Recorded at Crescent Moon Studios in Miami, Florida, Mi Tierra features notable Latin musicians such as Tito Puente, Arturo Sandoval, Cachao López, Chamin Correa and Paquito D'Rivera.

Gloria Estefan had wanted to record a Spanish-language album reflecting her Cuban heritage since the beginning of her musical career.

[3] Before recording in English, Estefan and her band performed at Latin nightclubs;[4] she also remembered her grandmother teaching her old Cuban songs.

Music had an important role in Estefan's family; her paternal grandmother was a poet, and an uncle played the flute in a salsa band.

[3] The singer's desire to record an album in Spanish was also influenced by her son, Nayib; she wanted him to recognize his Cuban heritage.

[9] The opening track on the album, "Con los Años Que Me Quedan" ("With the Years I Have Left"), is a Cuban bolero song.

[11] "No Hay Mal Que Por Bien No Venga" ("Out of All Bad, Some Good Things Come") is a danzón recalling a brief love affair.

[6] The bolero "Volverás" was later covered by Mexican recording artist Alejandro Fernández on his album Me Estoy Enamorando (1997), also produced by Emilio Estefan.

[15] Anne Hurley of Entertainment Weekly said that Mi Tierra "will whirl you through an intoxicating landscape of traditional Cuban rhythms and aromatic flavors," and applauded the guest musicians on the album.

[17] Parry Gettelman of the Orlando Sentinel gave Mi Tierra four out of five stars, commending the album as "uncompromising, offering up songs and arrangements firmly rooted in Cuban traditions.

"[13] He compared it to Estefan's earlier recordings with the Miami Sound Machine, including her musical style and songwriting: "She ditches the synths and employs the London Symphony Orchestra's strings to graceful effect...abandoning melodrama for real color and emotional shading.

"[13] John Lannert described Mi Tierra for the Sun-Sentinel as "Estefan's Latin 'unplugged' album" and her "most satisfying effort to date.

[20] In 2015, Billboard listed Mi Tierra as one of the Essential Latin Albums of Past 50 Year stating that "Through son, she transports us to a magical place in the '50s where time stood still on her beloved island".

[43][44][45] The second single, "Con Los Años Que Me Quedan", also reached number one on the Hot Latin Songs chart in the United States.

[50] The sixth, "Mi Buen Amor", reached number one on the Hot Latin Songs chart in the United States.