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If you are wondering what to serve with tamales, look no further. Here is a list of 50 authentic Mexican side dishes, drinks, and desserts that pair perfectly with tamales. Elevate your meal into a culinary fiesta!
Tamales, with their rich and comforting flavors, are a traditional Mexican dish often served during special occasions and holidays, such as Christmas, Day of the Dead, or Día de la Candelaría (Candlemas), but also enjoyed year-round as a delicious and comforting meal.
What to Eat with Tamales
The traditional way many Mexican families serve tamales is as a main dish with atole, a corn-based hot and sweet beverage. This thick drink complements the spiciness of the tamal beautifully.
Now that I live in the United States, I’ve seen how families enjoy them here in a variety of different ways. So, this guide offers you a variety of accompaniments that elevate the humble tamal.
I have divided this guide into four sections: side dishes, toppings, drinks, and desserts. But first, let me give you a few tamale recipes to try out.
- Chicken Tamales
- Oaxacan-Style Tamales with Mole Sauce
- Chile Verde Tamales
- Green Tamales with Chicken without Lard
RELATED POST: How to Make Masa for Tamales.
Side Dishes to Serve with Tamales
The sky's the limit! I personally think salads are the perfect side dish for savory tamales because of their freshness. However, you can never go wrong with traditional Mexican sides like guacamole, rice and beans, or soup.
Fresh fruit is also a great option. Here are a few ideas to try with links to recipes.
1. Guacamole
Traditional guacamole is one of the best Mexican sides ever!
2. Black beans
Mexican black beans are one of my favorite side dishes for tamales. Try my fast recipe; it's easy to make and colorful.
3. Pinto beans
Pinto beans are also great with tamales. I like them brothy. Learn how to make frijoles de la olla in a pressure cooker with this video.
4. Refried beans
This is a great accompaniment when you are serving tamales with a sauce.
5. Sopa Tarasca
A delicious pinto bean soup served with crunchy garnishes like tortilla chips and crispy chile ancho. I made this on PBS's The Great American Recipe. (S1 E5).
6. Mexican rice
Another Mexican culinary classic. Mexican rice is usually prepared with tomato sauce and veggies like peas and carrots.
7. White rice
What I love about it is its versatility. You can serve cilantro lime rice or just simple white rice with peas.
8. Coleslaw
This cabbage salad is crunchy and satisfying. Try my Mexican Coleslaw recipe.
9. A green salad
Easy and fresh, combine your favorite greens, romaine lettuce, spinach, or iceberg lettuce with fresh bell peppers, tomatoes, cucumbers, avocado, and a light vinaigrette, and you're all set.
This is my Mexican green salad recipe; it's crunchy and refreshing.
10. Poblano Soup
A soup with simple ingredients but still full of flavor, learn how to make it with our step-by-step recipe.
11. Sopa de Lima
Light and fresh, this soup is a great side dish for jalapeño and cheese tamales.
12. Squash and Carrot Soup
Creamy, easy to prepare, and with a gorgeous color, learn how to make this delicious soup here.
13. Sopa de Fideo
This soup is very popular because it is economical and super easy to make. We often pair it with taquitos, too, but it also makes the perfect addition to tamales.
14. Sweet potato salad
The sweetness of this sweet potato salad balances the spiciness of the tamales.
15. Orange and Avocado salad
Avocado, in my humble opinion, goes well with almost anything! Try my orange and avocado salad recipe; it's easy to prepare, tangy and delicious.
16. Pork in Chile Negro
Pork in chile negro is one of those comforting Mexican dishes that goes great with cheese tamales.
17. Pork in Red Sauce
Another dish Mexican families often pair with special tamales we call “corundas.” These tamales have no filling, and they are made of masa harina and butter.
18. Queso Fresco in Red Sauce
This dish goes well with corundas as well or with veggie tamales. Ideal for a meatless meal.
19. Chorizo Nachos
Now, if you want to pair your tamales with a snack, what's more fun than nachos? My Nachos a la Mexicana recipe has chorizo and pico de gallo salsa.
20. Stuffed Jalapeño Peppers
These breaded jalapeño pepper poppers are another fun snack that go great with cheese tamales or veggie tamales.
21. Watermelon Pizza
My family loves to eat fruit before the main meal, and this watermelon pizza salad is colorful, fresh, and fun.
22. Pineapple Gazpacho
Another fruit salad, prepared with pineapple and other fruits and spices. My recipe adds a little bit of orange juice to it, which makes it a great pairing with spicy tamales.
23. Esquites
This is a variation of the Mexican street corn served in a cup with lime juice and a chile like cayenne pepper or chile de árbol pepper.
24. Rajas
This is the name we give to a popular combination of strips of roasted poblano pepper, onion, corn, and cream. These rajas will go great on top or next to pork tamales.
25. Christmas Eve Salad
If you're serving tamales during the Christmas season, try my Christmas Eve Salad. It's a combination of a variety of fruits swimming in a tangy, sweet hibiscus juice.
Toppings for Tamales
1. Tomatillo Salsa
You can serve this very easy homemade salsa verde recipe with many different tamales. I love pouring it on green tamales because it reinforces the delicious filling.
2. Red Salsa
Salsa roja goes very well with pork tamales, chicken tamales, or jalapeño and cheese tamales.
3. Avocado Salsa
Avocado salsa is creamy and tangy. It's delicious on top of cheese or green tamales, and it's a family favorite.
4. Mango Salsa
The bright flavors of this mango salsa make it a great pairing with pork or beef tamales.
5. Pico de Gallo
This spicy pico de gallo salsa includes fresh tomatoes, onions, serrano pepper, cilantro, and lemon juice.
6. Chipotle Salsa
The smokiness of the chipotle goes excellent with chicken or pork tamales.
7. Mole Sauce
This is one of the jewels of Mexican food, and it will go great on top of Oaxacan-style tamales or cheese tamales.
8. Cream and Cheese
For a simple but still rich-in-flavor option, top your Mexican tamales with Mexican crema or sour cream and cotija cheese or queso fresco.
Corundas, the Mexican tamales I mentioned before, go so well with very spicy red salsa, lime juice, cream, and cotija cheese.
9. Avocado Slices
They will add creaminess to the tamales. Add a few drops of lime or lemon juice or queso fresco. Heaven!
What to Drink with Tamales
Mexican families will tell you that the perfect complement to tamales is atole, a thick, sweet, hot beverage that elevates tamales to the next level, especially in cold weather.
But, if you are serving tamales during the Spring or Summer, maybe you would prefer an agua fresca. Here are a few hot and refreshing options for you.
1. Lime Atole
I mention this atole first because it's my favorite; it's almost effortless to prepare, and it has a subtle lime fragrance and flavor. I like this lime atole so much I served it on The Great American Recipe (S1 E3).
2. Caramel Atole
To make this caramel atole, you just need four ingredients!
3. Pumpkin Atole
This pumpkin atole is thick, filling, and perfect for Autumn.
4. Ponche Fruit Atole
I never had ponche fruit atole when I was growing up; this recipe was born in my kitchen last year when I had a surplus of leftover fruit from my Christmas ponche that I make every year in December.
So I used the apples, tejocotes, cinnamon, and raisins to make it, and now it is part of my culinary heritage. I'm leaving it to my kids and their future families.
5. Mexican Christmas Punch
This is the traditional Mexican punch we drink from the time of Las Posadas through New Year's Eve. And, of course, it goes so well with the tamales.
6. Hot Chocolate
Mexican hot chocolate is easy to prepare and perfect when serving tamales in Winter.
7. Hibiscus Agua Fresca
Known as agua de jamaica in Spanish, this is one of the most traditional aguas frescas to serve with tamales. It's refreshing, sweet and tangy.
8. Lime Agua Fresca
Check out my recipe for the best lime agua fresca ever.
9. Horchata Agua Fresca
Horchata is a rice-based beverage that is extremely popular and even trendy now for its flavor and creaminess.
10. Strawberry Agua Fresca
Strawberry agua fresca is the perfect combo of sweetness and freshness
11. Strawberry Horchata
Strawberry horchata is a refreshing variation of the traditional horchata we know and love.
12. Quince Agua Fresca
If you have the good fortune of finding quince in the supermarket, get a couple and make this quince agua fresca, so delicate and refreshing.
13. Pomegranate-Blueberry Sangría Mocktail
This pomegranate-blueberry mocktail is light, sweet, and colorful.
14. Guava Agua Fresca
Made with fresh guavas, a very aromatic drink.
15. Frozen Pineapple Margarita
Tamales go well with Margaritas as well; this frozen pineapple margarita is one of our favorites.
Desserts to Serve with Tamales
Finish with something sweet for a complete meal.
1. Sweet Tamales
Did you know there were sweet tamales?
When I'm in Mexico and we buy tamales, we usually buy both savory and sweet. There are many flavors available, strawberry tamales, apple tamales, pineapple tamales, chocolate tamales, and even pumpkin tamales.
Add a dollop of whipped cream on top and enjoy!
2. Milk Gelatin
For a lot of Mexican families, gelatin is the perfect dessert; it is easy to make, sweet, and comes in many different flavors. My family owned a gelatinería for more than 100 years, and this milk gelatin recipe is one of my favorites.
3. Tropical Gelatin
This tropical gelatin is easy to make with 100% juice.
4. Peach and Milk Gelatin
My family calls it “gelatina combinada” which is a combo of milk gelatin and fruit gelatin. This is my mom's recipe. She makes it for every gathering, and it's delicious.
5. Flan
Flan is creamy, silky, sweet, and very easy to make.
6. Mango Mousse
Because who can resist mango and cream?
7. Chocolate Pie
Chocolate is always a great dessert. Try our Mexican chocolate pie.
There you have it: More than 50 options for your next tamale party. Buen provecho!
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