The best side dishes for a delicious Rosh Hashanah

This wonderful selection of delicious side dishes and salads will add flair to your Rosh Hashanah menus. Enjoy twists on tradtition and innovative new dishes.

Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year, is often a time of big family get-togethers around the dining table. We eat celebratory foods, rich in symbolism and tradition, and pray for a sweet year ahead.

(Click here for my list of over 80 vegan and vegetarian recipes using Simanim – symbolic foods.)

Although the festival falls in early Autumn, the weather is often still quite mild. This means you can enjoy end-of-summer salads as well as hot sides and more substantial dishes. The possibilities are limitless!

Something on the side

Many families have their own traditions around what to serve as their main meal centrepiece. We usually have fresh salmon baked with fragrant herbs, and stuffed, roasted butternut squash. But the side dishes and accompaniments offer a great opportunity to try new things. You can therefore use them to introduce some variety into the typical roster of kugels, roasted vegetables and Israeli-style mezze.

Below I’ve put together a list of some terrific side dishes for your Rosh Hashanah table. The recipes feature traditional staples like carrots and beets, as well as grains, potatoes and other seasonal vegetables, in a range of gorgeous and innovative recipes. 

Whatever else you’re serving, I’m sure you’ll be able to find something delicious to go alongside. Wishing you a delicious and sweet new year from family-friends-food.com!

Terrific Rosh Hashanah side dishes

Recipes using carrots

• Candied carrots from Dancing through the rain are cooked carrot slices glazed with butter and brown sugar. It’s like a quick and easy tsimmes that’s ready in 15 minutes!
  
• Carrot and parsnip mash from Greedy Gourmet is a simple and delicious vegan mash. It would be a great warm accompaniment to a Rosh Hashanah meal.
  
• Carrots with pomegranate molasses glaze from Ronnie Fein are roasted with spices and finished with fresh mint for a flavourful Rosh Hashanah side dish.

• Classic carrot salad is a fresh and delicious French style recipe for grated carrots, simply prepared with garlic, parsley, lemon and olive oil. Light and crunchy, it’s a fabulous starter or side dish.
  
• Italian carrot salad with basil from Cooking with Mamma C is a refreshing salad of tender-crisp carrot sticks in a red wine vinegar dressing. Fresh herbs make it a delicious dish for early Autumn.
  
• Roasted chickpea and carrot salad from Ronnie Fein is a simple and versatile dish that will go with just about anything!
  
• Simple carrot salad with orange and ginger from Tin and Thyme is fresh, sweet and zingy. It actually improves if made ahead of time, as the carrots can absorb more of the flavours of the dressing. Win!
  
• Vegan carrot and parsnip kugel is a yummy baked vegetable dish. It brings a touch of sweetness to your YomTov table so is great alongside more savoury dishes. No eggs or dairy required!
  
• Vegan gantze tsimmes with a helzel crust is a delicious update to a classic Ashkenazi recipe. Perfect as a side dish but substantial enough to be a vegan/vegetarian main.

Dishes using beetroots

• Balsamic oven roasted beets from Joy Food Sunshine uses only 5 ingredients! You can refrigerate this delicious side dish for up to 5 days and serve it cold or hot when required.
  
• Baked beetroot with honey and thyme from Farmersgirl Kitchen is both sweet and savoury, and deliciously autumnal.
  
• Beet salad from Bunny’s warm oven combines cooked beetroots with a tangy-sweet dressing. It’s topped with crumbled blue cheese and crushed pecans, and looks delicious!
  
• Beetroot salad with pomegranate is one of our favourite side dishes. You can use vacuum-packed pre-cooked beets, so it’s quick and easy. You can make it in advance, so it’s ready when you are.
  
• Roasted beet, clementine and avocado salad from Kosher by Gloria can be served in individual portions as an elegant starter. Otherwise make one big salad for everyone to share.

Recipes using potatoes

• Potato and apple galette from Kosher by Gloria is seasoned with sage leaves, so it makes a delicious change from standard potato dishes.
  
• Leek and potato kugel is a wonderful twist on tradition. Did you know that leeks are a symbolic Rosh Hashanah food? 
  
• My curried potato and egg salad is a substantial side dish based on the classic flavours of Coronation Chicken. It has a lightly spiced dressing that’s sweetened with mango chutney.
  
• Helzel potatoes are one of my family’s favourites. Meltingly soft potatoes topped with a blanket of crunchy, savoury helzel stuffing. Carb heaven!
  
• Garlic and rosemary scalloped potato roast is always a hit. It’s also happy to wait in a warm oven for as long as required! Perfect when YomTov mealtimes can get a little, ahem, flexible.

Other vegetable salads and side dishes

• Mediterranean couscous salad from Midwest Foodie uses Israeli couscous as the basis of a substantial side dish. Fresh vegetables, herbs, and a zingy dressing make it extra special. 
  
• My crunchy autumn slaw with ginger-honey-yogurt dressing is a delicious seasonal salad that’s perfect as part of a Rosh Hashanah lunch.
  
• Greek-inspired black-eyed peas with spinach, leek and pomegranate is a wonderfully tasty dish that uses lots of traditional simanim to create a delicious salad.

• Smokey paprika coleslaw from Kavey Eats is an unusual twist on a classic. It has a sweet-tart dressing made using condensed milk and apple cider vinegar.
  
• Honey roasted root vegetables with apples are simple to make and always go down a treat! They’re fabulous hot and also great served cold as a salad.
  
• Roasted vegetable and barley salad with creamy tahini dressing is a delicious vegetable-packed dish. It’s full of flavour so it can even be served as a vegan main course. 
  
• Roasted hasselback squash with sweet chilli and rosemary is a showstopper of a side dish! Its gorgeous good looks are matched only by its delicious flavour, and you’ll find it surprisingly easy to make, too.

• I love to make baked sweet potatoes with spiced butter because they’re so easy and always a hit, especially with the children.
  
• Tabbouleh salad with freekeh is fresh and delicious. Freekeh is a tasty grain made from wheat, that adds a subtle smokey flavour that’s deliciously Autumnal.
  
• Root vegetable salad from Renana’s Kitchen has a sweet and spicy dressing made with date syrup and fresh chilli. A great combination!

Shana Tova!

You can see all of my Rosh Hashanah recipes in one place by clicking here. As well as side dishes you’ll find mains, soups, cakes, desserts and even breakfast!

Whatever’s on your menu, I hope you have a fabulous YomTov. May the year ahead be filled with health, happiness, and plenty of good things to eat! Shana Tova to one and all.