Oaxacan cuisine is a regional cuisine of Mexico, centered on the city of Oaxaca, the capital of the eponymous state located in southern Mexico. Oaxaca is one of the country's major gastronomic, historical, and gastro-historical centers whose cuisine is known internationally. Like the rest of Mexican cuisine, Oaxacan food is based on staples such as corn, beans, and chile peppers, but there is a great variety of other ingredients and food preparations due to the influence of the state's varied geography and indigenous cultures. Corn and many beans were first cultivated in Oaxaca. Well-known features of the cuisine include ingredients such as chocolate (often drunk in a hot preparation with spices and other flavourings), Oaxaca cheese, mezcal, and grasshoppers (chapulines), with dishes such as tlayudas, Oaxacan-style tamales, and seven notable varieties of mole sauce. The cuisine has been praised and promoted by food experts such as Diana Kennedy and Rick Bayless and is part of the state's appeal for tourists.

Because of its mountain ranges, the state has a number of climates and cultures, which contributes to making the cuisine the most varied in Mexico. The state has coastal areas with seafood, the Central Valley region grows a wide variety of vegetables, and the area near Veracruz provides a year-round supply of tropical fruits. It also has seventeen recognized indigenous groups, which contribute their own cooking traditions. The cooking of each region in the state is characterized by local ingredients and, to some extent, cooking methods. One example is that of the Triques, who are known for their pit barbecuing. However, despite its rich culinary tradition, Oaxaca is a poor state and many struggle to eat decently.

Oaxaca's dietary staple is corn, which has been Mexico's for over 7,000 years. Corn is generally dried and ground to create a dough, which is used for a number of dishes, including entomatadas, empanadas, and tamales. Tortillas are called blandas and are a part of nearly every meal. The main flavoring agent is the chili pepper, with varieties such as amarillos, chilhuacles, chilcostles, and costeños, but the most distinctive is the pasilla oaxaqueña chile. Characteristic herbs include hoja santa, often used in chicken, pork, and fish dishes as well as mole verde, along with epazote and pitiona. Two well-known aspects of the cuisine are the use of chocolate for drinking and various edible insects, especially grasshoppers called chapulines (see below). Lesser-known regional specialties include ice cream flavored with rose petals, and squash flowers found in empanadas, quesadillas, soups, and more.

As for beans, Oaxacan cuisine prefers black beans in many varieties: cooked with aniseed and served in the form of soup, as a topping for street food, or with scrambled eggs in huevos con frijoles.

Another distinctive ingredient is Oaxaca cheese, also called quesillo, used to make empanadas, tortas, and tlayudas.

Oaxacan cooking varies region by region, but a number of dishes can be found in nearly all parts of the state. Tlayudas are large chewy tortillas with toppings of beans, guacamole, meat or seafood, and cheese. The most traditional Oaxacan tamales are large, wrapped in banana leaves with a mole filling. Other tamale varieties include amarillo (yellow), verde (green), rajas (chili pepper strips), chepil, elote (fresh corn), and dulce (sweet). In the Isthmus of Tehuantepec, there is a variation with iguana meat and, along the coast, it can contain seafood. Oaxaca is famous for its chocolate, traditionally hand-ground and combined with almonds, cinnamon, and other ingredients, usually drunk as a hot beverage. Other well-known Oaxacan dishes include chorizo oaxaqueño, tasajo, cecina enchilada, cocido oaxaqueño, and various sauces such as molcajete, chintextle, borracha, chile pasilla, guajillo y ajo, and gusanitos. Besides chocolate, other typical drinks include mezcal, various types of atole, champurrado, and various fruit-based drinks.

The culinary center of the state is its capital of the same name, Oaxaca, located in what is called the Central Valleys region. While the dominant indigenous group here has been the Zapotecs since the pre-Hispanic period, there has been influence from other groups as well, such as the Mixtecs. The people of Oaxaca have grown corn, beans, squash, and other crops for thousands of years. In rural, especially indigenous, villages, households still depend heavily on these foods with few changes in how they are grown, mostly on small plots. The cooking here retains much of its indigenous flavour, such as dishes prepared without fat (unknown before the arrival of the Spanish) and the use of the valley's abundance of vegetables and herbs, especially in its moles. However, as capital of the state, it also received influence from other parts of Oaxaca.

The best-known mezcal-producing area of the state is here, between the city of Oaxaca and Mitla, along the highway that leads to the Isthmus of Tehuantepec. Like tequila, mezcal is made with the cooked hearts of a species of the maguey or agave plant, but the flavour is very different. It has been described as smoky, and it is usually drunk straight. It comes in several varieties and can contain flavours such as almond, coffee, and orange. A related traditional drink is aguamiel, the non-alcoholic sap of the maguey plant.