Recipe
🥤 DRINK
Horchata de Morro
El Salvador's horchata: toasted morro (jícaro) seeds ground with sesame, pumpkin seed, peanut, cacao, and cinnamon, blended with water and served cold.
Salvadoran · medium · serves 6
prep 45 min · cook 10 min
~188 cal · 8g protein · 9g carbs · 15g fat · 3g fiber · 1g sugars · 2g sat fat (estimated, per serving)
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AI-generated illustration
El Salvador's horchata is not the rice drink most people picture; it is built on the toasted seeds of the morro, or jícaro, tree that grows across the Salvadoran countryside. Believed to trace back to the Indigenous Lenca, it is the standard refresco poured beside a plate of pupusas at any comedor.
The morro seed is toasted with a mix of other seeds, sesame, pumpkin seed, and peanut, along with rice, a little cacao, and cinnamon, then ground to a fragrant powder. That powder is soaked, blended with water, strained, and sweetened, giving a drink that is nutty, toasty, and faintly chocolatey, thicker and earthier than the Mexican version that shares its name.
Served cold over ice, sometimes with a splash of milk, horchata de morro is a nourishing everyday drink and a point of Salvadoran pride. It carries peanut and sesame, so it is not naturally nut-free, but leaving the peanuts out and keeping the morro and seeds gives a nut-free glass.
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Make it yours
✓ Naturally vegetarian, vegan and gluten-, dairy-, egg- and pork-free. No swaps needed.
Toggle a diet and the ingredients rewrite themselves with regional substitutes.
🥕 Vegetarian
🌱 Vegan
🌾 Gluten-Free
🥛 Dairy-Free
🥜 Nut-Free
🥚 Egg-Free
🐖 Pork-Free
Dietary labels are a cooking guide, not allergen-safety advice. We track dairy, egg, gluten, tree nuts and peanuts (we count coconut as a tree nut, following FDA labeling), fish, and shellfish; we do not screen for sesame, soy, mustard, celery, or sulphites. If you have a food allergy, read the label on every product you use, and note that a kitchen can cross-contaminate in ways a recipe cannot control.
Ingredients
US
Metric
Serves 6
1/2 cup morro (jícaro) seeds
Hard to find? a packaged horchata de morro mix - sold ready-ground in Salvadoran groceries; the morro seed is the heart of the drink and has no real substitute, so the mix is the shortcut
1/4 cup white sesame seeds
1/4 cup pumpkin seeds
1/4 cup peanuts
2 tbsp uncooked rice
1 tbsp cocoa, or a small piece of cacao
1 cinnamon stick
6 cups water
to taste sugar
Instructions
1
Toast the morro seeds, sesame, pumpkin seeds, peanuts, and rice separately in a dry pan until fragrant and lightly golden.
✎ Chef’s note
Toast each in small batches so nothing burns; the toasting is what gives the drink its nutty, roasted character.
2
Grind the toasted seeds with the cinnamon and cocoa to a fine powder.
3
Stir the powder into 2 cups of the water and let it soak for half an hour to an hour.
4
Add the remaining water, blend until smooth, then strain through a fine cloth.
5
Sweeten to taste, chill, and serve over plenty of ice.
San Salvador tradition.
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🌏 While it simmers, know your destination
📍
San Salvador. Olocuilta, north of the capital, is where people drive for them, and its speciality is the rice-flour pupusa rather than the corn one. Loroco, an edible flower bud with a green almost artichoke taste, is a classic filling alongside cheese, and the curtido on the table has been souring for days.
🗺️
El Salvador. Curtido is not a garnish but the other half of the dish: cabbage, carrot and onion lightly fermented in vinegar with oregano, piled on top so the sourness cuts through the cheese. The pupusa is patted between wet palms, sealed around the filling and cooked on a comal, and the seam is the part cooks are judged on.
🌍
North America. The most consequential technique on this continent is nixtamalisation, cooking maize with lime or wood ash. It loosens the skins, makes the dough that becomes tortillas and tamales, and frees up niacin the body cannot otherwise absorb, which is why maize spread around the world without the technique and took pellagra with it.
The story behind this dish is up top, worth a read while the pot works.
More from El Salvador
Pupusas con CurtidoHand-patted masa cakes stuffed with cheese and beans, griddled until molten, served with tangy cabbage curtido.
Plátanos Fritos con Frijoles y CremaCaramelized fried plantains with thick refried beans and a swirl of crema, the humble Salvadoran típico breakfast.
Panes con PolloWarm baguette rolls stuffed with relajo-spiced chicken, salad, and a savory gravy, El Salvador's festive sandwich.
Browse all El Salvador recipes →
Good to know
You’ll need: Blender.
Storing it: Keep chilled and covered, and enjoy within 2 to 3 days.
Make it a El Salvador meal
Sopa de PataDinner
Quesadilla SalvadoreñaDessert
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Drinks
Frequently asked questions
What is Horchata de Morro?
El Salvador's horchata: toasted morro (jícaro) seeds ground with sesame, pumpkin seed, peanut, cacao, and cinnamon, blended with water and served cold.
Where does Horchata de Morro come from?
Horchata de Morro is a Salvadoran dish from San Salvador, El Salvador.
Can Horchata de Morro be made vegan, gluten-free, or dairy-free?
This Horchata de Morro recipe includes substitution suggestions for vegetarian, vegan, gluten-free, dairy-free, nut-free, egg-free, and pork-free versions, including several at once such as gluten-free and dairy-free together. Treat them as a starting guide rather than a guarantee, and see the allergen note below.
Is Horchata de Morro safe for people with food allergies?
Our dietary labels and substitutions are a cooking guide, not medical or allergen-safety advice. We track dairy, egg, gluten, tree nuts and peanuts (we count coconut as a tree nut, following FDA labeling), fish, and shellfish, but we do not screen for sesame, soy, mustard, celery, or sulphites. If you have a food allergy, always read the label on every product you use, and remember a home or commercial kitchen can cross-contaminate ingredients in ways a recipe cannot control.
How long does Horchata de Morro take to make?
About 55 minutes total (45 minutes prep, 10 minutes cooking), serving 6.
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