12 Best Vegetable Side Dishes

First up in our vegetable side dishes: the best way to serve potatoes! These potato wedges are out of this world good. They're oven roasted until crisp, and the exterior is covered in salty Parmesan cheese and just enough black pepper. They'll have your friends and family singing your praises.

Runners up: Restaurant-Style Baked Fries, Parmesan Truffle Fries, Smashed Potatoes, or Rosemary Roasted Potatoes

This vegetable side dish has it all: it’s healthy, delicious, and takes only 5 minutes to cook. Steamed broccoli might sound a little drab, right? But let us assure you: a drizzle of olive oil, a few red onion slivers and salt turn this humble veggie into something stellar. This one literally goes with anything. (Or make it in a pressure cooker: Instant Pot Broccoli.)

These lemony steamed green beans go with almost any meal, from meatloaf to salmon to pasta. Even better: they take only 10 minutes to whip up! While "steamed green beans" might not be the most Instagram drool worthy idea, it's seriously practical and 100% worth adding to your weeknight cooking skills! The zesty lemon flavor with the bright green, crisp tender beans has become a favorite in our house. (Or, make them in a pressure cooker: Instant Pot Lemony Green Beans.)

Here’s an easy way to cook cauliflower: steamed! This herb and lemon steamed cauliflower cooks in minutes and is so tasty, you won’t want to stop eating it! The lemon zest makes it bright, and using Italian seasoning and olive oil gives it a Mediterranean flair. Even better: it takes only 10 minutes to cook. (Got a pressure cooker? Try our Instant Pot Cauliflower.)

Want the best roasted vegetables ever? This master recipe for how to roast vegetables results in the most colorful sheet pans that will please even the most veggie-wary eaters. Make it for a crowd as a side, or roast up a few pans and eat off of them all week long. They’re healthy, plant based, vegetarian and gluten-free, and even better: beautiful and delicious! Here’s our best vegetable mix and seasoning blend.

There are so many great ways to eat sweet potatoes as a vegetable side dish. But here's a favorite: mashed sweet potatoes! The sweet potatoes are mashed with Yukon gold potatoes to get just the right fluffy texture and savory sweet flavor. (Or make them in a pressure cooker: Instant Pot Mashed Sweet Potatoes.)

Yes, this is the very best way to serve Brussels sprouts as a side dish! Hands down. The Brussels sprouts are roasted in a very hot oven until they're perfectly crisp and salty. Roasting brings out their inner sweetness. (Or try them in the pressure cooker: Instant Pot Brussels Sprouts with Parmesan.)

Ever tried eating squash as fries? Delicata squash is a variety of squash that's extraordinarily sweet and cooks quickly. It's an oblong shape that makes it perfect for cutting into half moon-shaped "fries". Roast them in a hot oven, and they come out sweet and tender.

Beets can be hard to love, but hear us out. This beet side dish is an absolute treat. Roasted beet rounds are dolloped with creamy, tangy goat cheese, then topped with olive oil and fresh chives. Sounds almost too simple, but it tastes like a symphony. Just a few basic ingredients can turn beets into the ultimate taste treat. (Cut the roasting time in half with Instant Pot Beets.)

Here's another vegetable side dish starring everyone's favorite squash: butternut! Here's a basic way to roast it: cut it into cubes, mix with olive oil and salt and pepper, and bake it in a very hot oven. It comes out perfectly tender and sweet.

Did you know the easiest way to cook is corn on the cob is in the oven? This one is a game changer. There’s literally no prep time: you don’t even need to husk it! Throw it on the oven grates to roast and it comes out beautifully moist. It's a fantastic vegetable side dish for when corn is in season.

And make sure to try our Elote (Mexican Street Corn) -- it's magical.

The best way to make carrots into a side dish? Roasted with cumin seeds! The tender, sweet carrots are perfect against the savory bite of the cumin. It’s perfect for entertaining as a healthy side dish (here they're served over a bed of hummus that works as a sort of sauce). For especially brilliant colors, use rainbow carrots, which makes it look even more stunning.