What’s the most popular part of Thanksgiving? The sides of course! Here are two, super easy, colorful, and absolutely delicious Mexican side dishes to add to your table this year.
A big thank you to ALDI for sponsoring this Thanksgiving post, all opinions are my own.
quick and easy mexican side dishes are where it’s at this thanksgiving
Bookmark this post because these two sides are super simple, fresh, and totally affordable, thanks to the incredible prices at ALDI!
ALDI supermarkets offers the best quality foods at the lowest possible prices and I’m excited to be partnering with them to bring you two of my favorite Mexican side dishes made completely with ALDI’s exceptional ingredients.
Everyone has their favorites when it comes to Thanksgiving sides, but there’s always room for something more. These two Mexican food recipes are the perfect side dishes to add because they are no-fuss, plant-based recipes that your whole family will absolutely love.
Let’s check out the recipes!
calabacitas
The first recipe I want to tell you about is Calabacitas!
When it comes to Thanksgiving recipes there’s two questions you need to ask yourself, does it have some element of cozy comfort? And can it be made ahead?
This simple sauté of zucchini, poblano peppers, and tomatoes hits both those key elements to Thanksgiving side dish success.
ALDI is known for having the freshest produce and that’s because they work with farmers and local growers to ensure the vegetables arrive from the field to the store in the shortest possible time. So whenever I’m doing a veggie-heavy side dish like this one I know I can turn to ALDI for an awesome selection of ingredients at a great price—even organic produce is super affordable! Let’s check out what we need to make this dish.
- Simply Nature Avocado Oil
- Zucchini
- Summer Squash
- Onion
- Garlic
- Tomatoes
- Poblano Pepper
- Stonemill Dried Oregano Leaves
- Stonemill Ground Cumin (just $.95 at ALDI, compared to $4.00 at other grocery stores!)
- Happy Farms Mexican Style Cheese
how to make it
Calabacitas, or “little squash” is totally basic and that’s exactly why we love it! All the veggies get sautéed until they are just tender, seasoned with oregano and cumin. A blanket of cheese goes over the top and melts down into the zucchini, squash, and poblanos.
You can make it even more indulgent by folding in some sour cream before you top it with cheese but I love the contrast of the fresh, just tender vegetables with the layer of melted cheese on top.
*thanksgiving tip
Prepare this dish up to an hour in advance and keep covered in a low oven (180°F) until ready to serve.
cilantro lime rice
The second Mexican side dish also meets the essential Thanksgiving requirements of comfort and make ahead-ability with an extra benefit of being almost too easy to believe.
This Mexican rice recipe has just 5 simple ingredients (including salt and oil) and can even be kept warm in the slow cooker.
PS—I know we’re talking about Thanksgiving but these two recipes served together are one of my favorite dinners ever, just FYI.
Let’s see what we need to make it!
- Specially Selected Jasmine Rice
- Limes
- Cilantro (only $.49 at ALDI, compared to $3.00 at other stores)
- Simply Nature Avocado Oil
- Salt
how to make it
Simply steam the rice then mix the lime zest, juice, chopped cilantro, oil, and salt into the rice. That’s it!
If you have a rice cooker or pressure cooker you can cook the steam the rice in there and keep it warm. When you’re ready to eat, mix in the lime, cilantro and other ingredients, and serve.
*thanksgiving tip
Make up to 3 hours in advance and keep warm in a rice cooker or slow cooker on the warm setting.
I bought everything I needed to make these recipes at my local ALDI. If you haven’t gone to ALDI supermarkets yet, swing by, get to know them. It will surely become one of your favorite stores!
more mexican side dishes to try!
- Spanish rice
- Avocado Lime Vegan Ceviche
- Roasted Beets with Green Chiles and Lime
- Sofrito Black Beans
- Pickled Red Onions
- Grilled Pierogy Mexican Street Corn
- Fluffy Apple Chili Powder Biscuits
did these make it to your table?
Have I convinced you that these two Mexican side dishes should become your new Thanksgiving tradition? If so, I want to know about it! Snap a pic and tag me on Instagram @holajalapeno and #holajalapeno or leave me a comment below!
Calabacitas
What's the most popular part of Thanksgiving? The sides of course! Here are two, super easy, colorful, and absolutely delicious Mexican side dishes to add to your table this year.
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon avocado oil
- 1 onion, chopped
- 3 cloves garlic, chopped
- 1 poblano, stemmed, seeded, and chopped
- 2 zucchini, trimmed and chopped
- 2 summer squash, trimmed and chopped
- 2 tomatoes, cored and chopped
- 2 teaspoons dried oregano
- 1 teaspoon ground cumin
- 2 cups Mexican Style Shredded Cheese
- Cilantro leaves, for garnish
Instructions
Sauté the vegetables. Heat the oil in a large frying pan over medium-high heat. Add onion and season with salt and pepper. Cook stirring occasionally until onion just starts to become tender. Add garlic and poblanos and season again with salt and pepper. Cook until peppers are starting to become tender then add zucchini and summer squash, cook a few minutes, then add tomatoes, oregano, and cumin. Continue cooking, stirring occasionally until zucchini is just tender, but still has some bite and tomatoes have broken down a bit. Taste and season with more salt and pepper if needed.
Melt cheese over the top. Sprinkle cheese all over the top covering evenly. Remove from heat. Cover and let cheese melt, about 2-3 minutes. Garnish with fresh cilantro leaves and serve!
Nutrition Information:
Yield: 6 Serving Size: 1Amount Per Serving: Calories: 226Total Fat: 16gSaturated Fat: 8gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 6gCholesterol: 37mgSodium: 253mgCarbohydrates: 13gFiber: 3gSugar: 6gProtein: 11g
Cilantro Lime Rice
Ingredients
- 2 cups Jasmine rice
- 2 cups water
- zest and juice of 2 limes
- 1 small bunch of cilantro, leaves and tender stems, chopped
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 tablespoon avocado oil
Instructions
Rinse and cook rice. Rinse the rice in a few changes of water until it runs clear. Combine rice and water in the rice cooker and steam.
Combine remaining ingredients. Transfer rice to a serving bowl and add lime zest, lime juice, cilantro, salt, and avocado oil. Mix well and serve!
Nutrition Information:
Yield: 6 Serving Size: 1Amount Per Serving: Calories: 135Total Fat: 4gSaturated Fat: 0gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 3gCholesterol: 3mgSodium: 288mgCarbohydrates: 24gFiber: 1gSugar: 5gProtein: 3g
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