Vegetable Side Dish Recipes & Ideas

It's all about the cheesy sauce.

It's virtually foolproof.

More space for toppings.

The dressing simply can’t be "beet."

Who doesn’t love crispy cheese?

Roasted fingerling potatoes are an easy and versatile potato side dish, ready to be enjoyed with anything from roast chicken to grilled steak. To really make them shine, I use a mixture of olive oil and butter to give them a creamy, melt-in-your-mouth quality. I also add a generous amount of minced garlic to infuse them with savory flavor, and a final flourish of parsley brightens everything up. They’re crispy, tender, and buttery.

Allow me to present the humble broccoli — beloved sautéed side dish with lemon and olive oil, faithful team player to quick stir-fries, virtuous add-in to any number of cheesy pasta dishes. Broccoli is the vegetable we reach for when we need a little something extra to round out a meal.

The star on the table.

So delicious!

You only need five ingredients.

It all starts with a hot baking sheet.

There are many ways to cook carrots, but roasting them is hands-down my favorite method. It’s one of the best vegetable side dishes that pairs well with anything for dinner. Roasted carrots might seem simple, but when done right, they can rival just about any other vegetable side, be it Brussels sprouts or sweet potatoes. When it comes to glazed carrots, some recipes call for cooking them on the stovetop, but I opt for the oven so that the carrots can do their business while I do mine.

So. Good.

It wins the award for coziest side dish.

I'm definitely making it for the holidays.

It’s all about the compound butter.

It’s all about the salty, crispy Parm.

Pommes Anna is a French side dish made of just three simple ingredients: potatoes, butter, and salt. It’s classic and elegant all at the same time; potato slices are arranged in overlapping concentric circles, creating layers upon layers into a round cake that resembles a flower. The outside is golden-brown and crispy — like the fanciest hash browns you’ll ever have — and makes a satisfying crunch when you slice it into wedges.

A little olive oil, a generous sprinkle of salt and pepper, some alone time in the oven — this is all that’s between you and a cozy dish of roasted acorn squash this evening. Here is a step-by-step recipe and guide to help you cook perfect acorn squash every time. It’s the perfect fall side dish. This simple side dish pairs well with almost everything for dinner, from roast chicken and pot roast to creamy risotto. It’s great for meal prep.

Pommes aligot is more than just a cheesy twist on mashed potatoes. This incredibly magical blend of creamy potatoes and cheese was born in the French region of Midi-Pyrénées, and it is a celebration of regional cheese, served on special occasions alongside sausage or roasted meat.

It’s not a contest, but if you aspire to win Friendsgiving with the best side dish of the night, you’re hardly alone. From an everything bagel stuffing and smashed potato casserole to Thanksgiving slaw, this impressive collection of recipes will help you up your game with a side dish that will keep everyone talking.

Crispy outside + ultra-creamy inside = your new signature sweet potato.

These creamy, caramelized coins are almost too good to be true.

So good I eat them straight from the pan.

They're not the same as gratin.

The possibilities are endless.

One bite and you’ll say “Yee-haw!”

I knew absolutely nothing about the glories of a good baked potato until the day I ordered one at a local restaurant in my town that was known for them. Before that, my primary “baked” potato experience involved a microwave. What I tasted was so revelatory I still remember it: ridiculously crisp on the outside and oh so fluffy inside. I realized what we’d been doing at home was very, very wrong.

Is there nothing more comforting and delicious than mashed potatoes? This warm, creamy, dairy-laden starch might be more of an indulgence than everyday fare these days, but even if you only have them once a year (Thanksgiving!), I say go all out and do it right. Read on for our method for classic mashed potatoes, with recommendations for potato type, dairy additions, and mashing methods. Potatoes: The best potatoes for mashed potatoes are Russets and Yukon Golds.

Do you have a soft spot in your heart for roasted winter squash, like butternut squash, kabocha, or acorn squash? If so, it’s high time to roast a pumpkin. If you’ve done this before then you know the results are nothing short of amazing. And spoiler alert: it’s not as tough or fussy as you might think. In fact, prepping a pumpkin is a lot easier than some other squash varieties (I’m looking at you, butternut squash).

This easy vegan number won't wilt like more fragile salads.

Tender sautéed greens are an easy go-to vegetable side everyone should know how to make. They pair with everything from quick pastas to weeknight chicken dinners, and come together in minutes. While mustard greens might not be as trendy as kale or as omnipresent as spinach, they’re well worth getting to know. They’re the leafy green of the mustard plant and are related to collards, cabbage, and, in fact, kale, and are common in Indian, Chinese, Japanese, African, and Southern U.

You don't even have to boil water.

No noodles needed.

Despite your most careful planning (did you make a detailed timeline?), cooking Thanksgiving dinner can still feel a little stressful once the big day rolls around. It holds true whether you’re having a small Thanksgiving dinner or hosting the whole extended family. That’s why we love getting a jump-start with one or several make ahead Thanksgiving sides.

Sweet potato casserole is one of the most popular Thanksgiving side dishes for a reason: It serves up the vegetable in a creamy, sweet, and decadent way, and as we pile it onto our plates, it makes us feel like a kid again. Unfortunately, it’s often overthought and over-complicated, riddled with too many unnecessary steps and ingredients (I’m guilty of it, too, although this classic, meringue-topped version is delish).

Baked potatoes are incredibly easy to make – you can walk in the door, throw a few potatoes in the oven, and carry on with your after-work routine until they’re ready to eat. Cracked open and still steaming, baked potatoes are ready to receive anything from a pat of butter, a sprinkle of cheese, or last night’s beef chili. Baking a potato in the oven does require a little more time than zapping it in the microwave, though.

There's more to it than you think.

With so many beautiful and unusual squashes showing up in markets right now, I can’t seem to come home without at least one knobby, colorful, speckled squash in my bag. Happily, stuffed squash is a dish that will work for just about any winter squash I happen to pick up. You don’t really need a recipe — just a few basic steps and dinner practically makes itself. I consider stuffed squash to be one of the most perfect autumn weekend meals imaginable.

Prepare to be blown away.

These are restaurant-quality spuds.

Everything I know about cornbread dressing — and Thanksgiving — I learned from my mother, which she in turn learned from her mother. It is a long line of resourceful Southern cooks, and I trust them with this important meal completely. The secret? It’s all about the butter! My very wise nanna once said, “Whatever the amount of butter called for in a dressing recipe, double it, triple it, heck, even quadruple it!

Pumpkin and butternut squash seem to get all the attention this time of year, but when it comes to orange-hued vegetables, I actually prefer the humble sweet potato. I’ll take sweet potatoes any which way, but at my Thanksgiving table I prefer mashed sweet potatoes. Some mashed sweet potato recipes call for baking the them in the oven first, then slipping them out of their skins and mashing them. Other recipes call for boiling the sweet potatoes in water.

A simple side you’ll turn to again and again.

It's probably the best thing I've eaten in 2020.

A big bowl of classic mashed potatoes make any meal a little better. Sadly, I come from a long line of mashed potato forgetters. A familiar cry heard each Thanksgiving was, “The mashed potatoes!” This could mean one of three things: Someone forgot to start them, someone forgot they were cooking, or someone forgot them in the kitchen and they were cold by the time they hit the table. This always bummed me out. I mean, we’re talking mashed potatoes here.

The air fryer has become the latest indispensable appliance and is now a staple in many home kitchens. Besides making your favorite foods perfectly crisp without using much oil, air fryers are also incredibly handy for quickly roasting vegetables in a matter of minutes. It is a great tool for when the stovetop and oven are occupied with other dishes, or for those times when you just don’t want to heat up the kitchen. Plus, cleanup is a breeze!

It's all about the sweet, creamy dressing.

I could eat it every night.

The sweet potato is arguably the most versatile veggie in the produce department. It can easily be the star of any meal, from pancakes for breakfast to the main event of dinner and can even do dessert. While baking sweet potatoes in the oven can take up to an hour, microwaving a sweet potato takes a mere five minutes. Here’s the very best way to do it, so that you can dig into your tender, steaming sweet potato ASAP. It’s lightning fast.

The secret ingredient comes from the freezer.

You don't even have to peel it!

Like the boxed stuff, but so much better.

Don’t sleep on this.

My secret to getting dinner on the table every weeknight is a new sous chef — the air fryer. When I put this countertop appliance to work, I’m free to attend to the main dish while it works, virtually unattended. All I have to do is wait for that delightful “ding,” telling me the food needs a flip or is ready to eat.

Fried okra is the best okra.

It uses 2 pounds of zucchini.