Recipes Side Dishes 14 Satisfying Sides for Burgers By Elisabeth Sherman Elisabeth Sherman Instagram Twitter Website Elisabeth Sherman is a writer, editor, and fact-checker in the food, culture, and entertainment spaces. She has been working professionally at national magazines since 2015. Food & Wine's Editorial Guidelines and Food & Wine Editors Updated on January 15, 2023 Share Tweet Pin Email Trending Videos Photo: Photo by Victor Protasio / Food Styling by Margaret Dickey / Prop Styling by Claire Spollen When burgers are on your menu, whether at a cookout or family meal, we have some perfect side dishes to accompany them. Think baked beans with extra brown sugar apple cider vinegar, potato salad with fresh seasonal herbs, smoky glazed asparagus with a secret ingredient, and a showstopping panzanella that makes the most out of the season's tomatoes. Refresh the classic burger-and-fries combination with Kwame Onwuachi's berbere-spiced waffle fries. Here's what to serve with hamburgers whatever the occasion. 01 of 14 Grill-Baked Potatoes with Chive Butter © Marcus Nilsson These super-easy, indulgent potatoes are layered with pats of chive and sour cream butter, then wrapped in foil and grilled until soft and delicious. Get the Recipe 02 of 14 Peach and Fennel Slaw © Line Klein To wilt the fennel slightly, chef Michel Nischan briefly marinates it in vinegar and salt before tossing it with firm, ripe peaches. Get the Recipe 03 of 14 Smoky Glazed Asparagus © Quentin Bacon Chef Nate Appleman swears by coating vegetables with a mayonnaise-based marinade; it creates a beautifully blistered crust when grilled. Here he offers a marinade for asparagus that is also fabulous on broccoli and fennel. Get the Recipe 04 of 14 Quick Red Cabbage Slaw Jen Causey Ten minutes of simple prep work and an hour of hands-off marinating time deliver this almost effortless slaw that scores big in the flavor department. Matchstick carrots make it ultra-easy; just dump, stir, and go. Seasoned with a simple mixture of lemon juice, mustard seeds, and salt, this slaw lends itself to a variety of uses — try it on barbecue sandwiches, tacos, and turkey or chicken burgers — or serve it as a side dish at your next barbecue. Get the Recipe 05 of 14 Grilled Summer Squash with Blue Cheese and Pecans Eva Kolenko For grilled squash with a uniformly crisp texture, chef Vivian Howard cuts her squash lengthwise into quarters and then removes the seedy interior. This gorgeous summer salad is tossed with a bright, lemony dressing. Get the Recipe 06 of 14 Pasta Salad with Feta and Herbs Eric Wolfinger This Southern-inspired pasta salad from Mason Hereford's New Orleans restaurant, Turkey and the Wolf, gets a touch of tangy heat from hot sauce and loads of crunch from nutty sunflower seeds. Use Duke's mayonnaise for an extra bite to the dressing. This colorful, eclectic pasta will fit in well with any picnic or cookout spread. Get the Recipe 07 of 14 Gina Mae's Baked Beans Photo by Caitlin Bensel / Food Styling by Margaret Monroe Dickey / Prop Styling by Lydia Pursell Scholar Regina Bradley (nicknamed "Gina Mae" as a child) added a few special touches to her husband's baked beans recipe to make it her own. "A cookout's DNA is found in the sides and who made them. This task is not for the faint of heart or the thin-skinned," wrote Bradley, in an essay on the hierarchy of the cookout. "If your beans taste burnt or your potato salad has raisins or olives, we talking bad about you 'til your grandchildren hear about it." Here, Bradley dresses up store-bought barbecue sauce with extra brown sugar, and apple cider vinegar cuts through the smoky sweetness. Get the Recipe 08 of 14 Sweet Corn Succotash with Shiitakes and Sugar Snaps Photo by Tara Donne / Food Styling by Chris Lanier / Prop Styling by Raina Kattelson This bright, buttery succotash by 1998 F&W Best New Chef Katy Sparks comes together in minutes. "My inspiration for this dish is to take a fresh look at an American classic, succotash, which is usually sweet corn cooked together with lima beans or other green beans," Sparks says. "I like to lighten it up with summery snap peas and add meaty shiitakes for depth of flavor. Fresh basil in the smoked paprika butter elevates the whole recipe to something that pairs wonderfully with anything you want to throw on the grill." Get the Recipe 09 of 14 Tomato, Basil, and Cucumber Panzanella with Grated Tomato Balsamic Vinaigrette Victor Protasio This summer blockbuster panzanella from Samin Nosrat, author of Salt, Fat, Acid, Heat, pairs oven-roasted sourdough croutons with juicy ripe tomatoes, raw red onion, and crisp cucumbers. Grated tomato adds a gentle acidity and chunky texture to the vinaigrette, helping it cling to every bite. Staggering the addition of vinaigrette, vegetables, and croutons similarly protects their crunch and also helps season the salad properly. Get the Recipe 10 of 14 Kwame's Waffle Fries Kyle Schmitz Berbere, an Ethiopian spice blend, brings a citrusy sweet heat to these fried spuds. Chef Kwame Onwuachi mixes it with kosher salt and then sprinkles it over the finished fries. Get the Recipe 11 of 14 Potato Salad with Fresh Corn And Basil Photo by Victor Protasio / Food Styling by Margaret Dickey / Prop Styling by Claire Spollen Red baby potatoes are ideal for potato salad because their tender skins and creamy interiors hold together, even when cooked. Quickly soaking the onions in vinegar mellows their bite and allows the summery fresh herbs to shine in the dressing. Be sure to taste the salad after chilling and adjust the seasoning before serving. Get the Recipe 12 of 14 Grilled Corn with Cotija and Quicos Aubrie Pick Hot off the grill, charred sweet corn gets slathered in tangy lime mayonnaise and topped with extra-large crunchy quicos, or corn nuts, in chef Traci des Jardins' take on elote. For a plated version, cut the kernels from the cobs and toss with lime mayo and quicos, then scoop and serve. Get the Recipe 13 of 14 Peach, Tomato, and Feta Salad with Candied Jalapeño Dressing Guillermo Riveros / Food Styling by Dana Beninati Tangy, sweet tomatoes and peaches are one of our favorite combinations for late summer flavors. Here, they star in a salad atop a bed of peppery arugula and basil. The salad gets even more zip with a sweet-spicy vinaigrette made with candied jalapeños or pepper jam. The feta and sliced onion scattered on top add more contrast and flavor, and the final sprinkle of za'atar lends an extra level of texture. Get the Recipe 14 of 14 Masala Grilled Vegetables with Spicy Mint Chutney Greg DuPree Grilled summer produce meets a chile-spiked herb dressing in this bright dish. Using a blender or food processor to prepare the chutney safeguards the color by instantly cutting and coating the herbs with oil, locking in the green. Get the Recipe Was this page helpful? Thanks for your feedback! Tell us why! Other Submit