, they can practice their Spanish while cooking something fun, delicious, and from a Spanish-speaking culture! Practicing while doing fun stuff is always the best!

You all can use Spanish vocabulary about the kitchen and related to “jicaletas” while cooking this.

  1. Peel the jicama with the peeler or a knife, whatever it’s easier for you.
  2. Cut one thick slice of jicama. Make sure the slice is big, not small stripes. You’ll notice the shape will look like a hexagon.
  3. Repeat step 2 until you finish the jicama or have as many slices as you want.
  4. Stick one wooden stick to one of the slices of jicama; be careful. So it looks like a lollipop.
  5. Repeat step 4 with all the jicama slices. So you have various “jicaletas”.
  6. Time to decorate with the condiments!
  7. Add chili powder to all of the jicama in the “jicaleta”. You can add as much as you want.
  8. On top of the chili powder, add “chamoy”, which is a Mexican liquid spicy condiment. If you prefer, you can exchange steps 6 and 7. So you first cover the jicama with “chamoy”, then you add the chili powder. This way, the powder will stick even more to the jicama.
  9. Add lemon, as much as you want.
  10. Repeat steps 6, 7 and 8 to decorate and condiment all your “jicaletas”.
  11. Enjoy!

Up to this point, this is the classic “jicaleta”. But many people prefer to add “Miguelito” powder of different colors instead of normal chili powder.

“Miguelito” is a sweet and spicy Mexican chili powder; the normal color is red, but there are also other colors, like yellow and blue. The colors make it a much more fun experience for many. So it could be a good option for kids.

Ask For Your “Jicaleta” in Spanish

“Jicaletas” are sold in different street stalls around Mexico. So traveling to Mexico it’s the perfect opportunity for your kids to practice their language skills while they buy a “jicaleta” in Spanish. To help them out, here’s how to ask for a “jicaleta”:

Say Hi. Mexicans always value greetings:

  • Hola, lindo día (hello, nice day)

Ask for your “jicaleta”. Always say please:

  • ¿Me podría dar una jicaleta, por favor? (Could you give me a “jicaleta”, please?)
  • ¿Me da una jicaleta, por favor? (Can you give me a “jicaleta”, please’)

If there are various options of condiments, say which ones you want:

  • ¿Le puede poner Miguelito azul por favor? (Could you add blue “Miguelito” to it, please?)
  • Con mucho chamoy, por favor (with a lot of chamoy, please)
  • Sin limón, por favor (without lemon please)
  • Con poco chile, por favor (with little chili, please)

Ask how much it will cost:

  • ¿Cuánto va a ser? (How much will it be?)
  • ¿Cuánto es? (How much is it?)

It’s time to pay!

  • Tome (take it; say it while you hand the money to the seller)

Always thank before leaving:

  • Muchas gracias (thank you very much)
  • Gracias, hasta luego (thanks, see you later)

Try TruFluency Kids’ Recipe for Spanish Fluency

Looking for the best gift to give your kids this Children’s Day? Why not some TruFluency Kids Spanish immersion classes? Spanish skills will always be a great investment, because it’ll bring many benefits for your kids!

Through our Spanish classes we want kids to achieve language fluency. That’s why we encourage them to speak in Spanish in every single lesson! This way, they’ll constantly practice their Spanish skills, therefore becoming Spanish fluent.

But that’s not it! We also have native teachers instructing all areas of the Spanish language through all kinds of fun activities. Kids sing, dance, do crafts, play games, read, ask questions, and even cook in Spanish during our classes! This is the perfect recipe towards a joyful Spanish learning journey.

Sign up for our next 4-week session and see for yourself how much fun we are!