Chicken alfredo is probably one of your go-to special dinner recipes. It’s rich, creamy, and delicious – just what you need to make the night feel elegant. Plus, despite its luxurious taste and feel, it’s easy to make.
But all the things that make chicken alfredo awesome make it hard to pair it with other dishes. That’s because you’re treading the fine line between rich and overwhelming, creamy and nauseating. Thus, avoid taking risks – go with these 14 simple sides for chicken alfredo.
1. Garlic Bread
The most classic – might even be considered standard – pairing to chicken alfredo is a side of fresh and cheesy garlic bread. The savory herb flavors go along with many pasta recipes; plus, bread with all its carbs makes the meal more filling. It’s also a fantastic way to reuse French bread with only some butter, garlic, Italian seasoning, parmesan cheese, and parsley.
2. Copycat Olive Garden Breadsticks
Do you want to replicate some Olive Garden feels at home? It’s easy – make yourself a chicken alfredo meal and pair it with their classic breadsticks. Make them yourself if you don’t feel like heading out to get those breadsticks! This recipe makes them as delicious as you remember the originals – the perfect balance of buttery, garlicky, fluffy, and chewy.
3. The Best Focaccia Bread Recipe
Breadsticks and garlic bread are too stereotypical, so if you want to diversify a bit, try focaccia. It’s an Italian flatbread, almost like pizza but without all the toppings and sauces. But you can also top it with rosemary or tomatoes. If you opt for focaccia, you’d have to set aside time as it needs to rise in the fridge overnight.
4. Caesar Salad
Chicken alfredo also goes great with simple salads like this homemade Caesar salad. From the salad components to the dressing, you’ll make them from scratch to ensure the best flavors, textures, and overall quality. But don’t worry; homemade doesn’t mean complicated or time-consuming, as this recipe is effortless and takes only 30 minutes or so to complete.
5. Gourmet Green Salad with Homemade Red Wine Vinaigrette
If you want more complex and sophisticated flavors, swap the usual Caesar for this gourmet green salad. It’s tossed in a homemade red wine vinaigrette, which makes all the difference. The vinaigrette perfectly balances sweet, tang, salty, and spicy flavors. Imagine that coating the medley of greens, mushrooms, pears, and other salad components.
6. Mixed Greens Salad with Balsamic Vinaigrette
If you find that red wine vinegar isn’t suited for you, maybe you’ll prefer balsamic. This recipe flavors your favorite greens with a tangy balsamic vinaigrette made from vinegar, olive oil, lemon juice, salt, and black pepper. Besides the greens, there’s also salty feta cheese, juicy grape tomatoes, refreshing cucumber slices, and toasted pumpkin seeds.
7. Fresh Fennel Orange Salad
A fresh fennel orange salad is perfect if you’re going for a brighter Mediterranean vibe. It has whole citrus slices, crunchy fennel, salad greens, refreshing grapefruit, and fresh shallots. All those are tossed in a lemon and olive oil dressing that highlights the salad’s freshness. This salad is highly recommended for proteins like chicken alfredo and provides a colorful, fresh perspective.
8. Spinach Salad with Creamy Balsamic Vinaigrette
Spinach salad is a well-loved tandem with chicken alfredo. You can make it in many ways, but it’s especially great with our main dish when you toss it in creamy balsamic vinaigrette. The textures match better, and the added cranberries, cucumbers, onions, goat cheese, nuts, and avocados provide new dimensions to the salad’s flavor.
9. Lemon Garlic Roasted Asparagus
Asparagus is a great side dish to many dishes, including chicken alfredo. You can prepare it in many ways – grilled, roasted, air fried, or steamed. Others also prefer to keep the flavorings simple or plain to highlight the freshness and crispness of the asparagus. But for this recipe, you’ll combine those flavors with the taste of lemon and garlic to elevate such a beloved side.
10. Lemon Pepper Zucchini
Zucchini – like broccoli, cauliflower, and asparagus – is becoming a favorite side dish of many people. That can be attributed to many qualities, such as versatility, fresh flavors, crisp textures, and more. This recipe further improves this simple veggie dish by giving it a subtle, tangy, spicy taste. After cooking, immediately serve the lemon pepper zucchini to avoid sogginess and losing those great flavors.
11. Steamed Broccoli
Although there are many ways for you to cook broccoli, many choose to steam it. That way, the colors are more vibrant, the flavors fresher, and the textures crisper. Simply put, the veggie’s best qualities are preserved. Moreover, some also crumble the broccoli after steaming and mix it into the chicken alfredo – an exciting and must-try hack.
12. Sauteed Brussels Sprouts
Brussels sprouts also comprise some of the most classic veggie side dishes. This recipe has them sauteed to bring out the Brussels sprouts’ freshness and infuse that with the flavors and aromas of garlic and parmesan cheese. Sauteeing also preserves the tender-crisp textures and cooks the Brussels sprouts until they’re a rich brown.
13. Roasted Garlic Cauliflower
If you need a side dish within 30 minutes, consider making this roasted garlic cauliflower. It’s delicious, savory, buttery, nutty, and crunchy – the perfect qualities needed to contrast and highlight the creamy goodness of chicken alfredo. Ingredients are also easy to find: uncooked cauliflower, garlic, olive oil, salt, pepper, and Parmigiano Reggiano.
14. Simple Skillet Green Beans
This last side dish suggestion involves, yet again, incorporating green, fresh, and savory veggies into your chicken alfredo. The textures of these green beans are also crisp-tender, so every stalk snaps easily and satisfyingly in your mouth. The flavorings for this dish are simple: olive oil, red pepper flakes, minced garlic, and coarse kosher salt.
