Find classic and creative side dishes for ham in one place. Plan what to eat with ham including the best mashed potatoes recipes, vegetable sides, great cornbread recipes, and many other dishes for the perfect holiday meal.
Here are over 60 easy side dishes to go with ham for cozy Sunday meals and holiday gatherings. Each recipe is hand-selected to compliment rich, salty ham perfectly!
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Choose your ham, then plan your sides
If your main dish is a beautiful ham, you are most likely reheating a cooked ham (easy peasy!). Roast ham is one of my favorite things because other than making a homemade glaze or special sauce, that ham takes care of itself in the oven.
That means more time to focus on delicious ham dinner sides!
Baked ham makes an easy and savory main dish that is great anytime of year but especially for Easter and Christmas. It feeds a crowd and will really make a great impression.
Select the ham you'd like to make, and then it's time to find the best side dishes!
What to eat with ham
Because ham is rich and salty, it can be paired with all kinds of side dishes from hearty carbs to fresh vegetables and everything in between. Often these dishes incorporate fruity, tangy flavors to balance the savory meat.
I also highly recommend making homemade bread, rolls, cornbread, and savory tarts. Not only are they a delightful side dish for ham, but they make wonderful sandwiches with leftover ham the next day.
If you need more spring inspiration, don't miss my collection of over 60 Easter side dish recipes.
Best mashed potatoes recipes
Mashed potatoes are always the number one side for ham dinner, and boy do I have options for you!
Fluffy Mashed Potatoes
Fluffy Mashed Potatoes melt in your mouth and are easy to make with just four ingredients. This recipe turns out perfect every single time.
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4 Mashed Potato Mix Ins
4 Amazing Mashed Potato Mix-Ins that will blow your mind! Start with the basic recipe and create flavorful side dishes with just a few ingredients.
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Cheesy Mashed Potatoes Recipe (Three Cheeses)
This 10-ingredient Cheesy Mashed Potatoes recipe uses three cheeses, butter, seasonings, and milk, for the ultimate comfort-food side dish.
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Rosemary Mashed Potatoes
These creamy, fluffy Rosemary Mashed Potatoes are easy to make ahead with hardly any hands-on time. They are a great addition to any holiday table.
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Boursin Mashed Potatoes
These Boursin Mashed Potatoes use the famous crowd-favorite cheese and have just 6 ingredients. A comforting homemade side dish.
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Greek Yogurt Mashed Potatoes
You can make these creamy Greek Yogurt Mashed Potatoes with skins or without. The yogurt adds tangy richness to this buttery side dish.
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Garlic-Herb Mashed Potatoes
Creamy Garlic Herb Mashed Potatoes are a flavorful side for a feast. Shallot, garlic and herb-infused milk are the secrets to this light and fluffy side dish.
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Potato side dishes and gratin
Easy potato recipes for dinner, casseroles and gratins are other popular options to pair with ham.
Scalloped Sweet Potatoes
These easy Scalloped Sweet Potatoes will be your new favorite holiday side dish. Savory, creamy, and cheesy, they’re a classic with a twist that your entire family will love!
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Shortcut Potato Cheese Casserole
Use German potato salad to make a super quick Potato Cheese Casserole. It's a cozy medley of two kinds of cheese, herbs, butter, and cream sauce.
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Chile Sweet Potatoes
Chile Sweet Potatoes are a fresh alternative to traditional mashed sweet potatoes. They're roasted and then drizzled with honey and spice!
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Golden Carrot and Potato Gratin
Golden Potato and Carrot Gratin is a warm, cheesy dish, spiced with thyme and nutmeg. The rich flavors of the vegetables and spices mixed with the gooey cheese will draw you back for seconds, and most likely thirds.
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Potatoes Gruyere au Gratin
This Potatoes au Gratin uses both sweet potatoes and Yukon Gold for a show stopping side dish. This potato recipe is simple enough to make for a weeknight dinner but elegant enough for any holiday meal.
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Baked Sweet Potato Cubes with Cinnamon Meringue
Baked Sweet Potato Cubes with cinnamon meringue is my decadent improvement on the classic side dish. The typical marshmallow topping is replaced with a fluffy, spiced meringue.
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Vegetable side dish recipes
Brighten up your meal with a variety of my favorite vegetable side dishes including carrots, green beans, and asparagus.
Rosemary Honey Glazed Carrots
These 5-ingredient Rosemary Honey Glazed Carrots are the ultimate sweet and savory side dish. Make this simple, sophisticated dish in the oven with whole carrots, cut carrots, or baby carrots to pair with any main course. I promise you won’t have any leftovers!
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Garlic Roasted Broccoli with Sweet Dried Fruit and Sumac
Sweet dates and citrusy sumac season this Garlic Roasted Broccoli side dish. Easy to make in the oven, this easy veggie side goes with just about any dinner.
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Skillet Green Beans With Artichokes And Capers
A 10-minute side dish of tender Green Beans with Charred Artichokes and Capers is a genius stove-top side dish recipe.
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Brown Sugar Glazed Carrots for Spring
Made with just 6 basic ingredients, Brown Sugar Carrots take less than 30 minutes to make. They make a colorful stovetop dish, which is great for when your oven is already full!
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Sautéed Sugar Snap Peas
These 5-ingredient Sautéed Sugar Snap Peas are a quick 15-minute side dish perfect for weeknight dinners or holiday meals like Easter and Mother's Day. They’re bursting with fresh spring flavor and can easily be customized with different seasonings.
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Asparagus with Lemon, Olives and Feta
Serve this Asparagus warm, cold or at room temperature. It’s the perfect make-ahead side with tangy lemon juice and zest, feta cheese, and olives.
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Brussels Sprouts Side Dish with Apricots And Pistachios
Blanched and sautéed tender green Brussels Sprouts take on lovely caramelized flavor. Top them with dried apricots and pistachios for a delightful veggie side.
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Pomegranate and Sesame Miso Glazed Carrots
Miso Glazed Carrots are as irresistible as candy and are a delicious side dish with pomegranates. White miso, ruby-red pomegranate juice, and sesame transform carrots into a caramelized, umami sensation.
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Red Wine-Glazed Pearl Onions
Red Wine Glazed Pearl Onions are caramelized in a flavorful sauce. They are a delicious and festive side dish for any holiday meal.
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Browned Butter Green Beans With Almonds
Buttery Garlic Green Beans make a great side dish. This one-pan dish is perfect for weeknights or holiday meals, and takes under 20 minutes to make!
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Orange Glazed Carrots
These Carrots with Orange Glaze are the perfect side dish for a weeknight dinner or holiday meal. Carrots, orange juice, and a touch of sugar make them irresistible.
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Roast Parsnips With Sage Butter
Roast Parsnips with Sage Butter is an easy yet sophisticated side dish, flavorful and versatile. A quintessential holiday dish that's delicious with ham.
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Artichokes With Lemon Mayo
Artichokes with Lemon Mayo is a fresh variation on a classic side. The simplicity of the artichokes mixed with the zesty dip make a fun, flavorful dish.
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Honey Glazed Baby Carrots
This Honey Glazed Carrots recipe, with garlic and lemon for added flavor, is a simple and crowd-pleasing side. Make this carrot side dish for a weeknight meal or special holiday dinner.
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Baby Broccoli with Hazelnut Butter
Baby Broccoli is a delicious and simple side to dinner. Toasted nuts with browned butter make this dish special enough for the holidays.
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Salad recipes
With flavorful dressings, salads bring a pop of color and burst of flavor to your meal.
Roasted Beet and Carrot Salad
This elegant Roasted Beet and Carrot Salad is the perfect main course or side dish for the fall and winter. The goat cheese, baby kale, and candied pecans make it a real show-stopper that can easily be prepared in under an hour.
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Shredded Carrot Apple Salad
This Shredded Carrot Salad with apple is a great make-ahead side dish that's healthy and full of fresh flavors. With just 6 ingredients, it completes any menu and is guaranteed to be a family favorite.
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Warm Kale Butternut Squash Salad
Honey, garlic, and seasoned salt make this Warm Kale Butternut Squash Salad extra flavorful. With less than 10 ingredients, you have a gourmet warm salad that is perfect as a side dish.
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Herbed Vegetable And Artichoke Pasta
Herbed Vegetable Pasta Salad is bursting with fresh veggies and zesty herbs. The tangy vinaigrette really wake up your taste buds in this easy pasta salad.
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Winter Salad with Cranberry Vinaigrette
This easy Winter Salad is sweet and tangy. The cranberry vinaigrette pairs perfectly with juicy oranges and dried fruit, freshening up your classic winter flavors.
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Asian Crunch Salad
This salad has the perfect mix of veggies, a tangy teriyaki dressing, and loads of buttery cashews. Plus it holds well, making it perfect for make-ahead meal prep.
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Shaved Brussels Sprouts Salad with Apple
This Shaved Brussel Sprouts Salad is made with thinly shaved Brussels sprouts, apples, colorful red cabbage, and pomegranates tossed in a light yogurt dressing for a fresh and beautiful salad.
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The New Iceberg Wedge Salad
If you love a classic lettuce wedge salad, you'll love this flavorful New Wedge Salad. Blue cheese crumbles and herby dressing pair with beets and crisped pancetta, all on fresh iceberg lettuce.
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Best Panzanella Salad with Artichokes
This take on Italian Panzanella, or bread salad, is brimming with olives, artichokes, and tomatoes. The croutons soak up the juices from the vegetables and white wine vinaigrette, but retain delicious texture.
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Shredded Brussels Sprouts with Orange and Almond
Brussels Sprouts with Orange and Almonds comes together in under 15 minutes. It's a flavor-packed side dish that elevates a holiday meal or weeknight dinner.
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Side dish recipes and sauces for ham
These classic recipes include homemade mac and cheese, savory tarts, beans, sauces, and more. They're sure to please a crowd.
Four Cheese Mac and Cheese
This is the ultimate Four Cheese Mac and Cheese recipe. It's made with cream cheese, cheddar, Gouda, and Monterey Jack, for an easy side dish that will impress your family and friends with its restaurant-quality taste.
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Pineapple Sauce for Ham
This sweet and tangy Pineapple Sauce for Ham is a condiment fit for any holiday menu. It’s made with just a handful of ingredients and ready in just 15 minutes. Your family and friends will love how the salty-sweet combo takes ham to the next level.
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Shortcut Potato Herb Flatbread
Shortcut Potato Herb Flatbread is my take on a tasty NYC bakery classic. Mine is easy, delicious, and great as a finger food to serve alongside a fancy dinner.
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Lemon Quinoa Chickpea Salad
This make-ahead-friendly Lemon Chickpea Salad is the perfect 30-minute salad recipe. Keep it vegetarian or add a protein, for a fresh, flavorful, and hearty side dish or green salad topper.
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Smoked Gouda Mac and Cheese
Creamy Gouda cheese, caramelized onions, and fun shell pasta are baked to golden perfection with breadcrumbs on top. This Smoked Gouda Mac and Cheese recipe will be your new go-to side dish!
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Cranberry Sauce From Dried Cranberries
This Cranberry Sauce from dried cranberries is so simple to make with 7 pantry ingredients. No fresh or frozen cranberries needed! It's a foolproof recipe that only takes a few minutes of work time, and is perfect for the holidays.
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Pistachio Pesto Pasta with Shredded Zucchini
Pistachio Pesto Pasta with shredded zucchini makes a light and flavorful side dish. Take it from me, adding pistachios to a pesto sauce rocks an everyday pasta dish like no other ingredient.
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Easy Boston Baked Beans (with Canned Beans)
Making Boston Baked Beans has never been easier! This baked beans recipe uses canned beans to speed up the cooking time, but retains delicious homemade flavors from bacon, molasses, and cloves.
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Cauliflower Mac and Cheese
Cauliflower Mac and Cheese is a delicious version of a classic. It replaces half the pasta with roasted cauliflower and is made with Boursin cheese for extra flavor.
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Cranberry BBQ Sauce
This festive Cranberry BBQ Sauce uses fresh or frozen cranberries to make the ultimate holiday condiment. Pair it with turkey, ham, steak, or chicken to add a sweet and spicy punch of flavor to your meal!
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Asparagus Puff Pastry Tart
You'll love this crowd-pleasing, quick Asparagus Puff Pastry Tart. It has loads of flavor from a creamy cracked pepper and cottage cheese filling, and pickled red onions and olives on top.
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Homemade BBQ Baked Beans
BBQ Baked Beans are loaded with a combination of seasonings, bacon, and creamy beans for the best barbecue side dish that's ready in just 2 hours.
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Best bread recipes
Round out your ham dinner sides with fresh bread, including cornbread, rolls, and biscuits.
Fluffy Sweet Potato Dinner Rolls
These brioche-style Sweet Potato Dinner Rolls are so soft and fluffy. With our recipe you can have bakery-quality rolls ready to serve at your holiday table with little effort. Plus, they are great to prep in advance!
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Dill Ricotta Biscuits
Dill Ricotta Biscuits are the perfect addition to serve with your favorite meal. They make delicious sandwiches with leftover roast ham.
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Make-Ahead Orange Rolls
Make-Ahead Orange Rolls are melt-in-your-mouth delicious. They are a childhood favorite! I love pulling each flakey layer apart! They will absolutely be the best thing on your dinner table.
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Gluten Free Orange Rolls Made Like Muffins
A GF version of my light and flavorful orange rolls. These Gluten-Free Orange Rolls, made like orange muffins, are glazed with sweet icing and perfect for dinner, but so good you'll want them for dessert too.
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Honey Cornbread Muffins
These easy Honey Cornbread Muffins make the best side dish! With just 10 ingredients, these make-ahead muffins are simple enough for kids and beginners to bake.
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Best Soft Dinner Rolls Recipe
This Classic Dinner Rolls recipe makes the softest and fluffiest rolls that you'll ever make. These dinner rolls are silky, flavorful, and the perfect side to holiday meals or Sunday suppers.
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Sweet Potato Cornbread Recipe
This Sweet Potato Cornbread is a twist on the classic, using mashed sweet potatoes and a hint of brown sugar. It's sweet, moist, and perfect to add to your weeknight or holiday table. Plus, it's so simple to assemble, making it perfect for beginner bakers.
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Lemon Biscuits
My gorgeous Lemon Biscuits are a fluffy baking powder biscuit recipe with lemon zest and lemon juice. These delicious, slightly sweet, homemade lemon biscuits are made with butter, ricotta, and milk, and have a sugar crust on top.
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Sweet Cornbread Recipe
This Sweet Cornbread Recipe has been a family favorite for many years. It’s our go-to recipe because of its thick, cakey texture and honey-sweet flavor. You can also make it gluten-free.
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Seed-Topped Dinner Rolls
Dinner Rolls with Savory Seed Topping are a perfect accompaniment to any delicious dinner. They're easy to make and even easier to devour. Everyone loves rolls, and these half whole-wheat half white dinner rolls are addictive.
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Cheesy Cornbread
This Cheesy Cornbread recipe is so addicting and simple to make. Adding sharp Cheddar cheese makes it savory and delicious. You can double the recipe to fit in a 9-by-13-inch dish.
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Homemade Sourdough Bread with Yeast
This delicious, rustic loaf of Sourdough Bread comes together in a matter of hours instead of several days. And, you won't need any specialty equipment like a banneton or Dutch oven.
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Tara Teaspoon
I’ve been in food publishing for over 25 years, creating recipes & food-styling for magazines, books, television, food brands, & advertising. With two cookbooks under my belt and thousands of my recipes at your fingertips, I hope you'll be inspired to spend more time in the kitchen!
Julie says
Great collection of posts. I bet most of these sides could be used for any holiday (I'm thinking Thanksgiving and Christmas dinners) or with Sunday roast with the family. Love, love , love your Herb and Cheese Potato Gratin recipe. It's gorgeous!