christmas

60 Side Dishes for Ham That Will Have Everyone Demanding Seconds

updated Mar 20, 2024
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Bourbon glazed ham partially sliced and on a platter with orange slices
Credit: Laura Rege

Ham is one of my favorite things to serve as a main dish. I’ll either cook my ham in the slow-cooker or bake it in the oven. I love that it’s easy to make and provides the perfect savory foundation to build the rest of your dinner around.

In my opinion, a large part of the pleasure of serving ham is enjoying the side dishes that play well with its rich flavor. Plus, leftover ham can be reinvented into several other meals throughout the week or frozen until further notice. We love versatility.

We’ve curated a list of 60 side dishes for ham including potato sides, salad recipes, vegetable sides, and, of course, dinner rolls and buttery biscuits. Whether you’re serving ham for a holiday and want to impress with classic scalloped potatoes, or keeping it simple with creamed corn for Sunday dinner with family, this list has got you covered.

Potato Side Dishes

Anytime I’m serving ham for dinner, a side of scalloped potatoes or a creamy potato gratin is always a must. It’s a crowd-pleaser that serves enough to feed to whole table. Alternatively, a simple batch of garlicky roasted potatoes always comes through when you need something in a hurry.

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Classic Mashed Potatoes

Is there nothing more comforting and delicious than mashed potatoes? This creamy side dish is the perfect pairing for honey baked ham.

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English Jacket Potatoes

The secret to the best ever baked potatoes? Cook them like the British do.

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Dauphinoise Potatoes

Creamy, cheesy, and crowd pleasing dauphinoise potatoes are practically impossible to dislike. This classic French dish is simple yet indulgent, and pairs perfectly with baked ham.

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Parmesan Potatoes

Melted Parmesan takes these roasted potatoes to a whole new level.

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Garlic Confit Mashed Potatoes

Garlic confit improves just about everything, including these buttery mashed potatoes.

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Cheesy Skillet Domino Potatoes

Thin slices of potatoes are doused in a cheese-bolstered cream mixture and baked in a skillet until it becomes a crispy and tender gratin-like dish that everyone will love.

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Crispiest Skillet-Fried Potatoes

The secret to these impossibly crispy potatoes? Not baking or boiling. All you need is a skillet and a lid (yes, really) to pull off these perfect spuds. Serve them with Bourbon-Glazed Ham for a meal the whole family will love.

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Scalloped Potatoes

Skip the roux! My easier version of this cheesy classic is so much better.

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Mashed Sweet Potatoes

An easy, step-by-step guide to making creamy mashed sweet potatoes sweetened with maple syrup.

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3-Ingredient Garlicky Red Potatoes

Thick chunks of red potatoes are tossed with a generous dusting of garlic powder, then finished with a squeeze of fresh lemon before they hit the table.

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Colcannon (Irish Potatoes and Cabbage)

Learn how to make colcannon — a classic Irish side dish of mashed potatoes and cabbage dressed with browned butter.

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Lemon Butter Melting Potatoes

Inspired by melting potatoes, thick slices of potatoes get tossed with a lemony herb butter and cooked in a hot oven, creating a crispy, snappy crust on the outside.

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Cream Cheese Mashed Potatoes

Cream cheese upgrades classic mashed potatoes into the creamiest, dreamiest side.

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Hot Honey Butter Smashed Potatoes

Boiled baby Yukon gold potatoes are tossed in a mixture of melted butter, honey, hot sauce, and red pepper flakes, then smashed, roasted until crispy, and brushed with more butter before serving.

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Cheesy Baked Mashed Potatoes

These creamy baked mashed potatoes are loaded with two kinds of cheese and are make-ahead-friendly.

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Baked Sweet Potatoes

The easiest, simplest way to make the best baked sweet potatoes every time.

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Fondant Potatoes

An easy, impressive recipe for restaurant-quality fondant potatoes made with just five staple ingredients.

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Garlicky Parmesan Sweet Potatoes

For this super-simple side dish, thick chunks of sweet potato are roasted and then dusted with a snowy layer of nutty Parmesan that turns irresistibly crisp around the edges after a few minutes under the broiler.

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Loaded Mashed Potatoes

If you're looking for a seriously impressive way to upgrade your basic mashed potatoes, take inspiration from loaded baked potatoes with all the fixings.

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Vegetables Side Dishes

Cooked veggies, like sautéed green beans and glazed carrots, are always welcomed next to a ham dinner.

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Cheesy Baked Asparagus

Tender spring asparagus baked under creamy Alfredo sauce until bubbly and browned is the ultimate spring side.

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Glazed Carrots

This classic vegetable side dish comes together in minutes.

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Creamed Corn

Sweet corn kernels simmered in butter and cream is better than anything from a can.

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Green Beans Almondine

Snappy blanched green beans served with sautéed shallots and buttery sliced almonds.

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Melting Cauliflower

If you love roasted cauliflower, you must try melting your cauliflower. Melting cauliflower takes inspiration from the brilliant technique used for melting potatoes.

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Roasted Parmesan Asparagus

Roasted asparagus is a quick and easy side dish for any night of the week. We add a little Parmesan and garlic for some serious crave-worthy veggies.

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Parmesan Crusted Carrots

Sweet, jammy roasted carrots get a salty, crispy Parmesan crust.

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Creamed Spinach

Tender baby spinach, mixed in a flavorful cream sauce, makes one of the best and easiest side dishes for holiday dinners.

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Fried Cabbage

Cabbage, bacon, and a couple of spices join forces for a quick and easy, smoky-sweet vegetable side dish that will forever change the way you think about cabbage.

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Easy 10-Minute Garlic Broccolini

The vegetable, often called baby broccoli, isn’t just immature broccoli — instead it’s a hybrid of broccoli and Chinese broccoli.

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Miso Butter Glazed Carrots

Miso is a fantastic ingredient that makes simple roasted carrots into something magical.

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Easy Sautéed Kale

If you have yet to master sautéed kale, here's your recipe.

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Maque Choux

A warm sauté of sweet corn, peppers, and onion enriched with heavy cream and topped with crispy bacon that’s often served in Louisiana.

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Caesar Roasted Broccoli

Toss roasted broccoli with homemade Caesar dressing, then shower it with toasted breadcrumbs and Parmesan cheese for the ultimate side dish.

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Sautéed Brussels Sprouts

These perfect Brussels sprouts have a little bit of char and are perfectly crisp-tender: cooked all the way through with a little crunch remaining.

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Melted Cabbage

Cabbage wedges are seared, then baked until the leaves become meltingly tender and caramelized just enough around the edges.

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Blistered Green Beans with Pickled Shallots and Toasted Breadcrumbs

Fresh green beans are stir-fried until blistered, then tossed with tangy pickled shallots and topped with crunchy, salty breadcrumbs.

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Bourbon-Glazed Carrots

Buttery, brown sugar- and bourbon-glazed carrots are what you pair with your ham dinner when you’re going for something fast and fancy. The bourbon and brown sugar bring out the natural sweetness of the carrots.

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Sautéed Broccoli Rabe

This step-by-step recipe for easy sautéed broccoli rabe involves quickly blanching to reduce bitterness.

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Rolls and Biscuits

I’m a firm believer that no ham dinner is complete with rolls or biscuits. In fact, make a double batch so you can use the extras for post-dinner ham sandwiches.

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Soft & Tender Dinner Rolls

A step-by-step guide to making the best, most foolproof dinner rolls.

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Parker House Rolls

These buttery, tender Parker House rolls are perfect for your holiday bread basket. To make these tender pull-apart rolls extra fluffy, we use instant potato flakes, a common pantry ingredient that helps yield the most perfect crumb.

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Sweet Potato Dinner Rolls

These tender rolls get their pale orange hue and delicate sweetness from mashed sweet potatoes.

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Pull-Apart Challah Rolls

Individual knots of challah bread, rich with eggs and ready for a slathering of butter.

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Southern-Style Buttermilk Biscuits

Freezing the butter and then grating it into the dough is the secret to these perfectly tender biscuits.

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Buttery Cheddar Herb Rolls

These tender, rich, pillowy dinner rolls are flecked with herbs and crowned with a toasty cheddar cheese crust.

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Cheddar Biscuits

Classic buttermilk biscuits are nice, but this version with bacon and cheddar might be your new favorite.

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Irish Cheddar Potato Rolls

These Irish cheddar potato rolls are baked to cheesy, buttery perfection.

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Butter Biscuits

These from-scratch biscuits come together in just one bowl, don’t require any fancy techniques, and come out perfectly pillowy every single time. In short, they’re the quickest, easiest way to make biscuits at home.

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Buttery Crescent Rolls

These flaky, buttery homemade crescent rolls ready in less than an hour.

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Salad Recipes

Serving a big salad is an easy way to add freshness to the dinner table, whether it’s a simple cucumber salad or a hearty green bean salad.

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Asparagus Salad

This vibrant salad takes full advantage of sweet spring asparagus. It’s a celebration of the season’s bounty: crisp asparagus, sweet green peas, tender leeks, and lots of fresh herbs.

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Spanakopita Kale Salad

With briny feta crumbles, crunchy toasted walnuts, and zippy herbs, this chopped kale salad tastes just like spanakopita, the iconic Greek savory pie.

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Green Bean Salad with Farro and Crispy Shallots

This green bean salad pairs snappy green beans with nutty farro and purple radicchio. Finish the salad with buttery toasted hazelnuts, crispy fried shallots, and a dressing that’s so good you’ll want to eat with a spoon.

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Brussels Sprouts Caesar Salad

This twist on classic Caesar salad features shredded Brussels sprouts and homemade croutons.

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Triple Pea Salad with Radishes and Cheddar

A creamy salad with fresh sweet peas, snow peas, snap peas, and radishes tossed with cheddar & bright dressing.

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Sour Cream and Dill Cucumber Salad

This classic cucumber dill salad is made creamy thanks to a tangy sour cream dressing.

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Pea Salad

Put together this potluck-friendly salad in just 20 minutes.

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Marinated Feta-Beet Salad

These sweet roasted beets are loaded with fresh herbs and feta cheese.

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Minty Snap Pea Salad

This refreshing snap pea salad features fresh mozzarella, radishes, and lots of fresh mint.

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Marinated Chickpea and Feta Salad with Spring Veggies

This star of this crunchy, veggie-packed salad is a tangy Greek-inspired dressing, which doubles as a marinade for the feta and chickpeas.

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