20 Side Dishes With 5 Ingredients or Less

Look for baby carrots, the small whole carrots with trimmed ends, rather than the rounded snacking carrots. While a container of mushrooms may seem like a lot for this recipe, they will shrink considerably, and concentrate their flavor, when roasted.

Perk up precooked brown rice with fresh orange rind, a faintly floral note that's welcome in stir-fries and other classic Asian dishes. If you like, you can add chopped toasted almonds or peanuts for extra crunch.

This method completely eliminates potato lumps, so every bite is like velvet on your palate. The amount of milk and butter we use here yields potatoes that are a great mix of fluffy and creamy. For a fluffier batch, scale back on the milk by a few tablespoons, or add a few more to make them even creamier. Don’t discard the peels; they make a tasty snack: Toss with a tablespoon of extra-virgin olive oil and salt and pepper to taste, and then roast at 400°F for 15 minutes or until crisp.

Tender lettuce allows flavor-forward radish and Parmesan to shine. 

Carrots become beautifully glazed and tender with just a little brown sugar and a quick, high-heat roast. To clean up, simply toss the foil. Use this simple roasted-carrot method as a base, and then layer on other flavor combinations as you like. Try smoky chipotle chile powder, fragrant garam masala, or tart ground sumac.

Paprika, fresh oregano, and olives turn everyday roasted potatoes into a spectacular side. Serve with a chorizo-flecked frittata or pan-grilled steak or chicken.

Make the most of your farmers' market haul with this sweet and tangy tomato salad, which also boasts summer peaches, fresh mint, and goat cheese. This stunning, southern-inspired salad would make a welcome addition to any summer cookout or picnic. 

Here’s a spin on a typical baked sweet potato: Turn it into a gorgeous hasselback sweet potato and drizzle it with smoky chipotle cream. The accordion-like cuts give the potato some crispy outer edges, keeping the insides moist and soft. They also turn it into a pull-apart dish that’s super fun to eat.  

This recipe gives you a faster route to “roasted,” lightly caramelized carrots. Instead of cooking in the oven (and waiting for it to preheat), here you cook the carrots on the stovetop in a cast-iron skillet. The key is to keep the carrots still; you’ll cook them for 5 minutes without stirring, then stir and cook undisturbed for another 5 minutes. The results are beautifully browned, crisp-tender carrots that take about a third of the time as oven-roasted. A hint of hoisin and maple syrup enhance the sweetness of the carrots without rendering them cloying.

What would breakfast for dinner be without home fries? Parmesan, garlic, and rosemary make these spuds a little more dressed up than regular hash browns, pairing perfectly with the slightly elevated sausage and apple breakfast sandwiches.  

Broccoli is a go-to veggie side for many families yet is often served very plain, making it the vegetable that no one wants for dinner. Rather than slathering it with cream and cheese, we prefer to sauté it with herbs, vegetables, and oils to brighten the flavor. These are simple ways to use the foods that you have on hand that will liven up this veggie without adding extra calories and fat. Broccoli is such an easy, versatile side dish, as it absorbs fresh flavor from whatever it's cooked with. Any leftovers can be tossed in a soup or salad the next day. Looking for other variations? Try steamed broccoli with chorizo, with tomato ragout, or with a creamy tarragon dressing.

Canned chickpeas, cumin, and mint amp up the flavor of fresh haricot verts in this simple weeknight side that's ready in just 20 minutes.

Massaging the kale first helps tenderize it slightly; this technique is also handy when using this fibrous green in raw preparations like salads and slaws. Serve with steak or top with sunny-side up eggs.

Rinsing removes this gluten-free pseudo-grain’s natural coating, called saponin, which can make it taste bitter. (Quinoa is technically a seed.) Although most boxed quinoa is prerinsed, it doesn’t hurt to give it an extra rinse at home. Allowing the quinoa to steam helps it absorb any remaining traces of liquid and plump up.

These garlicky sesame green beans are a simple, yet delicious way to put more veggies on the dinner table in minutes. This dish can easily be made gluten-free by using tamari instead of soy sauce, or even liquid aminos for those who avoid soy as well. 

This easy, nutritious side comes together in just minutes, and makes a great addition to your favorite one-dish meal or protein. As opposed to traditional broccoli, rabe has a slightly bitter taste, which pairs well with balsamic and parmesan. 

Boost your cauliflower with this powerhouse ingredient that lends savory depth to this dish.

This recipe offers a delicious change of pace from boiled or braised cabbage. Hefty wedges roast at moderately high heat until lightly caramelized on the outside and tender within. And they’re embellished with the most delicious, deeply flavorful crispy breadcrumbs. You’ll want to go with a bold blue cheese here—something like Roquefort or Maytag. And if you can find good rye bread, you'll notice the difference.

Preparing spaghetti squash in your Instant Pot yields a perfectly cooked squash—not mushy, but tender and holding its shape. Here we dress it with a touch of olive oil and seasonings to ever-so-slightly enhance its flavor. But spaghetti squash is also a perfect base for so many sauces, or just a sprinkle of Parmesan cheese as a side dish. At the store, look for squash that are about 3 lbs. Too much larger than that and they get “woody.”

Zucchini is tender enough to be enjoyed raw—especially baby zucchini. Pull out your handy vegetable peeler and shave each zucchini into thin, long strips to create pretty zucchini “ribbons” as the base of the Greek salad–inspired summer side. Turn this into a warm-weather main dish with the addition of chickpeas or oil-packed chunk-light tuna.