What to Serve with Mulled Wine? 7 BEST Side Dishes

Mulled wine is the superhero of holiday drinks, warming you from the inside out with its spicy goodness.

Now, picture this: you’ve got your cozy sweater on, a crackling fire, and a mug of that aromatic, steamy brew.

What’s missing? The perfect sidekick, of course! Finding the right side dish can turn your mulled wine from a solo act into a full-on feast for the senses.

We’ve rounded up the seven best buddies for your mulled wine, guaranteed to elevate your holiday cheer to epic levels.

No clichés, no fluff—just straight-up delicious pairings that hit the spot every time.

Why Consider Serving Side Dishes with Mulled Wine?

Just like with any alcoholic beverage, it is very important to have some food to help balance the effect of alcohol on our bodies.

Side dishes play a really crucial role in helping our bodies sustain our energy levels while having some glasses of wine.

Mulled wine is sweet and has a spiced flavor.

Hence, you should have an idea about what food items to serve as side dishes while sipping on mulled wine.

Random dishes cannot simply be selected to go with it.

What to Serve with Mulled Wine? 7 BEST Side Dishes

Mulled wine is a great beverage to serve during parties and maybe when you have a special company with you.

A self-brewed mulled wine would be excellent for such events, but an even better situation would be if you have proper side dishes to go with the wine.

As they say, a good story never started with an empty glass and an empty stomach.

Here is a guide on what goes well with mulled wine.

1 – Blue Cheese

Wine and cheese are a classic pairing.

Connoisseurs of wine tend to drink their glasses of wine with cheese.

So, it is only fair to add this item first to the list of side dishes.

Mulled wine pairs really well with Blue cheese.

The blue cheese adds a creamy and salty flavor to the combination.

It is perfect for spiced-up and sweetened mulled wine.

If you haven’t tried this combination, you shouldn’t wait any longer.

Go give it a try.

2 – Cheesy Pasta

A bowl of cheesy pasta with mulled wine is a great match.

Pasta is a great filler to go along with the wine, especially with the flavor of the cheese and the other ingredients of the pasta.

This is a side dish that has a very homely feeling.

The creamy sauce along with the chewy pasta just blends with the sweet alcoholic wine.

It also gives the meal a kick to the taste buds because of the black pepper.

Have a bite of that delicious cheesy pasta and wash it down with the sweet and aromatic mulled wine.

The experience is one you will carry with you forever.

3 – Grilled Chicken

Grilled chicken is the perfect side dish to pair along with mulled wine and is an easy recipe to make at home.

For most people, a protein-based dish is a must while having a drink.

The grilled chicken will give the wine the enhancement it requires.

Get a whole chicken and marinate it.

Start off by tenderizing the meat and then continue it up with the marination process.

Add a mix of butter, garlic, lemon zest, thyme, rosemary, salt, pepper, and olive oil.

Let the marinated chicken meat sit for an hour or so and then toss it on the grill.

Keep turning the sides from time to time.

After it gets cooked, it is ready to go with that special mulled wine.

4 – Beef Steak

For wine lovers, the beefsteak is one of the favorite cuts of meat to have along with any kind of wine.

The texture and the flavors give simply elevate the experience of drinking mulled wine.

It is juicy, beefy, fatty, and also a little salty.

Pour some barbecue sauce on top of the beef before taking a bite.

It also comes with various roasted veggies and mashed potatoes.

All these together with the wine becomes a heavenly meal.

5 – Seasonal Fruits

Fruits also are very refreshing and tasty to pair along with mulled wine.

They are very healthy and help to enhance the flavors of mulled wine.

You can have citrus fruits like oranges or sweet lemons along with wine that helps in removing toxins from the body.

Drinking wine with fruits relaxes the body and reduces stress too.

The combination of wine with fruits not only enhances the flavor of the wine but also is a great option for health lovers.

6 – Dark Chocolate

Another classic pairing is wine and dark chocolate.

It is a combination that even experts recommend.

The chocolate gives a bittersweet addition to the already sweetened mulled wine and is also a healthy treat.

There is a certain element in dark chocolate that elevates the flavor of mulled wine.

The bitterness and creaminess of the chocolate blend gracefully with the sweet wine.

It also balances out the effect of the alcohol in the wine.

7 – Roasted Nuts

Roasted nuts give that bit of crunch required while drinking mulled wine.

The smoky flavor also helps in giving a different dimension to the flavor of the wine.

The roasted nuts add a salty, smoky flavor to the experience.

You can also glaze the roasted nuts with some honey or herbal spices.

Roasted nuts are great snacking food while drinking mulled wine.

Conclusion

Mulled wine is a sophisticated drink that most foods would not pair well with.

However, if you take the time to study and understand its flavors, coming up with side dishes will not be that difficult of a job.

You can pair them with fruits, finger foods, cheese, proteins, etc.

The essential thing that you have to remember is that the side dishes should only complement the wine and not overpower its flavors.

That is the basic rule when choosing side dishes.

So, hurry along and try out our list of side dishes to go along with mulled wine.