Draw a random side dish -- potatoes, grains, vegetables, salads, breads and pickles -- to answer "and what goes with it?".
This generator draws from 118 real side dishes across eight categories -- potatoes, rice and grains, pasta and noodles, vegetables, salads, beans and pulses, breads, and pickles and small plates. Everything here is a named dish rather than a bare ingredient, because "carrots" doesn't answer the question and "glazed carrots" does.
Every result here is drawn using crypto.getRandomValues() -- the Web Crypto API's cryptographically secure randomness -- instead of Math.random(), so it's genuinely unpredictable, not just statistically random. Learn more.
The main is usually the easy decision and the side is the one that stalls dinner, so this is built to answer 'and what goes with it?'. It's also useful for planning a spread where several dishes have to work together, for holiday menus, and as the last block in the Random Meal preset.
Generate draws one side dish at random using the site's cryptographically secure randomness, guaranteed not to repeat whatever result is currently showing in single-result mode. Filter by category to get a starch, a green or a pickle specifically, and raise the amount to build a whole table at once.
A sample of what this generator can draw, spread evenly across the full list:
Yes -- set the amount to however many dishes you need and Generate will draw that many in one press, with duplicates avoided until the pool runs out.
Draw twice with the filter set differently each time: once with a starch category selected, once with Vegetables or Salads. That's more reliable than hoping one multi-draw gives you a balanced plate.
Several could carry a meal on their own -- gado-gado, chana masala, mac and cheese -- but all of them are commonly served alongside something else, which is the test used here.
Pickles and small plates are their own category because they do a different job: they cut richness rather than add bulk. Kimchi, curtido and piccalilli all earn their place next to something fatty.
Cuisine · Protein · Cooking Method · Sauce