11 Healthy vegetable side dish ideas

Every night as you make yourself something for dinner, you hear your mother’s voice in your head….” Make sure you eat your vegetables with dinner”.  You know you should eat more vegetables, but sometimes cooking or finding one more thing to go with dinner just seems like too much. Here are 11 healthy vegetable side dish ideas that all can be made in 15 minutes or less while you are cooking or assembling the rest of your meal. 

Veggies should be a delicious part of your meal, but shouldn’t take longer than the main dish to cook. If they do, make them the main dish and rock a “Meatless Monday” any day of the week! 

Hold up!

Now, this list promises healthy vegetable side dishes that take less than 15 minutes to prep and cook. But that excluded my favorite way to cook vegetables- Roasting them! So here is a bonus tip! 

Diced veggies, roasted in the oven at 400 degrees for approximately 20-40 minutes depending on the type of veggie (use Google for your specific veggie!). I love this method to cook broccoli, sweet potatoes, brussels sprouts, butternut squash, cauliflower, carrots, and green beans. The key is to roast these at the same time you are using the oven to cook something else for dinner so it is all ready at the same time!

Alright! Let’s get started!

Canned Veggies

We are starting simple. Any canned veggie just needs about 5 minutes to heat up on the stovetop or microwave. These come in many varieties and you can pick and choose the ones you prefer. If you hate corn, don’t buy canned corn of any variety. 

My canned favorites are green beans and corn. I won’t touch canned peas though! Since these are shelf-stable, it is easy to buy several to keep on hand and have ready at any time. 

Sauteed pea pods and mushrooms

This is a super quick stovetop dish! Sauteed pea pods and mushrooms with some butter and garlic. Let it work its magic on the heat for a few minutes and you have a fun and tasty side dish! This recipe here is very similar to what I use.  

Stovetop Broccoli

Broccoli is a great side dish idea. You can steam it for 5-7 minutes over boiling water, or try this savory skillet method! 

Fried Brussels Sprouts

Ok, I am basing the time for this recipe off of the cooking time for the Brussels sprouts with Cider Vinaigrette only. Technically, cooking the bacon breadcrumbs takes longer than I promised, but you might make an exception when you see the recipe. I mean….. Bacon…… Breadcrumbs….. How can you say no!

Grilled zucchini

I love many of these veggies, but this is my favorite side dish! The perfect side if you are already pulling out the grill for steaks, burgers, or kebabs for dinner. 

• My Recipe is to cut zucchini into spears, marinate in a dressing of olive oil, lemon juice, lemon zest, salt, and pepper. Grill on each side for five minutes and return the cooked zucchini to the marinade and toss before serving. I love this leftover on a salad or with dinner the next night! 

The marinade is super simple, and it can be used for other veggies like asparagus or broccolini too!

Frozen veggies

There are a ton of frozen veggie options out there these days. Picked at their peak of freshness and can be cooked in many different ways, these are great to have on hand! A few recommendations:

• Experiment and determine what veggies you like best frozen. For me, it is peas, broccoli, and cauliflower. I love corn, but I don’t like the texture of it after it has been frozen, so I choose to eat corn either fresh or canned. Know your preferences and buy based on them to avoid food waste. 
• Companies are coming out with new mixed veggies, and veggies with starch side dish ideas in their steam bags. While these can be a little more costly than the plain single veggie option, they can add a different twist to your standard meal. Especially if you are single, they can make a great base for dinner. Spend a few minutes browsing in this section the next time you are in the store and see what sparks your interest!
• Feel free to add flavors, herbs, and cheeses to frozen veggies to add some pizzazz! 

Steamed carrots

I love this carrot recipe using steamed carrots, they give you three different ways to steam carrots, all of which make this salad less than a 10-minute side dish. Feel free to substitute cheeses, nuts, and other ingredients based on your tastes. It would be great with a little fresh parsley if you happen to have it on hand! 

Coleslaw

Veggie side dishes don’t need to be hot! Check out this simple coleslaw recipe. You can even make it faster if you use a bag of pre-shredded cabbage! Then it just takes a minute to dice an apple and stir together the dressing from pantry ingredients! It would be a perfect side to go with anything BBQ flavored, chili, or sandwiches.  

Sauteed zucchini

I love this recipe for Parmesan Zucchini or follow it omitting the parmesan cheese and finish the last couple minutes with teriyaki or other favorite sauce.  You can also mix several types of veggies together. This recipe talks about how to do that and gives some great tips!

Sauteed cherry tomatoes

I think I made the tomato portion of this recipe weekly this summer. I had sooooo many cherry tomatoes in my garden and this was a great way to use them up! This recipe can be ready so fast and is great to serve these tomatoes with any baked fish, or chicken dish.  

Wilted greens

Pick your favorite type of green and wilt it! All this takes is a frying pan, some heat, and moisture and in less than 10 minutes you will have some fabulous and healthy greens! I use this recipe for my wilted spinach and this recipe when I am in the mood for kale! It is even easier if you buy pre-washed and bagged greens! 

There are 11 ideas for you to get started. Plus, many of these can use multiple different veggie types to mix things up and keep them fresh for you! With this, you can have a different healthy vegetable side dish each night of the week!

All of these recipes and ideas are super simple to make and use basic kitchen items like:

Baking sheets- I love these USA brand pans. I have 6 in various sizes and they are super durable and work great!  

Non-stick skillet- This is a basic large non-stick skillet with a lid that will work for a ton of different things!

Saucepan- Here is a solid set that I recommended. If you don’t need the whole set, just buy the pieces separately or check discount stores like Ross, Marshalls, or Home goods for pots in specific sizes that work for you.

If you need quick and easy side dish ideas that will work with many different dinners, check out my post on versatile side dishes! Mix and match side dishes with healthy vegetable side dish ideas to have fresh and exciting dinners each night! 

I hope you have a little more inspiration after this post! Cooking dinner every night (or even several nights a week) can start to feel boring and it is easy to get stuck in a rut. Look for quick and easy ideas to spice things up a bit! 

What quick and healthy vegetable side dish did I miss? Share your favorite in the comments below or over on our Instagram page!