10 Side Dishes You Need At Christmas Dinner This Year
The holidays are coming up again, which means it’s time to sit down and start thinking about what side dishes you’ll absolutely need at your Christmas dinner this year! Whether it’s with ham or turkey, these side dishes are a sure-fire way to appetize and satisfy your guests at the holiday table.
1. Mashed Potatoes
Seriously, who doesn’t bring mashed potatoes comes the holiday season? Mashed Potatoes are side dishes that go well with everyday meals, so of course, they’re going to be in high demand come Christmas time! It’s relatively easy to make, if somewhat lengthy, but it’s all worth it if you take your time and prepare your mashed potatoes with great attention.
If you decide to bring mashed potatoes to Christmas this year, make sure they’re creamy and actually mashed. You don’t want to leave any unmashed, solid bits in the finished product. Yuck!
2. Brussel Sprouts Recipes
Fortunately for green-lovers everywhere (and unfortunate for children), there are plenty of wild and amazing Brussel sprout recipes that fancy a starving Christmas crowd.
Brussel sprouts are delectable, bite-sized veggies that are easy to serve and easy to shake up the recipe formula, which makes this side dish a desirable one. You may add extra ingredients or make Brussel sprouts an ingredient themselves in service to a larger dish.
Brussel sprouts are common amongst Christmas gatherings probably because they just look like little chewy green ornaments! Just don’t eat your actual tree ornaments, though.
3. Salads
Be it a turkey salad, caesar salad, or mozzarella salad, if you’re looking for a side dish item that you know will serve well at the Christmas table, salads are a safe bet. Most traditional holiday meals come Christmas are always centered around meat-oriented cuisine like turkey, ham, or even beef! Salads are a good way to combat and compliment the red meat-fest by offering a softer, pleasant taste.
Add in as many vegetables and fruits as you want in your salads because the other dinner guests are gonna want something to give their taste buds a break away from the savory flavor of meat!
4. Sweet Potatoes
Let’s be real, if it’s not mashed potatoes on the dinner menu, it’ll be sweet potatoes instead. Or, sometimes, people have both! Popular throughout all of the fall and winter seasons, sweet potato recipes are an enjoyable side dish with nutritional value!
The easy thing about sweet potatoes is that they can be prepared in a variety of ways. Whether it’s the classic sweet potato formula with added ingredients, pound and mashed, or even cooked, there’s no denying the lasting impact these vegetables have at Christmas dinner! Just make them ahead of time so you’re not botching the recipe with unnecessary rushed efforts.
5. Casseroles
These days, what holidays and events don’t you bring casseroles to…? Hm, well, let’s not dwell on that. For now, casseroles serve a healthy and delicious choice amongst the side dishes at the Christmas table. Casseroles are an easy way to feed the family on Christmas, as its hearty ingredients make for a filling food item.
Prepare this side dish a day before Christmas celebration and you’ll bring a beloved option to the dinner table!
Different styles of this favored dish include cheese, sweet potato, spinach, broccoli and cheddar, and onion casserole. Casseroles make for a superb side to go along with your vegetables and meats this Christmas season!
6. Stuffing
Stuffing is amongst the obvious of Christmas side dishes that bear no introduction. It’s probably the most quintessential side dish throughout the whole holiday season! From Thanksgiving to New Year’s Eve! Some people have it on Halloween night too, depending on how big Halloween is with one’s family.
Most traditional stuffing comprises of dried breadcrumbs, giblets, poultry, vegetables, salt and pepper, and various herbs. Sure, that’s a lot of ingredients, but it’s not as hard to prepare as that list implies. Stuffing is meant to utilize everything in your kitchen! Whatever you got, you can make work so long as you buy the necessary key ingredients.
7. Vegetables And Greens
Vegetables and green foods are too important to leave out of the holiday dinner plan! Yes, holidays like Thanksgiving and Christmas are mostly meant to indulge our sweet and savory teeth, but vegetables help to add contrast and nutritional value to your dining options.
You’ve got your green beans, your broccoli, your zucchini, cauliflower, and even celery! These green are begging to be brought over for Christmas by someone, so let that someone be you!
8. Bread
Now onto a complete 180 from the last listed item… to heck with nutritional value! Bread is where it’s at during Christmas feast. Breads of any kind need to be soft, warm, and fluffy. Since they need to be doughy and nearly fresh out of the oven, preparing this meal will mean you’ll have to spend some time during Christmas day to complete it.
The favored breads this time of year are cornbread, garlic bread, and biscuits. Each offers something unique and enjoyable to compliment the cold, winter season. Your best luck on a successful dish would have to be one of those three for sure!
9. Macaroni And Cheese
Like the rising ape to man, the mac and cheese dish has undergone great evolution in the face of harsh adversity attempting to devour them whole! Was mac and cheese just compared to Darwinian evolutionary theory? Why, yes. That just shows how badass mac and cheese is.
Mac and cheese classic is a good side dish all on its own, but when you add the likes of bacon, of pizza, of jalapeño poppers, you’re concocting a recipe for deliciousness!
10. Corn
Corn! Always a welcome staple to the fall and winter line up of food selections, corn harkens back to a simpler time. It is a very homey side dish plainly because one cannot turn down corn entirely, as there is a variety of options corn can be served in! These include corn on the cob, cream corn, corn cheese, and corn casserole.
It’s hearty, it reminds you of home, and it’s not controversial. What else can you ask of this side dish?
