26 of the Best Side Dishes to Serve with Ham

Spiral hams are two things: Salty and convenient. The first quality means they pair well with everything, from the verdant and fresh to the carb- and dairy-laden. The second means you have plenty of time to invest in those sides, so you can include a wide variety of dishes—something creamy to balance the salt, something fresh and vibrant, to give your palate respite from the meaty richness, and something a bit more elaborate, like Christopher Kimball’s favorite “perfectly popped popovers.”

Here are our favorite things to eat with baked ham, including a sweet and fresh shredded carrot salad, milk-simmered mashed potatoes, multiple asparagus dishes, and a more refined, French take on the deviled egg.

Asparagus with Sauce Gribiche and Fried Capers

A heap of tender-crisp spring asparagus gets big, bold, bistro flavor with sauce gribiche: France's pungent topping of briny capers, egg yolks, Dijon and horseradish. For this dish, we used white balsamic vinegar instead of conventional wine vinegar because we preferred balsamic’s mild sweetness. And instead of adding capers to the sauce, we used caper brine; the capers themselves we fried to create a crisp garnish for the sauced asparagus.

Milk-Simmered Mashed Potatoes

Potatoes are like pasta; they create starchy cooking liquid that’s called “liquid gold” for a reason. By cooking the spuds in a little milk, which doubles as your mashing liquid, you get natural, creamy lusciousness. No need to weigh them down with heavy cream.

Popovers

Whenever our kitchen bakes up these popovers, they're devoured ferociously. These “perfectly popped popovers” (Chris Kimball’s term) are light and airy on the inside, crispy on the outside, and rich with eggy flavor. They’re about as easy to whip up as pancakes, but make sure you follow two rules of thumb: Let the batter sit, and poke holes in them at the end of baking.

Minty Radishes and Snap Peas

Ditch lettuce for a crisper, more colorful salad. Bright green snap peas and pretty pink radishes make the most refreshing combination, even more so with a minty lift. Optional blue cheese brings a pleasant, savory funkiness to the party.

Butter-Roasted Carrots with Za’atar and Pomegranate Molasses

We call these “magic” carrots because they’re so much better than the simple olive oil-roasted variety. We get super-sweetness and meltingly tender texture by slow-roasting the carrots, and a drizzle of butter browns in the pan, adding fragrant nuttiness. Orange zest and juice wake up the flavors, balanced with earthy za’atar and tangy pomegranate molasses. Crunchy pistachios add a finishing touch to create a side we are proud to present.

Oeufs Mayonnaise

Think of them as a more refined, French deviled egg—a bistro classic of perfectly cooked, jammy-centered eggs with a dollop of homemade mayonnaise. At Le Saint Sebastien in Paris’ 11th arrondissement, we had a lesson in how to prepare the hors d’oeuvre from chef Chris Edwards, vice-champion of the 2021 Oeuf Mayo World Championship. We followed Edwards’ lead when making our mayo, using Dijon mustard for piquancy as well as to aid with emulsification, plus lemon juice for bright flavor.

Venetian Rice and Peas

In the countryside outside of Venice, spring is ushered in by risi e bisi, or “rice and peas”: pea-studded rice, bathed in pale green broth, enjoyed as a holiday tradition for St. Mark’s Day (April 25), but there’s no rule against enjoying it before then. It balances rich, risotto-like creaminess with broth-y soupiness, and savory pancetta against fresh, grassy pea flavor.

Pasta with Creamy Cauliflower and Cheese Sauce

In this one-pot-plus-blender recipe, we use mild cauliflower two ways for a velvety, cheesy pasta sauce. We simmer florets in water which is later used to cook the pasta. We then toss some of those florets with the noodles for textural contrast, and we blend the rest in its cooking water and oil, creating a creamy, cream-free sauce base. A heap of rich Italian cheese brings the requisite oomf, creating a delicious, easy—and light—take on macaroni and cheese.

French Carrot Salad

Little-known fact: Shredding carrots makes them sweeter! This classic French bistro side dish takes full advantage of this phenomenon. A touch of mellow vinegar and tarragon makes for the perfect accompaniment to your spiral ham. We kept this salad simple, but versions with toasted nuts or chopped dried fruit also were delicious, so feel free to play around and make it your own.

Roasted Potatoes with Gouda and Thyme

Cheese baked until crisp enhances a simple roast of potatoes and shallots, adding texture and savory richness. Aged Gouda has nutty, butterscotch-y notes; manchego is similarly nutty but with some tanginess and subtle sharpness. Both are delicious here, so use whichever you favor.

Braised Leeks with Balsamic Glaze

At Valencia’s Casa Montaña, we experienced leeks as never before: poached in olive oil until meltingly soft and finished with a sweet-tart balsamic glaze. This is our six-ingredient re-creation of that delicious side, with browned almonds for a toasty, crunchy contrast.

Broiled Asparagus with Cardamom and Orange

Cardamom and orange bring floral and citrus notes to grassy asparagus, while butter lends richness and makes the flavors linger on the palate. We double up the orange in this dish—marmalade sweetens as it adds a touch of bitterness, and the zest and juice of a fresh orange lightens and brightens. Flaky finishing salt provides spikes of salinity and a nice crunch.

Lemon and Green Pea Risotto

This green pea risotto is another perfect example of lemon’s power to wake up flavors and turn a simple, good dish into a great one. A bracing cut of lemon juice and zest give life to a simple combination of butter and Parm, with peas for pops of sweetness and mint for an extra-fresh lift.

Butter-Braised Mashed Potatoes

Creamy, buttery, and distinctly potato-flavored—these butter-braised mashed potatoes are the opposite of gluey, overworked mashes. Inspired by a Turkish potato dish, we use a small amount of water and a massive amount of butter. By the time the water cooks off, the potatoes are fall-apart tender, so they need very little mashing. The melted butter isn’t just there for flavor, it helps keep the texture fluffy; the fat coats the potatoes' starch molecules, preventing them from becoming gluey when mashed or over-whipped.

Roasted Agrodolce Onions

These soft, sweet-tart, jammy onions are the perfect complement to salty meats like ham. Based on Italy's sweet and sour cipollini agrodolce, we roast the onions in a mixture of honey, butter, vinegar, and thyme. The sharp vinegar cuts through the richness of the butter and balances the sweetness of the onions and honey. No matter how they're arranged, they bake down into something beautiful.

Olive Oil–Poached Carrots with Honey and Ginger

These are carrot-lovers carrots. Generously slicked with olive oil and cooked in a moderately hot oven, they become velvety-tender, with pure, clean carrot flavor. This technique uses less oil than true oil-poaching, but delivers similarly delicious results. We toss some ginger into the mix for warm spiciness, then finish the carrots with vinegar, honey and chives.

Spiced Potato Wedges with Pickled Peppers

Spice and cornstarch take simple roasted potatoes from neutral side to a smoky, crispy treat—a perfect contrast to salty, fatty ham. A mix of earthy paprika and cumin flavor a cornstarch coating, which creates a crisp, golden-brown crust in the oven while the interiors remain perfectly tender. Add a smattering of pickled peppers for a hit of palate-clearing acid.

Parmesan-Roasted Butternut Squash

This Parmesan-roasted butternut squash is inspired by Italian pasta with pumpkin. It pairs the earthy sweetness of butternut squash with warm nutmeg, woodsy herbs and salty-savory Parmesan. The cheese is sprinkled on midway through roasting so it browns and crisps in the oven, adding layers of rich, toasty flavor.

Grilled Mustard-Herb Potato Salad

Smoke is a good friend to salty, fatty meats, but throwing raw potatoes on the grill results in scorched outsides and raw interiors. Parboiling the potatoes prior to grilling is key. For best flavor and texture, the water for parboiling should be salted and acidulated with white vinegar. The salt enhances flavor, while the acid helps the potatoes hold their shape while the insides become at once fluffy and creamy. Mustard and ham are natural partners so, instead of mayo, we toss the potatoes in a dressing of grainy mustard (for texture) and Dijon mustard (for clingability), plus another splash of vinegar and green herbs.

Shaved Carrot and Parsnip Salad with Gingery Hazelnuts

Shaving carrots and parsnips into ribbons and briefly microwaving them transforms the fibrous root vegetables into a tender, sweet salad base. The long, thin strips have ample surface area to soak up flavors and support contrasting ingredients, such as crunchy chopped nuts. They also form a colorful tangle that is attractive on a platter. Don’t skip the microwave step—it’s the key tenderizing the vegetables and opens up their cell structure so they absorb the seasonings.

Roasted Sweet Potatoes with Scallions and Lime

Tart lime performs double duty in this side, balancing the natural sugars in the sweet potatoes while cutting through the richness of the ham. We roast the chunked potatoes on a baking sheet, leaving them alone for the entire time so that the sides that are against the hot pan brown nicely and add notes of caramel bittersweetness. When done, we immediately toss the potatoes with lime zest and juice plus scallions and seasonings, so they absorb the flavors as they cool.

Romanian Baked Polenta with Sour Cream and Cheese

This mostly hands-off casserole, inspired by mămăligă cu brânză și smântână, or polenta with cheese and sour cream, is a nice change from the endless parade of potato sides. It’s simple and homey, with lots of satisfying cheese pulls and toasty-sweet corn flavor.

Scalloped Potatoes

Inspired by a dish our Digital Editor Claire Lower learned to make in France, this is a 1-1-1 recipe, the type of classic numeric formula that folks like Julia Child used to keep in their back pocket. It’s easy to memorize, easy to scale, and you can make it any time on the fly. In this case, we’re using one pound potatoes, one cup heavy cream, and one ounce Parmesan. (And one bay leaf, if you want to make it 1-1-1-1.) We also add dijon mustard, nutmeg, salt, and pepper for a hint of French flavors.

Green Beans with Spanish Almond Sauce

This side dish channels the creamy savoriness of green bean casserole without sacrificing the green beans. Dairy-based sauces (and canned soups) tend to dull the flavor the verdant produce, so we ditch all that in favor of Spain’s salsa de almendras, or almond sauce. The nuts are blended to create a sauce with creamy richness, but none of the heft of dairy.

Salt and Vinegar Smashed Potatoes

Physical discomfort is the hallmark of a good salt and vinegar potato chip. Unlike in other dishes, the acid—acetic acid, to be exact—is not there to balance the other flavors; it’s there to dominate them. We bring that aggressive approach to this side dish, which reimagines the chip as a sheet pan full of crisp and creamy fingerlings. We treat these potatoes to a quadruple dose of vinegar—starting with the cooking water and ending with a tangy dipping sauce. If you like S&V chips with your ham sandwich, you’ll love these potatoes with a spiral-cut centerpiece.

Georgian Garlic-Spiced Roasted Potatoes

At Dezerter Bazaar in Tbilisi, Luiza Panchulidze taught us to make Svanetian salt, a seasoning from the Svaneti region in mountainous northwestern Georgia. It is flavored with dried chilies, warm spices and ample garlic, and usually is paired with potatoes and/or meat. For this high-impact side dish, we toss the flavored salt with potato wedges, then roast them until deeply browned.

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Claire Lower

Claire Lower is the Digital Editor for Christopher Kimball’s Milk Street, with over a decade of experience as a food writer and recipe developer. Claire began writing about food (and drinks) during the blogging boom in the late 2000s, eventually leaving her job as a lab technician to pursue writing full-time. After freelancing for publications such as Serious Eats, Yahoo Food, xoJane and Cherry Bombe Magazine, she eventually landed at Lifehacker, where she served as the Senior Food Editor for nearly eight years. Claire lives in Portland, Oregon with a very friendly dog and very mean cat. When not in the kitchen (or at her laptop), you can find her deadlifting at the gym, fly fishing or trying to master figure drawing at her local art studio.