What to Serve with White Fish? 10 BEST Side Dishes

White fish generally refers to fish with white flesh and several species under this category.

They’re most widely found and most widely consumed around the world.

White fish is versatile, delicious and nutritious.

White fish is tasty whether baked, grilled, fried or roasted.

It’s also suitable for any meal whether it’s breakfast, lunch, dinner or as a snack.

It also pairs well with roasted potatoes, rice pilaf, Panzanella salad and tartar sauce.

If you’re looking for ideas on what to serve with white fish, there’s no need to panic because we’ll make a list below with ten items including the ones mentioned above.

Why Consider Serving Side Dishes with White Fish?

Fish is flavorful and nutritious, but most varieties are light no matter how you cook them.

So, it’s not enough to have only fish because you’ll quickly feel hungry.

Even though fish is tasty and healthy, one dish doesn’t make a complete meal.

Fish is versatile and delightful when paired with various items so why shouldn’t you enjoy them?

When serving fish at an event, side dishes will come in handy, and there will be sufficient food for everyone.

What to Serve with White Fish? 10 BEST Side Dishes

These are the ten items that pair perfectly with white fish.

1 – Rainbow Veggie Skewers

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It’s the first item on the list and one of the most compatible dishes with white fish.

Veggie skewers are also incredibly delicious and you can work with multiple vegetables.

While there are numerous veggies to choose from, you must look for different colors because you have to match the dish with its name.

Yellow squash, zucchini, bell peppers (red, yellow and orange), eggplant, onions, purple potatoes, tomatoes and carrots are suitable for the dish.

The veggies are naturally flavorsome so you don’t have to add a lot of seasonings and spices.

Salt, pepper, garlic and onion powder are enough to make the dish incredible.

2 – Rice Pilaf

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Fish and rice are the perfect partners and what can be more exciting than adding rice pilaf to the list? It’s one of the most popular rice dishes with many variants.

So you can work with different recipes.

Pilaf usually includes rice or sometimes wheat and involves cooking in stock or broth with spices, herbs, veggies and meat.

Chicken, turkey, and lamb are the common meats used in a pilaf.

If you aren’t too keen on using meat with fish, you can add only vegetables or make plain pulao with seasoning and fried onions.

The pilaf will taste amazing without being too heavy.

3 – French Fries

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They’re the world’s most popular snacks and also quite versatile.

Fries pair nicely with fish and plenty of other items.

So, you’ll have an excellent combination that everyone will love.

French fries are a simple dish to make and don’t require too many ingredients.

Potatoes, oil and salt are the only items you need for fries.

However, you must use the proper spuds for fries or you won’t have crispy chips.

Though there are many spuds varieties, high starch potatoes like russet or Idaho are most suitable for French fries.

4 – Creamy and Tangy Coleslaw

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If you’re looking for a crunchy and fresh dish to complement white fish, coleslaw is something you must add to your menu.

It can complete your meal and also cleanse your palate.

Coleslaw is a popular side dish consumed all over the world in one form or the other.

Usually, it’s either creamy or tangy, but you can have both in the dish.

You’ll have to make a mayo-based dressing with vinegar to obtain that combo flavor.

Prepared coleslaw is readily available at the store.

But making the slaw from scratch can be much more satisfying.

The peak season for cabbage is between November and April, but you can get frozen prepared slaw any time.

5 – Ratatouille

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This colorful veggie dish originated in Nice, France and is often served as a main dish.

But there’s no reason why you can’t serve ratatouille as a side dish with white fish.

The recipe varies from place to place, but it usually contains multiple vegetables like zucchini, eggplant, bell pepper, garlic, onion and tomato.

Some variants can also have fresh herbs native to a particular region.

Ratatouille is an easy dish to make and doesn’t take too much time.

You can also make a big batch at a time.

So, you can make a suitable quantity depending on how many guests you have.

6 – Garlic Roasted Potatoes

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It’s another potato dish but entirely different in taste and cooking method.

It’s also flavorsome and compatible with white fish.

Roasted potatoes also make you feel full so it will be a convenient dish to serve.

Roasted potatoes are also easy to make and there’s no need for too many ingredients.

Potatoes, salt, pepper, olive oil and garlic are sufficient to make the spuds wonderfully delicious.

You’ll find wide varieties of spuds but Yukon Golds are the best potatoes for roasting so you should use them.

7 – Sautéed Green Beans

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Aside from potatoes and coleslaw, green beans also pair with white fish and other items.

The veggies are also readily available throughout the year so they’re popular for making side dishes.

Green beans taste lovely in any way you cook them.

Sautéed green beans are pretty simple but the dish’s flavor is incredible.

But the beans should be only cooked until they’re crisp-tender or they won’t be perfect.

You’ll need beans, salt, pepper, garlic and little olive oil or butter for sautéing the veggies.

But you must use fresh beans for the best results.

They should snap when you bend them.

8 – Tartar Sauce

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It’s a mayo-based condiment served as a side dish and it complements white fish nicely especially baked and pan-seared fish.

It’s a versatile item so you can enjoy the sauce with fish as well as other foods.

Tartar sauce is creamy and sour with minced onion taking the flavor to another level.

It requires mayonnaise, pickle relish, lemon juice, onion, salt and pepper.

With these, you can create an excellent tartar sauce ready for fish.

You may also add herbs like dill, parsley and tarragon and ingredients like capers.

Some variants also contain hard-boiled eggs and olives, so you have many options.

9 – Panzanella Salad

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It’s a dish where you can taste bread and veggies on one plate.

Panzanella is a savory dish that matches white fish and cleanses your palate.

Since it has veggies and bread, your meal will be complete when you combine it with fish.

Panzanella salad uses stale bread with ripe tomatoes, onions, cucumber and basil with olive oil and vinegar dressing.

You can also use cheese like mozzarella for added flavor.

Sourdough, ciabatta or French bread are suitable for panzanella, so you can use any of these.

10 – Cauliflower Rice

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It’s the last dish on the list but cauliflower rice is no less than other items in taste.

It’s a good substitute if you don’t want to add rice to your menu.

Cauliflower rice also pairs nicely with white fish, if that’s what you’re wondering.

Cauliflower is an extremely healthy vegetable and contains multiple nutrients.

Hence, you enjoy its lovely flavor and obtain the goodness in one meal.

Making cauliflower rice is also simple and needs only six ingredients including the veggie.

You can whip up the tastiest substitute rice with cauliflower, olive oil, scallions, lime juice, salt and pepper.

Conclusion

These ten items will be enough to serve as side dishes with white fish whenever you want.

If you serve fish regularly, you shouldn’t serve the same side dish twice in a row or it can become monotonous.

You have at least ten dishes so you can use 4-5 items alternately and keep your menu interesting.

Enjoying a different dish will make it feel like having a new item, even though it’s not.

It will also be nice to go for variety.

For example, you can serve rainbow veggie skewers, sautéed green beans and roasted potatoes.

Or, you can serve creamy and tangy coleslaw, rice pilaf and ratatouille.