While the classic pairing for burgers, traditional twice-fried french fries, are delicious, they’re not exactly the most home-cook-friendly thing. The precise cutting, the double frying…while we definitely recommend it, it’s project cooking, to be sure. So for all those other everyday occasions when you’re making burgers, what to serve with them? Since summer is prime burger season, we love salads that show off summer produce, as well as simpler takes on the fry, like those made of polenta or cooked on the grill. Here are some of our faves.
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RecipeTomato and Green Bean Farro Salad with Black Pepper-Feta Vinaigrette
Tomatoes and green beans at their peak require so little of us to show off their fresh, summertime flavors, so this uncomplicated salad calls for simple prep and a bunch of hearty complements to make it a meal. -
RecipePotato Salad with Fried Garlic and Herbs
At first glance, this resembles other mayo-based potato salads. But what sets it apart is an herb- and garlic-infused oil that the potatoes absorb before the mayo is mixed in. -
RecipeSweet Corn, Tomato & Spinach Salad with Blue Cheese
This bright salad counters the richness of the burgers, and the blue cheese may almost make you skip the cheese on your burger. If your corn is super fresh, you might not even need to cook it. Taste a kernel and see. -
RecipeBroccoli Slaw
Packed with broccoli, almonds, dried cranberries, and a tangy buttermilk dressing, this dish comes together almost instantly, requires no cooking, and would be welcome at any barbecue or potluck. -
RecipeCrunchy Polenta Fries with Sriracha Mayo
Those pre-cooked logs of polenta may not make the most authentic bowl of soft, creamy corn goodness, but they’re a great shortcut for crisp-edged polenta fries. This is also a terrific way to use up any leftover homemade polenta. -
RecipeGrilled Potato Fries
These fat potato wedges are cooked entirely on the grill, making it super convenient to cook everything in one spot. -
RecipeGrilled Iceberg Wedges with Tomato, Bacon, and Blue Cheese
Super-thick-cut bacon is great on this salad; look for slab bacon and ask your butcher to cut it into 1/2-inch-thick slices. You can also use presliced thick-cut bacon cut crosswise into 1-inch-wide strips—just reduce the cooking time.
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RecipeOven Baked Onion Rings
Tangy buttermilk and crushed baked potato chips make a flavorful coating for these big sweet onion rings that brown into a beautifully crunchy shell in the oven.
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RecipeChopped Mexican Salad with Roasted Peppers, Corn, Tomatoes & Avocado
Chopped salads are a beautiful way to show of summer's terrific produce. Each ingredient is interesting to eat and taste, and together they combine to give you something even better.
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RecipePattypan Succotash
This classic Southern side dish is chock full of squash, corn, peppers, and fresh beans. Pattypan squash lends a mild buttery flavor. The baby ones, if you can find them, look pretty sweet, too.
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RecipeGrilled Corn on the Cob with Spicy Mayo, Lime, and Cheese
In Mexico, grilled corn on the cob covered with a smoky mayonnaise and rolled in crumbly cheese is a popular street food. This version packs a similar flavorful punch and looks cool, too.
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RecipeGrilled Sweet Potato Fries
If you're grilling your burgers, shouldn't you grill your fries too? These spiced, tangy sweet potato wedges make a great side dish for any kind of burger or grilled chicken.
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RecipeMake-and-Freeze Corn Fritters
Make a big batch of these five-ingredient fritters with peak season corn and then freeze them, so you can fry some up whenever you get a hankering for burgers. -
RecipeOrzo with Cucumber, Tomatoes, and Feta
Especially nice paired with lamb burgers, the Mediterranean flavors of this salad offer a cooling contrast to the hot-off-the grill main. -
RecipeClassic Boston Baked Beans
These saucy beans will become a year-round favorite. They’re a great foil for smoky barbecue, and they’re comforting in colder weather. Navy beans are commonly used, but in New England, creamy, flavorful heirloom beans like maroon-eyed soldier beans, yellow-eyed beans, and maroon-and-white Jacob’s cattle are popular. -
RecipeBread Salad with Summer Beans and Feta
Popular in Italy, panzanella is a refreshing salad made with leftover bread and tomatoes that virtually transports you to the rolling Tuscan hillsides. This recipe changes the classic a bit by adding green beans and yellow wax beans, as well as feta cheese. -
RecipeGrilled Butter Lettuce with Buttermilk-Chive Dressing
This is so much better than your average green salad. The grilled lettuce has crisp, caramelized edges offset by a cool, tangy dressing.
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RecipeSummer Bean Confetti Salad with Pickled Red Onion Vinaigrette
Use a selection of beans for this salad. The colors, shapes, and textures will make it interesting and delicious.
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RecipeKohlrabi-Radish Slaw with Cumin and Cilantro
To speed up the vegetable prep, use the grating and slicing blades on a food processor for the radishes, carrots, and cabbage, and the julienne cutter on a mandoline for the kohlrabi.
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RecipeJícama, Avocado, Radish & Orange Salad with Cilantro
The cool, crunchy jícama and radishes in this salad make a glorious contrast to the buttery avocado and sweet-tart oranges.
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RecipeBlack Bean & Corn Salad
If you like spicy heat, leave the ribs of the chile intact; cut them out for less incendiary flavor.
