Side dishes for Christmas: ideas, recipes and advice for the holiday table

Are you looking for the perfect Christmas side dishes? If your Christmas menu is almost complete, but you're missing just one small detail, here are the unmissable recipes!

Side dishes are often underestimated dishes: they are served as an accompaniment or complement to second courses, but in reality they can make a difference. This is especially true for an important meal like Christmas lunch. In fact, the Italian gastronomic tradition has never lacked variety in this field, from the classic ones based on vegetables and legumes, to those reworked in a modern key: among the side dishes for Christmas, there is something for all tastes .

Among the most delicious side dishes there are undoubtedly potatoes and salads: they are Italians' favorites because they can be prepared in a thousand different ways, and they pair perfectly with both red meats and poultry and vegetables. These dishes actually have no season: Christmas, winter or summer can be offered at any time of the year, just to add an unexpected twist to the main dish. They come to our aid especially on the most important occasions, where we must try to make all the guests happy.

10 recipes for unmissable Christmas side dishes

Are you looking for a clever idea to get the little ones to eat vegetable side dishes? Here are some proposals that are different from the usual – but delicious – to make them more appetizing even for the most difficult children. With the right combinations you will be able to make them love every dish: even the most hated vegetables will magically transform into much appreciated side dishes!

1. Reinforcement salad

Capers, anchovies, papacelle, cauliflower, olives and spring onions: these are the ingredients of the fabulous reinforcement salad , a perfect side dish for Christmas lunch.

The preparation is really simple : boil the cauliflower for about ten minutes so that the florets are tender but firm (they shouldn't fall apart under a fork). Once cold, add the rest of the ingredients and season the salad with good extra virgin olive oil, a pinch of salt, and – without exaggerating – some white or red wine vinegar, to taste.

Store it in the refrigerator: the next day it will reach maximum flavor . Cauliflower is notoriously one of the least loved vegetables by children, but in this dish it takes on a new look, which they will also be able to appreciate .

Ingredients for the Neapolitan reinforcement salad recipe (for 4 people)

• 1 cauliflower
• 100 g of Gaeta black olives
• 100 g of green olives
• 100 g pickled sweet peppers (papacelle)
• 50 g of pickled gherkins
• 50g pickled onions
• 10 salted anchovy fillets
• Capers to taste
• Wine vinegar to taste
• Extra virgin olive oil to taste
• Salt to taste

DIFFICULTY : 1 | COOKING TIME : 10′ | PREPARATION TIME : 10′

2. How to make mashed potatoes

Soft and creamy: mashed potatoes are a delicious side dish, which even children like without the need for tricks.

The preparation? Child's play: boil the white potatoes for about 40 minutes. When they are nice and tender, drain them and try to peel them immediately , while they are still hot (but be careful not to burn yourself ): this way it will be easier. Crush them and place them in a saucepan in which you have melted the butter without letting it caramelize.

Mix and add the grated cheese, so that it can blend .

Ingredients for the mashed potato recipe (for 4 people)

• 700 g of white potatoes
• 1 liter of milk
• 150 g of butter
• 50 g of grated parmesan
• salt to taste

DIFFICULTY : 1 | COOKING TIME : 45′ | PREPARATION TIME : 15′

3. Baked onions

The procedure for preparing baked onions is very simple: after peeling them, blanch them in boiling water for about 10 minutes. Then, drain them, and place them in the previously oiled baking tray. Add salt and pepper to taste and complete with a drizzle of oil, leave in the oven for about an hour at 180°C .

If you see that they risk burning , cover them with a sheet of aluminum foil. They have a slightly long cooking time (in the meantime, you can always dedicate yourself to preparing other courses) but in the end they will melt in your mouth . They will win you over!

Ingredients for the baked white onion recipe (for 4 people)

• 1 kg of onions
• salt and pepper to taste
• extra virgin olive oil

DIFFICULTY : 1 | COOKING TIME : 75′ | PREPARATION TIME : 15′

4. Russian salad

It's impossible not to mention the queen of appetizers and side dishes: the Russian salad ! The ready-made one from the supermarket is good, but have you ever tried to make it at home? It's really something else entirely !

Start with the vegetables, which obviously must be of the highest quality: peel the potatoes and carrots after washing everything under running water. Then, cut into small cubes, more or less the size of peas. Boil all the vegetables for about 10 minutes in boiling water

Once cold, season with oil, salt, a spoonful of vinegar, capers and sliced ​​gherkins . At this point add the mayonnaise and mix everything together. Leave in the fridge for an hour before enjoying it.

Ingredients for the original Russian salad recipe (for 4 people)

• 350 g of mayonnaise
• 500 g of potatoes
• 300 g of peas
• 200 g of carrots
• 50 g of pickled gherkins
• White wine vinegar to taste
• Salt to taste
• Extra virgin olive oil to taste
• Capers to taste

DIFFICULTY : 1 | COOKING TIME : 40′ | PREPARATION TIME : 30′ + rest time

5. How to cook pumpkin in the oven?

Overseas it is the protagonist of the holidays, from Thanksgiving to Christmas: it is the pumpkin, increasingly appreciated by us too. Have you ever tried it in the oven ?

Take the pumpkin, cut it into slices and clean the inside; arrange the pumpkin slices on a baking tray, season them with salt, pepper, aromatic herbs and drizzle with a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil.

Cook at 180°C for about 25-30 minutes , until you see that the surface is nice and golden. Let it cool for a few minutes and serve it while still hot!

Ingredients for the baked pumpkin recipe (for 4 people)

• 700 g of yellow pumpkin
• Coarse salt to taste
• Pepper to taste
• Extra virgin olive oil to taste
• Rosemary to taste
• Thyme to taste
• 2 cloves of garlic

DIFFICULTY : 1 | COOKING TIME : 30′ | PREPARATION TIME : 15′

6. Sicilian orange salad

Winter and the Christmas period are the best to fill up on vitamin C , with oranges giving their best in these months. It is no coincidence, in fact, that many side dishes are based on this citrus fruit; orange salad , of Sicilian origin, is perhaps the most popular, and at the same time one of the simplest.

Leave the sliced ​​oranges to soak in cold water while you take the fennel, wash it and slice it with a mandolin. At this point, clean the oranges well, also removing the white parts. In a bowl, combine all the ingredients and complete with a spoonful of orange juice , which will give an even more intense flavor to the salad.

Decorate with wild fennel and your Christmas side dish is ready, enjoy your meal!

Ingredients for the fennel and orange salad recipe (for 2 people)

• 1 orange
• 1 fennel
• 50 g of red onions
• Black olives to taste
• Extra virgin olive oil to taste
• Salt to taste
• Pepper to taste
• Wild fennel to taste

DIFFICULTY : 1 | COOKING TIME : 0′ | PREPARATION TIME : 10′

7. How to cook stewed cabbage?

Here's another side dish that will make you spend very little time at the stove: stewed cabbage !

Coarsely cut the cleaned cabbage , then let it dry. Dip everything into a pan where you have browned a clove of garlic with a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil. Pour in a few ladles of broth, then cook for about twenty minutes, stirring occasionally .

Once the broth has reduced, add half a teaspoon of mustard and mix well: here is the secret to giving the dish a unique and inimitable flavour!

Ingredients for the pan-stewed cabbage recipe (for 4 people)

• 1 savoy cabbage
• 80 g of speck
• 1 clove of garlic
• 1 glass of broth
• extra virgin olive oil to taste
• Salt to taste
• Pepper to taste
• 1/2 teaspoon mustard

DIFFICULTY : 1 | COOKING TIME : 30′ | PREPARATION TIME : 10′

8. Lentils: how to cook them stewed?

Rustic and tasty, stewed lentils are the New Year's dish par excellence .

The preparation is simple, but it takes a long time to cook the lentils. After soaking for 12 hours, boil them for 90 minutes .

In a separate pan, heat the oil, sage, bacon, diced carrot, celery and onion and the tomato puree. Cook for a quarter of an hour. After this time, add the boiled lentils and leave to flavor for 10 minutes .

Ingredients for the stewed lentils recipe (for 4 people)

• 250 g of lentils
• 200 g of tomato puree
• 30 g of bacon
• 1 onion
• sage to taste
• 1 stick of celery
• 1 carrot
• olive oil to taste
• salt and pepper to taste

DIFFICULTY : 1 | COOKING TIME : 115′ | PREPARATION TIME : 15′

9. Cauliflower au gratin

Here is once again a great enemy of children: cauliflower au gratin, but we bet that in this version you will be able to make them appreciate it !

Blanch the cauliflower florets for five minutes. Drain them. Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 200°C .

At this point, prepare the béchamel and cut the fontina into cubes. Then, you can assemble the pan to bake: butter the bottom and sides and make a first layer of béchamel, followed by the fontina and cauliflower florets. Complete with béchamel sauce and grated cheese. Place the cauliflower in the oven and cook for twenty minutes.

Ingredients for the cauliflower gratin recipe (for 4 people)

• 1 kg of cauliflower
• grated cheese to taste
• 200 g of fontina
• Salt and pepper to taste

For the béchamel:

• 80 g of flour
• 20 g of potato starch
• 100 g of butter
• 1 liter of whole milk
• Salt and pepper to taste
• Nutmeg to taste

DIFFICULTY : 1 | COOKING TIME : 40′ | PREPARATION TIME : 15′

10. Duchess potatoes

Finally, a gem: Duchess potatoes , very pretty to look at, as well as delicious!

Immerse the cleaned potatoes in a pan of cold water; cook them for about forty minutes, drain them and let them cool . Then peel them, mash them and mix all the other ingredients in a pan. Place the mixture in a piping bag with a star nozzle and create curls.

Bake them at 200°C for 15 minutes in a hot oven. Everyone will like them!

Discover all our Christmas recipes too!

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