Easy ravioli serving and side dish ideas. From creamy polenta to homemade garlic bread, and caprese salad to cipollini onions, discover what to serve with ravioli today.
Ravioli is the Italian pasta that never goes out of style. Made with a meat or cheese filling wrapped in thin dough, everyone has their favorite take on these mini pasta squares.
But beyond a sauce topping, what else can you serve with ravioli? We’re here to help.
Complete your pasta dinner with these simple side dish ideas. All quick, all easy, and all delicious. Let’s get cooking!
Italian Bread
Bread is always a good choice for serving with pasta, especially creamy and cheesy pasta. Italian bread is perfect because it has a nice, chewy texture that can hold up to the sauce.
Italian bread is best when it’s fresh from the oven, and not only are the taste and texture appealing alongside ravioli and the fresh bread smell. Slice the bread thinly so that each piece is easy to eat.
Try This Recipe: This homemade Italian bread provides authentic instructions for making true Italian bread, and you can choose between including either vegetable oil or olive oil.
Cheesy Garlic Bread
Garlic bread covered in cheese is an easy side dish to make that pairs swimmingly with ravioli. Cheesy garlic bread is greasy, gooey, cheesy, flavorful, and crunchy all simultaneously – everything you could want in a side dish!
Plain Italian bread is lovely for complex ravioli dishes, but if you use simple ingredients in your dish, spicing things up with cheesy garlic bread is an excellent idea.
Try This Recipe: This easy cheesy garlic bread uses French bread instead of Italian bread but calls for all of the best Italian seasonings.
Cipollini Onions
Cipollini onions are a type of onion that is small and round, with a sweet flavor. They are excellent for cooking because they don’t have that harsh onion flavor and become very soft when cooked.
Cipollini onions pair well with ravioli because of their sweetness and look beautiful when served as a side dish. These onions are ideal if you want something different to accompany your ravioli.
Try This Recipe: This balsamic-glazed Cipollini onions call for aged balsamic vinegar to add a savory touch for a more vibrant flavor. It also demonstrates how to peel these less common onions best.
Parmesan Green Beans
Green beans are a typical side dish, and they go well with all pasta dishes, including ravioli. They are healthy but also have a bit of crunch and texture.
Parmesan green beans are an excellent way to class up this classic dish. The Parmesan cheese adds a lovely savory flavor, and the breadcrumbs give the dish a bit of crunch.
Try This Recipe: These garlic parmesan green beans use just six ingredients — including flavorful garlic — and only requires 15 minutes of your time.
Roasted Tomato Salad
Tomatoes and pasta dishes tend to go hand in hand, so it’s no surprise that a roasted tomato salad would be an excellent side dish to a ravioli pasta main dish.
This salad is healthy and bright, bringing a bit of acidity to the overall meal that can help round out the flavors. Balsamic glaze in this salad can also add a lovely sweetness and depth of flavor.
Try This Recipe: This roasted tomato salad incorporates feta, cucumber, and basil for an even more fresh and bright overall taste, perfect for the spring or summer.
Polenta
Polenta is a type of cornmeal commonly used in Italian cooking. You can cook it in many different ways, but it is often boiled in water or broth until it becomes thick and porridge-like.
Polenta is an excellent side dish for ravioli because it is very filling and has a soft and inviting texture, similar to ravioli itself. Polenta can be pretty bland by itself, but adding ingredients such as Parmesan cheese or a flavorful sauce can spring to new heights.
Try This Recipe: This creamy polenta incorporates olive oil and salt. It also recommends adding ingredients like Parmesan cheese, black pepper, or even chimichurri sauce for a more flavorful punch.
Caprese Salad
Salads are always a lovely match for pasta dishes like ravioli, and Caprese salad is one of the best options. This salad is incredibly fresh and light but also filling because of the mozzarella cheese.
The salad includes tomatoes, mozzarella, basil, and olive oil and is a traditional appetizer in Italy. However, it can also make for a perfect side dish for your main ravioli course.
Try This Recipe: This simple yet thoughtful Caprese salad calls for balsamic glaze for the finishing touch, which goes swimmingly with ripe tomatoes and fresh mozzarella.
Oven Roasted Vegetables
Oven-roasted vegetables are a great way to get your daily dose of veggies, and they also make for an excellent side dish to savory, creamy ravioli. You can roast veggies with various herbs and spices to suit your taste and serve them hot or cold.
Depending on your preferences and tastes, you can use a wide range of vegetables for this dish. Common ones include broccoli, carrots, zucchini, sweet potatoes, onions, and bell peppers.
Try This Recipe: This oven-roasted vegetable uses a sheet pan to ensure the vegetables cook evenly and thoroughly. This recipe calls for cauliflower, butternut squash, Brussel sprouts, and purple potatoes for a colorful display.
