One of the most popular side dishes for osso buco is mashed potatoes. It’s hearty and filling, and is perfect when you’re having a big meal. For those who like a more delicate side dish, you can opt for roasted asparagus.
Osso buco is one of the most popular Italian dishes. And who can blame them? It’s mouthwateringly tender veal shanks that are cooked slowly and beautifully to create a rich, savory broth.
Plus, osso buco pairs really well with all sorts of side dishes. From veggies to salads, there are so many different ways you can prepare this deliciously flavorful dish.
But what about what to serve with osso buco? Well, I’m happy to say that today we’re bringing you a list of side dishes that will make your guests swoon.
Whether you’re cooking for yourself, or inviting your family over for a cozy dinner, these delicious sides are perfect for any occasion.
Keep scrolling to discover some of the best side dishes to serve with osso buco.
Read Also: Osso Buco Wine Pairing – The Best Wines for Osso Buco
Why Consider Serving Side Dishes for Osso Buco?
In addition to being easy to prepare, osso buco is very versatile and can be served in many different ways.
For starters, it can be cooked in a variety of stews.
As such, side dishes are important because they provide a lot of variety when it comes to the flavor and texture of the meal.
For example, you could pair osso buco with a spicy tomato sauce for a bit of heat or try a cream of mushroom soup.
While there are endless possibilities for osso buco dishes, the accompanying side dishes should be selected with care.
The key is to choose side dishes that complement the dish.
This will ensure that the meal is as tasty as possible.
How to Choose the Right Side Dish to Serve With Osso Buco
When you’re having an Italian feast, I can’t imagine a better way to start or finish the meal than with osso buco. It’s rich, flavorful and delicious, but it can be very intimidating to make because of the many layers and ingredients.
I’m going to show you how to choose the right side dish to serve with osso buco so that you don’t have to worry about it being perfect.
Consider Your Guests
Consider how you want your guests to experience your meal. Is it a sophisticated affair? Do you want to wow your guests? If so, choose a side dish that can stand up to a hearty main course. Something like asparagus, broccoli, or artichokes is a great match for osso buco.
Consider The Flavors
Sometimes, a good side dish is just a side dish—it needs nothing else. That’s just not the case for many of our favorite side dishes. When you’re choosing sides, think about what kind of flavors and textures you want to highlight.
We love a big, hearty side that can stand on its own. When choosing a side, consider your guests’ tastes and consider serving a variety of vegetables and cheeses.
Choose Your Vegetables Wisely
Steer clear of veggies that are high in sodium. You’ll find them on the nutrition labels of canned or frozen vegetables. Look for fresh vegetables that are low in salt. For example, spinach, broccoli, or zucchini are good choices.
Get Creative
Try a simple salad instead of plain steamed or boiled vegetables. Add chopped fresh herbs, toasted nuts, or grated cheese for an extra dose of flavor and texture.
What to Serve with Osso Buco: 13 Best Sides
I don’t know what else to say but I love osso buco and have been making it for years.
It’s a hearty, filling and delicious dish, perfect for a cozy winter night. But I have found that many people aren’t aware of what to serve alongside it.
So if you want to do osso buco for your meal, here are some sides to serve with it:
1. Grilled Vegetables
It really doesn’t get much simpler than grilled vegetables. A good selection of vegetables, such as peppers, onions, and mushrooms, along with a little olive oil, salt, and pepper, will give you a tasty side dish that’s sure to provide a welcome change from bread.
3 Tips for Serving Grilled Vegetables with Osso Buco
Make Sure to Season the Vegetables: Before you begin grilling any vegetables, be sure to give them a good seasoning. This is important to make sure that they stay tender and juicy. A good seasoning will allow the vegetables to last longer on the grill.
Keep the Vegetables at a Moderate Heat: You don’t want your vegetables to be too hot, or else they will lose their texture and flavor. You should also avoid grilling them at too low of a temperature. This can actually cause the vegetables to burn or become tough and chewy.
Use A Metal Grid: While you grill your vegetables, make sure to use a metal grid instead of just a grill pan of some sort. This will allow the vegetables to cook evenly and evenly.
2. Mashed Potatoes
Mashed potatoes with gravy are a perfect accompaniment to osso buco or any other dish that would benefit from a rich sauce. You don’t need to go overboard with the gravy though, as it can be overwhelming in quantity.
3 Tips for Serving Grilled Vegetables with Osso Buco
Don’t overcook the potatoes: Mashed potatoes are meant to be tender, so the key to great mashed potatoes is not to overcook them. The best mashed potatoes are tender and cooked like a sponge. You’ll know they’re done when the potatoes start to break apart easily and look dry.
Serve with Gravy: If you’re having Osso Buco, you’ll want to serve it with a rich gravy such as a mushroom gravy. This is a traditional gravy that contains onions, butter, and cream.
Serve with Garlic: A garlic sauce is another option, which is made by blending garlic, oil, and butter. This makes it great for a creamy garlic sauce.
We highly recommend to our guests to try all of these entree options at our restaurant so that they can have a truly wonderful dining experience.
3. Risotto
Risotto is basically a rice dish, but with a thick creamy sauce, and that’s exactly what you get here. It’s a really quick and easy option, and you can really add as much or as little as you like (I always add a little extra stock, even in the winter!).
Risotto is a good option to serve with osso buco, as it really brings a rich, creamy flavour to the table. It’s really handy to have a small stock pot on standby, so you can keep adding stock or reduce it as you go along.
3 Tips for Serving Risotto with Osso Buco
Use a Medium Heat: A medium heat is your best option when cooking risotto. This will allow your risotto to slowly cook so that it will be rich and creamy. Do not use a very low flame or a high heat.
Add Wine at the End: When serving risotto, be sure to include wine for the main course. Adding wine at the end of the cooking process will bring additional richness to the risotto.
Make a Risotto with Vegetables: Risotto is an excellent way to use up leftover vegetables that may be in season. It is a type of pasta that is creamy and delicious with just a few simple ingredients.
For example, you can saute some onions, add some garlic, and then add the rice. This is all that’s needed to create a creamy risotto. It’s a great way to add flavor to vegetables without having to use any of the more complex spices or herbs.
4. Fruit Salad
Fruit salad is another super quick, easy, and healthy option to serve with osso buco. You can add in all kinds of seasonal fruits, like apples, oranges, bananas, pears, and apricots. You can even add in a handful of nuts or a slice of cheese.
3 Tips for Serving Fruit Salad with Osso Buco
Serve It as a First Course: If you’re serving fruit salad as an accompaniment to your main course, consider serving the fruit salad as the first course instead of the dessert. This means that your guests will be able to savor the fruit salad for a longer period of time.
Use More Desserts: Desserts are often served after meals as a treat for guests. While fruit salads are always a great option, consider pairing it with a dessert that’s a bit more substantial. Our guests often come in and ask for a bowl of fruit salad. However, if you’re serving it as the main course, it can come across as a bit too light for them. We often suggest pairing it with a slice of our homemade banana bread.
Add a Bit of Honey or Maple Syrup: When serving fruit salads, it’s important to add a bit of honey or maple syrup to them to help them to be more palatable. This gives it a bit of sweetness that can help to balance out the fresh fruit that you have.
5. Roasted Asparagus
Roasted asparagus is a great option for serving alongside osso buco in my opinion. It’s a classic combination of flavours, and it’s super easy to make. Just boil some asparagus spears, drain quickly, and sprinkle with some salt and pepper.
Roast in the oven at around 180°C for around 10 min or so, until they start to colour. Serve hot, with some Parmesan cheese and a glass of extra virgin olive oil drizzled over.
3 Tips for Serving Roasted Asparagus with Osso Buco
Keep Asparagus Fresh: You want to make sure that you serve the asparagus straight from the refrigerator. Asparagus can quickly lose their freshness when put in the refrigerator. The colder it is, the more you should buy.
Trim the Asparagus: Be sure to trim the bottoms of the asparagus so that it is the same height as the roasting tray. This will make sure that the asparagus doesn’t burn.
Roast the Asparagus Right: Roasting the asparagus is a great way to bring out more flavor in the vegetable. Simply toss it in olive oil and then put it in a 350 degree oven for approximately 20 minutes. When they are done, serve them with a little bit of salt and pepper.
6. Sautéed Spinach
There’s nothing like a simple sautéed spinach dish to brighten up a winter evening. Whether you cook it in a pan with garlic or use a wok, it’s the perfect accompaniment to osso buco.
I like to use baby spinach as it tends to go a little darker in colour after cooking. You can also stir in some chopped red chilli if you want it to be extra spicy. Serve with a glass of extra virgin olive oil and parmesan cheese.
3 Tips for Serving Sautéed Spinach with Osso Buco
Use a Medium Heat: When cooking your spinach, make sure that your heat is moderate. If you cook your spinach in very high heat, you will lose nutrients and vitamin K.
Use a Steamer: To ensure that you don’t lose too much vitamin K, there are steamer baskets that you can use to steam your spinach. This will allow you to cook your spinach without losing your nutrients and vitamin K.
Add Some Garlic: Whenever you’re cooking your spinach, you can add some garlic. Make sure that you only add a little bit of garlic since garlic is very powerful.
7. Panzanella Salad
Panzanella salad is a popular Italian dish made with tomato, basil, and mozzarella.
It’s a good option if you’re looking for something light to serve alongside osso buco. I know that it sounds quite unusual, but it’s really tasty!
2 Tips for Serving Panzanella Salad with Osso Buco
Prepare Panzanella Salad Ahead of Time: Panzanella salad is actually a great side to serve alongside osso buco. However, it is important to make panzanella at least 3 days ahead of serving it so that the flavors can really develop. It is best to combine the bread cubes and dressing for the panzanella salad on the day that you want to serve it so that it can develop its flavors together.
Serve Panzanella Salad Warm: Panzanella is best served warm so that it won’t get soggy. If you are going to make panzanella ahead of time, you can warm it up once it’s ready. Place the whole panzanella in a bowl and set it in the microwave for about 30 seconds. This should warm the panzanella up nicely.
8. Baked Potato
Potatoes have a lot of flavour and absorb the sauce of osso buco very well. They’re also a great option to go with a meal that’s packed full of rich and fatty ingredients, like this particular dish.
You can serve them on their own, but they also work well with a side of vegetables like broccoli, carrots, and asparagus.
3 Tips for Serving Baked Potatoes with Osso Buco
Use Potato Chips To Garnish: If you’re serving baked potatoes along with Osso Buco, you can use potato chips to garnish. This will add a little variety to your meal and will serve as an excellent appetizer for guests. You can use the chips that you purchase from the store or you can make your own.
Remove the Skin: While there are many recipes that call for the skin to be left on the baked potato, for most of our customers, the skin was removed early on in the cooking process.
It was removed using a potato peeler, and this was done after the potato was pierced with a fork to allow the steam to escape.
Add Sour Cream and Salt to Potatoes Once Cold: Once the baked potato has been removed from the oven, it is typically placed atop a baking sheet or dish.
At this point, a little bit of salt and sour cream is typically added to the potato.
9. Your Favorite Salad
I like to serve something simple like a simple leafy salad when I’m eating osso buco. There’s something really satisfying about eating a big piece of meat and having it paired with a bowl of perfectly fresh salad.
It’s a great way to enjoy the tender meat and to save room for a side dish, and it’s also surprisingly easy to make.
You can use any salad you like, but I like to make my own. I like to mix fresh herbs, crunchy vegetables, and a splash of balsamic vinegar to create a simple, zingy, and fresh salad.
2 Tips for Serving a Salad with Osso Buco
Add A Warm Dressing: If you want to make your salad dressing more substantial, then add a warm dressing. This way, the salad becomes more like a light meal.
Do Not Overdress: When you are making the salad, remember to stay away from adding too much dressing. One way to tell if the salad is dressed enough is to feel. If it is the consistency of a thin sauce, then it is not dressed far enough.
10. Polenta
Polenta is a savoury, corn based pasta, which is usually served as a side dish. It’s made from cornmeal and water, and a polenta topped with a creamy cheese sauce is a wonderful combination with osso buco.
Serve it with some freshly cooked vegetables, a sprinkle of Parmesan cheese, and a drizzle of balsamic vinegar.
3 Tips for Serving Polenta with Osso Buco
Do Not Over Cook Polenta: Polenta can be a delicious side dish for osso buco, but it must be cooked properly. If you cook it too long, it will turn into a mush. Start polenta off by cooking it at a low temperature. When it comes to serving it as a side dish, you should first try it in a pan with some butter or oil.
Add a Little Extra Flair: Try to add a bit of cheese to your polenta. If you’re serving it with osso buco, add some Parmesan cheese to your polenta. When it’s done, add the cheese to the polenta. This will add some flavor to your polenta.
Serve Right Away: Make sure to serve your polenta right away. If you are making it in advance, do not let it sit for too long. This will cause it to get mushy.
11. Gnocchi
Gnocchi are delicious and versatile. They’re great for a starter or as a light meal, and you can use them in a variety of ways. You can make your own, of course, with a potato, egg, and flour mixture, or you can choose to buy a ready-made one.
It’s a little trickier to prepare than potato chips, so allow yourself plenty of time to get to grips with it. Gnocchi are more delicate than potato chips, so it’s important to cook them thoroughly to avoid them falling apart.
3 Tips for Serving Gnocchi with Osso Buco
Prepare Gnocchi Ahead of Time: Gnocchi is a popular Italian side dish. However, preparation can be time consuming. So make sure to make it ahead of time!
Add a Little Extra Flavor: Gnocchi is a simple dish, but you can always add a little extra flavor to make it better. We highly recommend adding a little extra flavor with ingredients like garlic, butter and white
Don’t Over Cook it: If gnocchi overcook, it will not be cooked through and will become hard. This is not a good thing for your guests. Make sure to cook gnocchi until they are done, but not overcooked.
12. Mashed Sweet Potatoes
You can find a million different mash potato recipes online, but I really like this one because it’s so simple. Roast your sweet potatoes in the oven until they’re soft and tender.
Don’t overcook them though, as they’ll burn in the process. Remove them from the oven, leave them to cool for a while, then cut them into chunks and use a fork to mash them. They’re delicious served with the chicken or lamb, or alongside a bowl of soup.
3 Tips for Serving Mashed Sweet Potatoes with Osso Buco
Use a Heavy Knife: When making mashed sweet potatoes, it is important to use a heavy knife. This will ensure that the potatoes are not overcooked and that a smooth texture is achieved.
Cut the Sweet Potatoes and Boil Them: Preheat the oven to 400°F. Peel the potatoes and cut them into 1/2 inch cubes. Place the cubes into a large pot of salted water, and boil them until they are fork tender. Drain the potatoes and spread them out on a baking sheet.
Add Cream and Salt: To finish the potatoes, add 1/4 cup of heavy cream and sprinkle with salt to taste. Mash the potatoes with a potato masher until a smooth consistency is achieved.
13. Bread
When your vegetarian guests are tucking into their osso buco, a little bread is a good choice to offer them as a side dish.
You can go all out with a fresh loaf of bread and a cheese tray if you’re feeling especially indulgent, or cut up some ready salted bread rolls and serve them on a plate.
You don’t really need to offer any extras though as you’ll be providing the main course so all your attention will be on the meal itself.
3 Tips for Serving Bread with Osso Buco
Slice the Bread: Depending on the size of your dish, you may want to slice your bread when it comes out of the oven. This will help to soften the bread and allow it to absorb more of the gravy.
Toast the Bread: If you are planning on using a sandwich bread, it’s always a good idea to toast the bread first. Toasting the bread will help to make the bread softer and absorb more of the gravy.
Place the Bread on a Plate: When serving bread as a side dish, make sure to place it on a plate so that the gravy does not get on the bread. This will make it easier to eat as well as keep the bread from getting soggy.
FAQ
What Wine to Serve with Osso Buco?
Osso buco is a classic Italian dish made from veal shanks. It is a flavorful dish that pairs well with a variety of wines, but a dry white wine like a pinot grigio or a crisp rosé would pair well with this hearty and rich dish.
What Vegetables to Serve with Osso Buco?
The best vegetables to serve with osso buco are those that can stand up to the rich flavor of the meat. For example, green beans, carrots, broccoli, and potatoes are all good choices.
What Salad to Serve with Osso Buco?
A salad is a great choice for serving with osso buco. It’s important to choose a salad that complements the rich taste of the osso buco.
For example, a creamy salad like a Caesar or Cobb salad would be perfect with the osso buco. They are both dressed and have a creamy texture.
A fresh garden salad is also a good option. It’s light, fresh and has a great crunch.
What to Serve with Osso Buco: 13 Best Sides
Ingredients
- Grilled Vegetables
- Mashed Potatoes
- Risotto
- Fruit Salad
- Roasted Asparagus
- Sautéed Spinach
- Panzanella Salad
- Baked Potato
- Your Favorite Salad
- Polenta
- Gnocchi
- Mashed Sweet Potatoes
- Bread
Instructions
- Pick any of these tasty sides to serve with your osso buco meal.
- Prepare the ingredients according to the recipe.
- Enjoy your meal in less than 30 minutes!
Hi, I'm Benjamin. I love cooking, long walks, and my girlfriend! Here you’ll find simple and delicious recipes that you can make in 30 minutes or less.