Macaroni and cheese is a universal comfort food that kids and adults both love. One can make many versions of macaroni cheese, with some adding in extras like bacon and mushrooms.
The classic mac and cheese is macaroni pasta cooked to al dente, stirred into a deliciously creamy cheese sauce, transfer to an oven-proof dish topped with extra grated cheese, and baked until hot and golden on top.
Not sure what to serve with your macaroni and cheese or what goes well with mac and cheese. There are so many options of mac and cheese side dishes to choose from; here are my suggestions for side dishes for mac and cheese.
Here’s What To Serve With Mac and Cheese:
#1. Lemony Broccoli Salad with Chickpeas and Feta
This tasty salad uses fresh spring flavors; however, you can use frozen broccoli and peas if you don’t have fresh ones. Slightly cooked and seasoned, the broccoli is mixed with tinned chickpeas or any pulse of your choice and generously dressed with the lemony dressing. The dill gives the dish character, finishing it with crumbled feta.
This dish just screams summer! If you can’t get your hands on fresh artichokes, then the tinned ones will work just fine. The classic savory notes artichokes bring to this dish are heightened by the red wine vinegar and additional fresh basil.
The gabonzo beans provide a great filler along with the peppers and red onion; seasoned generously; this makes for a delicious side to your macaroni cheese.
These are great vegetable skewers to serve on any occasion; its mix of peppers, onion, and courgettes is a ‘classic style’ mix of vegetables. The veggies are taken to new heights with the herby garlic sauce.
The skewers can easily be made the day before and grilled on the day, and the same goes for the garlic and herb sauce. A great meat skewer replacement, but they also make for a great side dish with creamy mac and cheese.
#4. Grilled Fennel Salad with Fresh Herbs and Parmesan
Not sure what to eat with mac and cheese, but be sure to give this fennel salad a try. The key is to find and use the freshest fennel. Simply grilled until tender, sprinkled with a selection of bold herbs, seasoned, and topped with thick shavings of parmesan and a good glug of olive oil.
#5. Artichoke, green peas, and preserved lemon salad
There is nothing nicer than the combination of preserved lemons and fresh artichokes. Add the sweet peas, garlic, and olives, and you have a dish that will pair with anything. The sweet, salty, and creamy flavors work so well together. Finished with chopped coriander, the dish explodes to new heights.
Baby bok choy is such an underrated vegetable; steamed, wok-fried, or even deep-fried, it’s a great choice. For this recipe, the baby tender bok choy heads are eaten raw, along with sweet carrots and spicy radishes. The salad is completed, dressed with a lovely balanced Asian sesame seed dressing.
#7. Apple, celery, and Roquefort salad with roasted hazelnut-raisin dressing
This salad is the perfect side to serve with your mac and cheese. It has interesting flavors that work so well together; it’s a classic. The dressing makes this salad; the hazelnuts are roasted, chopped, and combined with olive oil, sherry vinegar, raisins, and shallots.
The salad of apple, celery, Roquefort, and watercress leaves is tossed in the dressing.
The Roquefort cheese works so well with the apple and sweet dressing.
These flavors work wonderfully together. The asparagus and tomatoes are lightly drizzled in olive oil and roasted for 10 minutes. The asparagus is then topped with grated mozzarella cheese and popped back in the oven until melted and golden brown.
The vegetables are transferred to a platter, the asparagus is then topped with the roasted tomatoes, and the dish is finished with some chopped basil and dressed with a balsamic glaze.
This delicious salad has a Greek salad style base with the addition of chickpeas and extra herbs. The creamy feta and chickpeas provide a good base for the rest of the ingredients to build off.
The fresh herbs give the dish a lovely freshness, along with the lemon and minced garlic dressing that balances the dish beautifully.
This is the ideal greens side dish for the summer. Everyone loves green beans, and the salad just comes to life when they are dressed in a simple flavourful lemon and fresh dill dressing. The additional red onion and mustard give the dish a little background heat and round the dish off nicely.
This fresh, zesty, raw salad is a great side for almost anything. The fresh cucumber, celery, and fennel are all marinated in a simple lime and olive oil dressing and then left for the flavors to marry. Finished off with loads of fresh herbs and toasted almonds, the dish is delicious.
A side note is the almonds can be left off should there be a nut allergy. This dish can be made in advance and served with your mac and cheese when ready.
This is a super simple recipe to make and even better to eat. What’s most convenient is that it can be made in advance and served later. The fresh citrus fruits in the dish provide a sweet acidity, while the avo and palm hearts give body and richness.
The key is to allow the flavors to develop, so be sure to give this salad some time to stand before serving.
Both of these ingredients make for delicious sides on their own, so it makes complete sense to mix them to make a tasty side. The fennel provides sweet licorice flavor, while the artichoke gives the dish richness and body. Rounded off with lemon juice, olive oil, and fresh parsley, it’s a winning combination of flavors.
#14. Smoky Sweet Potato Kale Salad with Hot Ginger Dressing
This Asian meets southern BBQ-style salad is an absolute killer! The sweet potato is roasted in a BBQ-style dry rub and mixed with the kale. In this recipe, the kale is marinated only but should you wish to blanch or fry it, it will work just as well.
The dressing is what brings it all together. This spicy, sweet, umami-based dressing just rounds the dish off and makes you want more and more.
These ingredients work so well and are such a powerful flavor combination: the creamy beans, fresh chopped mint leaves, and the Za’atar spice. The Za’atar spice is what brings this dish to life. It’s a lovely spice to season vegetables in general but works so well in this dish. A squeeze of lemon and splash of olive oil to finish, and it’s ready to serve.
I love a well-dressed salad, and this salad is generously dressed in a deliciously creamy, dilly ranch dressing. The dressing is made up of equal quantities of mayonnaise, sour cream, and buttermilk, with a squeeze of lemon, freshly chopped herbs, and a seasoning of salt and pepper.
The crunchy gem lettuce, avo, sliced radishes, cucumber, and pickled onions are tossed in the dressing and garnished with sunflower sprouts and some pumpkin seeds for some added crunch.
This might seem like a strange combination of vegetables, but the flavors work. If you can, try to find baby beetroots the same size as the Brussel sprouts. The beetroots are boiled until soft, and the Brussel sprouts are roasted until tender and caramelized.
The beetroots, Brussel sprouts, and red onion are then tossed in a cumin-spiced vinaigrette and finished with freshly cracked pepper and chopped parsley.
This recipe is a nice change from the plain roasted carrots; the honey and sriracha are a great combination of sweet and spicy flavors. The carrots are peeled, sliced, tossed in equal quantities of honey and sriracha, and roasted in a hot oven until soft and caramelized. The carrots have the perfect balance of sweetness and spice and make great mac and cheese sides.
These mushroom skewers make great sides for mac and cheese and are very meaty and surprisingly very good. The mushrooms are marinated in balsamic, soy, and garlic and then grilled until slightly charred. The result is smoky-sweet mushrooms that are great served up as a side to mac and cheese.
This side dish for mac and cheese only takes minutes to prepare. The long-stemmed broccoli is pre-cooked in boiling water. In a hot skillet pan, the garlic is heated in sesame oil until deliciously fragrant, the chili paste and sugar are then added, and the broccoli is tossed in. The side dish is finished with a splash of rice wine vinegar and a sprinkle of sesame seeds.
Having completed three years at cooking school, Gabi then went into the realm of private cheffing where she got to travel the world, cooking for the rich and famous in their luxury homes and holiday homes. Through her travels, she has experienced different cuisines, which she has added to her cooking repertoire.
