Old-School Side Dishes You Rarely See On Tables Today

Rawpixel.com/Shutterstock

Side dishes rarely get as much hype as the main dish, but think about how sad your meal would be if they were missing. When you daydream about hamburgers, fries are often part of the deal. Chicken goes well with rice, and steak and potatoes are a match in heaven.

We all have our go-to sides when preparing dinner or ordering out, but our tastes have been shaped by the culture a great deal. What's popular now might've been seen as too boring or strange decades ago. If you've ever been in a recipe rut, taking some inspiration from history could introduce you to your new favorite side dishes or make you appreciate your same old meals even more.

Why have some side dishes gone out of fashion, and are they worth bringing back? Keep reading if you're ready to explore past decades and learn about iconic side dishes that people don't serve much anymore.

Westend61/Getty Images

Casseroles definitely have an older connotation since grandmas seem to love making them, but there are a few recipes that have found a place in the general population's heart. Shepherd's pie, breakfast casseroles, and even chicken, broccoli, and rice casseroles are something that Americans of all ages enjoy making and eating. When was the last time you had a potato casserole, though?

Potato casseroles made with frozen hash browns were a simple staple that kept adults and children happy during family dinners. The beauty of this recipe is that you get to dump everything together, bake it, and have one of the most comforting side dishes that even someone who hates cooking could master.

To make this, you need a bag of frozen hash browns, a can of condensed cream of chicken soup, shredded cheddar cheese, an 8-ounce container of sour cream, salt and pepper, half of a chopped onion, butter, and cornflakes. Mix everything together, except the butter and cornflakes, and transfer it to a greased casserole dish. Sprinkle the cornflakes on top, then drizzle some melted butter for extra richness and crunch as everything bakes in the oven. Pull this casserole out once the top looks golden brown and the sauce is bubbly.

thebelleofthekitchen/Instagram

Are you someone who hates sweet side dishes? If so, Watergate salad could send shivers down your spine. It's not clear exactly why this salad was named after President Richard Nixon's scandal, but our only clue is that the dish was popular during his lifetime.

This bizarre recipe that was sometimes served as a side dish or a dessert only requires five ingredients. In a bowl, mix a box of instant pistachio pudding, a 20-ounce can of crushed pineapple, a cup of mini marshmallows, and ½ cup of your favorite chopped nuts. Once the mixture comes together, gently fold in an 8-ounce container of Cool Whip.

People enjoyed this dish because it held up well in the fridge, which means they'd have something easy to bring to a potluck. Lots of people claim to have enthusiastically eaten this, but the jury is still out on whether anyone who brought this dish to potlucks was ever invited back. You may not love Watergate salad paired with a steak or sandwich, but maybe it's something that's worth trying as a dessert.

Are you tired of eating corn on the cob or microwaving those sad plastic bags of corn with butter sauce? Scalloped corn could be a brilliant hack from the past to spruce up your dinners.

Creating scalloped corn involves whisking together some eggs, milk, salt and pepper, sugar, melted butter, and corn. The key to getting the richest scalloped corn is to drain the liquid from your canned or frozen corn that's been thawed. After you pour this mixture into a greased glass baking dish, top everything with crushed saltine or Ritz crackers. Lots of recipes encourage people to play around with other toppings, such as shredded cheese and bacon.

The final result won't look too pretty since everything is beige, but it should taste fantastic. The flavors are salty, creamy, and a bit sweet from the little pops of corn. If you don't mind doing some extra prep work, you could try preparing this dish in some ramekins and topping it with chives for an elevated appearance.

Smith Collection/gado/Getty Images

In case it isn't obvious yet, Americans from the past were obsessed with taking healthy ingredients and bogging them down with fatty dairy products. This is guaranteed to make things taste better, but you might need an earlier bedtime after indulging. If you're someone who has a hard time eating enough leafy greens, creamed spinach could come to the rescue.

In addition to making veggies more appealing, you only need to use one pot to cook creamed spinach if you're working with frozen spinach that doesn't require blanching. All you need to do is melt some butter in your pan, add chopped shallots and garlic cloves, then dump heavy cream in once your aromatics are golden. To season the heavy cream, add salt, pepper, a pinch of nutmeg, and a healthy helping of Parmesan. After the sauce is thick and beautiful, fold in the spinach until every leaf is coated.

Creamed spinach goes well with lots of main dishes, so consider making it the next time you have chicken, steak, pork chops, or tofu. It's a brilliant way to add a bit of decadence to a meal that needs some sparkle.

Esin Deniz/Getty Images

Americans have some of the busiest schedules, and many people feel like they can't even sit down for proper meals, let alone cook them. This is why simple slow cooker recipes where you can set it and forget it are so popular nowadays. For a fun twist on plain rice, you might want to try baked mushroom rice.

After you grease a glass pan, pour a cup of white rice inside and give it a shake so there's an even layer. Next, sprinkle a packet of onion soup mix all over the rice. Now it's time to dump in 3 cups of beef broth and an 8-ounce can of mushrooms. The final touch is delicious pats of butter on top. Bake this dish for about 45 minutes, and then you have an almost effortless side dish that's hearty, comforting, and way more exciting than basic white rice.

As with many of these other old-fashioned side dishes, you're free to add any other ingredients that suit your taste buds. Chopped chicken or beef might also taste good in baked rice with mushrooms, which could elevate this side dish to a full meal.

Do you ever feel like peas and carrots are too bland of a pair? Creamed onions and peas used to be a big hit back in the day. Combining pearl onions with fresh or frozen peas, butter, heavy cream, and some seasonings can turn a one-note veggie into a fun ensemble. Your breath won't be fresh after you eat this, but your stomach will be satisfied.

By only using salt, pepper, garlic powder, and onion powder, the natural flavors of the peas and onions can still shine. The butter and heavy cream give this side dish that extra oomph that steamed veggies are missing. If biting into whole pearl onions seems like a textural nightmare, you could also use diced white onion so the peas and onions are closer in size.

One cool trick to make this side dish a little bit healthier is to use milk instead of heavy cream. You can still achieve a rich, luxurious texture with the help of cornstarch as a thickener.

Mint Images/Getty Images

Onion soufflés took America by storm during the '70s, and it's about time for them to have a resurgence in popularity. Aside from taking the time to brown your onions in some butter, you can whip up this side dish with minimal effort.

After you've softened the onions, you can dump them into a bowl with fresh bread cubes, evaporated milk, beaten eggs, salt, and Parmesan cheese. Once everything comes together, you can pour the mixture into a greased baking dish and let the soufflé come to life in the oven.

If you're trying to do meal prep or get ready for an event by cooking some things ahead of time, you'll be happy to know that you can keep your soufflé in the fridge overnight and reheat it without diminishing the taste or texture. Your kitchen will smell fabulous, thanks to the classic bread and onion pairing. You can even get wild and make your soufflé extra cheesy or toss in some chopped-up ham or bacon.

Julie208/Shutterstock

If you're someone who enjoys sweet and savory salads, do yourself a favor and make a Waldorf salad. This salad was first invented over a century ago in the Waldorf Hotel in New York City, so lots of people feel fancy whenever they eat it.

Most people expect lots of lettuce and other leafy greens in their salads, but a Waldorf salad doesn't have much of that. Instead, you can expect to bite into chopped apples, celery, grapes, and nuts with a creamy mayonnaise dressing. Using tart varieties of apples, such as granny smiths, and squeezing some lemon juice on them can help cut through the sweetness. It'll also help things feel light, even with the mayonnaise dressing.

Home cooks use all kinds of dairy products to make their salad dressings. If you want to watch your calories, using Greek yogurt can do the job while also boosting your protein content. Others prefer the taste of sour cream. Some even suggest folding some whipped cream into the dressing to make the salad fluffier. If you're a big fan of the flavors in Waldorf salad, you can have a blast experimenting with these dressing options.

You'll also have to choose what kind of nuts you'd prefer and if you want to toast them or not. Walnuts are the usual pick, but you may like the butteriness of pecans. One thing you should keep in mind while preparing your salad is to chop all of your ingredients the same size.

Tatiana Volgutova/Getty Images

Mushroom haters should cover their eyes right now because this side dish is definitely not for them. However, if you can get down with some fungi, stuffed mushrooms could become a regular in your meal rotation. Not only are mushrooms an affordable meat alternative, but many varieties also have the perfect shape for holding other ingredients. There's nothing more exciting than using food as a vehicle for more food.

Button mushrooms are a great choice because they're cheap and found in most grocery stores. The old-fashioned way of preparing stuffed mushrooms is to remove the stems and chop them up finely as part of the stuffing. This method helps people avoid food waste, but you always have the option to use the stems in another recipe and fill your mushroom caps with sausage, ground beef, or another kind of meat.

Preparing the filling usually involves mixing breadcrumbs, melted butter, fresh herbs, a beaten egg, and the mushroom stems together. Feel free to use any ingredients that you think would hit the spot. Many recipes, such as ravioli or egg rolls, require a tiny dollop of filling to prevent messy explosions during the cooking process. However, mushroom caps look and taste best when they're piled high with the stuffing. You might need to test the limits of your jaw to cram one in your mouth, but it's worth the effort.

Most people nowadays would agree that guacamole and pico de gallo are soulmates, but many of us have never tried stuffing guacamole into a hollowed-out tomato. People who like to get just a little bit of guacamole on their chips or burrito bowls may find this side dish overwhelming, but guacamole lovers should go full steam ahead.

The guacamole itself is fairly standard. You mash together some avocados, lemon juice, crushed garlic, chopped green chilis, and some fresh parsley and cilantro. The only questionable ingredient that would make guacamole purists scoff is black olives as a garnish, but you can omit them.

Using a big, beautiful tomato fresh from a farmers market or garden would make this recipe perfect. The bigger your tomatoes are, the easier it'll be to assemble your guacamole-stuffed tomatoes.

One comical note that appears at the bottom of the 1984 recipe in "The Complete Avocado Cookbook" is that home cooks can try hollowing out cherry tomatoes to create hors d'oeuvres instead of a side dish. This cruel and unusual punishment sounds like something Alton Brown would come up with on "Cutthroat Kitchen." You can try to pull this off, but be sure to have some larger Roma or beefsteak tomatoes on hand after you give up.

Madeleine_steinbach/Getty Images

New Englanders may have tried Harvard beets before, but most of us have never even heard of them. Unless you're as passionate about this root vegetable as the beet farmer Dwight Schrute from "The Office," you might think that this side dish is better off left to history. If you've been looking for a fun twist on beets, though, Harvard beets are simple to make.

When using whole beets, you'll have to roast, peel, and slice them first. You can save yourself some time and hassle by using canned beets. The next step is to combine your sliced beets with vinegar, sugar, salt, and cornstarch in a double boiler. Give your beets enough time to soak up those flavors before serving them. Some people prefer them warm, while others love the refreshing taste of cold Harvard beets.

Harvard beets may not be something you want to eat all the time, but they could be one of the many yummy Thanksgiving side dishes on your table each year. Give them a try before writing this side dish off.

Ingrid Balabanova/Shutterstock

Turning any large vegetable into a boat is a whimsical way to eat healthier. Cucumber fans can thank the '70s for coming up with the cucumber boats Provençale recipe. If you're unfamiliar with the cooking term "Provençale," it means cooking a dish in olive oil, garlic, and tomatoes.

While choosing a large cucumber will help you turn it into a boat, you don't want to go too big. Cucumbers longer than 6 inches won't be able to fit on your plate. Once you've selected the perfect cucumbers, peel them and scoop out the middle to create a cavity for the filling.

To prepare the filling, chop up some fresh tomatoes and sauté them with butter, minced garlic, and green onions, chopped fresh basil and parsley, and salt and pepper. Let this mixture cook down until it's thick enough to spoon into your cucumber boats without spilling out. The old-fashioned recipe doesn't call for anything else, but you might like to grate some Parmesan cheese on top.

Orange fluff is another type of sweet salad that you'll either love or hate. The base is a combination of orange and vanilla pudding mixes, which will remind you of an orange creamsicle. After your orange and vanilla pudding mixture has chilled, you fold in a container of Cool Whip, canned mandarin oranges, and mini marshmallows.

If this recipe doesn't sound whacky enough, you might want to turn off your computer or cellphone after you read that many people like adding cottage cheese to their orange fluff salad as well. Anyone who struggles with weird textures shouldn't even look at this dish if they somehow end up in the same room as it.

It's difficult to justify serving this as a side dish, but perhaps it would work well with main dishes that could benefit from some citrus and sweetness. You could also prepare this salad with other pudding flavors if you're feeling inspired.

Lynne Mitchell/Getty Images

Lots of Americans associate the '50s with TV dinners. During this decade, Stouffer's was able to transform from a small business into a household name due to the demand for simple meals. Stouffer's has come up with all kinds of frozen dinners, and one that's managed to survive all these decades is the spinach soufflé.

While you could just go out and buy a box, making Stouffer's vintage recipe at home can be a fun project that yields tastier results. Spinach soufflé doesn't look all that appealing since it's a green pile of slop, but there has to be something to this side dish if it's still in grocery stores.

As with any good soufflé recipe, you'll need to be careful while separating your yolks so you can whip up the egg whites. The yolks will go into the spinach and roux mixture, so nothing goes to waste. Once you prepare your classic roux, you'll add milk, nutmeg, cayenne, salt, pepper, Parmesan, spinach, and egg yolks. After everything is combined, gently fold in the egg whites and transfer the mixture carefully to a greased baking dish.

Gingagi/Getty Images

Americans will never be able to let go of their beloved mashed potatoes, but sometimes it's nice to switch things up. As it turns out, there are all kinds of vegetables that taste great mashed. Many have already tried mashed cauliflower, yet mashed turnips are something that likely only our grandparents remember and love.

Preparing mashed turnips is essentially the same as mashed potatoes. You peel, slice, and boil the turnips until they're tender. Afterward, you mash them and mix in butter, salt, and pepper.

Turnips are a little sweet and bitter when compared to white potatoes, but they clock in at around 30% of the calories. Turnips are also high in calcium and other vital nutrients, so they're a great substitute for anyone who loves comfort food but is striving to cut down on calories. If you want the best of both worlds, you could try mashing turnips and potatoes together.