12 Make-Ahead Christmas Side Dishes That Taste Even Better on the Big Day

Make your Christmas menu easier (and brighter) with make-ahead sides that still taste freshly made.

By
Emily Johnson
Emily Johnson
Emily Johnson
Emily has worked as a food writer and editor for ten years, across publications such as Lucky Peach, Epicurious, Bon Appétit, and The New York Times Cooking.
Learn about Serious Eats' Editorial Process
Published December 16, 2025
20170221-french-onion-strata-2-emily-matt-clifton.jpg
Emily and Matt Clifton

I've always found Christmas dinner menu planning a bit confusing. Are we just supposed to repeat everything we ate a month ago at Thanksgiving? I know many families serve sweet potatoes, green bean casserole, and mashed potatoes all over again—and I’m certainly not opposed to that. But I also love trying new recipes, and I’m always aiming to plan a holiday menu that balances bright, fresh dishes with the usual creamy, decadent ones.

The recipes below strike a happy medium. You’ll find our takes on holiday classics, like green bean casserole made with fresh beans and a homemade mushroom sauce, and mashed sweet potatoes that skip the cloying toppings in favor of highlighting the vegetable’s natural sweetness. But I’ve also included a fresh (not roasted) Brussels sprout dish and a grain salad featuring pickled apples for a welcome hit of tang and crunch. Go fully traditional, mix and match old and new, or try a completely different side-dish lineup. Whatever your approach, all of these recipes can be prepped entirely—or at least mostly—ahead of time, so you can focus on enjoying the holiday with family, friends, and gifts, instead of juggling multiple complex dishes.

Love these recipes? With MyRecipes, your personal home for recipes, easily save and organize your favorites, plus thousands more, in one convenient place.

  • Sheet-Pan Root Vegetable Gratin

    A serving of root vegetable gratin on a plate with a fork garnished with herbs and set on a red background

    Serious Eats / Photographer: Robby Lozano, Food Stylist: Jennifer Wendorf, Prop Styling: Abby Armstrong

    The key to this clever recipe from Marianne Williams is its use of broad surface area: Instead of a traditional casserole dish, the gratin is baked on a rimmed baking sheet. This allows for maximum crispy, browned crust with meltingly tender vegetables underneath. No need to fight for an edge piece—and it serves up to 12, making it ideal for feeding a holiday crowd.

  • The Best Dinner Rolls (Fluffy, Crusty, and Chewy) Recipe

    20161103-hard-dinner-rolls-vicky-wasik-21.jpg
    Vicky Wasik

    These rolls are for light-and-crispy bread lovers, not fans of squishy Parker House rolls. Their sturdy structure holds up better against all that creamy holiday food (though we have soft roll recipes if that's what you’re after). Homemade rolls are time-consuming—there’s no way around that—but this recipe is designed to let you tackle the messy, labor-intensive steps the day before. The rolls are boiled to pause their rise, allowing them to rest at room temperature for up to four hours with no risk of overproofing or collapse.

  • Roasted Root Vegetable and Kale Salad With Maple-Pecan Dressing

    A platter containing kale salad with roasted root vegetables and crumbled cheese served with a wooden spoon

    Serious Eats / Qi Ai

    In this warm, wintery salad, you can roast the vegetables and whisk the dressing up to a day ahead. Just be sure to let the roasted vegetables come to room temperature before adding them to the salad, and wait to dress the whole thing until about an hour before serving. That said, the sturdy kale and hearty carrots and beets hold up well to dressing and won’t turn soggy—so leftovers are often just as good the next day. Save some goat cheese and pecans to sprinkle on at the end so they look fresh and stay crisp.

  • Sweet and Savory Corn Casserole

    Overhead view of sweet and savory corn casserole

    Serious Eats / Morgan Hunt Glaze

    Corn casserole means different things to different people. This version from Stella Parks leans toward the custardy style favored in the American South, using eggs and cream to create a silky texture. Still, there's cornmeal mixed in for structure. A topping of cheddar, Monterey Jack, Parm, or a combination adds another layer of richness—and a savory sharpness that balances the dish’s natural sweetness and creaminess.

    Continue to 5 of 12 below

  • The Ultimate Homemade Green Bean Casserole

    Overhead view of green bean casserole

    Serious Eats / Morgan Hunt Glaze

    This recipe elevates the classic green bean casserole in a few key ways. Blanching fresh green beans gives them a bright, crisp texture and avoids the tinny flavor of canned ones. You’ll also make your own mushroom sauce, rich in umami from soy sauce and brightened with a touch of lemon juice. There are a couple of make-ahead options: You can prep in stages—frying the shallots up to a month in advance and making the mushroom sauce up to four days ahead—or assemble the whole casserole in advance. It keeps well in the refrigerator for up to two days and can be reheated at 350°F for about 40 minutes before serving.

  • The Best Mashed Sweet Potatoes

    20141107-mashed-sweet-potatoes-food-lab-thanksgiving-08.jpg
    J. Kenji López-Alt

    This recipe is for true sweet potato lovers—the ones who want to highlight the vegetable’s rich, sweet flavor without the fanfare of marshmallow or streusel toppings. Slow-roasting the potatoes at a low temperature allows their starches to break down and their natural sugars to concentrate. From there, you simply mash them and mix in nutty brown butter and a touch of maple syrup to amplify their caramel-like depth.

  • Three-Bean Salad

    Bowl of mixed bean salad with greens and utensils on a patterned tablecloth

    Serious Eats / Qi Ai

    If you prefer a lighter, brighter green bean dish to offset the richness of your holiday table, try this Leah Colins recipe. It’s not only make-ahead friendly, but also easy enough to throw together on the day of. Blanching the green beans ensures a vibrant green color and the ideal balance of crispness and tenderness. Canned kidney beans and black-eyed peas add creaminess that complements the snap of the green beans. While the salad keeps for up to four days in the fridge, we recommend dressing it about an hour before serving—marinating time actually enhances the overall flavor.

  • French Onion Strata (Savory Bread Pudding) Recipe

    20170221-french-onion-strata-2-emily-matt-clifton.jpg
    Emily and Matt Clifton

    This savory bread pudding delivers all the flavors of French onion soup. You’ll caramelize onions to bring out their sweetness, then layer them with oven-dried bread soaked in a rich egg mixture. A topping of nutty, melty Gruyère adds a holiday-worthy cheese pull.

    Continue to 9 of 12 below

  • Salt—Wilted Brussels Sprout Salad With Hazelnuts and Goat Cheese

    a bowl of brussels sprouts salad with a spoon beside it
    Serious Eats / Vicky Wasik

    Daniel Gritzer borrows a technique from sauerkraut for this dish: Half of the Brussels sprouts are wilted by massaging them with salt. This not only tenderizes them but also allows the salt to penetrate deeply for well-seasoned flavor. Stirring in freshly shredded raw Brussels sprouts adds balance and structure, helping the salad stay crisp rather than soggy. You can prep all the components ahead, but wait to dress the salad until just before serving.

  • Sweet and Punchy Honey-Roasted Carrots

    A dish of roasted carrots topped with herbs and a glaze

    Serious Eats / Morgan Hunt Glaze

    This may look like a simple roasted carrot dish, but it delivers a serious flavor punch thanks to a combination of honey and butter, which enhances the carrots’ sweet, caramel-like notes. Miso paste and sherry vinegar add umami and brightness, while ground ginger makes the dish aromatic and warm. Instead of making the whole dish ahead and reheating it, parboil the carrots in advance (this gives them fudgy, tender centers) and prepare the sauce ahead of time. Then roast the carrots with the sauce just before serving to preserve freshness and develop deep caramelized flavor.

  • Pommes Duchesse (Duchess Potatoes)

    Duchess potatoes served in a dish.

    Serious Eats / Amanda Suarez

    You don’t need us to tell you to make mashed potatoes for Christmas—you’ve probably already got that covered. Instead, consider making the fanciest version possible. In this classic French dish, mashed potatoes are fortified with egg yolks along with the usual butter, giving them enough structure to be piped into elegant florets. Don’t worry: the egg yolks also add extra richness. You can mash and pipe the potatoes—either as individual portions or in a large-format casserole—up to four days in advance. Just bring them to room temperature before warming and toasting the tops in the oven.

  • Beet and Wheat Berry Salad With Pickled Apples and Pecans Recipe

    20161107-beet-salad-vicky-wasik-5.jpg
    Vicky Wasik

    This might be the ultimate make-ahead dish—Daniel Gritzer developed it to survive the train ride from New York to Boston for Thanksgiving. The hearty mix of chewy wheat berries, earthy roasted beets, caramelized pecans, and pickled apples offers a satisfying blend of textures and flavors, with tart crunch from the apples. It even puts the beet leaves and stalks to good use.

Explore more:

More Serious Eats Recipes