25 Easy Vegetable Side Dishes

These vegetable side dishes are an easy, healthy way to round out any meal! Find tasty recipes for zucchini, green beans, broccoli, and more.

Vegetable side dishes are often my favorite part of dinner. No offense to the main course, but I find that vegetable side dishes are what make the meal fun. They add a pop of color, fresh flavor, and variety to the table. Even basic roasted broccoli is so tasty that I want to eat it straight off the baking sheet! I’m sharing 25 of my go-to vegetable side dishes below. I’ve made all these recipes time and time again. Each one is simple enough to prep for a weeknight dinner, but also flavorful enough to serve at a holiday feast. Try…

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Homemade Applesauce

Learn how to make homemade applesauce with this easy recipe! Spiced with cinnamon, it's a delicious healthy snack or topping for pancakes and more.

fall

This homemade applesauce recipe is a staple in our house year-round, but especially during apple season. It’s an easy way to use up a surplus of too-soft or overripe apples, and as it cooks, it fills your house with the aroma of fresh apples and cinnamon. That smell is SO cozy on a crisp fall day. On its own, it’d be enough to make anyone a homemade applesauce convert. But this homemade applesauce recipe gets better. It doesn’t just smell good—it tastes good too! It’s tangy, lightly sweet, and full of spiced apple flavor. You can make it chunky if…

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Cauliflower Salad

This cauliflower salad is a picnic-perfect side dish! It's bright and delicious, featuring a creamy dressing, fresh herbs, and crunchy raw cauliflower.

I’ve shared a roasted cauliflower salad (ok, 5) on the blog before, but this RAW cauliflower salad is the first of its kind. I’m already wondering what took me so long, and once you try it, I think you will be too! This cauliflower salad recipe is bright and delicious. I like to think of it as a fun, fresh twist on classic potato salad. Like potato salad, it has a creamy, mustardy dressing, hard-boiled eggs, and savory herbs, but cauliflower replaces the potatoes. Pickled red onions and capers add an extra briny punch. This cauliflower salad recipe packs up…

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Vegetarian Stuffed Peppers

These stuffed peppers are a vegetarian dinner that everyone will love! They're filled with rice and beans and topped with a melty layer of cheese.

These stuffed peppers deserve a spot in your dinner rotation! They’re the perfect combination of comforting and fresh, filled with a delicious blend of rice and beans and topped with melty cheese. Yes, they’re vegetarian, but these stuffed peppers are so tasty that everyone—meat eaters included!—will love them. I’ve shared other stuffed peppers recipes on the blog before, but this one is hands down my favorite. Here’s why: The filling is so darn flavorful. It starts with a base of hearty brown rice, with black beans for protein and corn kernels for crunch. Onions, garlic, and tomato paste make it nice…

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Stuffed Zucchini Boats

Make these zucchini boats for an easy summer dinner! They're fresh and filling, stuffed with a delicious mixture of breadcrumbs, herbs, and cheese.

summer / vegetarian

I started making this stuffed zucchini boats recipe a few years back. It’s been a staple in our summer dinner rotation ever since! I love this recipe for several reasons. First, it’s a fantastic way to make the most of a summer stockpile of zucchini. I don’t let any of the squash go to waste here. Instead of tossing the scooped zucchini flesh, I mix it into the zesty filling. Second, it’s full of fresh summer flavor. These zucchini boats feature seasonal veggies like cherry tomatoes and fresh herbs in addition to the zucchini. Lemon zest brightens up the filling…

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Avocado Salad

This avocado salad recipe is a delicious, healthy side dish! A zesty dressing coats creamy avocado, juicy tomatoes, crisp veggies, and fresh herbs.

salads / spring

I’ve been craving this avocado salad recipe ever since I first made it. If you’re thinking, “Craving…a salad?”, well, you simply have to try this one. This avocado salad is not guacamole. But like guacamole, it keeps you coming back for more. Creamy avocado plays off juicy tomatoes, crisp cucumbers, crunchy red onion, and spicy jalapeño. A bright lime dressing brings it all together. The fresh, zesty flavors and the delicious combination of textures make it so much more than the sum of its parts. It’s been one of my go-to side dishes this summer because it’s super tasty, super quick,…

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Ratatouille

This ratatouille recipe is a delicious version of the classic French stew. It's rich and flavorful, filled with late summer vegetables, olive oil, and herbs.

summer / vegetarian

Ratatouille is a French stew made with late summer vegetables like eggplant, tomatoes, peppers, and zucchini. It’s rich with olive oil, bright with vinegar, and flecked with fresh herbs. If you haven’t tried it, put this ratatouille recipe on your list to make this summer. It’s even more delightful than the Disney movie of the same name (which is pretty delightful, if you ask me). Making this ratatouille recipe always transports me to Provence, France. A few years ago, I stayed with a local family there. On my first night with them, they served ratatouille for dinner. We sat on…

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Grilled Broccoli

This easy grilled broccoli recipe is a simple, delicious summer side dish! Ready in 20 minutes, it's crisp-tender, flavorful, and beautifully charred.

This grilled broccoli recipe is a fresh, easy summer side dish. If you’re a fan of roasted broccoli, you’ll love it. It has the same dark, crispy edges and crisp-tender texture, but its flavor is even more complex. This grilled broccoli is smoky, sweet, and savory. As the broccoli cooks, the hot grill brings out its natural sweetness. At the same time, it becomes beautifully charred, taking on a smoky taste. A sprinkle of garlic powder gives it savory depth. This grilled broccoli is broccoli at its best. I’ve tried a variety of methods for grilling broccoli (in a grill…

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Quinoa Salad

This Mediterranean quinoa salad recipe is hearty, healthy, and packed with fresh flavor! Serve it as a side dish, or enjoy it as a meal on its own.

summer / salads

This Mediterranean quinoa salad recipe is fresh and flavorful. It’s a delicious addition to the menu of any potluck, cookout, or picnic. It can easily pass as a side dish, but it’s so hearty and satisfying that it can be the main event, too. And if you happen to have leftovers, you’re in luck! This quinoa salad keeps well if you make it ahead of time, so it’s a great recipe to meal prep for healthy lunches throughout the week. Over the years, I’ve shared lots of quinoa salad recipes on the blog, but I’m especially smitten with this one.…

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Corn Fritters

These easy corn fritters are the snack of the summer! They're crisp on the outside, tender in the middle, and packed with fresh sweet corn.

These corn fritters are the latest addition to my summer recipe rotation. Fresh sweet corn made its first appearance at our farmers market this week. I was so excited to see it that I bought as many ears of corn as I could carry. After making my favorite corn salad and corn on the cob, I tested out these corn fritters, and they immediately had me hooked. I’ll be making them on repeat for the rest of the summer! These corn fritters are seriously delicious. They’re crisp on the outside, tender in the middle, and dotted with fresh, whole corn kernels for…

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Italian Pasta Salad

This Italian pasta salad recipe is fresh and delicious! A zesty Italian dressing, veggies, olives, pepperoncini, and cheese fill it with bold flavor.

I’ve made this Italian pasta salad for all our picnics and potlucks over the last few weeks. When I added the ingredients to my shopping list again this morning, I knew I had to share the recipe! This Italian pasta salad is full of bold, zesty flavor. It starts with colorful veggies, oodles of noodles, and chewy mozzarella cheese. Then, I add olives and pepperoncini for tangy, briny flavor and fresh herbs for an aromatic pop. To tie it all together, I douse it in my homemade Italian dressing. It’s a perfect recipe for summer gatherings because, like many pasta salads, you can…

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Hello, we're Jeanine and Jack.