Looking for a side dish to serve with dinner? Like something simple and comforting? You’re in the right place. Here are 12 comfort food side dish recipes that are easy, yummy and great for serving with just about any main dish. (And they’re all tried and true family favorites!)
What is comfort food?
Comfort food is food prepared in a traditional style, usually having nostalgic or sentimental appeal. (Thanks, Merriam Webster dictionary, for helping me with the wording there!:)
So the foods that are comfort food to me, might not necessarily be comfort foods to the next person.
Anyway, the easy side dishes you see here, and basically all the tasty recipes here on Small Town Scratch, are American comfort foods. (Influenced by our unique Mennonite culture, of course.)
Foods like potatoes, meatloaf and pot roast… that’s what you can expect from us.
Easy Comfort Food Side Dishes Everyone Will Love!
So, what makes a meal truly memorable? I don’t think it’s always the main course (though my husband might disagree with me there; the meat main dish is almost always his favorite!).
Think for a moment about your favorite holiday dinners or family gatherings or just weeknight family suppers back home. The dishes you remember most. I think comfort food side dishes (like these) have this somewhat magical ability to turn an ordinary Tuesday night supper into something that feels special, warm, and completely satisfying.
And we, the folks behind Small Town Scratch, are all about simple comfort food. It’s the best. 🙂
So here you go! If you’re looking for that perfect side dish… This is a list of all our favorite side dishes to serve with anything from Classic Ground Beef Meatballs to steak to roast chicken.
Lots of potatoes, to be sure, but then, we are Mennonites, after all. Enjoy!:)
Mashed Potatoes with Brown Butter
First and foremost, right out of the gate, we’ve got the best Mashed Potatoes. Comfort food at its finest! You can use any kind of potato, and you can actually skip the extras (like cream cheese) and still end up with delicious mashed potatoes. Oh, and the brown butter adds the perfect finishing touch. Don’t skip it. 🙂
- Prep time: 5 minutes
- Cook time: 20 minutes
- Mashing time: 5 minutes
- Total time: 30 minutes
Sweet & Sour Green Beans
One of our favorite vegetable side dishes is this Sweet and Sour Green Bean Recipe! Soy sauce, garlic, a little bit of sugar and bacon can turn regular common green beans into something a little bit fancy and fun.
- Prep time: 5 minutes
- Cook time: 15 minutes
- Total time: 20 minutes
Easy Ranch Potatoes
This is a super common side dish in our culture, and often served at weddings! It’s just regular red potatoes (and red potatoes are the best for this recipe), cooked then tossed with crispy bacon in a sour cream and Ranch mixture, then baked. MMM, so good.
- Prep time: 15 minutes
- Cook time: 15 minutes
- Bake time: 30 minutes
- Total time: 1 hour
Cheesy Corn
Another great family favorite and a fun way to serve corn as a side! You can make this in the slow cooker which is super handy, or you can mix it all up and heat in the microwave or on the stovetop.
- Prep time: 10 minutes
- Cook time: 10 minutes
- Crockpot cook time: 4 hours
- Total time: 20 minutes (on the stovetop) or 4 hours, 10 minutes (in the crockpot)
Baked Potato Halves
Ya know, I don’t make regular baked potatoes very often any more. Instead, I make these baked potato halves! They bake in half the time and we like them better than classic baked potatoes!
- Prep time: 10 minutes
- Bake time: 30 minutes
- Total time: 40 minutes
Brown Butter Broccoli
A very, very simple and easy way to make broccoli for dinner, that’s delicious too! Actually all it is, is steam cooked broccoli florets tossed in brown butter. And, you can use cauliflower instead if you wish! Or do a mix of both.
- Prep time: 10 minutes
- Cook time: 10 minutes
- Total time: 20 minutes
Oven Roasted Herb Potatoes
Take your choice of potato (I prefer the gold ones, so I don’t need to peel them!) and toss them in butter (or olive oil) and herbs and bake them in the oven. Fresh herbs makes this classic side dish look pretty as well, so I like to use them if I can. So quick and easy and delicious! And we like to eat these with a drizzle of Ranch dressing. (By the way, we are Mennonites from the Midwest, so yes, we love Ranch dressing!)
- Prep time: 15 minutes
- Bake time: 1 hour
- Total time: 1 hour & 15 minutes
Corn Chip Lettuce Salad
Here’s a fun little spin on a regular lettuce salad. This is a great recipe for meal prepping, if you’re someone who does that. Prep all ingredients and dressing, then mix up just the right amount for dinner for your family! This is another popular recipe in our culture, and for good reason. 🙂
- Prep time: 30 minutes
- Total time: 30 minutes
Easy Scalloped Potatoes
Genuine scalloped potatoes, no cheese added! And they’re delicious, too, if I do say so myself. Raw potatoes, sliced and layered in a pan with a homemade white sauce, then baked until soft, bubbly and golden brown on top.
- Prep time: 20 minutes
- Bake time: 1 hour
- Total time: 1 hour & 20 minutes
Oven Roasted Parmesan Potatoes
Changing up the potato side dishes with a sweet and white potato mixture! These make the most comforting side dish, with the buttery, savory flavor, and a touch of parmesan cheese. My family would love it if I made these more often for dinner. (Maybe next year we’ll have a bumper crop of sweet potatoes in the garden!)
- Prep time: 20 minutes
- Bake time: 1 hour
- Total time: 1 hour & 20 minutes
The Best Broccoli Cauliflower Salad
This is a fun way to eat vegetables like broccoli and cauliflower! Toss them in a homemade dressing and add some cheddar cheese and bacon 🙂
- Prep time: 30 minutes
- Total time: 30 minutes
Cheesy Potatoes
Last but definitely not least, cheesy potatoes. Also known as potluck potatoes or funeral potatoes (which sounds rather awful, if you ask me) but maybe called that since these are great for serving crowds, like at potlucks and funerals? Anyway, these cheesy potatoes are just that: shredded potatoes in a cheesy sauce. And they are delish! (And, if you want to cut the total time in half, just use the shredded hashbrown potatoes from the store.)
- Prep time: 10 minutes
- Cook time: 20 minutes
- Rest & grate time: 30 minutes
- Bake time: 1 hour
- Total time: 2 hours
Just in case you’d like some main dish dinner ideas…
…Take a look at these:
Pin this list of ’12 Comfort Food Side Dish Recipes’ for later!
As always…
Thanks for visiting our small town! We’re delighted to have you and you’re more than welcome to stay awhile and explore!
’til next time,
We love you and we’ll be praying for you,
Julie
Leave a Reply