Side Dish Recipes & Accompaniments

A great main course deserves an equally great supporting cast. This category brings together hundreds of side dish recipes covering everything from quick weeknight vegetables to showstopping holiday potatoes — so whether you're rounding out a simple weeknight dinner or building a full spread for a crowd, you'll find exactly what the plate is missing. Onions caramelized three ways, silky mashed potatoes, roasted cauliflower with just four ingredients, spiced red cabbage that gets better overnight — it's all here.

What You'll Find in This Category

Side dishes span every technique, ingredient group, and occasion imaginable. Browse recipes covering:

• Potato dishes — roasted, mashed, pan-fried, accordion-sliced, & slow-cooked
• Grains & starches — semolina, rice pans, polenta, & couscous-based sides
• Vegetables & greens — from garlic toast & paprika vegetables to saag-style spinach & glazed squash
• Pickled & fermented accompaniments — including tangy slaws, achards, & braised red cabbage
• Quick pantry-driven options ready in under 15 minutes
• Make-ahead & overnight sides that develop flavor while you sleep
• Global inspirations — Indian, French, Eastern European, Middle Eastern, & more

How to Choose the Right Side Dish

The best side dish does two things at once: it complements the protein or main on the plate, and it adds something the main course doesn't already have — a contrasting texture, a balancing acidity, or a hit of richness. Recipes here include pairing notes to help you match the right accompaniment to the right meal. Rich, braised meats call for something bright and acidic like a quick-pickled vegetable or a citrus-dressed grain. Lean proteins — grilled fish, roast chicken — open the door to creamy potato dishes or buttery sautéed greens.

Seasons matter too. Spring and summer recipes lean on fresh vegetables, quick cooking, and lighter dressings. Autumn and winter is where slow-roasted roots, spiced gourds, and honey-glazed preparations take over — dishes that fill the kitchen with warmth while the oven does most of the work.

Sides That Steal the Show

Some of the recipes in this category are genuinely conversation-starting — the kind of thing a guest asks for before the meal is even finished. The accordion potato, fanned open and crisped in the oven. A pumpkin sliced thin and lacquered with honey-garlic sauce. Four-star mashed potatoes so smooth they could be a main course in their own right. These aren't afterthoughts; they're the dishes people remember. Browse the recipes below & find your next favorite side.