Easy Pasta Side Dishes
Having pasta for dinner and wondering what to serve with it? Here are 11+ delicious and easy pasta side dishes. From salads to veggie sides, meats and bread.
Don’t overlook side dishes when making pasta for dinner! Serving delicious side dishes takes a pasta meal up a notch. Whether it’s a classic Caesar salad and breadsticks, or yummy roasted shrimp or crisp veggies, these side dishes are a great addition to noodle night.
But first, pasta.
Before we get into these easy pasta side dishes, let’s start with some tasty pasta recipes for dinner! Here is my tasty collection of pasta recipes.
Salads to Serve with Pasta
Caesar Salad
A Caesar Salad is the BEST side dish with pasta! This homemade dressing is creamy, garlicky, lemony and delicious! This simple recipe is a classic and perfect with any of your favourite pasta dishes. We always have it with spaghetti or lasagna.
Tomato Burrata Salad
If you’re looking for a salad that’s a little different, super delicious and quick and easy to make, this Tomato Burrata Salad is it! It’s a must make if you love the flavours of creamy cheese, tomatoes, basil and balsamic! Ready in just minutes.
Easy Caprese Salad
This Easy Caprese Salad is fresh, easy to make, and is bursting with flavour. It’s a perfect salad side dish with pasta. Try it with these Italian meatballs and pasta.
Vegetable Sides for Pasta
Zoodles + Cottage Cheese
Sometimes when it’s spaghetti night I like to serve zucchini zoodles (aka zucchini noodles) along with pasta. Zoodles are a great pasta side dish, they add a little crunch and taste great with a simple tomato sauce or tomato meat sauce! I also like to serve cottage cheese on the side.
Tomato Zucchini Skillet
This Zucchini Tomato Skillet is a fresh and delicious side dish that comes together in just minutes. It’s the perfect crunch and flavour combination to serve alongside your favourite pasta recipes.
Roasted Asparagus
If you want a little crunch alongside your pasta, roasted vegetables like this Roasted Asparagus is a great option. It provides the perfect amount of fresh, crispy crunch with noodles. It’s especially great with this lemon pasta.
Lemon Garlic Broccolini
If you’re looking for a bright and fresh veggie side dish that pairs beautifully with pasta, this flavourful Lemon Garlic Broccolini is it! It’s ready in 15 minutes or less so it’s a quick and easy option as a pasta side.
Meats that are Great with Pasta
Italian Meatballs
There’s no better pasta side dish than classic meatballs! These Italian Meatballs are soft, tender and so flavourful. Once baked, these meatballs then simmer in a simple tomato sauce. Serve over your favourite pasta with fresh basil and grated Parmesan.
Pesto Chicken
This Pesto Chicken is absolutely delicious with pasta! The flavours of basil, garlic and parmesan cheese pair perfectly with all kinds of pasta dishes. I like to serve it with spaghetti or linguine noodles and extra pesto.
Sheet Pan Bruschetta Chicken
This Sheet Pan Bruschetta Chicken is a quick and delicious pasta side dish idea! Made with perfectly seasoned chicken, flavourful fresh bruschetta and loads of mozzarella cheese. Try it with spaghetti and this simple tomato sauce.
Lemon Garlic Shrimp
Roasted shrimp is delicious with pasta! This easy recipe for Lemon Garlic Shrimp is so good with this Lemon Pasta, or this Lemon Orzo, or try it with this simple cherry tomato pasta sauce.
Breads to Serve with Pasta
Parmesan Breadsticks
These Parmesan Breadsticks are absolutely delicious with pasta…they’re perfect for dipping into sauce! They’re soft, and scrumptious and to make things even easier, let your bread machine do all the kneading and work.
Rosemary Focaccia
This recipe for Rosemary Focaccia is so flavourful with flavours of olive oil, garlic, rosemary and salt…a delicious combination! The bottom and top of the baked bread are beautifully crunchy, and the centre is moist. It’s perfect for dipping into pasta sauces. Yum.
Easy French Bread
If you’re looking for a delicious homemade bread that would make great garlic toast with pasta, this Easy French Bread is perfect! Let the bread machine do all of the mixing and kneading, then shape the dough into 2 loaves and bake them in your oven.
Cheesy Pull Apart Garlic Bread
Pull apart breads are so simple to make! For this Cheesy Pull Apart Garlic Bread all you need are basic ingredients like cheese, butter, garlic and sourdough bread, and 5 minutes to assemble. Then you bake it in the oven to get it all ooey gooey cheesy…perfect with pasta!
I hope you found some tasty side dishes for your pasta night! Have a delicious day!
