Deciding what to serve with ham? Discover the best side dishes for a ham dinner, what can be made ahead of time, and how to plan out your holiday meal flawlessly!
Start With the Best Ham Recipe
First start with the main attraction before considering what side dishes to serve with ham. Lucky for you, this just so happens to be the easiest part of the meal to prepare.
When deciding on the glaze flavor and how the ham should be prepared, consider oven space and timing. Let’s simplify your options…
HONEY GLAZED HAM IN THE SLOW COOKER – Ham needs to warm long and slow with liquid. Using a crockpot is an easy way to ensure it stays moist.
BOURBON ORANGE GLAZED HAM – The flavors of this sticky, sweet, tangy glaze goes perfectly with a smoky, oven cooked ham.
WORLD’S BEST BROWN SUGAR HAM – Here’s a versatile recipe you can make in the oven or slow cooker. The glaze has the timeless flavors of brown sugar, mustard, and pineapple.
DR. PEPPER HAM – Ham with a classic southern twist! This easy to follow recipe uses an oven bag so the ham won’t dry out.
GRILLED HOLIDAY HONEY HAM – Need to free up oven space? Bring the most space-hogging dish outside and get an incredible smoky flavor to boot.
Now that you’ve decided on your main recipe and how it will be prepared, it’s time to start thinking about what goes with ham.
When planning a menu, a lot of thought goes into what I’ll serve with my main dish. You don’t want to a frazzled, sweating mess in the kitchen while your guests are trying to relax.
It’s much more becoming to be a frazzled sweaty mess the days before guests arrive!
Below are suggestions of what to serve with ham for a holiday supper. If you plan on serving baked ham with Easter brunch, check out these breakfast recipes, many which can be prepared ahead of time as well.
Make Ahead Baked Ham Side Dishes
When planning on what to serve with ham, I like to decide on make ahead side dishes first. Then, fill in any gaps with baked ham accompaniments that are quick and easy to prepare while guests are there.
Bread
Bread is very freezer friendly, so this is the first thing I make. Be sure it has completely cooled before transferring to the freezer so ice crystals don’t form on your baked goods.
Leave the bread unsliced before freezing. If preparing biscuits, wrap individually in plastic wrap and then freeze in an airtight container. For baked rolls, leave them in the pan and cover securely.
When ready to serve, set out bread to come to room temperature first. Remove any plastic wrap, cover with foil, and rewarm in 350°F oven for 5-10 minutes before serving.
Gluten Free Biscuits – A great option for gluten free guests, but they are so light and fluffy, everyone will devour them!
Hard boiled eggs will stay good up to a week in the refrigerator. Usually I boil a huge batch, peel them up to 3 days before serving, and prepare the filling up to 2 days ahead of time.
Store the filling in a large resealable ziplock bag to pipe when ready to fill. If you plan on adding anything crunchy, like candied bacon, mix that in when filling the egg whites.
Pipe the filling into the eggs no more than 12 hours ahead of time. Cover well to avoid a crust forming on top of the yolks. Sprinkle on any crunchies, like scallions, nuts, or bacon right before serving.
While the greens should be dressed and tossed right before serving it alongside baked ham, these salad recipes either use make ahead dressings, or may be prepared entirely in advance.
Strawberry Salad – Fresh greens, juicy strawberries, toasted nuts, and creamy cheese all covered with tangy, sweet make ahead vinaigrette dressing.
Seven Layer Salad – Best recipe for make ahead layered salad, requires it to be refrigerated overnight.
Harvest Salad – Greens, candied pecans, crisp apples, dried cranberries, and tangy blue cheese all tossed together in an easy make ahead maple vinaigrette dressing.
Sweet Potato Salad – Prepare up to a day ahead of time and serve at room temperature.
Raspberry Cranberry Jello – Made with canned cranberry sauce, crushed pineapple, and a hint of orange then topped with a creamsicle Cool Whip cream cheese topping.
Cream Cheese Jello Salad – Use any preferred flavor jello and prepare up to 2 days ahead of time. Refrigerate, tightly covered, until ready to serve.
Orange Jello Salad – Store up to 24 hours before serving, but make sure the fruit is very well drained to avoid excess liquid pooling. Alternatively, drain the canned fruit overnight in the refrigerator and assemble the morning of serving.
Green Bean Salad – Prepare the dressing up to a week ahead of time and dress the beans the day before.
Smashed Potatoes – Prepare the boiled salt potatoes for the recipe up to a day ahead of time. Bake the smashed potatoes again right before serving. Alternatively, prepare the recipe in its entirety up to 2 days ahead of time. Re-warm in a 400ºF oven for 15 minutes.
Vegetable Tart – A great freezer-friendly spinach and feta tart that may be served as an appetizer or served with ham dinner.
Sweet Potato Spoon Bread – Bake the sweet potatoes ahead of time and mix together all the casserole ingredients except the beaten egg whites. When ready to serve, fold in whites and bake.
Cornbread Stuffing – Make the cornbread up to 3 days ahead of time to dry out. The stuffing can also be assembled, covered, and refrigerated overnight.
Make Ahead Cakes and Dessert for Easter
Cakes are a great option for holiday ham dinners because they can be baked ahead of time and frozen. All of these cakes may be made in advance, assembled with frosting, and then frozen.
For best results, place the whole cake in the freezer. When the frosting is solid, wrap it securely with plastic wrap. Thaw overnight in the refrigerator and then set out at room temperature at least 6 hours before serving.
What’s just as good as make-ahead side dishes? Recipes that are quick and easy to throw together! These easy ham sides can be prepped ahead of time and baked before serving.
You have plenty of options for what goes with ham, as far as vegetables, bread, salads, and dessert. Consider how much you wish to prepare ahead of time and what kind of oven space you’ll have to cook the ham dinner side dishes.
Also, don’t forget the appetizers! Many of these appetizer recipes can also be made ahead of time or are freezer friendly.
What to serve with ham problem solved! Happy cooking and please leave me a comment below if you have any questions regarding timing or make ahead preparations.
Shanon says
I spent a great deal of time to locate something like this