13 Good Sides for Tacos You’ll Love

Tacos aren’t just for Tuesdays anymore. When you want to enjoy your favorite taco recipe any day of the week, do you know what to serve with tacos? You can serve a variety of homemade side dishes for tacos to mix up any taco night.

I know what you’re thinking, what goes with tacos? Honestly, lots of sides go great with tacos!

Here are 13 must-try side dishes that pair great with tacos. You can eat them separately, eat them with chips, or pile them directly on your taco.

These sides go great with beef tacos, chicken tacos, and even fish tacos!

1. Easy Homemade Salsa

The number one thing that you need to serve alongside your tacos is fresh, easy-to-make, homemade salsa. Homemade salsa is a perfect side and topping for tacos.

You can easily adjust how spicy your salsa is by adding hotter peppers or make it mild by limiting the number of peppers you use.

This easy homemade salsa recipe can be made in under five minutes.

Simply blend the ingredients together using a blender, food processor, or stick blender. Want something spicier? Trade out your jalapeno peppers for serrano peppers.

2. Elotes (Grilled Mexican Street Corn)

classic side dishes for tacos are always a good choice. One classic side dish for tacos is Mexican street corn, also called elotes. This corn dish will get the “fiesta” started at any dinner party.

This elote recipe combines fresh corn with Mexican crema and Cotija cheese.

You can spice it up with chile powder and balance the flavors by adding a squeeze of fresh lime.

The best part about this taco side is that you can set it up as a DIY bar so that each person can add as much or as little of each ingredient.

3. Guacamole

What goes well with tacos? Guacamole. You can serve it on the side along with some tortilla chips, or you can put a dollop of it right on top of your taco for added flavor.

Easily make it by mashing fresh avocados and mixing in fresh cilantro and diced onions.

Make this recipe chunky or smooth, whichever you feel like. Want it spicy? Add fresh jalapeno peppers or cayenne pepper seasoning.

Garnish your guacamole with a sprig of cilantro for a fancier presentation.  

4. Grandma’s Corn Pudding

Not all sides to go with tacos have to be traditional. Try this recipe for Grandma’s corn pudding. It takes a little bit longer to make this side dish in comparison to the other sides on this list because you have to bake it in the oven.

Don’t worry, pulling the prep together is easy and can be done in just 10 minutes!

Here’s a helpful tip: get this corn pudding baking in the oven before you start making your tacos.

This will help everything come together perfectly at the same time.

5. Mexican Roasted Sweet Potato Cubes

Are you looking for the best, most filling side for tacos? This Mexican roasted sweet potato recipe should do the trick! All you have to do is cube your sweet potatoes then cover them with the spices listed in the recipe.

Roast the seasoned sweet potato cubes in your oven while you prep the rest of your taco meal.

For extra crispy sweet potatoes, rotate your potatoes halfway through the roasting time.

This is the perfect soft, yet crunchy side that is the perfect addition to a taco night.

6. Easy Mexican Coleslaw Recipe

What goes with tacos that also make a great summer side dish? This Mexican coleslaw is the perfect addition to any taco spread. It not only makes a great side dish, but it goes amazingly with fish tacos.

This creamy coleslaw will cool down any heat from spicy peppers that you have on your taco.

Prepare the coleslaw ahead of time so that it has time to chill.

The seasonings will also have a chance to perfectly combine and marinate the cabbage.

7. Jicama Mango Salad with Cilantro and Lime

Are you looking for a chilled side for your tacos that isn’t coleslaw? Try this jicama mango salad with cilantro and lime. Texturally, it’s similar to a slaw, but the recipe skips the cabbage. It’s light, healthy, and is a perfect side for tacos.

The secret ingredient to making this salad sweet is a quarter cup of honey.

It helps perfectly balance the spice of the cayenne and the citrus from the lime with just the right amount of sweetness.

8. Spanish Rice

If you are searching for a restaurant-quality dish, try this easy Spanish rice side dish to go with your tacos.

This side dish is not only inexpensive to make, but can feed a crowd. Most of the ingredients are shelf-stable, so you might already have them in your pantry!

Need a way to make this recipe your own? Throw in some frozen peas, corn, and carrots while cooking the rice.

It not only adds a pop of color to your rice but adds in a nice mix of healthy veggies.

9. Mexican Black Beans

Here’s another restaurant-quality side dish idea that is easy and enjoyable. You can throw this side dish together in under 20 minutes.

It’s so easy to make because you start with a can of black beans – no need to buy dry beans and soak them overnight!

Serve the beans warm with a garnish of Cojita cheese and cilantro, or blend everything after cooking to make a delicious bean dip. These beans are the perfect quick and easy side dish for tacos.

If you make it into bean dip serve it with tortilla chips or put it directly on your taco. Yum!

10. Cadillac Margarita

Margaritas are a must-have for taco night, right? Whip up a batch of these top-shelf margaritas to share with your guests in under five minutes. All of the ingredients are fresh meaning you can skip the pre-made margarita mix from the store.

Serve your margaritas in a margarita glass, schooner, or even a pint glass. Garnish your margarita glasses with flaky salt and a wedge of lime. Don’t have fresh limes?

Use lime juice from the grocery store to make your prep time go even faster!

11. Horchata Recipe {Best Mexican Drink!}

When you want to serve a specialty drink at taco night but want to skip the alcohol make this classic horchata drink recipe. Horchata is a classic Mexican drink that is made with rice.

There are no artificial flavors here – simply the natural flavors from almonds, cinnamon sticks, and vanilla.

You can sweeten the drink more by adding extra sugar.

If you need to skip the sugar altogether, try substituting the sugar with your favorite sugar alternatives like stevia or agave.

12.  Spicy Mexican Street Corn Salad

Here’s a fun Mexican-style side dish that is perfect for tacos, or any Mexican dish really. This corn salad brings your meal a spicy twist and is easier to eat than traditional elotes.

This recipe is similar to elotes, or Mexican street corn.

Instead of serving the corn on the cob, the corn is served salad style. Crema is replaced with mayonnaise and Cojita chees is replaced with feta.

This is a great twist because these ingredients can be easier to find in your pantry and on your grocery store shelves.

13. The BEST Mexican Roasted Vegetables

Want another healthy side dish for tacos? Why didn’t you ask sooner – this Mexican roasted vegetable recipe is just what you’re looking for!

This side dish is not only healthy, but it’s crazy easy to make and your family will love it.

Roughly chop your vegetables – onion, bell pepper, broccoli, squash – whichever veggies you love.

Toss the chopped veggies in olive oil and a packet of taco seasoning. It doesn’t get any easier than this!