The best Christmas side dishes are the ones that make the table feel like a celebration: creamy or crispy potatoes, a couple of roasted winter vegetables, a bright salad with pomegranate or cranberries, stuffing, and warm bread rolls. Whether your main course is ham, prime rib or turkey, here are 25 Christmas side dishes for your holiday dinner, plus the best pairings for each main and tips for making sides ahead.
Potato Side Dishes for Christmas
Every Christmas table needs a potato dish. Creamy gratins and mashed potatoes go with any main course, while crispy Hasselback and roasted potatoes are perfect next to prime rib.
1. Hasselback Potatoes
Hasselback potatoes are thinly sliced almost all the way through, brushed with butter and roasted until the edges turn crisp and golden while the inside stays soft. They look impressive on a holiday table but need only potatoes, butter, garlic and herbs, and they’re a perfect match for prime rib or roast beef.
Recipe: Hasselback Potatoes
2. Gratin Dauphinois (Scalloped Potatoes)
This French classic is made with just potatoes, cream, garlic and a little nutmeg, baked slowly until tender and bubbling. Scalloped potatoes are the side most people expect next to a Christmas ham, and you can assemble the dish the day before and bake it while the ham rests.
Recipe: Gratin Dauphinois (Scalloped Potatoes)
3. Roasted Garlic Mashed Potatoes
Christmas dinner isn’t complete without a big bowl of mashed potatoes. Roasting the garlic first makes it sweet and mellow, so the potatoes taste rich without being sharp. Serve them with gravy alongside turkey, or with pan juices next to roast beef.
Recipe: Fluffy Roasted Garlic Mashed Potatoes
4. Duchess Potatoes
Duchess potatoes are mashed potatoes piped into little swirls and baked until crisp on the outside. They’re elegant enough for a festive dinner party, and you can pipe them a day ahead, refrigerate them on the baking sheet and bake just before serving.
5. Roasted Herb Potatoes
Crunchy on the outside and fluffy inside, roasted potatoes with rosemary and thyme are an easy side that goes with every Christmas main. Parboil them first and rough up the edges before roasting for the crispiest results.
6. Molasses Roasted Yams and Sweet Potatoes
A medley of yams and sweet potatoes roasted with a touch of molasses brings warm, caramelized sweetness to the table. It’s especially good with salty glazed ham and makes a nice change from marshmallow-topped casseroles.
7. Cauliflower Mashed Potatoes
For a lighter option, cauliflower mash is creamy and comforting with far fewer carbs than regular mashed potatoes. It’s a thoughtful side to offer if some of your guests are eating low-carb over the holidays.
Christmas Vegetable Side Dishes
Brussels sprouts, glazed carrots and green beans are the classic Christmas vegetables. Most of them roast or sauté quickly, so they fit easily around the main course.
8. Honey Balsamic Glazed Brussels Sprouts
Roasted Brussels sprouts tossed in a sticky honey and balsamic glaze are sweet, savory and slightly crispy, which wins over even sprout skeptics. It’s one of the easiest Christmas vegetable side dishes.
Recipe: Honey Balsamic Glazed Brussels Sprouts
9. Brussels Sprouts with Chestnuts
Chestnuts are a true Christmas ingredient, and pairing them with Brussels sprouts is a holiday tradition in Britain and France. Buy pre-roasted, peeled chestnuts to save time, then sauté them with the sprouts in butter.
10. Brussels Sprouts Gratin with Bacon Breadcrumbs
If you want a richer vegetable side, bake Brussels sprouts in a creamy cheese sauce and top them with crispy bacon breadcrumbs. It’s comforting, crowd-pleasing and pairs beautifully with prime rib.
11. Brown Butter Glazed Carrots with Hazelnuts
Glazed carrots add a pop of color to the table. Nutty brown butter and toasted hazelnuts make them feel special enough for Christmas, and they come together on the stovetop, which frees up oven space.
Recipe: Brown Butter Glazed Carrots with Toasted Hazelnuts
12. Roasted Beets and Carrots
Deep red beets and orange carrots roasted with a touch of honey look naturally festive. This colorful side is easy to make ahead and reheat, and it’s equally good warm or at room temperature on a buffet.
13. Green Bean Casserole
Green bean casserole is a holiday classic, and this version skips the canned soup in favor of goat cheese and fresh ingredients. It’s a great make-ahead dish: assemble it the day before and bake it just before dinner.
Recipe: Not Your Mother’s Green Bean Casserole
14. French Green Beans with Mushrooms
Thin French green beans (haricots verts) sautéed with mushrooms, garlic and butter are a simple, elegant side that balances heavier dishes. They cook in minutes on the stovetop, so you can make them while the roast rests.
Stuffing, Cranberry Sauce and Other Classic Sides
These traditional extras make a holiday dinner feel complete, from tangy cranberry sauce and stuffing to mac and cheese and Yorkshire pudding.
15. Cranberry Sauce
Homemade cranberry sauce takes about 15 minutes: simmer fresh cranberries with sugar, orange juice and a strip of orange zest until the berries burst. Its sweet-tart flavor is perfect with turkey and ham, and it keeps in the fridge for up to a week, so make it early.
16. Cranberry Apple Stuffing
Stuffing isn’t just for Thanksgiving. Tart cranberries and sweet apples give this bread stuffing a festive flavor, and baking it in a separate dish (as dressing) makes it a side for any Christmas roast.
Recipe: Cranberry Apple Stuffing
17. Cheesy Wild Rice Stuffing
If you want something different from bread stuffing, try wild rice baked with vegetables and melted cheese. It’s hearty, naturally a little nutty and a good vegetarian option for guests who skip the meat.
18. Baked Mac and Cheese
In many Southern families, baked mac and cheese is a must on the Christmas table, especially next to ham. Use a mix of sharp cheddar and a melty cheese like Gruyère, and top it with buttered breadcrumbs for a golden crust. Kids will love it.
19. Yorkshire Pudding
Yorkshire pudding is the classic British partner for roast beef. The batter of eggs, flour and milk puffs up in a very hot pan with beef drippings into crisp, airy popovers that soak up gravy. If prime rib is your Christmas main, this side is worth making.
Christmas Breads and Rolls
A basket of warm rolls or a festive pull-apart bread rounds out the meal, and both can be baked ahead.
20. Potato Rolls
Soft, slightly sweet homemade potato rolls are perfect for mopping up gravy and making leftover ham sandwiches the next day. Bake them a day ahead and warm them in the oven before serving.
Recipe: Potato Rolls
21. Christmas Tree Pull-Apart Bread
Shape store-bought pizza dough into a Christmas tree of cheesy pull-apart rolls for a fun, festive bread that kids can help make. It works as a side for dinner or as an appetizer while everyone waits for the roast.
Recipe: Christmas Tree Pull-Apart Pizza Bread
Christmas Salads
Salads with pomegranate, citrus or persimmon add color to the table and lighten a heavy holiday meal.
22. Festive Christmas Salad
Crab, mango and pomegranate with homemade croutons make this salad bright, colorful and a little luxurious. A fresh salad balances a rich holiday menu, and the red pomegranate seeds look right at home on a Christmas table.
Recipe: Festive Christmas Salad
23. Kale Salad with Butternut Squash and Pomegranate
This hearty kale salad combines roasted butternut squash, quinoa, avocado and pomegranate with a garlic sriracha vinaigrette. Kale holds up well after dressing, so you can toss it an hour ahead without it wilting.
24. Green Bean Salad with Almonds and Pomegranate
Crisp green beans, toasted sliced almonds and a pomegranate vinaigrette make a light, festive salad in red and green. Serve it as a first course or as a fresh side next to roast meat.
25. Avocado and Persimmon Salad
Persimmons are in season in December, and their honey-like sweetness pairs beautifully with creamy avocado. This colorful winter salad is a refreshing contrast to potatoes and casseroles.
What to Serve with Your Christmas Main Course
Side dishes for Christmas ham
Sweet and salty ham goes best with creamy and slightly sweet sides: scalloped potatoes, roasted sweet potatoes, baked mac and cheese, green bean casserole, glazed carrots and soft potato rolls for leftover ham sandwiches.
Side dishes for prime rib
Rich prime rib calls for classic steakhouse sides: Yorkshire pudding, Hasselback or duchess potatoes, green beans with mushrooms, a Brussels sprouts gratin and a creamy horseradish sauce.
Side dishes for Christmas turkey
For a turkey dinner, serve mashed potatoes with gravy, cranberry sauce, stuffing and Brussels sprouts with chestnuts.
Christmas fish dinner
If you’re serving fish on Christmas Eve, choose lighter sides like green beans, roasted herb potatoes and a festive salad.
Vegetarian and lighter sides
Guests eating light or meat-free will appreciate cauliflower mash, roasted beets and carrots, wild rice stuffing and the kale salad.
How Many Side Dishes for Christmas Dinner?
For a family dinner of 6 to 10 people, 4 or 5 side dishes is plenty: one potato dish, one or two vegetables, a salad and bread or stuffing. For a bigger crowd or a buffet, add one or two more sides rather than making huge batches of the same few dishes, so everyone finds something they love.
Make-Ahead Tips for Christmas Sides
- 2–3 days ahead: make cranberry sauce and bake the bread rolls (freeze them if you bake earlier).
- The day before: assemble the scalloped potatoes, green bean casserole, mac and cheese and stuffing, then cover and refrigerate. Pipe duchess potatoes onto a baking sheet and chill.
- Christmas morning: wash and trim vegetables, make salad dressings and toast nuts.
- While the roast rests: bake the casseroles, roast the vegetables and sauté the green beans. Dress salads just before serving.
Pick a mix of rich and fresh dishes and your Christmas table will feel abundant without keeping you in the kitchen all day. For main dishes and complete menus, see our Christmas dinner ideas. What’s your favorite Christmas side dish? Share it with us in the comments!
