31 Best Side Dishes to Elevate Your Chicken Dinner
When you’re looking for the best side dishes for chicken dinners, you might find yourself making the same old thing, over and over. But you don’t have to. Here are 31 different side dishes your family will love!
Sides for the Versatile Chicken Main Dish
First of all, here are some of our favorite chicken main dishes:
- Honey-Glazed Chicken Legs
- 3-Ingredient Slow Cooker Chicken
- Crock Pot Garlic Chicken
- Lemon Pepper Chicken
- Crispy Air Fryer Chicken Thighs
One of the most economical main dishes you can cook is chicken. In fact, you can often pick up a four-serving pack of inexpensive chicken thighs or drumsticks for less than five dollars. Now all you need to do is come up with something to go with the chicken.
Coming up with side dishes can be a grueling task. If you’re like most people, you have a repertoire of a handful of recipes that you pair with most dinners. And if you’re like me, you want to branch out and try something different … you know … for variety.
Pasta – One of the Best Side Dishes for Chicken Dinners
One of the favorite side dishes in our home is pasta, and I suspect that’s the case with many other families. There are so many different types of pasta that you can cook a different one every night without repeating any of them for several weeks.
Potato or Rice Side Dish – Perfect for Chicken Dinners
Traditionally, potatoes and rice hold a place with any chicken dinner at my family’s table because they complement it so well. Some are comfort food, either with or without gravy.
Others hold their own with lots of flavor from cheese, tomatoes, or extra seasonings. And if you’re anything like me, cheese and seasonings are essential in a lot of dishes.
I often make sweet potato dishes to change things up. It’s fun to add unexpected seasonings to sweet potatoes to get a whole new blend of flavors.
Vegetable Side Dish
All my life, I’ve never considered a meal complete without at least one vegetable. Whether it’s green beans, zucchini, or squash, it adds a lot of nutrition, texture, flavor, and color to the plate. Never boring and always fun to see everyone’s reaction!
Salad Side Dish
Whether you serve a salad before the meal or with it, it’s a perfect addition to your chicken dinner. You can make it with or without dressing, including this delicious buttermilk ranch dressing or classic thousand island.
Here are some of my favorite side dishes that can take your chicken dinner to the next level of family meals:
31 Best Side Dishes for Chicken Dinners
You never have to worry about what to serve with any chicken dinner. All of these dishes are delicious and interesting.
This is the perfect dish to serve with dinner at home. It's also great for potlucks and picnics.
The creaminess of this delicious pasta salad is so comforting as a side dish.
Buttermilk garlic mashed potatoes deliver a boatload of flavor to any meal!
Packed with flavor, these Tex-Mex ranch potatoes are the perfect side dish for any family dinner.
These delicious potatoes go with any meat, including chicken, beef, pork, or seafood.
Serve this delicious potato salad at any family dinner, picnic, or special event.
Serve this onion-seasoned rice side dish with any meal. It's delicious with chicken, pork, seafood, or beef.
Sweet potato patties add a delicious blend of flavors to any meal!
These roasted Brussels sprouts are the perfect side dish because they're easy to make, nutritious, and delicious.
When you're looking for a side dish with a boatload of flavor, you'll love this garlic zucchini Parmesan.
This easy creamed spinach is the perfect side dish for any meal.
Pineapple baked beans are delicious for any meal, whether it's a regular family dinner or special occasion.
These marinated mushrooms are easy to cook in your Crockpot, and they deliver huge amount of deliciousness.
Enjoy snacking on these delicious air fryer zucchini fries that are super easy to make and so nutritious.
Enhance any meal with these delicious honey roasted sweet potatoes.
Serve this cheesy baked grits casserole for breakfast or as a side for dinner.
Serve this broccoli slaw as a salad or a side dish at any family meal, potluck, or buffet.
Creamy coleslaw is the perfect side dish for any occasion.
This creamy cheesy Tater Tot casserole takes potatoes to a whole new level of deliciousness.
You'll enjoy the tangy flavor of this delicious salad.
These mashed potato muffin cups are a delicious side dish for any meal.
These seasoned roasted cabbage steaks are a delicious side dish for any meal.
Roasted Parmesan cauliflower is a delicious appetizer, snack, or side dish.
Roasted tomatoes are delicious to eat on their own or added to other recipes.
These Instant Pot black-eyed peas are a delicious and nutritious side dish that is easy to make.
You can enjoy this yummy squash casserole with any meal, including your favorite chicken dinner.
Enjoy this green bean casserole for any occasion as a side dish.
Refreshing and delicious, this watermelon cucumber salad is so satisfying!
This chickpea salad is the perfect side dish or main entree.
This is a delicious and nutritious salad that goes with any chicken dinner.
You'll love the blend of sweet and savory with just the right amount of crunch.
Don’t Forget Dessert
Although it isn’t necessary to serve dessert with every meal, it’s good to have something sweet every now and then. We especially enjoy dessert when we’re celebrating something … anything.
Here are some easy ones that will make everyone very happy!
Pineapple Pie – This no-bake dessert delivers the perfect balance of sweet and tart. If you like pineapple, you must try it!
Oreo Pudding Pie – Can’t decide between cookies or pie? Then have both! You’ll love this yummy Oreo pudding pie!
Peanut Butter Marshmallow Bars – Peanut butter lovers rejoice! These delicious no-bake bars are guaranteed to satisfy your craving!
