14 Cold Side Salads That Are Fresh, Flavorful, and Crowd-Approved
A great cold side salad can brighten any meal with fresh ingredients, crisp textures, and vibrant flavors. Perfect for barbecues, picnics, potlucks, or weeknight dinners, these recipes are easy to make and even easier to share. These 14 cold side salads are refreshing, flavorful, and crowd-approved, making them the perfect addition to any table.
Kidney Bean Salad
When it comes to non boring side dishes, I have a secret weapon: Kidney Bean Salad! Easy to make with pantry staples, and great for a weeknight dinner or potluck!
Red Potato Salad with Bacon
Red Potato Salad with Bacon is made with a cool and creamy mayo-sour cream mixture and tons of crumbled bacon. This simple side dish is perfect for barbecues, parties, and tailgating!
Dill Pickle Potato Salad
Creamy dill pickle potato salad with yellow potatoes, eggs, pickles and fresh dill. This easy picnic salad recipe comes together quickly.
Asian Cucumber Salad
My easy Asian cucumber salad is full of fresh flavors from garlic, ginger, onion, and a sesame soy sauce vinaigrette. This cool, chilled salad is a refreshing side dish during the summer months and pairs perfectly with any of your favorite Asian-inspired recipes.
Southwest Pasta Salad with Chicken
This cool Southwest Pasta Salad, with chicken, pasta, corn, and black beans, is covered in a creamy avocado dressing, and makes a perfect summer side dish.
Barbecue Chicken Pasta Salad
This easy Barbecue Chicken Pasta Salad is simple to make with just 10 ingredients and is perfect to make in advance for picnics and potlucks. We also love to make a big batch for eating throughout a busy week.
Moroccan Raw Carrot Salad
Sometimes you don’t have to work that hard to make something great. This Moroccan raw carrot salad is an easy recipe that can be thrown together in minutes, it goes with everything and it’s absolutely delicious. One of my all time favorite side dish recipes.
Seafood Pasta Salad
If you are looking for a comforting and filling salad, look no more. This Seafood Pasta Salad is exactly what you need right now. Featuring pasta, shrimp, imitation crabmeat, and veggies, it can be mixed with either a mayo or yogurt dressing for a healthier version!
Cold Ramen Noodle Salad
This 10-ingredient Cold Ramen Noodle Salad is colorful, crunchy and loaded with delicious fresh flavors. It’s a great salad to make in advance for weekly meal prep or as a side dish when entertaining.
Best Broccoli Cranberry Salad
The bestBroccoli Cranberry Salad is the perfect healthy side dish with bacon and sunflower seeds in a creamy dressing. Easy to assemble in under 15 minutes, it’s a delicious make ahead recipe!
Spaghetti Pasta Salad
This Spaghetti Pasta Salad is a fun twist on a classic side dish. It’s an easy make-ahead recipe to serve to a crowd that’s full of flavor! We love to customize it with our favorite veggies, proteins, cheeses, and dressings.
Creamy Italian Pasta Salad
This Creamy Italian Pasta Salad has all of the flavors we love with a classic recipe but with a creamy dressing that’s garlicky and so delicious. It’s a simple recipe that’s easy to make for a crowd in about 30 minutes and also works well to make in advance too.
Dill Potato Salad
This tasty dill potato salad is just like Grandma’s: it’s bursting with fresh herbs and flavored with olive oil and vinegar.
Cold Greek Tortellini Pasta Salad
This Greek Tortellini Pasta Salad is easy and light with fresh vegetables. It’s the perfect summer side for grilling and potlucks.
