10 Delicious Side Dishes to Make Your Roast Dinner Even Better

In Britain, it doesn’t really matter what the weather is doing – we still love a Sunday roast.

In fact, it’s so firmly woven into British culture that you’ll find pubs and restaurants around the world serving Sunday roasts specifically for Brits who can’t quite bring themselves to give up the tradition just because they’re on holiday.

A few summers ago, I was melting beside a swimming pool in Spain while some of my fellow Brits happily tucked into plates of roast beef and gravy. It must have been pushing 30 degrees, but apparently even Mediterranean sunshine isn’t enough to stand between a Brit and their Sunday dinner.

It’s a tradition many of us simply refuse to forgo, no matter where we happen to be.

For me, though, a Sunday roast is at its best at home, gathered around a big table with family and friends. It’s one of those meals that encourages everyone to sit down together, pass dishes around and inevitably eat far more than they intended.

The meat traditionally takes centre stage. We call it roast beef, roast lamb, roast chicken or roast pork, after all. But if I’m being truthful, it’s the side dishes that count.

Roast potatoes are an absolute must. In my house, Yorkshire puddings are compulsory too – and I’m firmly of the opinion that they belong with every roast, not just beef.

After that, things become much more interesting.

Across Britain, families have their own Sunday roast traditions and the dishes that simply have to appear on the table. There’s cauliflower cheese bubbling away in the oven, buttery vegetables, braised cabbage, honey-roasted roots, creamy leeks and countless variations that have been passed down, adapted or simply become family favourites over the years.

And that’s before we start playing around with the classics.

So, whether you’re looking for something different to serve alongside your roast chicken this weekend or you simply believe, like me, that the best part of a Sunday dinner is everything surrounding the meat, these ten roast dinner side dishes deserve a place on the table.

1. Extra Crispy Roast Potatoes

There are plenty of ways to make roast potatoes, but this is the method I always come back to. Part-boiling the potatoes before giving them a good shake with flour and seasoning creates all those rough little edges that turn beautifully crisp in the oven.

I use a mixture of oil and butter for plenty of flavour as well as that essential golden crunch.

Ingredients

1kg floury potatoes, such as Maris Piper or King Edward
1 tbsp plain flour
3 tbsp vegetable or rapeseed oil
30g butter
Sea salt
Black pepper
1 tsp garlic granules
1 tsp dried rosemary or thyme, optional

Method

Peel and cut the potatoes into large, roughly even pieces.
Parboil in salted water for around 8–10 minutes until the outsides are beginning to soften.
Drain thoroughly and leave to steam dry for a couple of minutes.
Sprinkle over the flour, salt, pepper, garlic and herbs, then shake the pan vigorously to rough up the edges.
Heat the oil and butter in a roasting tin at 200°C fan.
Carefully add the potatoes and turn until coated in the hot fat.
Roast for 45–55 minutes, turning occasionally, until deeply golden and crisp.

2. Cauliflower Cheese with a Parmesan Crust

Cauliflower cheese absolutely belongs on a roast dinner table. I like plenty of mature Cheddar in the sauce and a little Parmesan over the top so you get those wonderfully browned, slightly crispy bits around the edges.

Ingredients

1 large cauliflower
40g butter
40g plain flour
500ml milk
150g mature Cheddar, grated
40g Parmesan, grated
1 tsp Dijon mustard
Salt and black pepper

Method

Break the cauliflower into florets and cook for 5 minutes in boiling salted water, then drain well.
Melt the butter, stir in the flour and cook for a minute.
Gradually whisk in the milk and cook until thickened.
Stir in the Cheddar and mustard, then season.
Pour over the cauliflower and scatter with Parmesan.
Bake at 190°C fan for 20–25 minutes until golden and bubbling.

3. Honey & Mustard Roasted Carrots and Parsnips

Carrots and parsnips are Sunday roast staples, but roasting them with honey and mustard makes them infinitely more interesting. You get sweetness, sharpness and lovely caramelised edges.

Ingredients

400g carrots
400g parsnips
2 tbsp olive oil
1 tbsp runny honey
1 tbsp wholegrain mustard
Salt and black pepper
A few sprigs of thyme

Method

Peel the carrots and parsnips and cut into chunky batons.
Toss with oil, salt and pepper.
Roast at 200°C fan for 25 minutes.
Mix the honey and mustard together, then toss through the vegetables.
Add the thyme and roast for another 10–15 minutes until sticky and caramelised.

4. Creamy Leeks with Mature Cheddar

Leeks don’t get nearly enough attention on a roast dinner. Cooked slowly until sweet and tender, then covered with a little cream and mature Cheddar, they’re particularly good alongside roast chicken or beef.

Ingredients

4 large leeks
25g butter
150ml double cream
100g mature Cheddar, grated
1 tsp Dijon mustard
Black pepper

Method

Slice the leeks into thick rounds and wash thoroughly.
Melt the butter in a frying pan and gently cook the leeks for 8–10 minutes.
Stir in the cream and mustard and season generously with black pepper.
Transfer to an ovenproof dish and scatter over the Cheddar.
Bake at 190°C fan for 15–20 minutes until bubbling and golden.

5. Braised Red Cabbage with Apple

This is particularly good when you want something with a little acidity to balance a rich roast. The apple brings sweetness while balsamic vinegar stops the cabbage becoming cloying.

It’s also a useful one when you’re cooking for a crowd because it can be made ahead and simply reheated when you’re ready to serve.

Ingredients

1 small red cabbage, finely shredded
2 eating apples, peeled and sliced
1 red onion, sliced
25g butter
2 tbsp balsamic vinegar
1 tbsp brown sugar
100ml water
Salt and black pepper

Method

Melt the butter in a large covered pan and soften the onion for 5 minutes.
Add the cabbage and apple and stir well.
Add the balsamic, sugar and water, then season.
Cover and cook gently for 45–60 minutes, stirring occasionally.
Remove the lid for the final 10 minutes if there is excess liquid.

6. Creamy Savoy Cabbage with Crispy Bacon

Cabbage doesn’t have to mean a pile of boiled green leaves on the side of the plate. Savoy cabbage has plenty of texture and is brilliant cooked with smoky bacon, cream and lots of black pepper.

Ingredients

1 Savoy cabbage, finely shredded
150g smoked bacon lardons
20g butter
100ml double cream
Plenty of freshly ground black pepper

Method

Fry the bacon until crisp, then remove and set aside.
Add the butter and cabbage to the same pan.
Cook for 5–7 minutes until the cabbage has softened but still has some bite.
Stir through the cream and crispy bacon.
Cook for another 2 minutes and finish with plenty of black pepper.

7. Garlic Butter Green Beans with Toasted Almonds

With roast potatoes, Yorkshire puddings and gravy already on the table, I always like at least one green vegetable that hasn’t been covered in cheese or cream.

These take minutes to make but feel far more special than simply boiled beans, while the squeeze of lemon helps cut through some of the richer elements on the plate.

Ingredients

400g green beans
30g butter
2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
40g flaked almonds
A squeeze of lemon juice
Salt and black pepper

Method

Cook the beans in boiling salted water for 3–4 minutes, then drain.
Toast the almonds in a dry frying pan until lightly golden and remove.
Melt the butter in the pan and gently cook the garlic for 30 seconds.
Add the beans and toss through the garlic butter.
Finish with the almonds, lemon juice and seasoning.

8. Brussels Sprouts with Crispy Pancetta

Brussels sprouts deserve far better than being boiled into submission and wheeled out once a year at Christmas.

Fried until they catch around the edges and tossed with salty, crispy pancetta, they’re good enough to earn a regular place alongside the Sunday roast.

Ingredients

500g Brussels sprouts
150g pancetta, diced
20g butter
1 garlic clove, finely chopped
Sea salt
Plenty of freshly ground black pepper

Method

Trim the sprouts and halve any larger ones.
Cook in boiling salted water for 3–4 minutes, then drain thoroughly.
Fry the pancetta in a large pan until golden and crisp.
Add the butter, sprouts and garlic.
Fry for 5–7 minutes, tossing occasionally, until the sprouts are tender and beginning to caramelise around the edges.
Season with plenty of black pepper and a little salt if needed, then serve.

9. Buttery Peas with Mint, Lemon & Spring Onion

Peas are probably one of the most familiar vegetables on a British Sunday dinner, but they don’t have to be tipped straight from the saucepan onto the plate.

Butter, fresh mint, spring onion and lemon transform them in about five minutes, which is particularly useful when you already have half the kitchen occupied by the rest of the roast.

Ingredients

500g frozen peas
25g butter
3 spring onions, finely sliced
Small handful of fresh mint, chopped
Zest of ½ lemon
Salt and black pepper

Method

Cook the peas according to the packet instructions and drain.
Melt the butter in the pan and soften the spring onions for 1–2 minutes.
Return the peas and toss everything together.
Stir through the mint and lemon zest.
Season and serve immediately.

10. Giant Yorkshire Pudding

I don’t subscribe to the idea that Yorkshire puddings should only be served with roast beef. In my house, if we’re having a roast, we’re having Yorkshires.

You could, of course, use this batter to make individual puddings, but making one enormous Yorkshire for everyone to tear pieces from is a brilliant way to serve it when you have a table full of people.

Ingredients

140g plain flour
4 large eggs
200ml whole milk
Pinch of salt
2 tbsp vegetable oil or beef dripping

Method

Whisk the flour, eggs, milk and salt together until you have a smooth batter.
Leave the batter to rest for at least 30 minutes if you have time.
Heat the oven to 220°C fan.
Add the oil or dripping to a large metal roasting tin and heat until extremely hot.
Pour the batter quickly into the hot fat and return immediately to the oven.
Bake for 20–25 minutes until dramatically risen, crisp and deeply golden.
Don’t open the oven door while it’s cooking – no matter how tempted you are.

What Are the Best Side Dishes for a Sunday Roast?

Ask ten British families what belongs on a Sunday roast and you’ll probably get ten different answers. Some wouldn’t contemplate serving lamb without mint sauce, others insist cauliflower cheese belongs with beef, and there are households where serving Yorkshire puddings with anything other than beef is apparently grounds for divorce.

That’s part of what I love about a roast dinner.

There aren’t really any rules once you get beyond good roast potatoes, plenty of gravy and cooking the meat properly. The best side dishes are the ones everyone around your table looks forward to.

You certainly don’t need to make all ten of these at once. Pick a few according to what you’re roasting, mix the traditional favourites with something a little different and put everything in serving dishes in the middle of the table.

Because while we might call it roast beef, roast chicken or roast lamb, I still maintain that everything piled around it is at least half the reason we keep coming back for Sunday dinner.

Joanne Brook-Smith is a writer and editor with two decades of publishing experience. She launched Crave Magazine during the Covid period to create a fresh, inspiring space for food, travel and lifestyle content.