What To Serve With Jambalaya – 12 Best Sides

Justin Micheal

Food Writer & Editor in Chief For KitchenSanity

Justin Micheal is KitchenSanity's founder, food writer and editor in chief. As an expert home cook with over 30 years of daily cooking experience and food handler certifications, he's a pro at experimenting with recipes and a stickler for food safety. He writes informative and detailed guides about cooking basics such as proper food storage, cutting and cooking methods, and choosing the right products to make cooking easier.

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You don’t need to be from New Orleans, Louisiana, to enjoy delicious southern creole food.

Serve a bowl of steaming hot Jambalaya with an assortment of side dishes and a dessert on a chilly night for maximum enjoyment. This type of meal is fit for a king, and your family and guests will feel like royalty at your table.

Not sure what to serve with Jambalaya? You could serve collard greens or cornbread to sop up those Cajun flavors. However, we’ve got you covered so that you can include more side dishes with your meal the next time you make Jambalaya.

The following side dish suggestions can be used in any combination and go well with Jambalaya.

Best Side Dishes To Serve With Jambalaya

1. Corn Maque Choux

Corn Maque Choux

When you make Jambalaya, consider holding off on adding corn so that you can make this side.

Corn maque choux is an easy to make savory side dish to serve with Jambalaya with few ingredients, including corn, onion, garlic, bell pepper, and Cajun seasoning, all cooked down using bacon grease.

Related | Does Bacon Go Bad?

If you want to prepare a Cajun side dish to go with your Jambalaya that feels like it came directly out of New Orleans, check out the Southern Bite recipe.

2. Corn On The Cob

Corn On The Cob With Lime And Spices

This is one of the best side dishes for most meals and doesn’t need a recipe.

It’s just a cob of corn, a little bit of salt, and a whole lot of butter. You can also add a sprinkling of Cajun seasoning and parmesan cheese if you like, or wrap it in foil, add some cotija cheese and grill it like Mexican street corn.

You really can’t mess up this side dish, so boil it, grill it, or bake it in the oven in foil. Add your favorite toppings and serve. It’s a great way to use leftover corn on the cob!

3. Pan Fried Okra

Pan Fried Okra

Okra is a vegetable that most children dislike because it tends to get slimy. One way to reduce the slime in this dish is to sauté or pan-fry it rather than boiling it.

When adding chopped okra to the soup or stew, fry it and add it to the soup at the end so it can absorb some of the flavors without cooking in the liquid.

4. Grilled Zucchini

Grilled Zucchini Slices

Zucchini is a great summer or winter vegetable that is perfect for the grill or oven. The vegetable is sliced length-wise and brushed with olive oil and herbs, and cooked on a hot grill.

You can add any type of herbs you like because it will soak up all the flavors of the spices. One cooking tip is to choose small, slim zucchini because they will cook faster than bigger ones.

5. Green Salad

Simple Mixed Green Salad

This type of salad is very basic and does not require a recipe. A dinner salad usually consists of torn lettuce leaves, sliced tomatoes, sliced mushrooms, chopped olives, and sliced onion.

It goes well with many types of dressing, so you could set out a bottle of Creole vinaigrette, thousand islands, French, ranch, or oil and vinegar and let your guests choose their favorite.

6. Tomato And Cucumber Salad

cherry tomato cucumber salad

This is a super simple salad with very few ingredients, making it so easy to put together. Just slice or chop all ingredients and add to a big salad bowl.

The recipe calls for cucumber, tomatoes, and red onions. Dress your salad with a little oil and vinegar or a pre-made vinaigrette. This is good made ahead and will keep in the refrigerator for a few days.

7. Collard Greens with Bacon

Collard Greens With Bacon

Collard greens is another southern vegetable that doesn’t get enough love. They are bitter if you boil them and don’t add any seasonings.

This dish is made down south with chicken broth, smoky bacon, garlic, onions, cider vinegar, and spicy hot sauce. Made this way, they are delicious, and your guests will definitely ask for more.

Related | Chicken Stock vs Broth

8. Spoon-Bread

Cornmeal Spoon-Bread

Spoon-bread is a dish made with cornmeal (similar to cornbread) that is more of a corn pudding. It’s soft and moist, and you eat it with a spoon.

Unlike cornbread, which is dryer and compact, spoon bread is fluffy like a Yorkshire pudding.

It is made with cornmeal, eggs, butter, milk, salt, and baking powder. The method of cooking is often using your best cast-iron pans or oven pan.

9. Cornbread

Jalapeno Cornbread Sliced

Cornbread is originally a Native American dish that has been adopted by many other cultures. Many of these corn dishes contain the same ingredients but are prepared in different ways.

The cornmeal is mixed with flour, baking powder, sugar, salt, egg, milk, and butter in cornbread. It is baked in a hot oven and brushed with melted butter before serving.

The best way to eat cornbread in the south is to crumble a piece of cornbread in a glass, top with milk and sugar, and eat with a spoon like a dessert.

Related | Meals That Go With Cornbread

10. Hushpuppies

Deep Fried Hushpuppies

Hushpuppies are little balls of fried cornmeal dough that sometimes contain corn, onion, and jalapeno.

Back in the Wild West Days, when the Cowboys were on a cattle drive, the cook would make cornbread and use the leftover batter to make hushpuppies that they would throw to the hungry dogs that sat near the campfire. It kept the dogs quiet while the food was cooking.

This recipe calls for self-rising cornmeal, flour, onion, garlic, milk, and egg. The dough is dropped into hot oil by the spoonful and fried until golden brown.

11. Cheddar Biscuits

Cheddar Biscuits

If you love Red Lobster’s Cheddar Bay Biscuits, you’ll love this copycat recipe.

It incorporates the usual biscuit ingredients like flour, salt, banking powder, milk, egg, and cheddar cheese, but instead of being rolled and pressed, they are dropped by spoonfuls onto a greased baking sheet.

Bake for 10 minutes and brush with butter before serving. These can be reheated in the microwave as leftovers the next day.

12. Grilled Oysters

Grilled Oysters With Sauce

Grilled oysters are another great dish to serve with Jambalaya. Fish, shrimp, oysters, and crab make great additions to creole jambalaya.

These oysters have a great smoky flavor from the Worcestershire sauce, parmesan cheese, ground red pepper, paprika, garlic, and hot sauce.

These oysters can be cooked on the grill or baked in the oven, and they taste better the second day.

Related | Oysters

Final Thoughts

Jambalaya is a popular dish in the southern states because of its versatility and use of fresh meat and seafood. The meat can be any combination of meats and seafood such as chicken, andouille sausage, pork, shrimp, or crayfish.

This dish combines French, Spanish, and West African flavors in a thick, chunky stew served over rice and often accompanied by cornbread and collard greens. I hope the 12 sides we covered will give you new inspiration for what to serve with Jambalaya.

Written By Justin Micheal

Justin Micheal is KitchenSanity's founder, food writer and editor in chief. As an expert home cook with over 30 years of daily cooking experience and food handler certifications, he's a pro at experimenting with recipes and a stickler for food safety. He writes informative and detailed guides about cooking basics such as proper food storage, cutting and cooking methods, and choosing the right products to make cooking easier.

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