13 Make-Ahead Side Dish Recipes

A white bowl filled with mashed potatoes and topped with a square of butter

Easy Mashed Potatoes1/13

Yeah, yeah, we know. You don't need a recipe for mashed Yukon Golds with butter, milk, and salt. Or so you think. Try this and get back to us.

A white plate filled with baked mushrooms, broken bread, and two glasses of red wine in the background.

Baked Mushrooms, Broken Bread2/13

An effortless, elegant side that takes inspiration from two enduring entertaining icons: the stuffed mushroom and Thanksgiving stuffing.

A white gratin dish filled with cheesy broccoli and topped with toasted breadcrumbs

Broccoli and Blue Cheese Gratin3/13

Ooooh baby! Broccoli blanketed with a creamy rich white sauce that takes its oomph from blue cheese and its hint of heat from cayenne.

Roasted bias-cut carrots on a rimmed sheet pan

Roasted Carrots with Allspice4/13

Sweet. Spicy. Earthy. And a touch puckery. When did anything--or anyone--at your table boast such character? Certain to compensate for your duller dinner invitees.

A large white bowl and a small metal bowl filled with raw cranberry relish on a metal serving tray with a few cranberries scattered around.

Raw Cranberry Relish5/13

This sassy and simple sauce draws on just cranberries, orange, sugar, booze, and a blender. And no, it's not a cocktail.

An oval serving dish filled with baked asparagus with Parmesan and balsamic vinegar with a fork and spoon resting on top.

Baked Asparagus with Parmesan and Balsamic Vinegar6/13

These spring spears, buried beneath a behemoth of Parmesan, is making converts of even the most reticent veggie eaters.

A parchment-line rimmed baking sheet with fifteen whole duck fat roasted carrots.

Duck Fat Roasted Carrots7/13

Surely you’ve heard of potatoes roasted in duck fat? Same basic principle—and unspeakable loveliness—applies here.

A blue gratin dish filled with potato gratin and a two wine bottles in the background

Old-Fashioned Potato Gratin8/13

This old-fashioned gratin comforts you with everything indulgent could possibly crave in a gratin, namely ample amounts of potatoes, cream, butter, and cheese. A glass of gigondas is optional.

Rosemary Carrot Puree9/13

This one's for the gluten-free, dairy-free, low-carb, and Paleo peeps. It's unlike anything you've ever had, we guarantee it.

A cast iron skillet filled with cooked sweet potato cornbread topped with two pats of butter, resting on a old blue wooden chair with a dish of butter beside it.

We could blather on and on and on about this surprising and stunning (and stealthy healthy) riff on a Southern classic that everyone is swearing is the best cornbread they've ever had. But you best experience it for yourself.

A white oval platter filled with roasted root vegetables and Marcona almonds, drizzled with sage-garlic brown butter.

Roasted Root Vegetables with Marcona Almonds11/13

The essence of autumn, this recipe juxtaposes tender root vegetables, crunchy Marcona almonds, nutty brown butter, and the lilt of lemon.

A cast-iron baking dish filled with fennel baked in cream on a wooden board.

Fennel Baked in Cream12/13

Fennel turns meltingly tender and oh so sweet when slowly, slowly, slowly braised in cream, cheese, and butter. One more reason to be enamored with the holidays.

A ceramic oval dish of baked spinach mornay with cream sauce, sliced onion, and browned top

Baked Spinach Mornay13/13

Sorta like potato gratin, except the nutty, cheesy white sauce swaddles leaves of spinach, not sliced spuds. Sure beats salad.