14 sides that get a second pan started before the first one makes it out of the kitchen

The sign of a truly good side is a second pan already on the stove before the first one hits the table. These 14 are those sides, the ones that showed up at enough potlucks and Sunday dinners that the recipes started making the rounds on their own.

Boursin Mashed Potatoes

Boursin cheese is the detail that makes these mashed potatoes worth writing down. The Yukon Golds are boiled and then worked together with unsalted butter, Boursin, and heavy whipping cream until everything is smooth and rich. Salt, black pepper, and chives or finely-chopped green onions finish the bowl. The whole thing takes 30 minutes and serves eight, which is exactly the kind of side a potluck table needs.

Get the recipe: Boursin Mashed Potatoes

Cheddar and Chive Mashed Potatoes

The russet potatoes here get boiled until tender, then mashed with unsalted butter, whole milk, and shredded sharp cheddar cheese, which gives the whole bowl a sharp, savory backbone that plain mashed potatoes never quite manage. Fresh chives, salt, and black pepper go in at the end. The recipe serves eight and takes 30 minutes from start to finish, making it one of the more reliable options when a big table needs feeding.

Get the recipe: Cheddar and Chive Mashed Potatoes

German Potato Salad

German Potato Salad is the warm, skillet-built version that has been getting passed around at cookouts for generations. Yukon Gold potatoes are boiled, then tossed while still warm in a dressing of bacon and apple cider vinegar, rounded out with white sugar and Dijon or stone mustard, all made in the same skillet where the bacon and onion were sauteed. Fresh parsley and chives go on at the end. The recipe serves six and is done in just under an hour.

Get the recipe: German Potato Salad

Honey Butter Skillet Cornbread

Honey Butter Skillet Cornbread starts with yellow cornmeal and all-purpose flour brought together with buttermilk, eggs, honey, and granulated sugar, then cooked in a skillet where the butter browns the bottom and edges as it bakes. The result is a tender crumb with a crisp, buttery crust that comes from starting and finishing in one pan. It serves eight and comes together in 35 minutes, which is part of why the recipe card gets handed out.

Get the recipe: Honey Butter Skillet Cornbread

Creamy Broccoli With Sun-Dried Tomatoes

Sun-dried tomatoes might seem like an unexpected addition to a broccoli side dish, but they pull their weight here. The broccoli florets cook in one skillet with Italian seasoning, paprika, and garlic powder before a quick cream sauce built from chicken stock and grated Parmesan comes together around them. Red pepper flakes add heat, and freshly-cracked black pepper finishes the dish. The whole thing is on the table in 25 minutes and serves 4.

Get the recipe: Creamy Broccoli With Sun-Dried Tomatoes

Buttery Whole Roasted Cauliflower

Few ingredients are needed here: one head of cauliflower, unsalted chicken stock, butter, grated Parmesan, dried thyme, salt, and pepper. The cauliflower simmers in the stock in a single skillet, then goes under the broiler to brown and crisp on the outside while the interior stays tender. Parmesan and dried thyme do most of the seasoning work. It serves four and is on the table in 30 minutes.

Get the recipe: Buttery Whole Roasted Cauliflower

Baked Sliced Zucchini

Zucchini rounds get tossed with olive oil, garlic powder, Italian seasoning, and Parmesan before they go into the oven, and a quick pass under the broiler at the end is what gives the edges their color. The method is straightforward and the ingredient list short: just the zucchini, the cheese, the oil, and a few pantry spices. It comes together in 20 minutes and feeds four, which explains why this recipe keeps showing up every summer when gardens are overrun.

Get the recipe: Baked Sliced Zucchini

Lemon Garlic Spinach

About 336 grams of fresh spinach goes into a pot with avocado oil and garlic, and three minutes of cooking is all it takes for the leaves to wilt down into a tender side. A teaspoon of lemon juice and a pinch of red pepper flakes go in at the finish. The total time from start to table is 10 minutes, which makes this a reasonable answer when dinner is nearly ready and the vegetable situation still needs solving.

Get the recipe: Lemon Garlic Spinach

Creamy Mushrooms and Bacon Skillet

Bacon goes into the skillet first, and once it has browned, the fat left behind becomes the base for cooking the white mushrooms in butter. Unsalted chicken stock, heavy whipping cream, Italian seasoning, garlic powder, thyme, and Parmesan build a sauce that clings to every mushroom in the pan. Fresh parsley and freshly-cracked pepper go on at the end. Four servings, one skillet, 30 minutes.

Get the recipe: Creamy Mushrooms and Bacon Skillet

Italian Orzo Pasta Salad

The orzo is boiled and then brought together with halved cherry tomatoes, cucumber, red bell pepper, red onion, Kalamata olives, and crumbled feta. The dressing is made from extra-virgin olive oil, red wine vinegar, Dijon mustard, and honey, which gives it a slight sweet-sharp balance. Fresh basil goes in before serving. The salad serves 6, and the full hour of time listed includes the rest that lets the flavors settle into the pasta.

Get the recipe: Italian Orzo Pasta Salad

Jiffy Corn Casserole

Kernel corn and creamed corn both go into this casserole, combined with sour cream, butter, eggs, and a box of Jiffy Corn Muffin Mix before the whole thing bakes for 50 minutes. Freshly-cracked pepper rounds out the ingredient list, keeping the flavor balanced rather than simply sweet. Jiffy Corn Casserole makes nine servings in 75 minutes, which explains why the recipe card keeps getting copied down at potlucks and Sunday dinners.

Get the recipe: Jiffy Corn Casserole

Roasted Maple Parmesan Carrots

The combination of maple-flavored syrup, cinnamon, and grated Parmesan on roasted carrots sounds like it shouldn’t work, but together they make something genuinely worth adding to the rotation. The carrots go onto a pan with avocado oil cooking spray, get coated in the maple-cinnamon mixture, and bake for 25 minutes until tender. Fresh parsley finishes the dish before it hits the table, and the whole process takes 35 minutes for six servings.

Get the recipe: Roasted Maple Parmesan Carrots

Parmesan Crusted Potatoes

A crust of grated Parmesan, panko bread crumbs, garlic powder, dried thyme, and dried oregano goes onto large russet potatoes before the whole pan heads into the oven. The crust browns during the 35-minute bake, giving each piece a golden, cheese-flecked exterior. With 15 minutes of prep and six servings at the end, Parmesan Crusted Potatoes fit as comfortably into a weeknight as they do on a holiday spread.

Get the recipe: Parmesan Crusted Potatoes

Bang Bang Cauliflower

Bang Bang Cauliflower goes into a 500-degree oven, and the heat is what gets the florets genuinely browned in an 18-minute cook. Before that, the cauliflower is tossed in a sauce built from Frank’s RedHot Sweet Chili Sauce, hot sauce, lime juice, and garlic powder. Grated Parmesan, fresh parsley, and a sprinkle of sesame seeds finish it off before serving. Four servings come together in 30 minutes.

Get the recipe: Bang Bang Cauliflower