Looking for easy, flavorful vegetable side dishes to round out your meals? In this video, Nicole shares five simple and delicious veggie sides that are perfect for any occasion—from weeknight dinners to holiday gatherings. With a mix of fresh, creamy, tangy, and savory flavors, there’s something here for everyone!Nicole walks you through step-by-step recipes including smoky Green Beans with Bacon, classic Creamy Coleslaw, cheesy Jalapeño Popper Potatoes, a zesty Greek Street Corn Salad, and sweet-and-sour Copper Penny Carrots. These easy sides are packed with flavor and come together with minimal effort using ingredients you likely already have on hand.
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00:00Stop bringing the same old side dishes.
00:02I've got five new side dishes with only five ingredients
00:05that'll have everyone singing your praises at the party.
00:07The side dishes I'm giving you today are all veggie sides,
00:10so no pasta salad or mac and cheese here,
00:13but these are all gonna be perfect for any potluck.
00:15I'm starting with the ultimate green bean side dish.
00:19Green beans, for my family,
00:20is something that everyone will eat.
00:22The five ingredients for this dish are green beans,
00:24bacon, brown sugar, soy sauce, and butter.
00:27I'm gonna start by cooking my bacon.
00:29I'm gonna cook it in the same pan.
00:30I'm going to cook and serve the whole dish in.
00:33I cut my bacon strips in half.
00:35They're gonna get crumbled in, so it doesn't really matter.
00:38While the bacon cooks, we're just gonna make the sauce.
00:41This is so simple.
00:42I'm just gonna melt some butter
00:43and then stir in some soy sauce, brown sugar,
00:46and garlic powder.
00:48You'll get the salty flavor from the soy sauce and the bacon,
00:52and then, of course, the sweet from the brown sugar.
00:54This is about to be good.
00:56All right, bacon cooked.
00:58I'm just gonna take it out and give it a rough chop,
01:00and I'm gonna leave the grease in the pan.
01:03To the bacon drippings, in go your green beans.
01:06You could also add in onion if you want.
01:08Some sweet onion would be good in this.
01:10Toss those around.
01:12Okay, I'm gonna pour our liquid gold over the green beans.
01:15You know, hindsight is 20-20.
01:17This is probably the perfect side dish
01:19to make in the aluminum pan that you can take to the party
01:23and then throw away.
01:24Okay, give it a toss, and then put the bacon on top.
01:28This goes into the oven 350 degrees.
01:30It's gonna take about 40 minutes or so.
01:32You want these to be smothered and sticky and juicy and delicious.
01:36You wanna toss it every, like, 15 minutes or so.
01:39I wish you could smell it.
01:40This is the side dish that you can bring to any occasion.
01:43It's the perfect thing to go next to your Easter ham,
01:45but it also works well with just burgers
01:47or chicken off the grill.
01:51Mm, nobody's not gonna like this one.
01:53Every good party loves a crunchy and creamy coleslaw,
01:57so I'm giving you an easy creamy coleslaw.
01:59This is just a hit.
02:01You know, it's reminiscent of KFCs or Chick-fil-As,
02:04but with way more flavor and a secret ingredient.
02:07Of course, you can just use a coleslaw mix.
02:10I love the tri-color,
02:11or you can just do a head of cabbage,
02:13some green onions,
02:14and the secret ingredient, some apple.
02:18This is gonna add that just delightful,
02:20crunchy surprise in every forkful.
02:22This is something you can make the dressing
02:25a few days in advance, chop up your veggies,
02:27and then just toss it with the apple just before serving.
02:31I'm gonna put the greens and the whites
02:32of the green onion in here, and then the apple.
02:35You could just do the green apple or a red apple.
02:37I'm gonna do a little bit of both, because why not?
02:40Then I'm gonna kind of chop it to where it kind of blends in
02:43with the cabbage.
02:44It's just that little something special
02:46that are gonna make people be like,
02:47dang, why is this coleslaw so good?
02:50So probably one large apple per bowl of coleslaw
02:53would be good.
02:54I'm doing half of each.
02:56Of course, you don't want to add this
02:57until just before tossing.
03:00The dressing will keep it from turning brown,
03:02because it has some acidity in it.
03:03Creamy coleslaw starts with mayonnaise.
03:05To that, I'm going in with a little bit of vinegar.
03:07You can use regular white vinegar or apple cider vinegar.
03:10Works well in this.
03:11Some fresh lemon juice.
03:13And then some sugar.
03:14Creamy southern coleslaw always has a little sweetness to it.
03:18And then just salt and pepper.
03:21All right, then just pour it over and toss.
03:23This is the perfect accompaniment to anything
03:26that comes off the grill this spring or summer.
03:31Mm.
03:31Mm.
03:33The apple.
03:34I don't know why we haven't been doing that the whole time.
03:37Pretty sure I'd be invited to the cookout with this.
03:39What do you get when you combine this pimento cheese
03:41with jalapenos and potatoes?
03:43You get the most delicious jalapeno popper potato casserole.
03:46Using tricks like this can save you on buying ingredients.
03:49This already has cream cheese, cheddar cheese,
03:51and mayonnaise in it.
03:52It makes the perfect binder for the casserole.
03:54So the five ingredients for this dish are simply
03:57the pimento cheese, bacon, potatoes, of course,
04:00jalapenos, and then some pepper jack cheese.
04:02You're gonna start by boiling your potatoes.
04:04I'm using just a Yukon gold potato
04:06and I'm gonna boil it in salted water.
04:08A shortcut here, you could just use
04:10like shredded hash browns if you want.
04:12While the potatoes are going, chop up your bacon
04:14and then just cook that up in a skillet.
04:15Next, you just wanna take your fresh jalapenos
04:18and dice them up.
04:19You can choose to use the seeds or not,
04:21depending on how spicy you want it.
04:23I'm gonna keep it more crowd-pleasing
04:25and just get the jalapenos for the flavor.
04:27So I'm gonna take the seeds and ribs out.
04:29I will say using the fresh jalapenos over the ones
04:33in the jar that are pickled,
04:34that's gonna give you a little more of a bite,
04:36which I like, but it's also really gonna mimic
04:37that jalapeno popper flavor.
04:39If you want this a little milder,
04:41just use the pickled jalapenos.
04:43Once your bacon's cooked,
04:44just drain it on some paper towels
04:46and add your jalapenos into the bacon grease.
04:48I'm just cooking these long enough just to soften them,
04:51just a couple minutes.
04:52And now we mix everything together.
04:54I like to cook the potatoes until they're really soft.
04:57This is also how I like to do my potato salad,
04:59when they're almost like, you know,
05:00starting to mash and break up on their own.
05:02Now this is when you wanna add your pimento cheese.
05:05Remember, you gotta get the kind with cream cheese
05:07as an ingredient,
05:08if you really wanna mimic the jalapeno popper flavor.
05:11And our jalapenos.
05:13Most of our bacon, I'll save a little for the top,
05:16and then some of that pepper jack.
05:18I'm gonna pop this into the casserole dish,
05:20and I am gonna give it a bake,
05:21just so we kinda get some crusty bits.
05:23That pimento cheese really is the secret weapon here.
05:26It's got mayonnaise, it's got cream cheese,
05:29it's got cheddar cheese.
05:30It's the way to save on ingredients.
05:32This just goes into the oven
05:33until it's hot and bubbly, 375, for just about 20 minutes.
05:37This is the one, this is the one
05:39that everybody's gonna ask you to make
05:41again and again and again.
05:43Who knew pimento cheese was so powerful?
05:50Hands down, one of the best potato side dishes
05:53I've ever made.
05:53When I was thinking of all these side dishes,
05:56I was trying to think of vegetables
05:58that were the most crowd-pleasing.
05:59So, who doesn't love corn?
06:01This is a Greek-inspired version
06:04of the Mexican street corn salad.
06:06If corn is not in season,
06:07you can do this with frozen corn,
06:09so don't be dismayed.
06:10All right, the five main ingredients here are corn,
06:12feta cheese instead of the cotija cheese,
06:15parsley instead of cilantro,
06:17some cucumber for some extra crunch,
06:20and a little lemon.
06:21And then we just need a few pantry staples.
06:23You wanna start by shucking your corn
06:24and then putting it on the grill.
06:25You can also use a grill pan,
06:27and if you're using frozen corn,
06:28just heat up a skillet till it's really hot.
06:30You just want your grill to be really hot
06:32because you're not really needing to cook the corn,
06:34you just wanna get that flavor.
06:35While your corn cools off a little bit,
06:37just chop up your other stuff.
06:38I love using the English cucumber
06:41because you can just use the skin and all.
06:43And then I'm just gonna dice it up,
06:44roughly about the same size as the corn kernels.
06:47You could also sub in some sweet bell pepper,
06:50tomatoes, red onion.
06:52If I wasn't on such a ingredient restriction,
06:55I would put all of that in here.
06:57But I chose the cucumber
06:58because it's gonna lend such fresh,
07:00juicy crunch to the salad.
07:01This is one you can totally make the day before.
07:04And the cucumber also reminds me
07:05of the tzatziki kind of flavor.
07:08All right, and then parsley,
07:09and then take our kernels off the corn.
07:12All into a bowl.
07:14I love the salty bite from the cotija cheese.
07:17Sometimes people use Parmesan cheese
07:18in the street corn version.
07:20And feta cheese really gives you
07:21that kind of salty, briny bite.
07:23So I just thought that would be so good.
07:25And this is really what inspired the whole side dish.
07:27So I'm gonna crumble that in there.
07:29Always better to get the feta cheese in the block
07:31versus already crumbled.
07:33It's a lot more creamy and flavorful.
07:35For the dressing, I'm keeping it reminiscent
07:37with the base of the elote corn salad with mayonnaise.
07:40I'm also gonna thin that out,
07:42kind of lighten it up with some fresh lemon juice
07:44and a little red wine vinegar.
07:46I'm also gonna add in a little smoked paprika
07:48to echo the grilled corn effect.
07:51A little salt and pepper to finish it off.
07:53This is so good.
07:54Cutting the cucumber like the size of the corn,
07:57you get all of it in each bite.
08:03It just burst with juicy flavorfulness.
08:06This is how I'd plate it up.
08:07You're gonna add a little bit of the goodness right on top.
08:10So more feta, a little more parsley,
08:13and then a little sprinkle of paprika.
08:15The Greek street corn salad.
08:17That's a bowl full of flavor right there.
08:19For my final trick, I think you're gonna say,
08:21Nicole, what have you been smoking?
08:23But you're gonna have to trust me on this one.
08:24My cousin showed up to Easter one year with this dish,
08:28and I was kind of like,
08:29what in the 1970s grandma is this dish?
08:32But now we request that she bring it every year.
08:35So here we go.
08:36I'm gonna give to you copper penny carrots.
08:38This is sweet and savory.
08:40It's tangy, it's slightly crunchy,
08:42and it's the perfect compliment to that holiday ham.
08:44The five ingredients here.
08:46Listen, I'm gonna tell you one more time.
08:47Trust me.
08:48Carrots, bell pepper, celery, onion, lots of crunch,
08:53and then the little secret tomato soup.
08:56Couple pantry staples and we're good to go.
08:58So you're gonna start by slicing your carrot,
09:01and then the idea, you know,
09:02is that they look like a penny, copper penny.
09:05That's why they're called copper pennies.
09:06This is also a very inexpensive side dish
09:09that feeds a ton of people.
09:10Besides being a dish that you can make in advance,
09:12you can also serve this one at room temperature.
09:15So this one's just like your no fuss, crowd pleaser.
09:19Also something so surprising.
09:21Nobody else is gonna make this.
09:22You're not gonna be doubled up at the potluck.
09:24Then we're gonna take our carrots
09:25and we're gonna boil them
09:26until they're like just tender crisp.
09:28You still want the crispy crunchiness of them.
09:31In the meantime, we'll just chop up all our veggies.
09:35You want everything just kind of like diced
09:38so that you get a little bit of everything in each bite.
09:42All right, we're gonna make a delicious sauce
09:43to pour over the carrots.
09:45This is like where I know
09:46you're gonna get really skeptical,
09:47but if I like it, you'll like it.
09:50In goes a can of tomato soup
09:53and then some white vinegar, some oils.
09:55It's less oil than vinegar,
09:57so that's how you get that nice pickle flavor.
09:59And then sugar.
10:00This is where I know it can be a little alarming.
10:03We're gonna bring this to a boil
10:04and cook it until all that sugar's dissolved.
10:06And then we'll just let it cool
10:08and pour it over our carrot mixture.
10:10All right, I just boil them for about six, seven minutes
10:13where there's still plenty of crunch.
10:15I'm gonna add in the veggies that we chopped
10:17and then I'll pour over the tomato soup mixture and toss.
10:21Not only can you make this ahead of time,
10:23you have to make this ahead of time
10:25because this dish is not ready yet.
10:27You wanna cover it and then refrigerate it
10:28for at least eight hours.
10:31I give to you the copper pennies,
10:33the side dish you've never tried.
10:36Let's see how we did.
10:40Hear the crunch?
10:42I don't know who thought of this combination,
10:44but it just works.
10:46You're gonna surprise everyone with this one.
10:48Just make it.
10:52We did it.
10:53There's something for everyone in this collection,
10:55hot or cold, all different veggies,
10:57I've got you covered.
10:58There's no excuse for bringing the same old,
11:00same old side dish to the party this year.
11:02Let me know which one of these you're gonna try first.
11:05You don't need all those ingredients.
11:06Five is all you need.