Roast Dinner Sides That Deserve a Place on the Table

More Than a Supporting Act

There is a particular kind of British roast that has become a bit too tidy for its own good. A joint, some roast potatoes, a jug of gravy, perhaps a lonely bowl of peas. It is perfectly nice, but it is not the plate that gets people leaning over the table to check whether there is any more of that cauliflower cheese lurking at the back.

The sides are where a good roast turns into a generous one. They give you colour, contrast and a reason to pile things up until the Yorkshire pudding starts to look nervous. They also make life easier for the cook, because most of the best ones can be prepared well before the meat goes in.

Here are the ones worth clearing space for, along with how to get them right every time.

Cauliflower Cheese, But Make It Serious

Cauliflower cheese is not a side dish so much as a bribe. Get it right and people will forgive dry turkey, lumpy gravy and an argument over the last roast potato.

Cut a large cauliflower into florets roughly the size of a walnut, so they cook evenly. Boil or steam for four to five minutes until a knife goes in with a little resistance — not until they collapse. Drain properly and leave them in the colander for a few minutes; soggy florets are the enemy here.

For the sauce, melt 50g of butter, whisk in 50g of plain flour and cook it out for a minute or two until it smells biscuity rather than raw. Add 500ml of whole milk gradually, whisking constantly, and simmer until it coats the back of a spoon. Take it off the heat and stir in 100g of mature Cheddar, a teaspoon of English mustard and a good grating of nutmeg. Season with more pepper than feels sensible.

• Fold the cauliflower through the sauce rather than pouring it over — better coverage, fewer dry patches.
• Top with a mix of breadcrumbs, grated Parmesan and a little melted butter for a proper crunch.
• Assemble up to a day ahead and keep it covered in the fridge. Bake at 200°C (180°C fan, gas 6) for 25 to 30 minutes.
• If oven space is tight, finish it under a hot grill for five minutes instead.

Braised Red Cabbage: Sharp, Sweet, Brilliant

Nothing on the plate does more for a roast than braised red cabbage. It is sweet and sharp at once, it cuts through rich meat, and it stains gravy a magnificent purple. It is also the single most useful thing to make ahead, because it genuinely improves after a day in the fridge.

Shred a medium red cabbage finely, discarding the hard core. In a large pan, soften a sliced onion in butter, then add the cabbage, two peeled and grated apples, two tablespoons of red wine vinegar, two of soft brown sugar, a cinnamon stick, a couple of cloves, a bay leaf and a generous knob of butter. Season well.

Add a splash of water, cover tightly and cook on the lowest heat for 60 to 90 minutes, stirring every 20 minutes or so. It is done when the cabbage is silky and the liquid has turned into a glossy syrup. Fish out the whole spices before serving.

• It keeps for four days in the fridge and freezes well for up to three months.
• Reheat gently in a pan with a splash of water, or in a covered dish in the oven alongside the roast.
• A tablespoon of redcurrant jelly stirred in at the end adds a lovely shine.

Buttered Carrots and the Case for Simplicity

After the richness of cheese sauce and braised cabbage, you want something clean and sweet. Buttered carrots are the answer, and they take ten minutes.

Peel and cut carrots into batons about the length of your thumb. Steaming keeps their colour and flavour far better than boiling, and it stops them going waterlogged. Cook for six to eight minutes until tender but still with a bit of bite.

Toss them straight into a warm bowl with a generous knob of butter, a pinch of salt and a twist of black pepper. If you want to lift them, add one of the following:

• A teaspoon of honey and a scattering of toasted cumin seeds.
• Finely grated orange zest and a little chopped parsley.
• A pinch of caraway seeds, which work beautifully alongside pork and beef.

Get the Oven Working for You

Most roast-day chaos comes from trying to cook six things in one oven at different temperatures. Sort it out in advance and the whole meal becomes calm.

Roast potatoes and parsnips want the hottest oven, around 220°C (200°C fan, gas 7). Cauliflower cheese is happy at 200°C. Braised red cabbage can be done entirely on the hob the day before, and carrots steamed at the last minute on the hob too.

Sequence it like this: cabbage made on Friday or Saturday, cauliflower assembled and chilled the night before, meat in first, potatoes alongside it, cauliflower cheese in once the meat comes out to rest. Carrots on the hob while the gravy is being made. Everything lands hot at roughly the same moment.

Fill the Table, Feed the Room

The real point of these sides is not culinary showmanship. It is that a roast is a communal meal, and a table with four or five dishes on it invites people to help themselves, go back for seconds and stay a bit longer.

A generous plate should have something creamy, something sharp, something sweet and something green. Cauliflower cheese, braised red cabbage and buttered carrots cover three of those in one go, and none of them is difficult. Add a dish of peas or greens with butter and you have a spread that looks like a proper occasion, even if it is just Sunday and the heating is on.

Cook more than you think you need. Cold cauliflower cheese the next day, eaten standing up by the open fridge, is one of the quiet rewards of a job well done.