My Favorite Cuban Side Dishes
Now that you’ve got the best Cuban sandwich and a pitcher of Mojitos on the menu, add some additional Cuban flair with these side dishes. Every time I make my delicious Cuban sandwiches, I love to serve plenty of sides that accentuate the vibe of Cuba.
Most people serve sandwiches with chips or French fries. I always serve sweet potatoes with my Cuban sandwich. This Sweet Potato recipe is so simple, yet so delicious.
Next up, you’ve got to have black beans and my Cuban Black Bean are always a hit. It might look like a lot of black beans when you start, but it’s always the first dish gone at my Cuban feasts.
Finally, you must have an okra dish to round out the menu and my Spicy Okra fits the bill. Many people don’t like okra if they are not use to it, but with fire roasted tomatoes and lots of garlic, how can you not like this dish?
Lastly, I know we should have a Cuban dessert but seriously after all this food, I’m too full to even think about it.
- 2-3 large sweet potatoes
- olive oil
- salt
- pepper
- malt vinegar
- Preheat oven to 425 degrees.
- Scrub the sweet potatoes and then cut them into 1 inch chunks.
- Toss sweet potatoes and a drizzle of olive oil on a baking sheet. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Bake in the oven for 1 hour, shaking the pan every 10 minutes.
- Sweet potatoes are done when they are browned/slightly blackened on one or two sides, but tender when pierced with a knife.
- Remove from oven and toss with malt vinegar and more salt to taste.
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 shallot, finely chopped
- 1 red pepper, finely chopped
- 8 garlic cloves, finely chopped
- 2 tablespoons dried oregano
- 3 cans black beans, drained and rinsed.
- 1 cup vegetable broth
- 2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
- pinch of cayenne pepper
- 1 ½ teaspoons sugar
- salt and pepper to taste.
- 1 lime
- In a pan heat olive oil over medium heat, sauté shallot with the ingredients through the oregano, until softened, about 10 minutes.
- Add 1 can of the black beans to the pan and with a fork or a potato masher mash up the beans into the shallot and pepper mixture. Stir this around to incorporate. Add remaining two cans of beans and the broth and vinegar and bring to a gentle simmer. Simmer this for 20 minutes. You can make this recipe ahead to this point and cool and refrigerate until needed.*
- At the end of the 20 minutes, stir in cayenne, sugar and salt and pepper to taste.
- *If you made in advance, pull the pan from the fridge; reheat slowly and at that point add the remaining ingredients.
- Squeeze the juice of 1 lime over beans to give it a last minute pop right before serving.
- 1 pound cut okra, frozen or fresh.
- 1 can diced fire roasted tomatoes
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 3 cloves chopped garlic
- 1 teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon pepper
- ½ teaspoon cayenne pepper (add more if you’d like more spice)
- Place the frozen okra in a strainer and run hot water to defrost okra.
- In a large enough sauté pan heat olive oil over medium high heat. Add garlic and sauté until golden, 5 minutes or so — don’t burn. Add the tomatoes and seasonings and cook until tomatoes have softened and the liquid is a nice sauce, 10-15 minutes.
- Add in the okra and stir to incorporate into the tomato mixture. Continue to cook until the okra is heated through and tender, about 10 more minutes.
- Season with more salt and pepper to taste.
