Meatloaf is made of ground mince, typically beef, but pork, chicken, and lamb are sometimes used. The mince is combined with a number of ingredients and baked to form a loaf that can be sliced up.
Meatloaf can be enjoyed hot or cold with delicious side dishes of salads and vegetables. Be sure to serve it with a sauce; most meat loaves tend to be slightly dry, so a sauce is always a good idea, like a hot gravy or a homemade chutney.
Not sure what to serve with meatloaf or what goes well with meatloaf. Here are my suggestions for sides for meatloaf. Be sure to give these meatloaf side dishes a try.
Here’s What To Serve With Meatloaf:
#1. Roasted Garlic Mashed Potatoes
Creamy, buttery mash potatoes with the background hint of garlic, what’s not to love? Mashed potato is a staple in most households, but with a few additions in this recipe, your mashed potato becomes even more delicious.
Served alongside a slice of tasty meatloaf, you can’t go wrong. Drizzled with loads of gravy and you are in for a great meal.
This is the perfect light salad to serve up with your meatloaf. Artichokes, roasted peppers, feta, and cucumber tossed with a seasoning of salt, pepper, and oregano and then dressed in balsamic vinegar and olive oil. It’s a simple salad but super tasty.
Roast sweet potato is a tasty vegetable to eat on its own or to serve as a side dish. The rich, roasted, sweet flavors work with basically anything. In this recipe, the potato is simply roasted with a bit of olive oil and seasoning of salt. These roast potato rounds make great sides with meatloaf.
#4. Grilled Zucchini With Goat Cheese, Basil & Honey
This dish screams summer, and its vibrant colors and flavors work together well. The basil and honey in this dish are what bring this side to life. The creamy goat cheese with basil gives the dish some depth; served up with a slice of meatloaf, delicious.
Roasted carrots are a classic side to anything. Add this flavor-packed dressing or glaze, and the carrots get taken to a new level of deliciousness! The garlic, honey, and balsamic make an Umami bomb. This, in addition to the sweet carrots and hearty, savory meatloaf, is a winning combination.
I’m all for simple salads. In this salad, the beans, tomatoes, and feta are dressed with lemon juice, salt, and pepper. That is it!
This dish relies on the freshness and seasonality of the ingredients to make it work. We know that meatloaf can be a heavy meal, so this light, crisp side works very well.
Garlic mushrooms are a treat and always delicious. The mushrooms are sautéed with butter, and a splash of white wine is added. Then the chopped garlic is added, and the basil and parsley are.
The result is delicious meaty garlic mushrooms, the perfect flavors to serve your meatloaf.
This is one of those sides that, if not covered and hidden away until served, there possibly will be nothing left. They are so delicious to snack on. These crispy, herby potato cakes are to die for, and they are the perfect sides with meatloaf.
The potatoes are thinly sliced and tossed in olive oil, butter, fresh herbs, and seasoning. The potatoes are then layered in a muffin tray and baked until soft, golden, and crisp on top.
#9. Roasted Tomatoes with Feta Cheese, Olives, and Pine Nuts
Roast tomatoes are delicious, and they are even more so when they are stuffed. The stuffing of feta olives and pine nuts adds a creamy saltiness and crunch to the tomatoes. These stuffed tomatoes are easy to make, with ingredients you are bound to find in your fridge.
#10. Creamy Orzo Pasta with Roasted Butternut Squash
This butternut orzo pasta can be served up on its own. But if you are looking for a warm hearty meal, serve it with a slice of meatloaf. The butternut is roasted until soft and slightly caramelized.
The garlic and onions are sautéed until soft, the orzo is added to the pan, covered with stock, and boiled until tender. The parmesan is stirred through the pasta and seasoned with salt and pepper. The pasta is topped with roasted butternut and ready to be enjoyed.
Sautéed peas are a classic side to any roast or meat dish; the spring freshness of the peas with dill ticks all the boxes. What’s nice is if you aren’t in spring when fresh peas are available, the frozen ones work wonders as well.
The onion and garlic are sautéed until soft, and the peas are added to the pan with the chicken broth and cooked until tender. The peas are finished with a seasoning of salt and pepper and finished with freshly chopped dill.
Any form of rice is always enjoyed with roasts. This cheesy broccoli rice is made similarly to risotto; the rice is sautéed in a pan until slightly golden. The broth is then added to the rice and cooked until tender.
The butter, grated cheese, chopped broccoli, and garlic are added to the hot rice. The result is deliciously creamy, cheesy rice with some vegetables thrown in for good measure.
The secret to a good Hasselback potato is the potato needs to be cooked in a large amount of butter. The bottom part of the potato almost confits while the top-scored section bakes and crisps up beautifully.
The potatoes are covered in a deliciously creamy cheese sauce and baked until golden. Finish the potatoes with a garnish of chopped parsley.
Peas are delicious, fresh, frozen, or canned; these green delights make any main meal even better. This recipe makes a saucy side to serve with your meatloaf.
Creamy peas are the easiest to make; the peas are boiled until tender and then stirred into a cream sauce, seasoned well with salt, pepper, and dried dill.
Power greens, as I like to call them, and they make any meal tastier and healthier for you. Slow-cooked sweet leeks, with garlic and butter, are delicious on their own add-in a slightly smoky sautéed spinach, and the dish gets elevated beautifully. This recipe is nothing fancy, just good clean flavors that work so well together.
The colors and flavors all boast that specific time of the year when the zucchini have lost their blossoms, and the vegetable comes into its own. Firmer in the flesh, they sauté well and caramelize a lot quicker.
The zucchini are sautéed in a hot pan for a few minutes, and then the tomatoes are added. The pan is tossed until the tomatoes are blistered and bursting, and the zucchini are golden. Grated parmesan is sprinkled over and tossed to combine. Serve the vegetables with a garnish of more parmesan.
This is a powerhouse of a salad, the avo, pumpkin, and almonds with balsamic are all the big, bold flavors and make for a delicious combination. The salad is finished with feta and raw spinach, and The balance of sweet, salty, and savory will work wonders with a serving of meatloaf.
#18. Oven Roasted Balsamic Green Beans With Cherry Tomatoes
This is a tray wonder. The green beans and cherry tomatoes are tossed in olive oil and seasoned and popped on a tray and roasted in the oven.
The beans are roasted until tender and the tomatoes are bolstered. The vegetables are finished with some grated parmesan and a drizzle of balsamic reduction.
This dish uses lovely balanced sweet and sour flavors, great flavors to serve with some meatloaf. The cauliflower is broken up into bite-size florets, tossed in olive oil, and roasted until golden and soft.
Once cooked, the florets are then tossed in a sweet, salty, spicy sauce of honey, soy, sriracha, and hoisin. The florets are plated up and garnished with chopped green onions and a sprinkle of sesame seeds.
Butternut, cinnamon, and maple syrup work so well together; it’s a classic flavor combination. The butternut is roasted with cinnamon, and halfway through the cooking time, the maple syrup is drizzled over.
The butternut is further roasted until soft and caramelized. The squash is finished with some fresh chopped parsley.
This quick and easy side can be whipped up on the stovetop. The asparagus is cooked in a delicious creamy parmesan sauce. The dish is finished with a sprinkle of red chili flakes and a seasoning of salt and pepper.
This is such a simple dish to prepare and really does punch well above its weight when it comes to flavor. The tender stem broccoli is oven-roasted in garlic, lemon, and olive oil and finished with a generous grating of parmesan. Delicious! Served with meatloaf, this will make a lovely side for your dinner.
#24. Sweet and Spicy Mexican Roasted Sweet Potatoes
Sweet potato is such a versatile, tasty vegetable that can be used in all cuisines. This Mexican recipe has the sweet potato tossed in olive oil, cumin, onion, and garlic powder, and then it’s roasted until soft and caramelized. The potato is finished with a drizzle of honey and garnished with cilantro and wedges of lime.
This dish has two sides mixed into one. The rice is cooked, and a spice mixture of paprika, curry powder, and fennel is stirred through.
The vegetables are roasted until soft, blistered, and caramelized. The dish is plated up with the rice first and then topped with the roasted vegetables, and it’s finished with chopped parsley and wedges of lemon.
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.
