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15 Spring Side Dishes That Will Round Out Your Menu

Updated on March 22, 2024

Spring ahead with these vibrant, seasonal favorites.

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Our Best Spring Side Dish Recipes

Heaven knows the thrill when that first fresh spring produce hits the markets (rhubarb or artichokes, anyone?), and we can finally spread our wings beyond just supermarket cabbages and broccoli. Yes, you can find asparagus and peas and root vegetables all year long, but now is when they are at peak freshness and deliciousness, so seek them out and work them into your dinner with easy side dishes that can complement just about any main.

Let’s not forget that fruits are coming on the scene, too! Strawberries are often the first fruits to arrive in spring, and what a different breed local spring strawberries are from their supermarket counterparts that are available year-round. Here, they add wonderful hits of floral fruitiness to a peppery arugula salad, enhanced with marinated red onion and toasty pine nuts.

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Chilled Asparagus Salad

If you’ve always mindlessly snapped the tips of asparagus because it seemed like what you were supposed to do, let the arrival of the first stalks of spring inspire you to read this master-class part recipe/part instruction manual from Alex Guarnaschelli on how to best handle them to bring out their absolute best.

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Photo: Matt Armendariz ©

Turnip-Russet Mash

This combo builds on a real crowd-pleaser—mashed potatoes—but just turns the volume up on the interest factor. Turnips add a little something extra that’s difficult to quantify, a bit heartier on the texture, a bit more oomph to the fluff.

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Creamed Spinach

When it comes to recreating steakhouse classics, Sunny Anderson’s got the chops (pun intended). This gratin brings all those ideals of creamed spinach together in a potluck-friendly format, and then pumps up the wow with a crunchy, salty fried onion topping.

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