33 Best Side Dishes for Pizza (2024)

Caesar Salad

My favorite way to class up a slice of pizza and round out my lunch is with a simple but delicious Caesar salad.

This delightful Caesar uses fresh ingredients and even homemade croutons, which makes me feel a whole lot better about eating a slice of leftover or frozen pizza.

This recipe also makes an excellent date-night side dish for a homemade pizza.

Chicken Wings

Chicken wings are the pizza side dish for game-time snacks and meals.

Throw these chicken wings together quickly, and you can toss them in the oven, order your pizza, and by the time it arrives, these will be ready to come out of the oven!

Children love these too. Why mess with silverware when you can have an entire meal of finger food?

Coleslaw

Coleslaw is one of those foods people will never agree on.

If you dislike coleslaw, you either hate mayo, or your childhood was full of lousy coleslaw.

There are a ton of vitamins in coleslaw from the cabbage and carrots, and it is a highly customizable recipe.

It also adds a nice creaminess and a pop of freshness to pizza.

Garlic Cheese Bread

If you’re anything like me, one of the things that go best with a dish made of bread and cheese is more bread and cheese.

I love this garlic cheese bread with chicken, spinach, and alfredo pizza.

It feels like a whole Italian meal, and the fresh garlic gives a nice sharp kick to the entire thing.

Italian Bruschetta Bar

I love charcuterie boards and, basically, any spread of food I’m encouraged to eat with my fingers.

With a bruschetta bar, you get to have a little bit of everything: mixed olives, tapenades, and dips so that each side dish’s bite is different from the last—experiment with what goes best with your favorite pizza.

Jalapeño Poppers

Jalapeno poppers, those little fried, creamy, spicy nuggets go so well with pizza.

They heat and cool your mouth simultaneously and set off something like a pepperoni pizza.

If you’ve never had homemade jalapeno poppers, you are missing out.

Definitely more work than throwing a box of frozen poppers in the oven, but they are worth it.

Mozzarella Sticks

No one is ever sad to see a mozzarella stick.

I love serving this at kids’ birthday parties or with pizza on special movie nights.

I love that you can use string cheese for these to cut down a little on the already minimal prep.

These are another pizza side dish you can make while waiting for your pizza to arrive.

You can even get some great chain restaurant mozzarella sticks!

Onion Rings

Onion rings are one of those foods that usually taste about 2000% better when you make them fresh at home.

This recipe makes up some of the best crunchy onion rings, with a rough outside texture but a soft and luscious inside.

I love this with a veggie pizza to bring out the flavors of the vegetables. These are also excellent with a cheeseburger pizza.

Pasta Salad

Pasta salad is a delicious and versatile side dish.

You can add anything you want to it, from olives and cheese to vegetables.

You can even experiment with different types of pasta if you’re gluten-free or want pasta that has an extra nutritional boost.

The possibilities are endless with this recipe, and you can customize it to go with any pizza.

Potato Salad

One thing that goes well with a piping hot pizza with melting cheese and bubbling tomato sauce is a nice cold and creamy potato salad.

Potato salad is one of those dishes people can be funny about. Everyone’s mother makes the best potato salad.

Ratatouille

Ratatouille, a dish made famous by the French and then Pixar, might be an excellent way to sneak some vegetables into your kid’s diet.

This creates a perfectly healthy, vegetarian side dish for pizza.

It is fresh and looks and smells beautiful with its slices of eggplant, squash, zucchini, and tomato.

I love taking this outdoors on the patio for a lovely late spring or early summer meal.

Roasted Vegetables

Roasted vegetables turn tough vegetables like broccoli and cauliflower soft and crispy, helping them appeal to kids and adults who don’t usually like them.

With this recipe, you can use any vegetable on hand and customize it to your tastes to go with the pizza you have tonight.

Try roasted broccoli or air fried Brussels sprouts with a homemade ham and cheese pizza.

Tomato Soup

Tomato soup and grilled cheese are a classic combination, and if you think about it, pizza is like an open-faced grilled cheese.

A comforting, warm way to get fresh vegetables, tomato soup will go with just about any pizza, from cheese to veggie to one piled high with pepperoni and sausage.

Check out other popular soups you could pair with your pizza!

Spinach Artichoke Dip

Spinach Artichoke dip is another sneaky way to get some green vegetables in your pizza side dish.

You can serve it with bread or tortilla chips or as a dip for your pizza of choice!

It goes well alongside pizza with tomato sauce, white sauce, or even pesto sauce.

Zucchini Fries

These baked zucchini fries are amazing.

They are crispy but healthier than their deep-fried counterparts.

They bake up fast and work just as well for lunch, a family dinner, or a game day.

Antipasto Salad

This salad is a fresh and zesty addition to any pizza, full of bold Italian and Mediterranean flavors like kalamata olives, pepperoncini peppers, roasted red peppers, salami, and pepperoni.

It will complement the flavors of any pizza and add a burst of extra protein and vitamins.

Garlic Roasted Potatoes

For potato lovers, make these with salt, pepper, fresh garlic, and good olive oil; you’ll be surprised how well they work as a pizza side.

Serve with a homemade pesto pizza or with your favorite gourmet frozen pizza.

Cheese-Stuffed Tater Tots

Tater tots always take me back to the school lunchroom. They're one of my favorite forms of potato!

The cafeteria served those greasy yet delicious fried potato balls with everything from lasagna to tacos.

You don’t have to settle for schoolroom pizza when you whip these up.

Quick and easy, this recipe is excellent for anyone who likes stuffed crust and stuffed breadsticks.

French Onion Soup

Soup and pizza go great together - if tomato soup feels like too much tomato for you, try the classic French soup, French onion!

French onion soup is savory and rich, but not too heavy, so it pairs well with pizza.

It's typically topped with cheesy croutons, but you can enjoy your pizza with it instead (or have both!)

Greek Wedge Salad

For a very trendy way to round out your pizza meal and get in some fresh vegetables and complementary zings of flavor, try a Greek wedge salad.

This recipe includes everything I love about a Greek salad.

Try it with a feta and olive pizza, a veggie pizza, or a frozen cheese pizza with fresh or dried herbs shaken on top.

Dinner Rolls Stuffed With Cheese

If you love stuffed cheese bread as a pizza side but aren’t wild about paying the prices pizza places charge for what is essentially pizza dough, you need to try these dinner rolls stuffed with cheese.

You make them with RapidRise yeast, so they have that irresistible fresh bread flavor without taking hours to make.

Summer Vegetables with Sausage and Potatoes

I whip up this dish whenever I’m unsure if I want pizza with a side or pizza as a side.

Full of potatoes, pepper, onions, and Italian chicken sausage, it is an excellent paring with Margherita pizza for a fresh, nutritious take on a pizza dinner that feels like it came straight from the restaurant.

I like to serve this with wine or sparkling flavored water.

Tuscan Kale Salad

Even when pizza is a cheat meal, I want to ensure I get some vitamins and nutrients.

This Tuscan kale salad is bursting with nutrition. The garlic and lemon dressing keeps it from tasting bitter.

Kale is a food that some people just can’t stand, but it is worth eating.

Italian Salad

This Italian salad is the perfect pizza side to make a complete meal from two dishes.

It will go with virtually any pizza, though my family’s favorite is pepperoni because the Italian flavors of the salad go with it so well.

It is also a wonderful, fresh, crisp, cool contrast to hot, melty, greasy pizza.

Classic Meatballs

Classic meatballs go so well with anything Italian or Italian adjacent, especially when sauce is involved.

You can serve the meatballs with spaghetti and give everyone a slice of cheesy garlic pizza.

You can also put the meatballs on the pizza and serve it with additional sauce.

Carrot Slaw

My mom makes carrot slaw for every family potluck.

This slaw is great for anyone scared of the more traditional slaw. The dressing on this salad is sweet and zingy.

If you want to sweeten things up a bit more and turn this side into a dessert, you can add pineapple, raisins, or dried cranberry.

Loaded Baked Potatoes

Hands down, potatoes are my favorite food.

Pizza is my second favorite, so I think they are fabulous together.

Baked potatoes can take a while to cook, so ensure you get them in the oven about an hour before you bake or order your pizza.

The green onions give these a nice fresh pop, and you can slice up a few extra to top your pizza. Add whatever baked potato toppings you prefer!

Guacamole

If you have avocados aging on your counter, this guacamole is a great way to use them before it’s too late.

This recipe doesn’t call for cilantro, so it’s great for anyone.

Serve with chips or as a dip for your pizza.

I love making a nacho pizza with cheese, black beans, and chicken cooked in Mexican spices, then spooning guacamole right on top.

Philly Cheese Steak Mac and Cheese Bake

If there was anything kids love more than pizza, it’s mac and cheese.

This recipe is a great one for the whole family. It’s creamy, relatively low-fat, low-calorie, and stuffed with protein and vitamins from beef and peppers.

Pair it with a Philly cheese steak pizza, a cheeseburger pizza, or a healthy no-cheese, roasted tomato, and zucchini pizza.

Roasted Broccoli

While steamed broccoli has never been my favorite, something magical happens when you toss florets in olive oil, salt, and pepper and slide them into the oven.

Those little trees become soft, crispy, and flavorful.

This roasted broccoli recipe is perfect for adding some green to the side of your pizza.

Cheeseburger Onion Rings

If you believe more is more, you must try these cheeseburger onion rings as a pizza side.

Why have a cheeseburger with a side of onion rings when you can have it all together?

These take a little prep to make but are perfect for game days and family get-togethers.

Spicy Fried Cauliflower Bites with Chilli Mayonnaise

It seems cauliflower is everywhere these days.

There’s Cauliflower rice, cauliflower pizza crust, and cauliflower mashed potatoes.

Not that there’s anything wrong with that, but this is a recipe that celebrates cauliflower as cauliflower.

They work well in place of chicken wings for vegans and vegetarians.

Macaroni Salad

Macaroni salads always make me think of family picnics and baby showers.

A creamy, mayonnaise-based pasta salad, this recipe will cool down your mouth in between bites of piping-hot pizza.

Onion and peppers give it a pop of freshness.

It is perfect for a weekend family lunch of leftover homemade pizza or to go with top-it-yourself pizza bagels.