My Best Vegetable Side Dish Recipes | Salads, Roasted Veg and More

I made up for a childhood of hating most vegetables by becoming completely obsessed with them as an adult. These days I want a vegetable side dish alongside almost every meal. In summer it tends to be something fresh and salad-based. In winter I reach for roasted or slow-cooked vegetables that carry weight and warmth. Either way, the vegetable side is never an afterthought on my table.

This is my ever-growing collection of the best vegetable side dishes on the site, divided by type to make it easier to find what you need. Whether you are looking for something quick to throw together for a weeknight dinner, a salad to bring to a braai, or a roasted vegetable dish impressive enough for a dinner party, you will find it here.

Salads to serve as a side dish

These are the salads I make most often as a side. They pair well with grilled meat, chicken or fish, and most of them can be prepped at least partially in advance.

Spinach salad with grilled zucchini, peas, feta and mint My most versatile braai salad. It goes with everything and is always the first bowl to empty at a gathering.

Roast carrot and barley salad with pickled sultanas is one of my favourite robust salads and a perfect side dish with the addition of barley.

Kale salad with Pecorino, walnuts and sultanas Kale holds up beautifully to dressing, which makes this an excellent make-ahead option. The sweetness of the sultanas against the Pecorino is a combination I keep coming back to.

Roast butternut & chickpea salad with quinoa & spinach. The chickpeas roast until crispy, adding protein, fibre and carbs to this salad that is a complete meal. It also works as a side dish for any grilled chicken or fish.

Easy corn salad with tomatoes, feta and herbs. As much a side dish as it is a salad. Works particularly well alongside grilled chicken. Skip the feta if you are serving it with fish.

Crispy noodle slaw with soy, honey and ginger dressing The crunch here is everything. A crowd-pleasing side that works especially well alongside Asian-inspired mains or at a braai.

Roasted broccoli and green bean salad with burrata and lemon Roasting the broccoli before dressing it changes everything. The burrata makes this one feel special enough for a dinner party without much extra effort.

Roasted tomatoes with mozzarella and basil Slow-roasted tomatoes concentrate in sweetness and flavour in a way that raw tomatoes simply cannot. Serve this at room temperature with good bread alongside.

Perfect warm lentil salad. Hearty enough to be a light main but excellent as a substantial side alongside sausages or roast chicken. Works well at room temperature, which makes it a practical option for entertaining.

New potato salad with fennel & radish. This is as much a side as it is a salad with the fennel and radish brightening everything up.

Esquites – the best Mexican corn salad

Nutty black and white rice salad with peppers, raisins, and ginger, soy and honey dressing. With an Asian-inspired dressing, this salad is perfect with any grilled meat or chicken. I also love to eat it wth fish.

Broccoli pilaf with pomegranate & almonds. This is a lovely low-carb salad/side dish. The toasted almonds and pomegranate seeds add pops of crunchy texture and delicious flavour.

For more salad ideas to serve at a braai or barbecue, visit my braai salads roundup.

All my salad recipes

Roasted and baked vegetable sides

These are the cooked vegetable dishes I make most alongside roasts, braises, and grilled meats year-round. Roasting is almost always the answer when you want maximum flavour with minimal effort.

Roast smashed new potatoes with brown butter and sage – this is my most decadent roast potato dish, with the brown butter and crispy sage leaves taking it to a new level of deliciousness.

The best roast potatoes. These are my best classic roast potatoes and the one I keep returning to.

Crispy roasted new potatoes with miso & chive sour cream

Hasselback potatoes with chipotle butter

The famous and world-best whole roast cauliflower recipe

Roast pumpkin with chilli yoghurt and coriander sauce An Ottolenghi-inspired dish that has stayed in my regular rotation for years. The chilli yoghurt cuts through the sweetness of the pumpkin and makes the whole plate more interesting.

Roast sweet potato with coriander dressing and spicy yoghurt

Roasted sweet potato with parsley & walnut pesto

My best air fryer roasted green beans. The fastest way to get perfectly cooked, slightly blistered green beans. Ready in under 10 minutes and better than anything you would achieve by boiling them.

Roast zucchini on herby labneh with pickled currants A dish that looks impressive but comes together without much fuss. The pickled currants are the detail that makes it. Serve this at room temperature as a starter or side.

Roasted vegetable Provencal. A classic roast vegetable dish hailing from the South of France. It pairs perfectly with fish or chicken.

Oven-roasted beetroot (improved recipe) with pistachios and dukkah

Chermoula aubergines with bulgur & yoghurt

Oven-roasted sweet potato ‘fries’ with orange salt

black mushrooms stuffed with goat’s cheese, butter and dill

Roasted aubergines with harissa & garlic

Slow-roasted peppers, stuffed with cherry tomatoes and garlic – or Piedmontese Peppers have become my favourite thing to make in summer when cherry tomatoes are at their best. This classic Italian dish from Piedmont is perfect to serve at room temperature.

Warm sides and cooked vegetable dishes

I eat a lot of vegetables, so finding interesting ways to prepare them keeps things novel. These are the recipes I reach for when I want something warm and delicious alongside a main, without the faff of turning the oven on. Most come together in under 20 minutes, and a few have become so embedded in my regular rotation that I barely think of them as recipes anymore, braised, fried, steamed, or pan-cooked vegetable sides here as you expand the post.

Spanish rice made in a rice cooker (or not) is a versatile side dish for so many mains.

Traditional South African yellow rice with raisins

Zucchini ‘linguini’ with parmesan. Spiralised zucchini turns into a low-carb alternative to linguini, and this simple dish is extremely versatile.

Asparagus with anchovy butter & Parmesan

Bok choy and mushrooms with miso dressing (flash-cooked)

Sweet potato shoestring fries with garlic & rosemary

Jamie Oliver’s crispy zucchini flowers with spicy ricotta & mint

The best-ever carrots cooked in carrot juice

Peas with salsa verde. The minty salsa verde livens these peas up, and this is the perfect dish to serve with lamb.

Green beans with red onion & Pecorino

Zucchini shoestring and ribbon fries

Creamed onion gratin with blue cheese

Green and black bean stir fry with red pepper

Cauliflower ‘couscous’

Beetroot tops sauteed with garlic and fennel is the perfect dish to make if you have a bunch of very fresh beetroot with their tops.

Roast beetroot with pistachio and dukkah

Mushroom & barley ‘risotto’, whilst being a delicious vegetarian meal, can also work as a comforting and cosy side dish.

A note on building a good vegetable side dish

The principle I come back to most often is contrast. A roasted or braised main needs something fresh and bright alongside it. A grilled piece of fish or chicken works well with something warm and earthy. Think about what the main is doing and build the side dish in the opposite direction, and you will almost always land in the right place.

The other thing worth knowing is that most of these dishes are better when you give the vegetables a little more time than you think they need. Roasted vegetables that are slightly caramelised at the edges are always more interesting than vegetables that have been pulled out too early. Give them space in the pan and enough heat to actually roast rather than steam, and you will get far better results.

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