60 Best Christmas Side Dishes

These best Christmas Side Dishes, including everything from vegetables to stuffing to potatoes and salads, will round out your holiday menu and bring your feast together. Don’t let the Christmas Dinner sides play second fiddle this holiday season, these delicious, simple and festive recipes will most definitely be the star!

Whether you serve a traditional meal with a crispy skinned roast turkey or a juicy holiday ham or a tender slow cooked pork roast, these Christmas side dishes will pair perfectly with your meal.

Christmas Side Dishes

Sometimes the best part of your holiday meal isn’t the main dish in the spotlight – it’s the sides! Christmas makes me think of more elegant, pretty side dishes, while the Thanksgiving sides are more about stick to your ribs comfort food. It’s fun to celebrate the holidays with some classier dishes, but still trying to keep it simple can be a challenge. The side dishes you’ll find in this collection are easy enough for the home cook, yet pretty enough to be the star of your Christmas dinner.

What dishes are served on Christmas?

We have always had a simple meal on Christmas Eve with just our household, that included fish and German Potato Salad. That’s a 50 year old tradition that we haven’t broken yet! Our meal on Christmas Day though, that’s the elegant, classy meal that you see in the movies where the star is a giant prime rib roast. It always includes Twice Baked Potatoes (because they’re fancier than regular baked potatoes!) and some delicious homemade cranberry sauce, both of which you’ll find below!

If you need help planning your meal or your entire Christmas season, be sure to check out our handy FREE PRINTABLE Christmas Planner.

How to Pair Christmas Dinner Side Dishes

Crucial to the success of your meal is pairing the right accompaniments. Whether you’re carving a whole turkey or an elegant prime rib roast, you need to choose the right sides to go with it. Here are a few basic tips for pairing the right side dishes with your Christmas dinner. It’s all about balance.

• Round out the nutrition. Having a plate full of turkey, mashed potatoes and gravy might taste delicious, but it can also be pretty heavy. Lighter sides, like vegetables and salads, are a great place to bring in other nutritious elements that might not be part of the main dish recipe.
• Balance the flavors. Turkey, ham and beef can all have wonderful flavor but they are usually pretty mild.  You want to balance that with a few bold flavors like tart cranberry, bright lemon or even something spicy or sweet.
• Textures and colors. When all the food on your plate is brown, or everything is a soft texture, the food can seem bland. When planning your Christmas side dishes, make sure to include a few different contrasting colors, and pair textures like crunchy and creamy.

Potato Side Dishes

You can’t have a holiday meal without potatoes. Crispy or creamy, buttered or fried, potatoes are the perfect side because they go with pretty much everything.

1. Garlic & Herb Buttered Baby Potatoes
2. Easy German Potato Salad
3. French Onion Mashed Potatoes
4. Cheesy Scalloped Potatoes
5. Instant Pot Mashed Potatoes
6. Twice Baked Potatoes
7. Make Ahead Mashed Potatoes
8. Hasselback Potatoes
9. Roasted Purple Potatoes
10. Cheesy Mashed Potatoes
11. Roasted Red Potatoes
12. Crock Pot Mashed Potatoes
13. Deep Fried Loaded Mashed Potato Bites
14. Crispy Herbed Potatoes
15. Rosemary Onion Skillet Potatoes
16. Asiago Potato Stacks

Vegetables

You can’t have a meal without some hearty, healthy vegetables, right? Right! But there’s nothing that says they have to be bland or boiled, and these vegetable side dishes are anything but!

1. Mashed Sweet Potatoes with Brown Sugar and Bacon
2. Cranberry Pecan Roasted Vegetables
3. Roasted Honey Butter Carrots
4. Creamy Corn Casserole
5. Raspberry & Pear Salad
6. Easy Oven Roasted Vegetables
7. 7 Layer Salad
8. Garlic Green Beans
9. Green Bean Casserole with Bacon
10. Crispy Baked Brussels Sprouts
11. Roasted Brussels Sprouts Salad
12. Baked Artichoke Hearts
13. Garlic Butter Frozen Vegetables
14. Honey Roasted Sweet Potatoes
15. Easy Oven Roasted Asparagus
16. Cream Cheese Asparagus Bundles
17. Pomegranate Quinoa Salad
18. Pan Seared Brussel Sprouts with Cranberries and Pecans
19. Creamed Corn
20. Scalloped Sweet Potatoes

Sweet Side Dishes

Something sweet to go with all that savory food is a welcome treat. These sweet Christmas Side Dishes are the best!

1. Cranberry Orange Sauce
2. Cranberry Fluff Salad
3. Pistachio Salad
4. Sour Cream Salad
5. Green Jello Salad
6. Frog Eye Salad

Bread, Stuffing and Rice

I don’t know about you, but there has got to be bread at my holiday table. Now I realize that rice isn’t bread, but it falls into the starch family so we’re just gonna roll with it.

1. Homemade Stuffing
2. One Hour Dinner Rolls
3. Garlic & Rosemary Skillet Bread
4. Parmesan Rosemary Dinner Rolls
5. Classic Sausage Stuffing
6. Parmesan Garlic Herb Quick Bread
7. Easy Rice Pilaf
8. Fluffy Homemade Naan Bread
9. Garlic Cheese Biscuits
10. Instant Pot Mushroom Risotto
11. Funeral Potatoes
12. Hawaiian Sweet Rolls
13. Amish Dinner Rolls
14. Chicken Sausage & Herb Stuffing
15. Slow Cooker Stuffing
16. Wild Rice Stuffing
17. Cranberry Apple Pecan Wild Rice Pilaf

More Recipes for Christmas

For even more Christmas Side Dishes and Appetizers that are perfect for the holidays, check out these other Christmas dinner round ups:

Festive Christmas Appetizers and Sides

50+ Festive Christmas Cookies

How to Host the Holidays Like a Pro