# People from Spanish speaking countries: What sides do you eat at home other than rice and beans? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** food-cooking\ **Created:** [May 26, 2021, 7:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-from-spanish-speaking-countries-what-sides-do-you-eat-at-home-other-than-rice-and-beans/942936 "2021-05-26T07:38:44Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 16\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Mesquite-oh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a183cd/32.png) [@Mesquite-oh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mesquite-oh)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2021, 7:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-from-spanish-speaking-countries-what-sides-do-you-eat-at-home-other-than-rice-and-beans/942936/1 "2021-05-26T07:38:44Z")
If you are from a Spanish speaking country, or a recent immigrant, or someone who knows a lot about food from Spanish speaking countries, what kind of sides do you eat at home other than rice and beans? I’ve seen a ton of recipe suggestions online, but they seem kinda American influenced more than anything else. And no, I am not talking about what sides you eat with burgers or pizza, but what you eat when you eat more traditional foods from your area. I am a Hispanic person whose family has been in Texas for about 100 years or so. I eat a lot of rice and beans when I eat Tex-Mex food at home. Even when I go to Tex-Mex restaurants it is pretty much the same- rice, beans, and a small salad. When I was a kid, my mom would sometimes do corn, squash, or corn and squash with tomato sauce. We had fideo now and then (thin pasta with tomato sauce). ---
**Author:** ![Grrr](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/grrr/32/146_2.png) [@Grrr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grrr)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2021, 10:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-from-spanish-speaking-countries-what-sides-do-you-eat-at-home-other-than-rice-and-beans/942936/2 "2021-05-26T10:27:02Z")
I lived with a bunch of Mexican immigrants when I was a teenager. I don’t remember there being a whole lot of sides. Everything came in the form of “stew” with veggies thrown in. There was ALWAYS a big pot of beans in the fridge. We’d eat beans at night and in the morning “mom” would throw a bunch in a cast iron pan and get to mash’n. Bean burritos for breakfast and bean burritos for lunch. LOL We did have Fideo as a side from time to time. ---
**Author:** ![shh1313](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/shh1313/32/8020_2.png) [@shh1313](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/shh1313)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2021, 10:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-from-spanish-speaking-countries-what-sides-do-you-eat-at-home-other-than-rice-and-beans/942936/3 "2021-05-26T10:39:24Z")
Mole comes to mind its a sauce with ground chiles and chocolate served with meat. birria is similar to chili made with beef, pork, young goat, or chicken. Lengua tacos most people in Mexico eat corn not flour tortillias. Atole is a drink made from masa harina and usually sweetened with fruit and sometimes chocolate. I lived in Mexico for 3 years abd if you’re really interested and want authentic recipes with a look behind everything food, restuarents ect and travel you’ll enjoy this site. > **[Mexico Cooks!](https://www.mexicocooks.typepad.com/)** > > Mexico: a culinary travelogue, an adventure for the palate, mind, and spirit. ---
**Author:** ![Pardel-Lux](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pardel-lux/32/20182_2.png) [@Pardel-Lux](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pardel-Lux)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2021, 10:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-from-spanish-speaking-countries-what-sides-do-you-eat-at-home-other-than-rice-and-beans/942936/4 "2021-05-26T10:48:02Z")
Spanish from Spain, Europe: Completely different. Rice and [beans](https://elcomidista.elpais.com/elcomidista/2021/05/20/receta/1621499330_100104.html) are mostly main dishes (for rice see paella, of course, but also the [many](https://elcomidista.elpais.com/elcomidista/2017/03/28/receta/1490714822_510858.html) [versions](https://elcomidista.elpais.com/elcomidista/2014/11/11/receta/1415685600_141568.html) of [arroz](https://elcomidista.elpais.com/elcomidista/2011/06/08/receta/1307509200_130750.html) [caldoso](https://elcomidista.elpais.com/elcomidista/2019/04/10/receta/1554911707_697752.html) - the links are in Spanish). Beans as side dish are mostly [green](https://elcomidista.elpais.com/elcomidista/2020/03/20/receta/1584708185_742056.html) beans in my experience/family. Side dishes were potatoes in all variations (puree, chips, fried, backed…), vegetables (artichockes, aubergines, spinach, peppers, courgettes, green peas…) and salads. Sounds more European than South American to me. No baked beans or _fríjoles_ at home or in my school. ---
**Author:** ![aruvqan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aruvqan/32/2891_2.png) [@aruvqan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aruvqan)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2021, 12:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-from-spanish-speaking-countries-what-sides-do-you-eat-at-home-other-than-rice-and-beans/942936/5 "2021-05-27T12:47:21Z")
Lot of Caribbean hispanics at a few of my previous jobs that I was ‘work friends’ with and ate at their homes. I would say plantains [discovered I love tostones enough to learn to make them] arepas [like them, but I don’t really make them] yucca done several ways [mashed, fried like hash browns, like french fries and chunks stewed] ---
**Author:** ![DigitalC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ebca7d/32.png) [@DigitalC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DigitalC)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2021, 1:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-from-spanish-speaking-countries-what-sides-do-you-eat-at-home-other-than-rice-and-beans/942936/6 "2021-05-27T13:36:25Z")
I’m from Peru, the potato capital of the world. We had potatos with everything. ---
**Author:** ![DesertDog](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/desertdog/32/11503_2.png) [@DesertDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DesertDog)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2021, 1:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-from-spanish-speaking-countries-what-sides-do-you-eat-at-home-other-than-rice-and-beans/942936/7 "2021-05-27T13:50:17Z")
Our favorite Mexican restaurant here in Arizona – serving Sonoran cuisine – offers four sides with their dishes, ‘refried’ beans (frijoles refritos), black beans (more or less intact), ‘Spanish’ rice, and [fideo](https://www.allrecipes.com/recipe/74749/fideo/), vermicelli with tomato sauce and chili powder. I’ve seen it as _sopa de fideo_ but the restaurant’s side is not nearly loose enough to be soup but rather like the picture in the recipe – just a token amount of cheese though, like a garnish. ---
**Author:** ![JKellyMap](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jkellymap/32/15880_2.png) [@JKellyMap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JKellyMap)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2021, 1:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-from-spanish-speaking-countries-what-sides-do-you-eat-at-home-other-than-rice-and-beans/942936/8 "2021-05-27T13:56:36Z")
Breakfast can often be about “what do we do with day-old corn tortillas.” Start with “chilaquiles.” (In central and southeastern Mexico, at least). ---
**Author:** ![Biggirl](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/biggirl/32/3294_2.png) [@Biggirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biggirl)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2021, 6:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-from-spanish-speaking-countries-what-sides-do-you-eat-at-home-other-than-rice-and-beans/942936/9 "2021-05-27T18:45:34Z")
I’m Puerto Rican and came in here to say exactly this, except without the arepas. We also had guineos, which are cooking bananas but aren’t plantains, and batatas which I’m just finding out right now are white sweet potatoes but don’t taste like 'em. But we mostly ate rice and beans. ---
**Author:** ![shh1313](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/shh1313/32/8020_2.png) [@shh1313](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/shh1313)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2021, 7:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-from-spanish-speaking-countries-what-sides-do-you-eat-at-home-other-than-rice-and-beans/942936/10 "2021-05-27T19:01:06Z")
I also ate a lot of cerviche, fish, shrimp, roasted corn. Sweet tamales masa with pineapple or whatever fruit in season. Flan, tunad which are prickley pear fruit. I still eat those. Verduga which is wild porchalaca a common weed here in the US. Its very good also prickley pear cactus which is boiledcto remove the slime then sautaed with onion and scrambled with eggs. Fresh coconuut and the water. Every morning I would walk to the plaza and get any kind of fruit or vegetable juice mix or straight up made right then. The rotisserie chicken with adobo sauce that seasoned the potatoes underneath mmmmm. It came with macaroni salad and tortillias. Oh and lamb lotsa lamb ie borrego (sp). Oh and the ahogaddos (sp). A smothered pork sandwich served on a bollio with the most wonderful sauce. Grass fed beef was the norm And Argentinan beef as well Chihuahuan and Beef from Sonora. Pickled onions always on hand. ---
**Author:** ![Mesquite-oh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a183cd/32.png) [@Mesquite-oh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mesquite-oh)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2021, 5:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-from-spanish-speaking-countries-what-sides-do-you-eat-at-home-other-than-rice-and-beans/942936/11 "2021-05-28T05:21:42Z")
For all those that mentioned potatoes, it triggered a memory of my Mexican born grandmother making these chunky hash browns with our breakfast tacos (you would put the hash browns in the taco). Never knew if that was “Tex” or the “Mex.” Another thing I thought of was coleslaw. In Texas, a lot of people put that on or with their fish tacos or fried fish in Mexican restaurants. Don’t know what they do in Mexico. ---
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2021, 8:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-from-spanish-speaking-countries-what-sides-do-you-eat-at-home-other-than-rice-and-beans/942936/12 "2021-05-28T20:35:05Z")
A post was merged into an existing topic: [The Vaccine Passport - news and views](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-vaccine-passport-news-and-views/933668/68) ---
**Author:** ![Max\_S](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/46a35a/32.png) [@Max\_S](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Max_S)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2021, 2:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-from-spanish-speaking-countries-what-sides-do-you-eat-at-home-other-than-rice-and-beans/942936/13 "2021-05-28T14:24:01Z")
> [@Grrr](#): > > Everything came in the form of “stew” with veggies thrown in. So for example, would you get sides of corn tortillas or avacado with Pozole? ~Max ---
**Author:** ![Grrr](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/grrr/32/146_2.png) [@Grrr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grrr)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2021, 2:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-from-spanish-speaking-countries-what-sides-do-you-eat-at-home-other-than-rice-and-beans/942936/14 "2021-05-28T14:34:52Z")
We had home made flour tortillas. But the tortillas were more like utensils. Rip the tortilla into quarters and use them to scoop up the food stuffs. No forks or spoons needed. lol ---
**Author:** ![shh1313](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/shh1313/32/8020_2.png) [@shh1313](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/shh1313)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2021, 3:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-from-spanish-speaking-countries-what-sides-do-you-eat-at-home-other-than-rice-and-beans/942936/15 "2021-05-28T15:13:41Z")
HA! I wondered why I couldn’t find my post on Vaccine passports! My apologies!! ---
**Author:** ![Precambrianmollusc](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/precambrianmollusc/32/63_2.png) [@Precambrianmollusc](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Precambrianmollusc)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2021, 7:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-from-spanish-speaking-countries-what-sides-do-you-eat-at-home-other-than-rice-and-beans/942936/16 "2021-05-28T19:23:32Z")
My wife is from Argentina and have also lived there for a while. In Buenos Aires area most sides were salad or potato based for the meat dishes , and salad as a side for the pasta dishes along with plenty of bread. Beans ended up in stews and spicy food was not a thing , although becoming more popular.