Easy Make Ahead Side Dishes

You are going to love these easy make ahead side dishes. These recipes will take the stress out of holiday meals. Just knowing that you have these ready to go is such peace of mind.

Whether you are using these for a holiday meal such as Thanksgiving, Easter, or Christmas or for a regular weeknight dinner, having these freezer cooking side dishes is going to make your life so much easier.One of the things I’ve found with making freezer meals is that a lot of the recipes are for a main such as chicken. While those recipes are super fast to make, I’m then left scrambling to create a balanced meal. It’s only been in the past few years that I’ve started to put some thought towards freezer side dishes.

Now that I have sides as well as mains in my freezer, I have everything I need for healthy meals. This means less trips to the grocery store, more savings, and less stress.

Make Ahead Side Dish Recipes:

This Honey Maple Glazed Carrots recipe is about to become one of your new go-tos. They go well along with so many dishes and are great for holiday meals. I like to always have a few bags in the freezer.

Of all of our make ahead side dish recipes, our Freezer Garlic Bread is our most popular.

Your guests will have no idea that this Butternut Squash Freezer Meal Side Dish was made weeks ago and has been waiting in the freezer. This is an impressive one.

I want to be eating these Make Ahead Garlic Mashed Potatoes right now! Yes! You can freeze mashed potatoes and have them ready for any meal. We can show you how!

You can also make ahead and freeze a salad. Here’s how with the Caesar Chicken Pasta Salad.

Spice things up with this Buffalo Ranch Broccoli and Cauliflower dish. This can be made from frozen in your oven or air fryer.

Other make ahead side dishes we have are:

• Hot Honey Chickpeas to add extra protein to your meal.
• Sriracha Roasted Cauliflower and Chickpea Sheet Pan meal. It’s hearty enough to be a main but can be a delicious side when you’re serving a crowd.
• Homemade Creamed Corn – you won’t want to skip this. You’ll never eat canned creamed corn again!
• Freezer Stuffing – make your holidays a cinch with make ahead stuffing.
• Crock Pot Chana Masala
• Maple Dill Carrots
• Chickpea and Vegetable Curry
• Rice Pilaf
• Dr. Pepper Baked Beans
• Cowboy Baked Beans – hearty and a wonderful choice for a large crowd and is popular at pot lucks.
• Mexican Cornbread Muffins
• Hash Brown Casserole – also makes a good main dish, especially for breakfast.
• Cilantro Corn
• Jalapeño Corn Casserole
• Cilantro Lime Rice – great to go with tacos, burritos, or beside grilled meats

Here are a few more side dishes you can try:

Joyfully Thriving shares these Parmesan Garlic Rolls that can be made ahead and frozen. It’s one of those recipes that gets passed along from person to person. Those ones are usually the best!

The Garlic Texas Toast from Love to be in the Kitchen is a nice one to have on hand.

You can prepare the ingredients for This Old Gal’s Crack Slaw and freeze them ready to go into the Instant Pot. This makes this easy dish even easier.

These Buttermilk Biscuits at Baking Beauty are a versatile side that go with almost anything.

What are your favourite freezer side dishes?