9 Healthy Summer Side Dishes Your Family Will Love

These healthy and scrumptious summer side dishes will make this the most flavorful summer to date!

You'd never know that this satisfying potato salad is a plant-based recipe.

It’s finally the season of backyard barbecues and cookouts in the park. Aside from having fun in the sun, our other favorite thing to do come summertime is eat! Fresh, delicious ingredients are abundant this time of year, and we took full advantage of all of them by creating these nine healthy summer side dishes.

You will recognize many of the recipes below as classic side dishes that mom used to make. We’ve placed a healthy, new spin on them to cut down on calories a bit! Don’t worry, though; they still taste just as good as you remember (or maybe even better).

9 Healthy Summer Side Dishes Your Family Will Love

1. Oven Sweet Potato Fries

9 Healthy Summer Side Dishes Your Family Will Love Fries

French fries are a long-time classic side dish to pretty much any sandwich or burger. While typical french fries are, well, fried (and full of unhealthy fats), these sweet potato fries are baked and loaded with nutrients. Plus, they taste incredible, too! 

2. Dairy-Free Farmer’s Market Risotto

9 Healthy Summer Side Dishes Your Family Will Love Risotto

The creamy, decadent, and healthy dairy-free farmers market risotto is an excellent side dish option for grilled chicken or fish. This particular recipe utilizes summer veggies, but you can customize the recipe for any season!

3. Strawberry, Avocado, and Spinach Salad

Healthy Summer Side Dishes Your Family Will Love Salad

Salad is one of my absolute favorite side dishes, mostly because it’s so versatile! With so many different and delicious options, a salad never gets old. This strawberry, avocado, and spinach salad is bound to become one of your new favorite summer sides!

4. Cilantro Lime Basmati Rice

Summer Side Dishes for your family rice

This yummy Chipotle copycat recipe only requires six ingredients, and it’s a whole lot healthier than the real thing. There’s no need to fret, though; it tastes just as awesome! We’ve swapped out a few ingredients to make this recipe healthier, without sacrificing any flavor. 

5. Old-Fashioned Potato Salad

Healthy Summer Side Dishes Your Family Will Love Potato Salad

Traditional potato salad recipes are loaded with mayonnaise, and therefore unhealthy fats. This old-fashioned potato salad will taste just as good as Grandma’s recipe, but it’s much healthier. It’s a great addition to burgers, pulled pork, and more!

6. Southwestern Brussels Sprout Coleslaw

9 Healthy Summer Side Dishes Your Family Will Love Coleslaw

Coleslaw is another all-time classic side dish that’s perfect for any picnic or cookout. Typical recipes contain loads of unhealthy fat and sugar. This healthy slaw uses avocado, honey, and lime juice instead of mayonnaise. Plus, it contains two of our favorite superfoods — kale and Brussels sprouts — for an extra punch of nutrients. Kick mayo-based recipes to the curb and bring this tasty coleslaw to the next family gathering instead.

7. Maple Baked Beans

Summer Side Dishes Baked Beans

I don’t remember a single family celebration that didn’t include a side of delicious baked beans. They go perfectly with barbecue, burgers, hot dogs — you name it! These homemade maple baked beans contain so much more flavor than unhealthy, processed beans from a can, too. 

8. Instant Pot Corn on the Cob with Chipotle Sauce

Healthy Summer Side Dishes Corn

Plain corn on the cob is good, but corn on the cob with chipotle sauce is the bomb! Because this recipe is made in the Instant Pot, it only takes five minutes to prepare! If you enjoy tangy and delicious recipes with just the right amount of spice, you’re going to love this corn on the cob! 

9. Healthiest Greek Salad

9 Healthy Summer Side Dishes Your Family Will Love

I don’t know about you, but Greek salad is my favorite side to eat on pizza night! I try to fill up on the veggies first, so I don’t stuff myself with too much cheese and dough. It really works! I’ll tell you a little secret: This Greek salad recipe is so fresh and yummy that it makes me second guess eating the pizza altogether.

What do you think about these healthy summer side dishes? Are you looking forward to trying any? Did your favorite summer side dish make the list? Let us know in the comment section! 

Also, if you aren’t already, be sure to follow us on Pinterest for more incredible recipes for any time of the year!

This post may include affiliate links.

Erin Miller

Erin is an NASM Certified Personal Trainer and Corrective Exercise Specialist. She is also a Performance Nutrition Coach, certified through the Clean Health Fitness Institute. Some of Erin’s favorite hobbies include hiking, kayaking, and hanging out at the beach, although weight lifting is her greatest passion. She says, “Weight training is one of the most empowering things a person can do. Not just seeing, but feeling yourself transform… There’s just nothing else like it.”

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