Top 28+ Mexican side dishes that'll instantly upgrade Taco Tuesday

One of the many, many reasons Mexican food is extra special is that a lot of it relies as much on the sides as it does on the main dish itself. What would your tacos, pozole, or carnitas be they be without just the homemade tortillas, elote, salsa, and rice to go with it?! With this in mind, we’ve included a number of our favorites here, everything from pickled red onions and pico de gallo to our best queso dip and refried pinto beans, with tons of corn and black bean salads in between.

It's hard to make a decision when all the options are so good. In that case, make a bunch of these Mexican side dishes and then mix and match them—you might just find a new favorite you’ll make every week between Taco Tuesday, Cinco de Mayo, and Noche Buena. But be forewarned: These 28 side dishes just might turn your next dinner into a party!

Elote (Mexican Street Corn)

Elote is an unbelievably popular antojito (little craving) that you can find sold on the street in Mexico. It's often served on a stick, though you could skip the skewer and make it the same way you'd boil or oven bake regular corn on the cob.

Homemade Salsa

Salsa has been around for a very very long time—the origins date back to the Incas and Aztecs. To make ours the most flavorful ever, we use both cherry tomatoes and fresh off-the-vine tomatoes. We also roast some of the ingredients to intensify their flavors and make this salsa POP!

Black Bean & Corn Salad

This easy salad comes together quickly and works as a side dish, a great topping for tacos, or as an appetizer with tortilla chips. Think of this as a medley of the most exciting parts of a vegetarian burrito bowl, unadulterated by rice, and hyped up by a little honey-lime action.

Mexican Rice

Frequently served with refried beans at Tex-Mex restaurants, Mexican rice can often be pushed to the side (literally). Here at Delish, we think that’s criminal—when made right, Mexican rice can be a flavor-packed side that upgrades everything it’s added to, from burrito bowls to taco dinners and everything in between.

Refried Pinto Beans

Mastering this classic Mexican staple takes a little bit of time, a lot of pork fat, and a few helpful hints (like how to speed up soaking your homemade beans!). Trust us, the effort is worth it for the best refried beans you'll ever have.

Mexican Corn Salad

Also known as elote en vaso (“corn in a cup”), Mexican corn salad features all the beloved ingredients of Mexican street corn, just off the cob and far less messy to eat. It’s quick, affordable, and deeply satisfying. Best of all, this version delivers that summery, charred corn flavor—no grill required.

Homemade Flour Tortillas

Fair warning—once you’ve made homemade flour tortillas, you can never go back to store-bought. This recipe aces perfectly fluffy tortillas that are made to be filled with all your favorite fillings (quesadillas, tacos, burritos...here you come).

Instant Pot Black Beans

Short on time but want restaurant-quality black beans? Thanks to your Instant Pot, you get to cut down your cooking time from all-day to 35 minutes max.

Mexican Street Corn Pasta Salad

Elote (Mexican street corn) and pasta salad are two classic cookout sides for very good reason. We love both of these summer sides so much, we decided to combine them for the ultimate potluck dish. Pasta and corn are tossed in a creamy dressing inspired by the mayo and crema mixture that makes elote so irresistible.

Best-Ever Guacamole

Whether you serve it as a simple dip, load it on top of your tacos, or smear it on a bun as a burger topping, we can all agree—it’s not a party without Mexico’s most famous dip. Keep it simple, like we did, or go wild with your mix-ins—just be sure to make extra, this'll go fast.

Pickled Red Onions

Pickled red onions are one of our favorite condiments here at Delish, so we felt compelled to share this super-simple, super-delicious treat with everyone. It's perfect for tacos, nachos, salads... pretty much anything you can think of! Besides being incredibly crunchy, their beautiful pink color also adds a visual pop to any dish they grace.

Pico De Gallo

Bright and acidic with a kick of heat, this just might be the easiest side to prepare (and devour). All it takes to make is chopping your ingredients and tossing them together—that's it!

Best Queso Dip

Want to get the party started? Put out a pot of queso. Studded with tomato, jalapeño, and cilantro, this warm and creamy cheesy dip is a classic party food for a reason—we’ve yet to meet anyone who can resist loading up a chip (or two).

Avocado Salsa

Creamy, just-ripe avocados are tossed with chopped tomatoes, jalapeño, red onion, sweet corn, and tons of chopped fresh cilantro to create this refreshing hybrid dip. Now you’ll never have to decide between salsa and guac ever again!

Corn Tortillas

Fresh tortillas are softer and more flavorful than what you’ll find packaged at the store. They would take any taco Tuesday night to another level; after all, if you’ve put in the work to make great tacos al pastor, you need great corn tortillas to go with it.

Fiesta Corn Salad

When corn is in season, it’s a crime to not eat as much of it as possible. It’s divine slathered with butter and salt, but if the goal is to eat your weight in corn all summer, you’ll need more recipes for inspiration. This summer salad hits all the right notes.

Salsa Verde

We're big fans of salsa verde here at Delish. Salsa verde chicken, salsa verde queso, salsa verde taquitos... the list goes on. We don't mind using the canned stuff for cooking, but homemade is always better if you're serving it straight-up.

Avocado Tomato Salad

Don't confuse this with guac—there's way more depth of flavor, which makes it one of our favorite summer sides of all time.

Baked Yuca Fries

Are you a sweet potato fry fan? You’re going to LOVE these. These sweet and nutty cassava fries admittedly do take a bit of preparation, but once you’ve peeled, chopped, and boiled them, you can turn them into extremely crispy fries that’ll rival any French fry.

Esquites Fritters

We’re happy to report that esquites, the irresistible and less-messy version of everyone’s favorite cotija-coated snack, elote, were the perfect inspiration for these bite-sized fritters. Paired with a lime- and garlic-spiked sour cream sauce, these crisp patties are guaranteed to disappear in a crowd in minutes.

Sikil P’ak (Pumpkin Seed Salsa)

If salsa verde and hummus had a child, it would be this dip. Our version of Sikil p’ak, is inspired by the Yucatecan version that uses ground unhulled pumpkin seeds and red tomatoes. Our riff uses hulled pepitas and charred tomatillos, and its subtle smokiness keeps us coming back for more.

Queso Fundido

Queso fundido is maybe the lowest effort, highest reward dip—a true party trick! Hot tip to make it the best it can be: Go for Mexican chorizo here instead of the Spanish, which is usually dried.

Red Cabbage Slaw

This brightly colored cabbage slaw is extremely forgiving to modifications. If you prefer green cabbage, sub it in for the red. Sensitive to heat? Make sure to pull all the seeds out of the jalapeño, or just skip it entirely. This slaw will still taste delicious without it.

Copycat Chipotle Corn Salsa

If you can't get enough of Chipotle's corn salsa, this is the copycat recipe for you. Loaded with sweet corn, red onion, cilantro, jalapeño and citrus juice, it’s delicious served completely on its own with some chips (or paired with some chicken and turned into a bowl!).

Cucumber, Tomato, & Onion Salad

Perfect for when your garden or the local farmers' market is overflowing with cucumbers and tomatoes, this salad also does surprisingly well with out-of-season produce, especially if you make it ahead of time so it can marinate. Just hold off on adding the herbs until the very end so they stay bright and fresh.

Black Bean Soup

A warm and spicy black bean soup always hits the spot: deep purple-black color gives way to rich creamy consistency, spiced just right with fragrant onions, hot jalapeños, cumin, and chili powder. A little tomato paste, cooked until lightly caramelized, adds a layer of sweet umami that takes it over the top.

Grilled Corn Salsa

With tangy lime and sweet basil, this grilled corn salsa couldn't be more perfect for summer. If you don't have a grill or grill pan, give your cobs a quick sear in a cast iron skillet to get that smoky, charred flavor. You can even use frozen corn (they even sell it pre-charred!).

Chayote With Dried Green Chile

Related to the squash family, chayote is very mild and easily picks up tons of flavor. If you can't find it, you can easily substitute zucchini, and, thankfully, many New Mexican purveyors are now selling dried New Mexican green chile powder online.