Italian Christmas Sides: 10 Delicious Italian Side Dish Recipes for Your Holiday Table
Delicious Italian Christmas side dishes for your festive table, from rosemary roast potatoes and Russian salad to roasted vegetables and fresh salads.
A perfect Italian Christmas menu isn’t just about Italian Christmas mains: the sides are just as important and, often, the one thing that really makes you dinner stand out and what makes it truly Italian.
Nothing killed the illusion of an authentic Italian meal faster that a slice of garlic bread!
The great thing about Italian Christmas sides is that they are easy to make and cover a variety of needs.
Roasted vegetables, creamy salads, fresh salads, potatoes are all great choices and complete your Italian Christmas menu with colour, flavour, and texture.
I’m Italian, but I often spend Christmas in Ireland, and these are all sides you can easily make if celebrating abroad as they all have readily available ingredients.
Here’s a list of classic Italian Christmas sides, each with a short description and simple tips.
1. Rosemary Roast Potatoes (Patate al Rosmarino)
Roast potatoes are a classic and delicious side to roasts and fish mains (not to pasta bakes, we do not not add a side of carbs to a carb main).
To make them crispy on the outside and soft on the inside, the trick is to parboil them, drain them, bash around the cooking pot so their edges soften and then road in very hot oil. The result is perfect! If you like rosemary, you can sprinkle them with it before they go in the oven.
2. Herby New Potatoes (Patate Novelle)
Another great potato-based Italian side dish are palate novelle alle erbe.
Patate novelle (new potatoes / baby potatoes) used to be a spring vegetable but now they keep so well, it is also easy to have them in winter and they are delicious and pretty to see.
The have a much firmer bite that roast potatoes, and come out beautifully if you coat them with olive oil, mixed herbs of choice (In Italy, we use mostly rosemary but time also works well) and then bake in olive for about 45 minutes. You don’t even need to peel them, they are that easy to make!
3. Russian Salad (Insalata Russa / Piedmont Version)
Russian salad is one of those dishes each country calls with a different name and may not come from Russia at all: it is just how it is popularly known!
It’s a creamy festive salad popular in Northern Italy, made with boiled vegetables, peas, carrots, potatoes, and mayonnaise and is very much a ‘retro’ dish, served to add a hint of tradition. If done with good quality mayo, it’s actually delicious!
4. Fennel Gratin (Finocchi Gratinati)
In Italy, we love fennel all ways and an easy and delicious way to serve it them is by making fennel gratin.
Making them is as say as adding a cup of water to a skillet or oven dish, adding the sliced fennel, cover them with a mix of breadcrumbs and time, and let cook / bake a few minutes until the fennels are soft. Easy, effective and delicious.
5. Grilled or Roasted Vegetables (Verdure Grigliate / Arrosto)
My favorite way to serve vegetables is to do what restaurant buffets do: coat them in breadcrumbs and grill them.
Simple seasonal vegetables such as courgettes, peppers, aubergines are easy to make and colour and freshness to heavier dishes. I usually make them all to offer a colorful selection.
6. Fennel and orange salas
A refreshing salad from Sicily, the salad of fennel and orange mixes two of the most iconic flavors from Italy and is absolutely delicious.
The orange tastes beautifully dressed with olive oil and salt and the fennels add freshness and bite. The perfect Italian Christmas side to all mains. You can also add black olives, should you prefer a stronger taste.
7. Green Vegetable Saute’
Sautéed vegetables are always an easy win. I love zucchini most of all but zucchini and carrots or eggplants also work beautifully. Quickly sautéed with onion and olive oil, add salt and herbs to taste (thyme works well). A simple, green, and healthy side to balance your festive feast.
8. Roasted Tomatoes
Tomatoes tend to evoke sunny summers but they also work perfectly as a Christmas side as they are colorful, refreshing and delicious hot or cold!
A great way to prepare them as a side dish is by roasting them: simply cut in half, dress with olive oil, salt pepper and herbs (I like thyme, marjoram or oregano) and bake until juicy in the center and super soft
9. Creamy Polenta (Polenta Morbida)
Soft, buttery polenta is a traditional Northern Italian side. I like to serve polenta mini mites as a Christmas appetizer, but if you have a light main such as fish or you want an earthy side to a road, you can also have it as filling side dishServe it plain or topped with roasted mushrooms or a drizzle of truffle oil for festive flair.
10. Braised Red Cabbage (Cavolo Rosso in padella)
Red cabbage is a super Christmassy Italian Christmas side easy to make and perfect with all mains. To prepare, you simply slice think and slow cook in a pan with olive oil, salt to taste and a dash of lemon juice and thin slices of apple (optional). Colorful, easy, refreshing and delicious!
10 Italian Christmas side dishes you’ll love: pin this!
