Pizza and pizza sides don’t need to be unhealthy. When you make a homemade pizza, the ingredients you add make all of the difference. Pizza slices may be the main dish but it’s also crucial to limit calories that come on the side.
Thankfully, we’re here to help. Below we take you through 50 healthy sides for pizza.
DISCLOSURE: This post may contain affiliate links, meaning when you click the links and make a purchase, we receive a commission at no extra cost to you.
1). Bone-in Chicken Wings
Chicken wings are healthy side as long as the bone is in them. Most bone-in chicken wings that aren’t fried only have between 30 and 75 calories. Calories are lower because of the lack of bread crumbs.
It’s also worth noting that most buffalo sauces are less than 50 calories per tablespoon. Use an oven or air fryer to make baked chicken wings.
2). Zucchini Fries
Zucchini fries are a simple side dish. Instead of making potato fries, simply replace the potatoes with zucchini. Use an air fryer to further reduce the calories of the meal.
To take zucchini fries to the next level, add parmesan cheese and garlic powder.
3). French Fries
French fries are a staple of modern side dishes. However, the calories are high when you fry them. Instead, use more seasonings like garlic (over salt) and air fry the french fries.
To keep french fries as a healthy side dish, we also recommend using low-calorie dips.
4). Bell Peppers
Bell peppers are a flexible side dish. With bell peppers, it’s easy to stuff them, cook them, or eat the whole. To keep the side dish healthy, we advise against stuffing them.
On the other hand, if you have low-cal bread crumbs, stuffing them is delicious.
5). Caesar Salad
A little romaine lettuce, croutons, and parmesan cheese go a long way. Combine all of these ingredients with caesar dressing for a delicious green salad. You keep the meal low-cal, find a low-fat caesar dressing at your grocery store.
6). Asparagus Caesar Salad
While caesar salad is delicious with romaine lettuce, adding asparagus into the mix adds flavor. Adding asparagus to any caesar salad is easy. Simply add asparagus to your caesar salad recipe.
You can also use grilled asparagus to make a salad with asparagus as the base. Add olive oil, whole garlic cloves, and Italian herbs for more flavor.
7). Greek Salad
A Greek salad is another green salad. That said, the ingredients are different and include cheeses like feta cheese and goat cheese. It’s also wise to add rice and Greek yogurt.
If you prefer a more potent greek salad, add lemon juice and crushed red pepper.
8). Mozzarella Sticks
Mozzarella sticks don’t have to be unhealthy. Use low-calorie bread crumbs and air fry the mozzarella sticks. Furthermore, replace mozzarella cheese with a lower-calorie cheese like feta cheese.
All that said, if you don’t mind the calories we recommend frying them in oil.
9). Potato Salad
Potatoes are delicious, especially with some mayo, pepper, and red onion. All you need are baked potatoes and these ingredients to mix a potato salad. Find low-calorie ingredients at your local grocery store for the best results.
10). Garlic Bread
Garlic bread is a great side for pizza. You’ll need Italian bread, whole garlic cloves, and some parmesan cheese. The cheese makes it into garlic cheese bread.
Also, feel free to add other cheese like fresh mozzarella cheese, feta cheese, and cheddar cheese.
11). Sautéed Spinach
Spinach is a flexible ingredient but as a side cream spinach is a classic. Spinach is already low-cal, so make sure you use low-calorie ingredients for the cream. We recommend Greek yogurt or low-fat sour cream.
Also, you can use spinach in other side dishes. Plus, a little olive oil and garlic powder sautéed spinach will change your pizza night.
12). Jalapeño Poppers
Jalapeño poppers are made with jalapeños and bread crumbs. That said, you can reduce the calories by changing some ingredients. Use low-cal bread crumbs and don’t add olive oil.
To enjoy the poppers, cook them in an air fryer for 10-20 minutes. Keep some sour cream or Greek yogurt on the side for dipping.
13). Sweet Potatoes
Sweet potatoes are an easy side dish to make. Simply bake the sweet potatoes in the oven without adding things like olive oil. Then, cut them open, add butter, and enjoy!
Unfortunately, adding other ingredients like olive oil will add excess calories to the high-carbohydrate potatoes. Also, cutting them into small squares and dipping them in sour cream is delicious.
14). Tomato Sauce
Whether you want pasta or need marinara sauce, tomato sauce is a great side. Plus, you can incorporate it into your pizza recipe! Tomato sauce requires tomatoes, Italian herbs, pepper, and salt.
It’s also a good idea to add spinach, basil, and some other leafy greens to tomato sauce. You can even add roasted red peppers for spice.
15). Tater Tots
Like french fries, tater tots are a staple side dish. Making them requires potatoes and an air fryer. Coat the potato pieces in egg whites and air fry them for 10-20 minutes.
We recommend making these from scratch. Frozen tater tots are not as good as homemade tots.
16). Seasonal Fruits
Seasonal fruits make for the best side dish. Depending on the season you can enjoy pineapple, apple slices, oranges, and more. Also, try adding freshly squeezed lemon juice to your pizza recipe!
Furthermore, don’t be afraid to combine many seasonal fruits into a salad. Fruit salads are healthy, fun, and easy to make.
17). Garlic Knots
Can you have a Friday night pizza party without garlic knots? On the bright side, all you need is the extra dough from your pizza and Italian herbs to make them. Bake them in the oven after your pizza.
18). Red Pepper
Red pepper is useful for so many dishes. Red peppers can be eaten whole or you can add them to a side dish. We even recommend adding red pepper to your pizza on your next pizza night.
That said, roasted red peppers are also delicious on their own. Use olive oil, black pepper, and other ingredients to enhance the flavor.
19). Caprese Salad
Caprese salad is one of the best side salads around. It has more flare than a caesar salad and fewer calories too. The ingredients call for Italian herbs, basil, olive oil, leafy greens, and mozzarella cheese.
Feel free to get creative and add crushed red pepper for spice.
20). Spinach Salad
Spinach is another leafy green you can make a salad with. Spinach is low in calories and high in protein, which makes it a filling side dish. Feel free to use spinach as the base and add ingredients from a traditional salad.
Don’t be afraid to add other types of leafy greens like romaine lettuce to a spinach salad for more volume.
21). Cucumber Salad
Like spinach salad, cucumber salad is another type of side salad. Cucumber salad is low-cal and only requires cucumbers and some other ingredients. Feel free to add red onion, carrots, and feta cheese for extra flavor.
Some cucumber salads can even be sweet. Some recipes will call for sugar and onion.
22). Antipasto Salad
Antipasto salad is a type of pasta salad. It includes balsamic vinegar, Italian herbs, red onions, and much more. It’s also a good idea to add mozzarella cheese or feta cheese.
Don’t be afraid to add leafy greens, spinach, and other vegetables to an antipasto salad.
23). Greek Yogurt
Greek yogurt is one of the most customizable ingredients around. Plus, the low-fat option makes it a healthy addiction to most meals. Many people will use Greek yogurt to make things like sour cream.
Greek yogurt is also great for making other types of dip. Adding basil and other ingredients will make everyone happy on your next pizza night.
24). Spinach Artichoke Dip
Spinach artichoke dip is a simple dish that’s easy to make. All you need is spinach, artichoke, sour cream, whole garlic cloves, and tortilla chips. Leave the chips out but mix and bake the rest in an oven.
25). Green Beans
Green beans are an easy low-calorie side dish. You can make them with salt, pepper, whole garlic cloves, and onion powder. Green beans should be cooked in a pot on the stove with garlic and butter for the best taste.
26). Onion Rings
Onion rings don’t have to be fried and unhealthy. Instead, use low-calorie bread crumbs and cook the onion rings in an air fryer. Without the oil onion, rings will still make your taste buds happy.
27). Brussel Sprouts
When cooked properly, Brussels sprouts can surpass any dish, even the main course. To make the best Brussels sprouts use an air fryer to cook them. Then, top them with Italian herbs, garlic, and crushed red pepper.
28). Crunchy Wedge Salad
Salads make for the best healthy side dishes. A Crunchy wedge salad is made with iceberg lettuce and you can customize it to your liking. Many chefs make it into culinary art, which makes crunchy wedge salad a crowd-pleaser.
29). Big Italian Salad
Another great salad is a traditional Italian salad. In this salad, you’ll need crisp lettuce, black olives, red onions, croutons, and ripe tomatoes. Feel free to get creative with low-calorie dressings.
30). Boneless Chicken Wings
Boneless chicken wings aren’t as healthy as regular, bone-in wings but that doesn’t make them unhealthy. Boneless chicken wings with low-calorie buffalo sauce or Frank’s Red hot are excellent. It’s easy to make boneless wings with chicken nuggets.
31). Carrots and ranch
Carrots and ranch are a great side dish for pizza night. Carrots are low in calories and there are plenty of low-fat ranch options. Celery and other low-calorie vegetables pair well with this dish.
32). Celery and ranch
Celery and ranch are similar to carrots and ranch. Celery is even more low-calorie than carrots because they’re mostly made of water. You can also pair celery with blue cheese and other dressings.
Celery also goes well with buffalo sauce and as a side dish for chicken wings.
33). Nachos
Low-calorie nachos are possible and easy to make with a pizza oven. Choose low-calorie chips, and low-fat cheese, and use Greek yogurt instead of sour cream. Also, feel free to add lean meats like chicken or pork for extra flavor.
34). Baked beans
Beans are a simple side dish that’s easy to make. All you need is a can of baked beans and bacon from your local grocery store and a pot. To add more flavor, add crushed red pepper, black pepper, and some salt.
35). Charcuterie board
Charcuterie boards are more of an appetizer but they work well as a side too. What makes this side great is how flexible it is. You can use cheese, pepperoni, peppers, fresh mozzarella, and crackers.
Plus, it doesn’t have to be crackers and cheese. You can use bread, olive oil, butter, and plenty of other ingredients. How it comes out is truly up to you.
36). Potato chips
Potato chips are a snack and a side. Placing your favorite chips on a dish along with pizza is perfect for game night. You can also make yours into chips.
To make your chips, you’ll need thin slices of potatoes, salt, and olive oil. We recommend air frying the potato chips to reduce calories.
37). Pretzels
Pretzels are like potato chips – they go well with anything. While pretzels are available at the store, you can also make them yourself. In fact, you can use some of that leftover pizza dough from pizza night.
You’ll also need salt and some other ingredients. It’s also possible to make soft and hard pretzels.
38). Pinwheels
Pinwheels are a great way to make use of extra pizza dough from pizza night. These are shaped like wheels and layered with cheese, meat, and sometimes vegetables. Feel free to use spinach, asparagus, pepperoni, chicken, ham, and more.
39). Calzones
Calzones are similar to pinwheels but they’re stuffed instead. Inside a calzone, you’ll usually find mozzarella cheese, feta cheese, and parmesan cheese. Some calzones also include meat.
To have calzones as a healthy side dish, use low-fat dough and low-fat cheese.
40). Chicken rolls
Chicken rolls are another side dish you can make with leftover pizza dough. A chicken roll is a dough, cheese, and chicken. You can also add other ingredients like spinach.
To keep chicken rolls healthy, use the low-fat dough. We recommend pairing chicken rolls with marinara sauce.
41). Broccoli
Broccoli is one of the best vegetables to use as a side dish. What makes broccoli special is that it’s a fresh vegetable that pairs with anything. Add some cheese sauce or a spreadable paste and broccoli becomes a crowd-pleaser.
42). Cauliflower
Like broccoli, cauliflower is a great side dish. What makes cauliflower unique is that it has fewer calories and flavor than broccoli. Therefore, you can add almost anything you need.
One of our favorite recipes is to coat cauliflower in breadcrumbs and then air fry them.
43). Pasta
Pasta is a classic Italian side dish for pizza. You can make pasta in many ways but it’s often best with parmesan cheese and tomato sauce. Feel free to buy sauce from the grocery store or make your own.
44). Veggie Chips
Veggie chips are a flexible side dish for pizza night. Like potato chips, you can make many types of vegetables into crisps. Some examples include spinach, celery, and zucchini.
Keep in mind that it’s best to have a dehydrator to make this side dish.
45). Macaroni and Cheese
Macaroni and cheese have always been a hit. It’s a staple side dish that’s easy to make. Feel free to use as many types of cheese as you want. Just mix the pasta with parmesan cheese, feta cheese, mozzarella cheese, and even cheddar cheese.
46). Chips and Queso
Chips and queso is a great pizza side and one of our new favorites. For the chips, all you need are tortilla chips. From there, make the queso with your favorite cheeses and spices.
Adding cherry tomatoes, red pepper, and other Italian herbs to chips and queso will enhance the flavor.
47). Chips and Guacamole
Chips and guacamole as a pizza side is the same concept as chips and queso. There are different flavors of guacamole you can make, so it’s a great addition to pizza night. You can even use it next time without repetitive flavor.
48). Kani Salad
A Kani salad is an excellent side salad. Typically found in sushi restaurants, Kani salad consists of crab meat, cucumber, spicy mayo, bread crumbs, and soy sauce. Feel free to add other types of fish or leafy greens to the kani salad.
49). Fruit Salad
Fruit salad is similar to having fresh fruit on the side of pizza. However, fruit salad is a combination of fresh fruit in a bowl with other ingredients. There are tons of variations you can choose from and it makes a great appetizer.
50). Sandwiches
Sandwiches are a great pizza side dish. While it’s a hearty side, there’s nothing like a chicken parmesan hero next to a slice of pizza. Plus, sandwiches can even be the main course depending on the ingredients.
Feel free to use any meat like turkey, or chicken, and top it off with romaine lettuce.
Need more ideas for or help with your pizza party? Check out some of our other articles:
- Ideas on What You Can Cook in a Pizza Oven
- Best Appetizers & Sides for Your Pizza Party
- Easy Outdoor Pizza Oven Dough Recipe
As someone from Long Island, New York, Thomas knows what it takes to make a good pizza. He understands that it’s a combination of high-quality ingredients, well-rounded pizza ovens, and a little bit of love. From the dough of a Neapolitan-style pizza to the wood that powers a wood-fired pizza oven, he has you covered. Thomas’ love of pizza is what got him here and he hopes that you’ll enjoy pizza as much as he does soon.
