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Culinary Arts & Cooking vocabulary · Menus & Courses

Side dish

Meaning in culinary arts & cooking, with examples

/ˈsaɪd dɪʃ/nounCore term

In culinary arts & cooking, side dish means: A smaller dish, such as vegetables, salad, rice or potatoes, served alongside the main course. Often shortened to side.

In Turkish: garnitür, yan yemek, yan tabak

How it is used

Menus list sides separately: "Sides: fries, green salad, seasonal greens." Guests order a side of something, and servers ask "Any sides with that?" In the kitchen, sides are often made on the garnish or veg station.

Example sentences

  1. The steak comes with one side dish of your choice.

  2. We're out of mash, so offer roast potatoes as the side dish.

Common collocations

  • a side of
  • side salad
  • choice of side dish
  • sides to share
  • main courseThe largest and most important dish of a meal, usually served after the starter and before dessert. Often shortened to main.
  • garnishA small item of food, such as herbs, a slice of lemon or a sauce dot, added to a dish to make it look and taste better. As a verb, to garnish means to add this.
  • menuThe list of dishes a restaurant offers, with their descriptions and usually their prices; also the planned set of dishes for a meal or event.
  • starterA small dish served as the first course of a meal, before the main course. Appetizer is the usual American word.

More terms: Menus & Courses

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