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Perhaps the only thing we love more than the pizza itself is knowing what to serve with pizza. With this, running out of ways to make the pizza taste unique each time you have it will be practically impossible. This can even make you eager for a pizza night. After all, where else will you get the chance to flaunt your knowledge of pizza side dishes?
So, if you’ve been curious to know what you can combine with pizza for a better dining experience, you’re in the right place. The only problem you may have is knowing too many side servings to choose from. LOL. Before we dive right into our rich collection of side dishes for the pizza, let’s first discuss how you can choose the side dish to serve.
How Do I Choose What to Serve With Pizza?
As you know, there are different kinds of pizza. Now, we don’t mean that each pizza has specific side dishes, but certain flavors complement each other better than others. Anyway, don’t take us too seriously here. What’s the fun if your pizza combinations are too serious? It’s better if you experiment with the different options here and see what works for you.
The Recommended Pizza Pairings
The Italian Bruschetta Bar
To make this delicious Italian side dish, you need toasted bread, olive oil, salt, garlic, and any topping of your choice. You can opt for cheese, cured meat, tomato, beans, and vegetables to garnish your tasty bruschetta. If you’re making it for personal consumption, go for any of the toppings we’ve listed. If it’s pizza night, prepare several toppings so your guests can choose from the options. There’s a hack to this as well – use bright-colored toppings for aesthetic effect.
Meatballs
If you’ve ever tasted meatballs, you’ll definitely make this your preferred side dish. You can prepare it by molding ground meat into the shape of a ball and then cooking it via steaming, baking, or frying. You can also prepare it by braising it in marinara sauce. The cooking method you want to use is up to you. To give your meatballs more taste, add ingredients such as minced onions, butter, seasoning, eggs, and even bread crumbs.
Arugula Salad
Did you think we’ll leave out a side dish that vegans will love? Of course not. Arugula salad is an excellent pick because of the nutritional value it boasts and the rich flavor it embodies. There’s no fixed recipe for this delicious salad, but we’ll give you something you can use. Get some arugula leaves, olive oil, dried and sweetened cranberries, toasted almonds, lemon juice or balsamic vinegar, shaved parmesan cheese, honey, salt, and ground pepper.
Eggplant Involtini
This is the ultimate Italian comfort food, and it’s simple to prepare. You can use any type of chicken, vegetables, veal, or fish as your outer layer. The ingredients for this meal include mozzarella cheese, tomato paste, olive oil, dried currants, eggplants, pine nuts, basil leaves, ricotta, parmesan, egg, red wine vinegar, garlic, salt, sugar, and pepper.
Cheese Platter
Cheese and pizza have always been a combination made in heaven. To make a cheese platter that will wow your taste buds, you should be looking to incorporate various types of cheese. You can also use them on cheese, but mixing them is even better. For your bread accompaniments, include baguettes and breadsticks. You should also include spicy mustards, honey, tart chutney, roasted red peppers, and caramelized onions. You can also add cured meats or pistachio nuts.
Disco Fries
If you love combining your pizza with crispy fries, disco fries should be your go-to option. To prepare this delicacy, you’ll need some fries and gravy. For the latter, you’ll need unsalted butter, all-purpose flour, shallots, garlic, beef broth, dry sherry, Worcestershire sauce, mozzarella cheese, and kosher salt.
Carbonara Fries
We’re still on the subject of fries. With an oven and a few ingredients, you can whip up this treat in the kitchen and use a sauce of your choice. Get some russet potatoes, olive oil, pancetta, fresh black pepper, and parmesan or pecorino cheese.
Caprese Salad
This is an Italian salad that stands out from the crowd for one primary reason – its vibrant look. This dish embodies the three colors of the Italian flag (red, white, and green). The details are in the ingredients. Its ingredients include basil (for the green), mozzarella cheese (for the white), tomatoes (for the red), salt, and olive oil. The last two serve as the salad seasoning.
Bean Salad
One of our favorite salads to combine with any pizza is none other than the bean salad. This is basically a combination of various kinds of cooked beans in a sweet-sour vinaigrette. The salad could include lima, wax, kidney, and green beans. This salad also has variants that you can prepare with chickpeas, fresh uncooked onions, bell peppers, and so on.
Broccoli Rabe
You can also call this vegetable rapini. What we love about this plant is that every part of it is edible, from the stem to the buds. It’s related to the broccoli plant, and it’s deliciously bitter. You can prepare it by sauteeing, braising, or roasting it. It goes well with pepperoni pizza or cheese pizza.
Greek Salad
Greek salad is your go-to side dish if you want to dabble in Greek cuisine. It combines vegetables such as tomatoes, cucumbers, and onions. There are also fruits, such as olives, in the mix. Another ingredient you should add is feta cheese. The salad dressing is olive oil, salt, and Greek oregano.
Monte Carlo Salad
This salad is renowned for its delicious taste. It’s prepared with romaine lettuce, endive, mustard, mushrooms, fresh tomatoes, egg, heart of plans, white wine vinegar, vegetable oil, pepper, and salt. Monte Carlo salad leaves a memorable feeling in your mouth with its sweet taste and firm texture.
Fried Calamari
Calamari is a great side dish for seafood lovers. Calamari is the Italian name for squid. It’s related to the Octopus, but its taste is slightly sweeter. We love the Calamari because its taste is flexible depending on the flavors used to season it. To prepare it, you’ll tenderize the squid for 30 minutes and then fry it. It goes with just about any pizza.
Chicken Parm Egg Rolls
Just when you thought we’d run out of delicious side dishes to combine with pizza, the chicken parm egg rolls come along. To prepare this, get some egg roll wrappers, chicken tenders, marinara sauce, freshly grated parmesan cheese, shredded mozzarella sticks, freshly sliced basil leaves, dried oregano, and canola oil.
Stuffed Mushrooms
You can’t go wrong with stuffed mushrooms in your dish. For your stuffing, we recommend using grilled cheese and sticky, herby, and garlic-flavored breadcrumbs. Alternatively, you can opt for shredded cheese. The ingredients include parmesan cheese, thyme leaves, black pepper, breadcrumbs, kosher salt, garlic, fresh vegetables such as parsley leaves, cream cheese, and butter.
Buffalo Chicken Salad
If you have some chicken breast lying in the fridge, try this side dish. All you need to whip up this magic is blue cheese, chicken breasts, buffalo sauce, baby carrots, red onions, and celery. There are ways you can serve this meal – in a lettuce wrap, with wheat tortilla stuffing, and as a sandwich.
Chopped Salad
If you’ve seen a salad containing small pieces of assorted veggies, you’re looking at a serving of chopped salad. It typically includes icebergs, romaine, tomatoes, dried fruits, nuts, cheese, and cucumber. They are mixed with a vinaigrette dressing and then served.
Mozzarella Sticks
This has to be the easiest to make. The best part is that you can make it with just three ingredients – Italian breadcrumbs, egg, and mozzarella cheese. Mozzarella sticks go well with tomato sauce and any pizza you can think of.
Shishito Peppers
If you prefer spicy dishes, shishito pepper is the way to go. Its intense aroma and flavor make it the perfect appetizer. Shishito peppers are thin-walled, slender, and finger-long. They are usually cooked quickly because the thin skin easily chars or blisters.
Green Beans
You can’t go wrong with green beans. The beans, on their own, don’t have a flavor that’s rich enough to complement your pizza. To make them tasty, you can use minced garlic, lemon-pepper seasoning, and butter. Another way to season your green beans is to simmer them in chicken broth.
Spinach Salad
This is one of our best recommendations for health enthusiasts. As the name implies, the main ingredient in this salad is spinach leaves. The secondary ingredients include dried berries, silvered almonds, eggs, tomatoes, walnuts, cranberry, and strawberry.
Spinach Artichoke Dip
This is the classic American appetizer. Spinach artichoke dip is a mixture of minced garlic, marinated artichoke hearts, cooked spinach, sour cream, parmesan cheese, cream cheese, seasonings, and mozzarella cheese. They’re usually spread in a skillet and finished with a layer of cheese.
Crudites
Crudites are popular French appetizers. To make it, you need to use sliced or whole fresh vegetables such as celery sticks, bell pepper strips, fennel, broccoli, cauliflower, cucumber, carrot sticks, etc. You can use any of them for your choice of vegetables and dip them in a vinaigrette or any dipping sauce of your choice.
Antipasto Platter
When you’re served a colorful dish combining cheese, Italian meats, pieces of bread, olives, and vegetables, you should know that you’re in for a treat. Now imagine having it with a slice of pizza. You can throw in some nuts and fresh peppers to make the serving richer or spicier.
Garlic Bread
If you have some bread in the house, you can make garlic bread as a side dish for your pizza. Just top your bread with diced garlic cloves, a little olive oil or butter, and some herbs such as chives or oregano. Once all these ingredients are added, toast or grill the bread in your oven.
Jalapeno Peppers
This is a popular Mexican spice, and it’s the perfect recommendation if you want to add some heat to your pizza slice. Jalapeno poppers could be in red or green colors, depending on the ripening stage. Their flavor is sweet and comes with a kick.
Orzo Salad
Till we heard of Orzo salad, we didn’t know that salad can be made with pasta. We may as well call it pasta salad. To prepare this, cook the Orzo and put it in a bowl with olives, cucumbers, chickpeas, feta, olives, and red onion.
Antipasto Salad
Do you remember when we talked about the antipasto platter? Good. Now, picture it as a salad. It’s composed of two kinds of cheese: salami, marinated artichokes and olives, pickled onions, pepperoni, and tons of fresh veggies. The entire combination is dipped in a garlic-flavored vinaigrette. It sounds yummy, right?
Garlic Parm Fries
When we talk about real French fries, you can’t leave garlic parmesan fries out of the conversation. Not after savoring their taste, which gets even better when paired with a delicious pizza. What you need to make this includes potatoes, garlic powder, olive oil, salt, pepper, and parmesan cheese. It’s definitely a finger food we recommend.
Zucchini Fries
If you love French fries, but you prefer the healthier version, look no further than Zucchini fries. You guessed it right, it’s Italian cuisine. With this meal, you don’t need to worry about excess fats or oils. This makes it a low-calorie complement to your savory pizza. To make it, you need firm Zucchini (for the ideal texture), bread crumbs, eggs, salt, pepper, and parmesan cheese.
Pepperonata
Just when you thought we’d run out of meals in Italian cuisine, something new popped up. This time, it’s the Pepperonata. It’s a dish prepared by stewing sweet bell peppers in plenty of olive oil until they’re very tender. To enrich its taste, you’ll add ingredients such as balsamic vinegar, tomatoes, garlic, and sweet onions. This is one of the best appetizers or side dishes when eating pizza.
Spicy Onion Rings
Oh my! Not many foods can draw that reaction out of anyone. Your ingredients for this meal include all-purpose flour, sweet onions, bread crumbs, salt, egg substitute, cayenne pepper, ground black pepper, canola oil, basil, oregano, and red pepper flakes.
Potato Salad
Apparently, salad can be made from virtually anything. Potatoes aren’t an exception. To make a potato salad, you’ll need boiled potatoes, raw veggies, and boiled eggs dipped in a dressing and served with your pizza.
Garlic Knots
Garlic knots are a classic Italian dessert. They’re garlic bread with a twist, literally. The pizza dough is tied into a knot, and that’s why it has the shape it does. Once baked, the snack is garnished with toppings such as garlic, butter, and parsley.
Honey BBQ Wings
What tastes better than honey and BBQ sauce-coated chicken wings? Not many meals if you ask us. We’ve already mentioned the primary ingredients. For the secondary ones, you’ll need flour, kosher salt, ground black pepper, paprika, chili powder, garlic powder, etc.
Caesar Salad
If you’ve not heard of this salad dish before, it will sound strange. The Caesar salad contains croutons, romaine lettuce, Dijon mustard, anchovies, egg, olive oil, fresh lemon juice, black pepper, parmesan cheese, and Worcestershire sauce.
Charcuterie Board
This appetizer is aptly named because it’s always served on a stone slab or wooden board. It contains cured meats such as hams, sausages, rillettes, pates, terrines, and cubed or sliced cheese.
Buffalo Wings
Few meals describe a rich serving of protein better than buffalo wings. It’s an unbreaded chicken wing that you cook in a deep fryer. Then, you coat the meat with a sauce prepared with melted butter and cayenne pepper hot sauce.
Kale Salad with Honey Crisp Apple
With some kale leaves and some other ingredients, you’re just a few steps away from creating a side serving that you can enjoy with your favorite slice of pizza. Get some olive oil, medium lemon, chopped candied almonds, parmesan cheese, Honeycrisp apple, pepper, and kosher salt.
Lemon Pepper Wings
This appetizer is, more or less, a variant of buffalo wings. The only difference is the seasoning used for coating the wings. In this case, you’ll use lemon pepper seasoning.
Fresh Tomato Soup
With a bunch of cherry tomatoes and any seasoning, anyone can make tomato soup. You can vary its taste by adding cream, vegetable or chicken stock, meatballs, etc.
White Queso Dip
This is arguably the most delicious appetizer to serve with pizza. You can prepare it by putting butter, cheese, and milk in a skillet over low heat. Once the cheese melts, add cumin, green chiles, garlic powder, cayenne powder, and onion powder.
Fruit Salad
This is simply a mix of various fresh and ripe fruits on a plate. You can use lemon or orange juice as your dressing.
Cabbage Steaks
Cabbage steaks are one of the simplest and most flexible appetizers to make. You can use a few or plenty of seasonings, depending on what you prefer. The ingredients you need include head cabbage, minced garlic, light olive oil, black pepper, and salt.
Conclusion
As you can see, there’s no shortage of options to choose from if you want the perfect pizza side dish. These are just some of the popular appetizers we could think of. There are many more. Cheddar cheese, tater tots, roasted garlic potatoes, kalamata olives, pesto sauce, roast vegetables, roasted Brussels sprouts, and tortilla chips are just a few of the ones we didn’t mention. That’s for you to know the sheer quantity of options is overwhelming. So when next you have a pizza party, you may have a new problem on your hands. That’s choosing what appetizers to serve. A good problem if you ask us. Bon appetit!
almonds, eggs, tomatoes, walnuts, cranberry, and strawberry.
Spinach Artichoke Dip
This is the classic American appetizer. Spinach artichoke dip is a mixture of minced garlic, marinated artichoke hearts, cooked spinach, sour cream, parmesan cheese, cream cheese, seasonings, and mozzarella cheese. They’re usually spread in a skillet and finished with a layer of cheese.
Crudites
Crudites are popular French appetizers. To make it, you need to use sliced or whole fresh vegetables such as celery sticks, bell pepper strips, fennel, broccoli, cauliflower, cucumber, carrot sticks, etc. You can use any of them for your choice of vegetables and dip them in a vinaigrette or any dipping sauce of your choice.
Antipasto Platter
When you’re served a colorful dish combining cheese, Italian meats, pieces of bread, olives, and vegetables, you should know that you’re in for a treat. Now imagine having it with a slice of pizza. You can throw in some nuts and fresh peppers to make the serving richer or spicier.
Garlic Bread
If you have some bread in the house, you can make garlic bread as a side dish for your pizza. Just top your bread with diced garlic cloves, a little olive oil or butter, and some herbs such as chives or oregano. Once all these ingredients are added, toast or grill the bread in your oven.
Jalapeno Peppers
This is a popular Mexican spice and it’s the perfect recommendation if you want to add some heat to your pizza slice. Jalapeno poppers could be in red or green colors depending on the ripening stage. Their flavor is sweet and comes with a kick.
Orzo Salad
Till we heard of Orzo salad, we didn’t know that salad can be made with pasta. We may as well call it pasta salad. To prepare this, cook the Orzo, and put it in a bowl with olives, cucumbers, chickpeas, feta, olives, and a red onion.
Antipasto Salad
Do you remember when we talked about the antipasto platter? Good. Now picture it as a salad. It’s composed of two kinds of cheese, salami, marinated artichokes and olives, pickled onions, pepperoni, and tons of fresh veggies. The entire combination is dipped in a garlic-flavored vinaigrette. It sounds yummy, right?
Garlic Parm Fries
When we talk about real French fries, you can’t leave garlic parmesan fries out of the conversation. Not after savoring their taste which gets even better when paired with a delicious pizza. What you need to make this includes potatoes, garlic powder, olive oil, salt, pepper, and parmesan cheese. It’s definitely a finger food we recommend.
Zucchini Fries
If you love French fries, but you prefer the healthier version, look no further than Zucchinii fries. You guessed it right, it’s Italian cuisine. With this meal, you don’t need to worry about excess fats or oils. This makes it a low-calorie complement to your savory pizza. To make it, you need firm Zucchini (for the ideal texture), bread crumbs, eggs, salt, pepper, and parmesan cheese.
Pepperonata
Just when you thought we’d run out of meals in Italian cuisine, something new popped up. This time, it’s the Pepperonata. It’s a dish prepared by stewing sweet bell peppers in plenty of olive oil until they’re very tender. To enrich its taste, you’ll add ingredients such as balsamic vinegar, tomatoes, garlic, and sweet onions. This is one of the best appetizers or side dishes when eating pizza.
Spicy Onion Rings
Oh my! Not many foods can draw that reaction out of anyone. Your ingredients for this meal include all-purpose flour, sweet onions, bread crumbs, salt, egg substitute, cayenne pepper, ground black pepper, canola oil, basil, oregano, and red pepper flakes.
Potato Salad
Apparently, salad can be made from virtually anything. Potatoes aren’t an exception. To make a potato salad, you’ll need boiled potatoes, raw veggies, and boiled eggs dipped in a dressing and served with your pizza.
Garlic Knots
Garlic knots are a classic Italian dessert. They’re garlic bread with a twist, literally. The pizza dough is tied into a knot and that’s why it has the shape it does. Once baked, the snack is garnished with toppings such as garlic, butter, and parsley.
Honey BBQ Wings
What tastes better than honey and BBQ sauce-coated chicken wings? Not many meals if you ask us. We’ve already mentioned the primary ingredients. For the secondary ones, you’ll need flour, kosher salt, ground black pepper, paprika, chili powder, garlic powder, etc.
Caesar Salad
If you’ve not heard of this salad dish before, it will sound strange. The Caesar salad contains croutons, romaine lettuce, Dijon mustard, anchovies, egg, olive oil, fresh lemon juice, black pepper, parmesan cheese, and Worcestershire sauce.
Charcuterie Board
This appetizer is aptly named because it’s always served on a stone slab or wooden board. It contains cured meats such as hams, sausages, rillettes, pates, terrines, and cubed or sliced cheese.
Buffalo Wings
Few meals describe a rich serving of protein better than buffalo wings. It’s an unbreaded chicken wing that you cook in a deep fryer. Then, you coat the meat with a sauce prepared with melted butter and cayenne pepper hot sauce.
Kale Salad with Honey Crisp Apple
With some kale leaves and some other ingredients, you’re just a few steps away from creating a side serving that you can enjoy with your favorite slice of pizza. Get some olive oil, medium lemon, chopped candied almonds, parmesan cheese, Honeycrisp apple, pepper, and kosher salt.
Lemon Pepper Wings
This appetizer is, more or less, a variant of buffalo wings. The only difference is the seasoning used for coating the wings. In this case, you’ll use lemon pepper seasoning.
Fresh Tomato Soup
With a bunch of cherry tomatoes and any seasoning, anyone can make tomato soup. You can vary its taste by adding cream, vegetable or chicken stock, meatballs, etc.
White Queso Dip
This is arguably the most delicious appetizer to serve with pizza. You can prepare it by putting butter, cheese, and milk in a skillet over low heat. Once the cheese melts, add cumin, green chiles, garlic powder, cayenne powder, and onion powder.
Fruit Salad
This is simply a mix of various fresh and ripe fruits on a plate. You can use lemon or orange juice as your dressing.
Cabbage Steaks
Cabbage steaks are one of the simplest and most flexible appetizers to make. You can use a few or plenty of seasonings depending on what you prefer. The ingredients you need include head cabbage, minced garlic, light olive oil, black pepper, and salt.
Conclusion
As you can see, there’s no shortage of options to choose from if you want the perfect pizza side dish. These are just some of the popular appetizers we could think of. There are many more. Cheddar cheese, tater tots, roasted garlic potatoes, kalamata olives, pesto sauce, roast vegetables, roasted Brussels sprouts, and tortilla chips are just a few of the ones we didn’t mention. That’s for you to know the sheer quantity of options is overwhelming. So when next you have a pizza party, you may have a new problem on your hands. That’s choosing what appetizers to serve. A good problem if you ask us. Bon appetit!
