Who can go past enchiladas? They’re a delicious and versatile dish, one that delights the tastebuds and works well in countless situations. But, deciding what to serve with enchiladas might be trickier than you first think.
Part of the challenge is that there are so many different types of enchiladas. They can be broken down by the sauce used, including those with red sauce, mole sauce, and or a flavorful green sauce.
There are also filling differences, giving you dishes like chicken enchiladas, Swiss enchiladas, bean enchiladas, and even breakfast enchiladas. Each type offers delicious flavors and its own set of distinct features.
Thankfully, there are plenty of interesting sides for enchiladas, including Mexican rice, lime cilantro rice, and jicama slaw. This variety means that there are plenty of options for sides, no matter which type of enchiladas you’re serving.
That said, you’ll want to match your enchiladas and sides. This includes thinking about the flavors in each and the overall theme of your meal.
One of the biggest differences is whether you’re serving a Tex-Mex meal or whether you’re focusing on an authentic Mexican one (complete with Mexican spices). The ingredients in your enchiladas play a role too. For example, rice and beans work well alongside chicken enchiladas, but are a poor match for bean enchiladas.
What To Serve With Enchiladas (11 Sides To Try)
Mexican Rice
Why serve plain white rice with enchiladas when you can have Mexican rice instead? The dish is made by simmering long-grain rice in a tomato-heavy broth. Extra ingredients are then used for seasoning, including chili powder, onions, and garlic.
The tomatoes in the broth give Mexican rice its famous red color. They also impart a fantastic flavor that complements the tomato in your enchiladas.
Like enchiladas, there’s plenty of room for tweaks and additions. You could add vegetables like bell peppers and corn, or perhaps some chopped chorizo or black beans. The spice level can be varied too, giving you a mild dish or a spicier one.
Restaurant-Style Mexican Rice
This Restaurant-Style Mexican Rice is exceptional in many ways. First, as the name suggests, the rice has an exceptional flavor profile. It really does taste as good as something from a restaurant.
The taste comes from the use of delicious ingredients, including fire roasted tomatoes, jalapenos, tomato bouillon, and plenty of seasonings.
There’s even a short list of easy substitutions, like using onion powder instead of chopped onion. The substitutions allow you to make the rice without any chopping at all. You can even make the rice in a rice cooker, making it easier still.
Rice And Beans
Then there’s rice and beans. This side works well as both ingredients are inexpensive. There isn’t much prep work either, which always helps. Plus, you can experiment with the type of beans and the seasonings to create your own version of the dish.
In particular, if your enchiladas are packed with flavor, you’ll probably want a simple version of rice and beans to go alongside them. But, if the enchiladas are pretty mild, you might use extra spices for the rice and beans.
You’re also getting an interesting texture contrast between the side and your enchiladas, especially as enchiladas are often saucy and cheesy.
The biggest issue here is the carbs. You’re already getting some carbs from your enchilada wrap. Serving a carb laden side could easily be too much. If you’re worried about this, try serving a fresh salad alongside the enchiladas instead.
Spanish Rice And Beans
This Spanish Rice and Beans is similar to Mexican rice, except that it also includes beans in the mix. The addition of beans creates a much healthier side, giving you plenty of nutrients, protein, and fiber.
There’s a ton of flavor here too, as the recipe includes salsa, garlic, bell pepper, vegetable broth, and spices. Everything is simmered together to give you a delicious and consistent dish.
To make things even easier, you can prepare the rice in an Instant Pot rather than on the stove. You’ll need the sauté function to begin with, then you can switch to regular pressure cooking.
Large Green Salad
While rice is a common side for enchiladas, it isn’t necessarily the best one. You’re already getting carbs from the tortillas and possibly some of the fillings. Do you really want carbs from your side as well?
A green salad is an excellent alternative. This way you’re getting plenty of nutrients, plus a refreshing texture contrast. The fiber in the salad is helpful too, especially if your enchiladas mostly include cheese and meat.
Besides, salads can be endlessly varied. This means you can easily play with the ingredients, dressing, and texture. You don’t even need to use lettuce as the salad base. Why not try a dark leafy green like spinach instead? Or, something entirely different like shredded carrots or raw zucchini noodles.
Best Simple Tossed Green Salad
If you want to keep things easy, this Simple Tossed Green Salad is the way to go. The base of the salad relies on some of the classics: mixed greens, sunflower seeds, cucumber, red onion, and bacon. Then there’s a straightforward dressing that uses dijon mustard, apple cider vinegar, and honey.
The recipe also includes information about how to mix the salad up. For example, you can swap ingredients to make a Mexican, Mediterranean, or Hawaiian version of the salad, and you can also play around with the amount of crunch by adding sunflower seeds or apple pieces.
The recipe is fantastic if you don’t make salads often, as you have the base instructions, plus all the information you need elevate the salad.
Calabacitas
Calabacitas is an interesting dish, most often served with authentic Mexican enchiladas rather than the Tex-Mex version. The name translates to little squash, which makes sense, as the meal has a base of sautéed squashes.
The meal acan also include a few other ingredients, such as chopped onions, bell peppers, and corn. These help create an interesting texture, while spices add to the flavor profile.
As always, there’s space for variations. For example, some recipes add cheese, while others use tomato for even more flavor.
Calabacitas
This Calabacitas recipe is an excellent introduction to the dish. It relies on sauteed zucchini and yellow squash, plus corn, peppers, tomatoes, and even cheese. The squash and corn are the stars of the dish, while the other ingredients make it more complex and interesting.
The focus on vegetables makes this an excellent side for meat-based enchiladas.
I love how these calabacitas use both cheese and tomatoes. Doing so creates some similarities between your side and the enchiladas, and brings your whole meal together.
Finally, the recipe includes details about substitutions. For example, you can use all zucchini rather than a combination of zucchini and yellow squash. Or, you can use bell peppers instead of the spicy peppers called for in the recipe.
Guacamole
If you’re looking for a simple side, why not try guacamole? It’s a delicious creamy option that can be easily served as a side dish or even on top of your enchiladas.
This is a fantastic pairing, as the coolness of the guacamole offsets the rich flavors and heat of your enchiladas. Guacamole is also easy to prepare. Or, you can simply buy some from the local store.
Things are a little different if you’re serving authentic Mexican enchiladas rather than the Tex-Mex version. Here, you might serve the guacamole as an appetizer or a completely separate side dish. Doing so allows you to fully experience the flavors of each component.
Fully Loaded Guacamole
This Fully Loaded Guacamole is one of the most interesting guacamole dishes you’ll see. It includes red onion, tomatoes, black beans, fresh corn, fajita seasoning, and more.
These ingredients provide an interesting texture and flavor balance, while still offering the traditional guacamole flavors. The recipe post includes details about ways to vary the recipe, like grilling the corn before mixing it in. Doing so adds even more flavor to create a truly stand out dish.
Lime Cilantro Rice
We’ve already seen that rice works well alongside enchiladas. Lime cilantro rice is an interesting version to try, as you get some herbal flavor from the cilantro plus plenty of freshness from the lime juice.
The texture works well with enchiladas too, especially if you make your rice nice and fluffy.
This is an especially good side if your enchiladas are rich and flavorful. After all, you don’t want an intense side if there’s a lot going on with your main.
One Pot Cilantro Lime Rice And Black Beans
This One Pot Cilantro Lime Rice and Black Beans recipe makes lime cilantro rice more filling and adds some fiber too. It’s basically a more flavorful version of beans and rice, where the focus is more on the lime juice and cilantro than on the beans (you could even skip the beans if you like).
The recipe is a little unusual, as it includes sautéed red onions, green chiles, garlic, cumin, and jalapenos. These ingredients provide more flavor than normal, making this an even more exciting treat. Here too, you can easily vary the recipe, like by stirring in avocados or some salsa.
Avocado Salad
Instead of serving guacamole, why not try for an avocado salad instead? The basic idea is a salad that uses avocado chunks as a key ingredient.
Such salads often use a fairly light dressing, like a lime vinaigrette, along with familiar salad ingredients. For example, you might make a salad that relies on avocado, chopped tomatoes, red onion, and cilantro, with a lime vinaigrette.
Alternatively, you could experiment with an avocado, black bean, and corn salad. This is a heartier version that would help give you a filling meal.
Grilled Corn And Avocado Salad
What do you think of this Grilled Corn and Avocado Salad? It features corn, avocado, and bell pepper pieces, which create a delightful combination of flavors and textures.
There are only a handful of other ingredients, including olive oil, cilantro, and lime juice. These add to the vibrancy and make the salad an excellent palate cleanser between bites of your enchiladas.
Nopales
Nopales are a type of prickly pear fruit and feature in many traditional Mexican recipes. They have a light and slightly tart flavor that is somewhat similar to the taste of asparagus or green beans. There are also some slight citrus and earthy notes that create a deliciously unique flavor.
The texture is relevant too, as nopales have a slightly slimy texture (reminiscent of okra). This can be reduced with careful cooking and actually works well in some dishes.
The most classic approach is a nopales salad. This includes thinly sliced nopales, salad ingredients like tomatoes and red onion, plus a light dressing. The nopales are often cooked a little first to reduce their sliminess. You can also cook nopales with tomatoes and onions, or try a more complex recipe instead.
Grilled Cactus And Corn Salad
This Grilled Cactus and Corn Salad is a stunning way to use nopales. The recipe uses a cool fan approach that involves slicing the nopales into strips, while still leaving them joined at the base.
Slicing the nopales like this helps remove moisture and make them less slimy. And, you can still easily flip them when needed.
Aside from the nopales, the salad includes plenty of corn, plus garlic, olive oil, lime, and cilantro. These ingredients create a delicious vibrant salad that’s surprisingly familiar.
Jicama Slaw
Jicama is an interesting Mexican vegetable. It has light brown skin, which makes it look a little like a potato, but the firm white flesh tends to be mild and sweet instead.
Jicama is often eaten raw, as it has nuanced flavors and a refreshing crunch. It’s a particularly good addition to coleslaw, giving the salad more taste and depth.
Most jicama slaw recipes stick with the common coleslaw ingredients, including cabbage and dressing, then simply use jicama to make the salad more exciting. Doing so works better than using jicama on its own. However, you can certainly experiment. There are plenty of delicious ingredient combos to choose from.
Jicama And Carrot Slaw Recipe
This Jicama and Carrot Slaw takes a different approach, as there is no cabbage in sight. The recipe simply relies on jicama, carrots, cilantro, and jalapeno, plus a delicious dressing.
The dressing uses honey and lime flavors. These are perfect with the slight sweetness of the carrot and the crispness of the jicama.
The salad is also easy to make. That’s fantastic, as you’re already putting plenty of work into your enchiladas. Plus, because the salad is so simple, you could easily add in a few extra ingredients for more flavor.
Mexican Pickled Carrots
Mexican pickled carrots are another great option. They are a delicious and flavorful version of pickled carrots, often relying on warming spices, including Mexican oregano and bay leaves.
The spice level of these carrots varies notably. Some are mild, while others use jalapenos to provide a considerable kick. Either way, this is a delicious side and is perfect if you need a few more veggies.
Authentic Mexican Pickled Carrots
This recipe for Authentic Mexican Pickled Carrots aims to get as close as possible to the real deal. It relies on thick pieces of diagonally sliced carrot, plus jalapeno and onion.
The vegetables are first parboiled in a vinegar solution and then allowed to cool. After this point, they can be placed in jars and sealed. The parboiling is important for softening your carrots. They’ll be too hard otherwise.
This is a quick pickle recipe, so the carrots will be ready in just a few hours. However, they taste better if you leave them for a day or so before eating them.
Corn And Black Bean Salad
Finally, we have a corn and black bean salad. This gets plenty of vibrancy from the corn, while the black beans offer protein and fiber.
The salad can be kept simple or you can create a more complex version using extra ingredients. For example, if you’re serving a Tex-Mex meal, you might add in chopped tomatoes and red onion. Or, you could look for a more traditional recipe.
Mexican Black Bean Corn Salad
This Mexican Black Bean Corn Salad is bursting with delicious flavors and vibrant colors. It’s designed as a summer salad, one that relies on fresh ingredients. There’s barely any cooking or prep work, especially if you use canned black beans and frozen corn.
The recipe also includes tomatoes, feta, fresh lime juice, and herbs. These help to make the salad vibrant – a perfect contrast to the richness of your enchiladas.
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