Easy Vegetable Side Dishes You Can Make in 30 Minutes or Less

These are the perfect tasty companions for healthy weeknight meals.

Steamed Carrots with Lemon and Sea Salt
Credit: The Ingalls

It's so easy to get into a vegetable side-dish rut, be it the ubiquitous bag of salad greens mixed with a few chopped cucumbers and tomatoes or the ever-so-friendly roasted sheet-pan vegetables. While these are perfectly delicious options, there are so many other wonderful, quick, and colorful ways to eat vegetables that don't take long to prepare. If you're looking to mix it up a little, these recipes—all of which take 30 minutes or less—will help you bring a little pizazz to your dinner plate.

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Easy Creamed Spinach

easy creamed spinach
Credit: Diana Chistruga

Spinach, but make it decadent and creamy—and easy to make. Our recipe does it all. There's no sauce since we use cream cheese to bring the decadence to everyone's favorite leafy green vegetable.

02 of 12

Roasted Carrots With Feta and Parsley

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Rich, earthy carrots get a hint of tang from crumbled feta and a sweet touch from fresh parsley.

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Sautéed Asparagus With Lemon

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If you usually steam or boil asparagus, try sautéing. It produces crisp spears that retain their green color, and it seems to concentrate the asparagus flavor.

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Roasted-Vegetable Salad with Garlic Dressing

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Credit: Maria Robledo

Roasting intensifies the flavors and colors of this composed salad, made with fingerling potatoes, delicata squash, baby beets, brussels sprouts, carrots, leeks, and celery root. Serve on a bed of greens and drizzle with the warm garlic dressing.

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Fried Brussels Sprouts

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Credit: Martyna Szczesna

Working in batches is the key to getting deliciously crispy Brussels sprouts; they need space to crisp up. Be sure to bring the oil back to temperature between batches to prevent the sprouts from getting soggy.

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Steamed Carrots With Lemon and Sea Salt

Steamed Carrots with Lemon and Sea Salt
Credit: The Ingalls

For a fresh take on carrots, go back to basics. Steaming lets the sweet flavor of this favorite root vegetable shine. All the carrots need are a squeeze of lemon juice and a sprinkle of sea salt. It looks especially stunning with rainbow carrots, but this recipe also works wonderfully with regular orange carrots.

07 of 12

Broccolini With Peperoncini

sprouting broccoli with peperoncini served with lemon wedges
Credit: Paola + Murray

Impress your guests with a platter of these grassy, sweet, and garlicky crisp-tender stems of sprouting broccolini at your next gathering—the best way to serve this Italian vegetable!

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Smashed Potatoes

Smashed Potatoes

These smashed—not mashed—potatoes are tasty, crispy, and a side both grown-ups and kids will enjoy. Leaving the skin on the potatoes adds extra nutrition, flavor, and color.

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Shaved Fennel, Zucchini, and Celery Salad

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Credit: Marcus Nilsson

Celery, fennel, zucchini, oil, vinegar, and beans are topped with almonds for extra crunch and nutrition—a simple yet fresh salad that'd beat any packaged one in an instant.

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Sautéed Baby Boy Choy

sauteed baby bok choy
Credit: Christina Holmes

Here's a perfect 15-minute vegetable side dish for all kinds of entrées—serve yours with Korean short ribs, or seared salmon, or tuck them into a bowl of bibimbap!

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Grilled Zucchini With Miso

grilled zucchini with miso
Credit: Dana Gallagher

A few minutes on the grill is all this zucchini needs. Put them on the coals after you've grilled steaks or chicken, and the squash will be ready by the time the meat has finished resting.

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Sweet Peas With Shallots and Gem Lettuce

sweet peas with shallots gem lettuce
Credit: Anson Smart

Lettuce isn't just for eating raw in salads. This elegant sauté is finished off with Little Gem lettuce leaves, cooked just until they wilt.

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