Planning an Italian feast and in search of the perfect side dishes to complement your meal? Whether you're preparing pasta, pizza, or a hearty Italian main course, and you find yourself thinking, "what to serve with Italian food," you've come to the right place! We have curated a list of 35 Best Italian Side Dishes including everything from fresh salads, crispy bread, Italian soups, roasted vegetables, and more. These delicious recipes are ideal for any Italian-themed dinner - whether it's a family gathering, a romantic date night, or a casual dinner with friends. Buon appetito!
Best Italian Side Dishes
Italian pasta salad is delicious, wholesome, and easy to make. Make it up to three days ahead for your summer picnics and cookouts.
White Bean Soup with Kale is a hearty and nourishing one-pot meal that is flavorful and easy. Make this healthy soup in 30 minutes using simple ingredients.
Vegetarian stuffed mushrooms are a delicious, flavorful, healthy, and nutritious appetizer. Plus, quick and easy to make in under 30 minutes including prep!
Easy Rosemary Garlic Focaccia Bread
No knead, easy rosemary garlic focaccia bread is thick with a perfect golden and crispy texture on the outside, but soft, fluffy and tender inside.
Olive tapenade is a delicious, flavorful, easy dip that comes together in minutes, made with the perfect combination of sharp, tangy, salty, and savory.
Creamy Parmesan (No Wine) Risotto
Creamy Parmesan (No Wine) Risotto is a rich, creamy, and comforting classic Italian dish that may be intimidating but is actually quick and easy to make.
Easy Tomato Bruschetta with Balsamic Glaze
Tomato bruschetta with balsamic glaze is an easy Italian appetizer topped with tomatoes, onions, garlic, basil and olive oil. Delicious, fresh and simple.
Whether you're cooking this roasted eggplant in your oven or air fryer, you'll fall in love with how fast, easy, and delicious this simple recipe is.
Quick and easy tomato and mozzarella caprese salad is a fresh, light, and delicious summer salad, made with just a few simple ingredients in 10 minutes.
Minestrone soup is a hearty, healthy, nourishing, and delicious classic Italian soup, packed with vegetables and pasta simmered in a rich tomato broth.
Antipasto Platter
This Antipasto Platter is a show-stopping appetizer made with a variety of marinated veggies, olives, cheeses, breads, cured meats, and fresh vegetables.
Soft garlic breadsticks are fluffy, airy, buttery, and delicious. They're an easy recipe that is perfect for beginners at baking bread.
Caprese Skewers are a quick and fresh appetizer made with bite-sized mozzarella, juicy tomatoes, and basil leaves with a drizzle of balsamic glaze.
Light and airy, whipped ricotta dip is so easy to make in just 5 minutes with a few fresh ingredients including fresh herbs, olive oil, garlic, and honey.
Cheesy Baked Gnocchi is quick and easy comfort food made all in one pot with chewy bites of gnocchi, a simple tomato-based sauce, and gooey melty cheese.
Arugula Salad with Parmesan cheese and a simple homemade lemon dressing is healthy, fresh, and delicious. Toss it together in just 5 minutes!
Smooth, hearty and light, one pot lemon chicken orzo soup is pure comfort in a bowl. This family favourite is like chicken noodle soup with a major upgrade.
Cheesy roasted asparagus is a quick and easy side dish made with a handful of simple ingredients in 20 minutes. They're garlicky, cheesy, and flavorful.
Easy small batch ciabatta rolls are fluffy and airy with a perfect crunchy, crackly crust. They take only 10 minutes to prepare and require no kneading. These are the most popular bread recipe on our entire site!
Marinara sauce is rich, vibrant, and loaded with flavor. It's easy to make with a few simple fresh ingredients. Serve as a dip or in pasta and pizza.
Eggplant Parmesan is a vegetarian Italian dish made featuring tender eggplant slices coated in crispy breadcrumbs, melty cheese, and baked in tomato sauce.
Whipped ricotta crostini is a fancy easy appetizer to make in just minutes or prepare in advance and assemble before serving. A total crowd pleaser.
Roasted Garlic Parmesan Baby Potatoes
Quick and easy roasted garlic Parmesan baby potatoes are crispy on the edges and tender inside. They are delicious, flavourful and bakes in just 30 minutes.
Mediterranean White Bean Salad is loaded with cannellini beans, veggies, feta, and fresh herbs, tossed in a homemade Greek dressing. Perfect for meal prep!
Creamy Tortellini Soup with Sausage
Hearty and creamy tortellini soup with sausage, spinach and kale is total comfort food in a bowl. Make this flavourful one pot meal in under 30 minutes.
Lemon Parmesan Green Beans are the perfect side to any entree dinner meal - buttery, lemony, and cheesy. This quick side dish is easy to make in 20 minutes.
Cheesy Garlic Bread is toasty and crispy on the outside, tender and soft inside with a garlic butter and melty cheese on top. Make in under 20 minutes!
Baked ricotta is creamy, smooth, and flavorful. This delicious warm dip is packed with Parmesan and seasoned with dried herbs for the ultimate cheesy dip.
Creamy garlic mushrooms are a simple, delicious, and easy side dish. This comforting family favorite that is quick and easy to make in just 15 minutes.
This Mediterranean Stuffed Eggplant is delicious, filling, and healthy. This vegetarian dinner is loaded with veggies and topped with bubbly cheese.
Bright and colorful caprese pasta salad is the ultimate summer side dish. It's fresh, light, and loaded with vibrant summer flavors. Quick and easy too!
Homemade tomato basil soup is comforting, rich, and smooth. This cozy soup is easy, flavourful, and nourishing, making it so much better than canned.
Baked Zucchini Fries are healthy, flavorful, and delicious. This summer vegetable is crispy on the outside while soft and creamy on the inside.
Garlic knots are fluffy on the inside, crispy on the outside, and topped with delicious savory garlic herbed butter that will have you begging for more.
Balsamic Roasted Broccoli is a quick easy side dish made with tender, crispy broccoli tossed in a flavorful 5-ingredient glaze and is ready in 25 minutes.
Mediterranean Orzo Pasta Salad
Quick and easy Mediterranean orzo pasta salad packed with fresh vegetables and herbs is tossed in a Greek lemon vinaigrette. Healthy, light and delicious.
No Knead Tomato Focaccia Bread
Easy no knead tomato focaccia is so flavourful, packed with olive oil, tomatoes and fresh herbs. It's crispy and golden outside, fluffy and pillowy inside.
Antipasto skewers with tortellini are a quick, easy, and delicious appetizer with the best parts of a traditional antipasto platter but easier to eat.
More Italian Recipes
More Side Dish Recipes
- 40 Vegetable Side Dishes
- 25 Side Dishes for Soup
- 30 Side Dishes for Pasta
- 25 Side Dishes for Chicken
- 25 BBQ Side Dishes
- 40 Vegetable Side Dishes
- 30 Potato Side Dishes
Did You Make Any of These Italian Side Dishes?
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PrintRecipe
35 Best Italian Side Dishes
- Total Time: 25 minutes
- Yield: 4-6 servings
Description
Over 35 Best Italian Side Dishes to pair with your Italian dinner including fresh salads, crispy bread, soups, roasted vegetables, and more. One of our favorites is this Italian Pasta Salad.
Ingredients
- ½ pound pasta, uncooked
- 3 ounces salami (about 80 grams)
- 1 ½ cup grape tomatoes (1 pint), halved
- ½ green bell pepper, chopped
- ½ red bell pepper, chopped
- ¼ cup red onion, chopped
- ½ cup kalamata black olives, halved
- 4 ounces bocconcini mozzarella balls, halved
- 1 ½ tablespoons fresh parsley, finely chopped
- ½ cup Italian dressing, homemade or store-bought
- Parmesan cheese, grated (optional, for serving)
Instructions
- Bring a medium pot of salted water to a boil. Add pasta and cook until al dente, about 8-10 minutes or according to package instructions. Drain and rinse pasta under cold water to stop the cooking process and to cool the pasta down.
- Transfer the pasta to a large mixing bowl or serving bowl. If not assembling the salad immediately, add some olive oil and toss together to prevent the pasta from sticking together. Otherwise, add remaining ingredients. Pour Italian salad dressing on top, and toss to combine.
- You can serve immediately with Parmesan on top, or cover the bowl tightly with plastic cling wrap and refrigerate for at least 2 hours. This will allow all the flavours to infuse into each other. When ready to serve, give the salad a good toss and add a little more dressing, if desired.
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Cook Time: 10 minutes
- Category: Salad
- Method: Tossed
- Cuisine: Italian
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