Side dishes often get overlooked when planning healthy meals, yet they play a crucial role in creating balanced, satisfying plates that support your weight loss journey. The right side dishes can add essential nutrients, fiber, and flavor to your meals while helping you feel full and content without excess calories. These 25 healthy side dish recipes prove that supporting players on your dinner plate can be just as exciting and delicious as the main course, offering creative takes on classic favorites that align perfectly with your wellness goals.
From vegetable forward creations to lighter versions of comfort food classics, this collection provides options for every meal and occasion. Whether you’re looking to add more vegetables to your family’s diet, seeking creative alternatives to traditional starches, or simply wanting to round out your healthy meal planning, these side dishes will become valuable additions to your recipe repertoire. Let’s get started!
1. Buffalo Chicken Egg Rolls
You may not think egg rolls would be on a healthy side dish list, but try them once and you’ll be convinced! They are stuffed with shredded chicken, carrots, onion, Greek yogurt, and a kick of Frank’s RedHot, and wrapped up in a crispy egg roll wrapper. You save calories by air frying them instead of deep frying them.
2. Twice-Baked Sweet Potatoes
Sweet potatoes are packed with fiber, so making twice-baked sweet potatoes instead of regular potatoes is a smart swap when you’re looking for a healthy boost. It’s also a cheap option in the fall when sweet potatoes are under a dollar per pound!
3. Duchess Potatoes
I love this recipe because it shows just how easy it is to make yummy potatoes but in a healthy way. With 6 ingredients, you can have these beautiful potatoes whipped up in under an hour for just 112 calories per serving. This is definitely a must-try!
4. Healthy Spinach Balls
These yummy spinach balls are cheesy and flavorful with shredded mozzarella, grated parmesan, and fresh spinach. It’s a perfect balance of nutritious and delicious. Since you’re using fat-free cheese, you still get the delicious taste, but with extra protein added instead of fat.
5. Hasselback Sweet Potatoes
We’re going back to sweet potatoes because they just are that nutritious! Hasselback sweet potatoes are beautiful, so they work for a weekend dinner if you want to have friends over. But despite the look, it’s very easy to make so it works for a weeknight as well.
6. Baked Mac and Cheese
Mac and Cheese is often a side dish, but it’s not typically healthy. This version lightens it up with fat free cheese, low fat cheese and low fat milk, so you save on calories that way. The bold spices added to it help you pack in flavor so you’re not sacrificing everything by making a healthy version.
7. Healthy Candied Carrots
Slow Cooker Candied Carrots are a perfect healthy autumn side dish with minimal work! All you have to do is peel and chop the carrots; the crockpot does the rest. You may even convince your kids to eat some carrots when making them this way – they’re so delicious.
8. Jalapeno Cheddar Biscuits
These biscuits are lighter than the average biscuit since they contain much less fat. Most biscuit recipes have a ton of real butter, which of course, is high in calories. However, this recipe uses a light butter substitute paired with nonfat Greek yogurt, which significantly reduces the calories.. This is definitely one of those recipes you’ll want to add to your repertoire to use again and again. You can also make a batch to freeze and save for later!
9. Corn Fritters
Corn fritters are easier to make than you think. You don’t have to deep fry them or even use oil for this particular recipe, so you’re keeping it light in calories. And with vibrant ingredients like corn, red bell pepper, and jalapenos, you’re getting a range of nutrients from the vegetables.
10. Garlic Breadsticks
Breadsticks are definitely not a healthy side dish option *normally.* Thankfully, we have this recipe so you can continue to enjoy a popular favorite at much fewer calories than normal. The dough is made from self-rising flour and non-fat Greek yogurt. No fat, no fuss!
11. Mexican Street Corn
If you’ve never had Mexican street corn, you are missing out! It’s normally covered with high-fat cream and cheese, but this version uses non-fat Greek yogurt and cottage cheese to lighten it up. With the lime zest, lime juice and taco seasoning, you’re still getting the hit of Mexican flavors that make it so good.
12. Green Bean Casserole
You don’t have to wait for a holiday to make this delicious green bean casserole. It’s a great way to have green beans all throughout the year. It’s creamy with a beautiful crunchy topping that makes you feel like you’re enjoying a hefty dish, but really, it’s a very healthy side dish option!
13. Red Lobster Copycat Brussels Sprouts
Sometimes crispy brussels sprouts aren’t as healthy as you would think because of all the oil that is used to make them delicious. The calories can add up quick! But with this copycat version, stevia is used instead of sugar for the sweet teriyaki sauce, so it saves you a good bit of carbs!
14. Garlic Parmesan Potatoes
Parmesan potatoes are the closest you’re going to get to delicious, cheesy, crispy potatoes for only 200 calories. The parmesan, garlic, and oregano take these potatoes to the next level. You won’t mind that they aren’t fried. They are roasted until crispy and golden brown and make an excellent side for a date night steak dinner or a weeknight BBQ grilled chicken meal.
15. Crispy Baked Onion Rings
Save yourself a ton of deep-fried calories by baking your onion rings instead of frying them. In a hot oven, you can still get them crispy – which is the best part. You can just imagine the crunch when you look at the picture. These are great for a grilled burger side dish or even a game day snack.
16. Healthy Cornbread
Cornbread is a soup side dish staple, but it can pack on the carbs. This recipe calls for low-fat milk instead of full-fat or cream to save some calories. But you also use applesauce instead of oil to help keep it light. It does use regular sugar, but that can be swapped out for stevia if you need to.
17. Air Fryer Green Beans
Green beans are a nutritional powerhouse. Rich in fiber, vitamins A, C, and K, as well as minerals like potassium and folate, green beans are a great healthy side dish choice. Air frying the green beans instead of deep-frying them helps retain these nutrients while reducing the overall oil content. It’s a win win!
18. Broccoli Salad
All summer BBQs include (or should include) a good broccoli salad, but with this recipe, you can skip adding all of the high-fat mayo and the sugar. As long as you use a little mayonnaise with the nonfat Greek yogurt, you get the classic taste you need.
19. Loaded Baked Potato
Loaded baked potatoes typically mean high high-calorie side dish. Not with this one! Reduced-fat cheese keeps it lower in calories but high in protein. And a little ranch seasoning goes a long way in light sour cream and low-fat milk to make a great ranch dressing option.
20. Cornbread Stuffing
Yes, you can use that healthy cornbread recipe above to make a delicious stuffing! You don’t have to wait for Thanksgiving for this one – I highly suggest making it a staple side dish in the fall and winter months. It’s comforting, hefty, but healthy!
21. Cheesy Cauliflower Bake
The key to using cauliflower to swap out for potatoes for a lower-carb option is the seasonings. Cauliflower can take on any flavor, so bold spices are required. This cheesy cauliflower bake uses garlic, onion powder, green onion, and plenty of salt and pepper to do just that.
22. Roasted Vegetables
If you hate veggies, this roasted vegetables recipe is the best way to get your taste buds on board. They’re seriously that good. Roasting them brings out an amazing slightly sweet flavor because the natural sugars in these veggies caramelize. It creates a robust side dish worthy of any picky eater.
23. Cauliflower Fried Rice with Bacon
Another bold flavor you can use to pair with cauliflower is bacon! Plus, this is quite an easy recipe with just three ingredients – cauliflower, bacon, and pepper. If you’re looking to make an easy, fully balanced meal, pair it with some rotisserie chicken.
24. Sausage Stuffing Bites
Yes, these sausage stuffing bites are great for a Thanksgiving side dish, but why not have them year-round when it’s this easy to make? Two bites is under 100 calories, so you get a decent sized serving without packing on a lot of calories. These would be great all throughout the winter and on game days!
25. Spinach Artichoke Baked Potatoes
Spinach artichoke dip is popular for a reason – it’s cheesy and pops with bold flavors. So why not add it to a baked potato? Light cream cheese and non-fat Greek yogurt give it that creamy, cheesy feel while keeping it a healthy side dish!
These 25 healthy side dishes demonstrate that supporting your weight loss goals doesn’t mean settling for bland or boring options. Each recipe offers the perfect balance of nutrition, flavor, and satisfaction to complement any main dish. You can now elevate your meals with sides that are as nutritious as they are delicious.
