The Best Side Dishes To Serve With Cabbage Rolls

Popular across multiple continents and filled with spiced ground meat, rice, and mushrooms or vegetables, cabbage rolls are, for many, the ultimate comfort food. There are endless variations — perhaps the most prominent being the Eastern European rendition, served with tomato sauce, and the Swedish, served topped with lingonberry jam. However, in each of these, the cabbage-wrapped rolls are filling, warm, and easy to prepare. Still, on their own they might not constitute a whole meal, especially if you're trying to make the rolls stretch over multiple meals. So what are the tried and true side dishes that are the absolute best choice to serve alongside your veggie wrapped, meat-filled main?

Options range from bread, to potatoes, to salads, to dishes a little more niche, so it's truly a customizable dining experience depending on the dietary preferences of the guests you're serving, what's in season, and what you've got in your pantry. You can also try different cultures' variations on the cabbage roll via mixing up both the filling and the sauce to pair them perfectly with whichever side you choose and create a truly cohesive meal.

Although encased in a cabbage leaf, there's certainly space for more veggies on the dish when you're serving up cabbage rolls. You could go for a traditional caesar salad, or try this slightly upgraded kale caesar salad, go for one with mixed greens and whichever fruit is currently in season, or even offer a build-your-own salad bar with toppings ranging from homemade air fryer croutons to boiled eggs and roasted chickpeas for added protein. Alternatively, try your hand at the viral TikTok cucumber salad, adding some umami to your dish with a vinegary, gingery dressing and thin sliced, fresh and crunchy cucumber.

The freshness and lightness of your salad ingredients will pair beautifully with your hearty, saucy cabbage rolls, offering a textural contrast and versatility perfect for a dinner party of people with different dietary preferences (or a kid who's a picky eater).

Boil them, mash them, roast them, do something else with them entirely: The starchy staple that is potatoes is cheap, filling, and inarguably versatile, and if you're looking for a guaranteed crowd-pleaser, potatoes are the side for you. They can be served in any number of ways — beyond those already listed, you could also make smashed potatoes, serve crispy sweet potato fries, or try making Jewish potato-onion latkes (or potato pancakes). These are an especially good option for a winter meal to add warmth and substance to your plate, and whether you go the tomato sauce or lingonberry route to top your cabbage rolls, it's likely to pair beautifully with any rogue potato that rolls over and is thus doused in sauce.

Make sure they're generously seasoned, and buy more potatoes than you think you'll need: Somehow, every last fry or scoop of spud is always eaten.

If you combine salad and roasted potatoes, what do you get? Roasted vegetables! Putting together the best parts of each of these side options (the nutrients and vegetal freshness of a salad, and the caramelized warmth of potatoes) leads us straight to this side dish choice. The exact vegetable roasted is, of course, up to you, but make sure to add a generous amount of garlic and season accordingly. If you're looking for suggestions, consider something earthy like asparagus or carrots, or a gorgeous green like broccoli or Brussels sprouts to perfectly match the aesthetic of your cabbage-packed, oh-so-green plate.

Make sure to avoid the most common mistakes when making roasted vegetables, like forgetting to peel your produce or skimping on olive oil, and learn to use your oven's broiler feature to get that enviable caramelized exterior.

Another perfectly versatile food item, it's your favorite side dish's favorite side dish. Bread alongside a roll filled with rice might feel like carbs upon carbs, but there are plenty of ways to spice up what might just be the perfect plain base to make it a memorable addition to your meal. Rye bread is a dense, protein-rich side that will thoroughly soak up any sauce; it can also double as an edible spoon when cabbage roll filling falls out onto your plate.

Any kind of bread roll is bettered when toasted and slathered with butter, but buttery garlic bread takes it to the next level with an herby, fluffy quality that kids and adults alike aren't likely to turn down. And by the way, it's actually a mistake to use melted butter for garlic bread — room temp, softened butter works much better to keep your bread moist in the oven.

One final option that's a little more unique takes inspiration from the Polish flavors of Haluski, a dish that pairs egg noodles and fried cabbage. Deconstructing it, that makes the wide, buttery egg noodles a solid side with a smooth texture and mouth-watering flavor.

Haluski was popularized during a time when many poor Eastern European families were looking for a cost-effective meal to fill the bellies of their large families, but if you're in a similar situation today, this tried-and-true combo (with a little extra protein via cabbage roll rice and meat), may just get you through your own winter. Find egg noodles at many supermarkets, in Asian grocery stores, or even easily make pasta dough at home if you're feeling like taking on a side quest. Top with salt, pepper, and butter, and maybe chile flakes for some heat, and add a dollop of sour cream or cottage cheese to fully imitate the Polish comfort food.