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Home » Recipes » Main Dishes

What to Serve with Mashed Potatoes – 19 Delicious Recipes

Published: Apr 7, 2022 · Modified: Mar 8, 2023 by Ginny · This post may contain affiliate links.

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Mashed potatoes are such a classic comfort food, but they don’t always have to be served on their own! Here are some ideas to pair with your next batch of mashed potatoes. These recipes are my favorites when I need to figure out what to serve with mashed potatoes. They will elevate your side dish and please even the pickiest of eaters!

nine photos of meats that work wonderfully with mashed potatoes.
What Goes With Mashed Potatoes?
Contents hide
1 Why You’ll Love These
2 🐮 Beef
2.1 Smoked Chuck Roast
2.2 Instant Pot Beef Short Ribs
2.3 Poor Man’s Burnt Ends
2.4 Veal Osso Buco
2.5 Chicken Fried Steak
2.6 Beef Bourguignon
3 🐔 Poultry
3.1 Lemon Herb Turkey Legs
3.2 Ninja Foodi Grilled Chicken Breast
3.3 Garlic Butter Chicken
3.4 Air Fryer Cornish Hen
3.5 Bruschetta Chicken
3.6 Air Fryer Turkey Breast
3.7 Dutch Oven Chicken Breast & Veggies
4 🐷 Pork and Lamb
4.1 Air Fryer Pork Tenderloin
4.2 Air Fryer Rack of Lamb
4.3 Sriracha Honey Garlic Pork Chops
5 🦞 Seafood
5.1 Restaurant Style Pan Seared Salmon
5.2 Fried Salmon Patties
5.3 Grilled Red Snapper
6 Summary
6.1 Related Articles

Although mashed potatoes are great on their own, they make a delicious side dish for a variety of other meals. It’s no wonder they’re one of America’s favorite comfort foods.

Whether you just finished a big Thanksgiving meal or have had a long day at work, serving these with any of these meals will help you warm up and feel cozy inside.

Whether you are cooking them mashed, smashed, roasted, air fried or stuffed, you’ll want to find main course that works well with the potatoes.

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Why You’ll Love These

Meal Prep Friendly | Most of the recipes are meal prep friendly and fit great into your weekly meal planning when you go grocery shopping.

Variety | There are air fried, instant pot, grilled and stove top recipes to go with your spuds.

Opportunities to Try New Dishes | Keep the mashed spuds while trying out how they taste next to Instant Pot Brisket or Instant Pot Ribs is always a fun part of experimenting with recipes.

🐮 Beef

Smoked Chuck Roast

Smoked Chuck Roast wrapped in butchers twine on the grill with smoke.
Smoked Chuck Roast @kitchenlaughter.com

Smoking chuck roast is super simple and produces the most tender and juicy meat. Transform it into a sandwich, serve alongside potatoes, or make with some roasted veggies. This roast is freezer friendly, delicious, and filled with smoky flavors.

You don’t need to spend a lot of money to get a fall-apart delicious meat. The low-and-slow smoking approach will do the trick!

Instant Pot Beef Short Ribs

bowl with beef short ribs an rosemary with gravy over creamy mashed potatoes.
Beef Short Ribs @anediblemosaic.com

Beef Short Ribs made in the Instant Pot are fall-off-the-bone-tender, packed with flavor, and easy to make with only 20 minutes of hands-on prep time! Serve them with mashed potatoes for a cozy, delicious meal.

Poor Man’s Burnt Ends

disposable aluminum pan with poor man's burnt ends in a light BBQ sauce on the grill.
Poor Man’s Burnt Ends @kitchenlaughter.com

The secret ingredient to these Poor Man’s burnt ends is starting with a chuck roast. Using an inexpensive cut of meat like chuck roast is easier on the pocketbook, but you still end up with an incredible dinner. It’s a great combination of sweet and tangy too.

Nothing goes better with mashed potatoes than a tender meat dish with a light gravy or BBQ sauce. Give this a shot!

Veal Osso Buco

top down view of white plate covered in a veal osso buco with carrots and a creamy sauce.
Hearty and Delicious Osso Buco @tasteandsee.com

Veal Osso Buco is one of our favorite meals of all time! This Italian classic is braised veal shanks in a hearty wine and vegetable-based sauce. It is saucy and rich and the meat is fall-apart tender. It’s served with a zesty mixture of parsley, lemon zest, and garlic (known as gremolata in Italian) that finishes this dish off perfectly.

Even just looking at this picture, it is screaming for a nice bowl of creamy mashed potatoes, right?

Chicken Fried Steak

top down view of a decorative pan with chicken fried steak in it covered in gravy.
Chicken Fried Steak @quichemygrits.com

Chicken Fried Steak is the ultimate savory comfort food! It goes perfectly with mashed potatoes to make a southern comfort meal! If you love traditional home cooking, you really need to try this chicken fried steak recipe. Gather the family and enjoy this tasty meal idea.

I always save some of the leftover gravy to add to the potatoes!

Beef Bourguignon

beef bourguignon in a red dutch oven with potatoes, mushrooms and onions.
Beef Bourguignon @cookingorgeous.com

Beef Bourguignon is a hearty stew made with a red wine marinade, beef, veggies, and seasonings. Add a spoonful of stew on top of a bed of fluffy mashed potatoes and you’ll have an amazing dinner. This dish is easy to customize and makes an easy dinner.

The red wine sauce is so good, you’ll really be tempted to add some to your mashed potatoes – and you TOTALLY should!

🐔 Poultry

Lemon Herb Turkey Legs

fresh slice of lemon on top of the turkey leg on a cutting board.
Slow Cooker Lemon Pepper Turkey Legs

Sink your teeth into these juicy Lemon Herb Turkey Legs. This is a main dish that will go amazing with mashed potatoes. The tender turkey is seasoned perfectly to give you lots of flavor. The white wine elevates the turkey legs even more.

It’s made in the slow cooker and uses just three ingredients, making it a super easy hands-off recipe that will be a huge hit.

Ninja Foodi Grilled Chicken Breast

air fryer chicken breast in a salad bowl with white cloth.
Air Fryer Chicken Breast @apaigeofpositivity.com

If you’re looking for the most tender and juicy grilled chicken, you’re in the right place. This Ninja Foodi Grilled Chicken Breast Recipe is SO flavorful, you’ll wonder how you lived without it! Making homemade mashed potatoes to go with it, completes the meal.

Garlic Butter Chicken

chicken breast in the pan with a garlic butter topping.
Garlic Butter Chicken Breast @servedfromscratch.com

Treat your family to some pure comfort food with this Garlic Butter Chicken. It’s sure to become a new family favorite dish and it comes together easily in 15 minutes. It’s full of flavor, and is the perfect protein to add to any meal! Serve with a heaping scoop of mashed potatoes and you can’t go wrong.

Keep the extra drippings for the mashed potatoes! It makes a phenomenal gravy, filled with garlic and butter!

Air Fryer Cornish Hen

two cornish hens in the air fryer.
Juicy and Crispy Skin on These Cornish Hens

Buttery, tender, and oh so juicy cornish hens are exactly what you need for dinner. Made quickly and easily customized, this is a recipe you need to save. It can be cooked in your Instant Pot Duo Crisp or Ninja Foodi.

I love this one as I can fit two hens in the air fryer at once, making it easy to get dinner on the table without having to cook in shifts.

Bruschetta Chicken

plate with a seasoned piece of chicken and covered in chopped tomatoes and red onion.
Bruschetta Chicken @findingzest.com

With only eight ingredients and easy preparation, this Parmesan Crusted Bruschetta Chicken recipe with mayonnaise can be on your table in just 35 minutes. Try it tonight!

Air Fryer Turkey Breast

top down view of a plate of air fryer turkey breast, sliced and drizzled with gravy.
Air Fryer Turkey Breast for a Fun and Fast Dinner!

A turkey breast should be moist and tender, with a golden-brown skin that crackles when you bite into it. That’s exactly what you get with this air fryer turkey breast! Since an air fryer uses very little oil and works quickly, it’s the perfect cooking appliance to use when you want to prepare turkey breasts at home without having to spend hours in the kitchen over a hot stove.

A nice starch like mashed potatoes works so well with the turkey!

Dutch Oven Chicken Breast & Veggies

top down view of a dutch oven filled with chicken breasts and veggies like carrots and mushrooms.
Dutch Oven Chicken Breast and Veggies @theoregondietician.com

Here’s an easy recipe that will have you dancing around the kitchen. This dutch oven chicken breast recipe is juicy, simple, and creamy, too! Grab some boneless chicken breast and make this one-pot dinner!

Make sure to mix some of it in with your potatoes. The creamy goodness works perfectly with them!

🐷 Pork and Lamb

Air Fryer Pork Tenderloin

whole pork tenderloin cut into slices and wrapped in bacon.
Straight From the Air Fryer, This 30 Minute Meal is Great for Busy Nights!

You’ll be amazed you can make this air fryer pork tenderloin in just 30 minutes. Oh, and it’s wrapped in bacon to provide you with one of the most delicious recipes ever! Feel free to meal prep this tenderloin and enjoy it for multiple meals.

I usually make a double batch of mashed potatoes as they work so well with this tasty recipe.

Air Fryer Rack of Lamb

several pieces of lamb made in the air fryer on a white plate with a mint topping.
Air Fryer Rack of Lamb @jamjarkitchen.com

This succulent and crazy delicious Air Fryer Rack of Lamb is a game changer! Make tender, medium rare lamb chops that melt in your mouth in less than 25 minutes! Impress your friends and family with this fancy meal idea.

Sriracha Honey Garlic Pork Chops

Slow Cooker Pork Chops @xoxobella.com

If you love pork, you are going to go wild for these honey sriracha pork chops. Every bite will give a taste of sweet heat that is incredible. Sriracha paired with honey coats these seared pork chops beautifully.

If you don’t have sriracha in the pantry, check to see if you have any of the substitutes that work equally well.

🦞 Seafood

Restaurant Style Pan Seared Salmon

salmon fillet seared in a pan and served with rice.
Tasty Pan Seared Salmon @bakemesomesugar

Salmon is one of the best main dishes because it can be served as a low key dinner or it can be fancy. Either way, this flaky salmon is easy and tastes as delicious as what you can get at a classy restaurant.

Fried Salmon Patties

pan fried salmon patties on a white plate with lemon slices.
Pan Fried Salmon Patties @aweekendcook.com

Southern Fried Salmon Patties are made with canned salmon. This recipe is super easy and a great pantry staples meal to have on hand for those emergency dinners.

These just scream for a nice whipped dollop of mashed potatoes with melted butter!

Grilled Red Snapper

fillets of red snapper with sear marks from the grill.
Grilled Red Snapper @kitchenlaughter.com

I try to serve a bit of a lighter meal periodically, and this grilled red snapper is one of my favorites. It is easy to whip up, but I will usually serve it with fresh vegetables and a bit of mashed potatoes. The lemon garlic butter on the fish mixes really well with the potatoes.

If you are counting carbs, swap it out with mashed rutabaga. It is just as easy to make, but offers a ton of flavor!

Summary

Whether you are mashing or smashing, keeping the skins on or off, or using white or red potatoes, there are several filling comfort foods that work perfect with a nice big serving of mashed potatoes!

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Ginny
Ginny

Hi!

Ginny Collins is a passionate foodie and recipe creator of Savor and Savvy and Kitchenlaughter. Indoors she focuses on easy, quick recipes for busy families and kitchen basics. Outdoors, she focuses on backyard grilling and smoking to bring family and friends together. She is a lifelong learner who is always taking cooking classes on her travels overseas and stateside. Her work has been featured on MSN, Parade, Fox News, Yahoo, Cosmopolitan, Elle, and many local news outlets. She lives in Florida where you will find her outside on the water in her kayak, riding her bike on trails, and planning her next overseas adventure.

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What to Serve with Mashed Potatoes - 19 Delicious RecipesWhat to Serve with Mashed Potatoes - 19 Delicious RecipesWhat to Serve with Mashed Potatoes - 19 Delicious Recipes
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About Ginny

Hi!

Ginny Collins is a passionate foodie and recipe creator of Savor and Savvy and Kitchenlaughter. Indoors she focuses on easy, quick recipes for busy families and kitchen basics. Outdoors, she focuses on backyard grilling and smoking to bring family and friends together. She is a lifelong learner who is always taking cooking classes on her travels overseas and stateside. Her work has been featured on MSN, Parade, Fox News, Yahoo, Cosmopolitan, Elle, and many local news outlets. She lives in Florida where you will find her outside on the water in her kayak, riding her bike on trails, and planning her next overseas adventure.

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Family Photo Hi! I'm Ginny and for over 30 years, I've been creating simple and easy recipes without sacrificing on taste for our family on the go. I can't wait to show you how to do the same for your family. Read More...

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