The Best Vegetable Sides if You Don’t Like Vegetables

Some people just don’t like veggies. And those people? They are totally valid. But the unfortunate truth is that veggies, chock full of vitamins and fiber as they are, are very, very good for us adult human types. But don’t go choking down plain lettuce leaves or crying into a bowl of unprocessed kale just to get in your daily fiber. We have a list of six of the best vegetable sides if you don’t like vegetables and I guarantee there is at least one thing on this list (yes, besides the onion rings) that you will actively enjoy, vitamins, fiber, and all.

Trader Joe’s Lemony Arugula Basil Salad Kit

I thought I hated arugula and then I tried this salad. Turns out what I actually hated was bad salads. This salad kit is so good that the first time I bought it I accidentally ate it all in one sitting. It is that addictive. Editor-in-chief Justine Sterling described this salad, noting that “the dressing is very bright and zingy. The almonds are small so they cling to the lettuce, creating a lovely crunch. The carrots are shaved so it’s all the same consistency.” Not only that, it has a bit of shaved parmesan, too. Salad is one of the easiest and best vegetable sides, and this particular salad is one of the best salads. You gotta pick up a bag the next time you’re at TJ’s.

Related: 10 Trader Joe’s Salad Kits, Ranked from Substandard to Stupendous Salad

Green Giant Simply Steam Creamed Spinach Sauced

More people need to try creamed spinach. It truly is an excuse to eat buttery, cheesy goodness with a spoon, but with all the benefits of getting a bunch of spinach into your system. This is definitely one of the best sides if you don’t like vegetables because I promise you there is no detectable vegetable taste in this at all. Justine loved this Green Giant creamed spinach: “It’s creamy, it’s savory, and there’s actual spinach in there—real leaves with real bite to them.” It’s divine and I actually buy it regularly. Now go convert all your friends into spinach lovers!

Related: Best Frozen Creamed Spinach: Sidle Up to the 5 Best Frozen Creamed Spinach Brands

Ore-Ida Gourmet Onion Rings

I mean…onions are teeeeeechnically vegetables.

Related: Best Frozen Onion Rings: Set Aside the Fries and Try These 5 Frozen Onion Rings

Amy’s Organic Southwestern Fire-Roasted Vegetable Soup

Sometimes what you want as a side with your meal is soup, and this soup is hearty and full of great veggies that all taste like, as senior writer Jordan Myrick put it, “the best vegetable soup you ever tasted had a baby with a perfectly spiced tortilla soup.” In other words, this stuff tastes like delicious spices and soupy salty goodness, no icky veggie flavor in sight. This soup is one of the best vegetable sides you can get, or, as world-renowned broth connoisseur Adam Driver would say, “Good soup.”

Related: Best Vegetable Soup: Our Top 5 Are Warm, Cozy, and Full Of Veggies

Bob Evans Roasted Garlic & Herb Mashed Cauliflower

Looking for a mashed potato alternative that tastes like something other than watery vegetables? Well, then this mashed cauliflower is one of the best vegetable sides for you to try at your next meal. Why am I so sure that this will float your adult veggie-hating boat? Because managing editor Gwynedd Stuart literally called it “what you’d serve your kid if you wanted to trick them into eating more vegetables.” She even went as far as to call it “the best cauliflower mash for people who really just wish they were eating potatoes,” and noted how it’s “creamy, deliciously salty, and it comes in a microwaveable tray” for convenience. Can’t go wrong with this stuff; it’s definitely one of the best sides if you don’t like vegetables.

Related: Best Potato Alternatives: Mashes, Tots, and More

Lucky Foods Spicy Seoul Kimchi

Kimchi is delicious. If you are not a veggie person but you are a pickle person, you need to stop what you are doing right the heck now and try some kimchi. Its spicy, garlicky, umami, almost fizzy nature makes it one of the best and most refreshing sides out there. There’s a reason it is served as one of the many vegetable sides at Korean restaurants—it cuts through fatty and rich entrees like a dream and is also just generally fantastic, especially this brand, which we thought was the most fantastically bold and flavorful of all the kimchi brands we tried.

Related: Best Store-Bought Kimchi: Our 4 Fermented Favorites


About the Author

Jessica Block

Jessica Block is a freelance contributor to Sporked, a comedian, a baker, a food writer, and a firm believer that Trader Joe's may just be the happiest place on earth. She loves spicy snacks, Oreos, baking bread, teeny tiny avocados, and trying new foods whenever she can. Also, if you give her a bag of Takis she will be your best friend.

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