Pork roast, a well-loved family dinner dish, comes in many flavors, shapes, and forms. There are many ways to cook it: slow-cooked, roasted, smoked, and more. Some cook it with a bed of vegetables and spices, while others wrap it in slices of bacon or pancetta meat.
With so many ways this savory dish can turn out, it’s not a surprise that there’s almost an endless list of sides that go with it. The most classic options are roasted veggies and gravy made from the drippings, but this article provides 14 other favorite options for what to serve with pork roast.
1. Applesauce
If you’re making your pork roast with apples, there’s hardly a better tandem than sweet and tart applesauce. Although applesauce can be bought ready-made, in bottles, there are no better and fresher flavors than homemade. This recipe will help you make the sauce within 20 minutes only. Ingredients are simple too, just some saucing apples, water, honey or maple syrup, and cinnamon.
2. Microwaved Broccoli
You’ll also enjoy eating your roast pork slices with a side of broccoli tossed in lemon butter dressing. To make side prep easier, follow this recipe for microwaved broccoli – with a few pressed buttons and 15 minutes, you have steaming hot, delicious broccoli florets. You can toss those in the recommended dressing or swap the butter for olive oil.
3. Roasted Butternut Squash
A roasted butternut squash side dish would fit nicely on the table if you have pork roast for your fall dinner. It brings a fresh pop of color and provides unique flavors that complement the pork roast. It takes only 40 minutes to make. Moreover, this recipe opts for light seasonings to avoid overwhelming the fresh butternut squash flavors.
4. Oven Roasted Potatoes
If you need more starch or carbs in your meal, an excellent option for a side dish is oven-roasted potatoes. This dish offers both crisp and creamy textures, and the flavors are impeccable. The homemade dressing is also minimal to emphasize the potato goodness but flavorful and complex enough to elevate the dish. Indeed, you get hints of lemon, mustard, garlic, rosemary, and other spices.
5. Garlic Mashed Potatoes
Have you had your pork roast slices served on top of mashed potatoes and then drizzled with rich gravy? If you haven’t, then give it a try. The best mashed potatoes for that experience are homemade, and this recipe will give you a hand with that. It produces the creamiest and most savory mashed potatoes to complete your delicious pork roast.
6. Honey Garlic Butter Roasted Carrots
If you prefer sweet and savory flavors with tender textures, these honey garlic butter roasted carrots will suit your palate better. It takes only 25 minutes to prep and cook, and you can choose whether to keep the carrot skins. Besides the veggies, the other ingredients you’ll need are butter, honey, garlic cloves, salt, black pepper, and parsley.
7. Sheet Pan Garlic Parmesan Roasted Broccoli & Green Beans
These sheet pan veggies are well-recommended for protein dishes, like pork roast, as they provide crisp-tender textures and fresh, savory flavors. The addition of parmesan cheese imbibes the broccoli and green beans with a unique complex of sharp and rich flavors. There are also tomatoes to break the green monotony and provide acidity to balance everything.
8. Green Beans Almondine
Another way to serve your green beans as a side dish is by following this green beans almondine recipe. It has the veggies cooked in butter and shallots, then topped with toasted almonds and flavored with lemon juice, salt, and pepper. Although the components are all subtle and simple, you get many textures and layers of flavor, most of which are new to your pork roast meal.
9. Arugula Salad
If you want to balance the heaviness of your pork roast with a light, fresh salad, this arugula salad recipe is a great option. The greens’ crisp, peppery flavors are combined with a lemon balsamic dressing, which provides an impressive tang. Besides the arugula, there are carrots, cherry tomatoes, Parmesan cheese shavings, nuts, seeds, and fresh herbs. You’re also free to add to or change the salad’s components.
10. Strawberry Spinach Salad
Strawberries with spinach aren’t the most conventional salad options, but they surprisingly pair well. The strawberries provide sweet, refreshing juices, while the spinach is crisp, fresh, and nutritious. You also get hints of saltiness from feta cheese, crunch from the toasted almonds, spicy red onions, and tang from the balsamic poppy dressing. Overall, a unique and light way to improve your pork roast dinner.
11. Spicy Skillet Turnip Greens
Does your pork roast need some spiciness and nutritious greens? Here’s the all-in-one answer to that: spicy skillet turnip greens. The greens are cooked until perfectly tender. You can also decide how many pepper flakes to put in, so the spiciness is up to your preference. Finally, there’s also some sweetness from the brown sugar to bring everything together.
12. Cornbread
Carbs help make a meal more filling, and a unique way to pair carbs with pork roast is by serving it with cornbread. Cornbread has sweet flavors to compliment the savory pork and is excellent for absorbing gravy. It’s easy to make at home, and you can customize it by making it sweeter with maple syrup or adding jalapeno peppers for some heat.
13. Mac and Cheese
If you want your carbs creamier and more decadent, consider having your pork roast with mac and cheese. If you have kids, it’s especially perfect as they love the cheesy flavors of this dish. This one also has a panko breadcrumb topping for more crunch, which helps cut through or level out the richness of the mac and cheese.
14. Baked Creamy Corn Casserole
Besides mac and cheese, a baked creamy corn casserole is another way to introduce rich, creamy flavors to your pork roast meal. The flavors of this dish melt into your mouth as the creamy corn comes out soft and fluffy. Top the casserole with Asiago cheese to make it extra creamier and to give a distinct, sweet cheese taste.
