Sauces for Vegetables That Will Make Eating Your Greens the Meal's Highlight

Recipe: Beer-Cheese Fondue

Fondue makes eating even the crunchiest uncooked vegetable a delightful experience. A healthy amount of Gruyère and Cheddar mingle with dry mustard, Worcestershire sauce, and lager beer for a decadent, creamy sauce to accompany your steamed broccoli, roasted Brussels sprouts, and potatoes.

Recipe: Charred Scallion Aioli

In this variation on the traditional aioli, charred scallions provide a little zing when blended with the garlic, lemon, and egg yolks. Drizzle it on the accompanying grilled carrots and Hakurei turnips or choose your own vegetables.

Recipe: Yogurt-Tahini Sauce

Creamy but still somehow light and refreshing, this flavorful Yogurt-Tahini Sauce is packed with flavor—cumin, black pepper, garlic, and tahini—that makes it so good when accompanying a raw veggie platter.

Recipe: Basil Pesto

Thought pesto was for pasta? You're not wrong—but it also beautifully accompanies grilled vegetables. Pick your favorites and brush on our Basil Pesto for an easy side or salad.

Recipe: Green Goddess Dressing

This dressing is a West Coast staple. It's creamy thanks to mayonnaise and sour cream, fresh with the addition of parsley, tarragon, chives, and lemon, and savory thanks to the anchovy paste.

Recipe: Blackberry-Honey Mustard Sauce

Sweet and tangy, this Blackberry-Honey Mustard Sauce makes a vibrant statement on your table. Fresh blackberries cook down on the stove with some sugar before combining with honey, mustard (dry and Dijon), salt, lemon juice, and olive oil.

Recipe: Asparagus with Cheese Sauce and Herb Breadcrumbs

Bright green asparagus become absolutely irresistible when topped with this Cheese Sauce. It's only two ingredients but a sure winner. Who can say no to heavy cream and Parmigiano-Reggiano? Not us.  

Recipe: Gingery Carrots with Pistachios and Coconut Buttermilk Sauce

This sauce is the tangy, sweet companion to Raleigh, North Carolina chef Cheetie Kumar's Gingery Carrots with Pistachios.

Recipe: Cheese Sauce for Broccoli or Cauliflower

Melty Cheddar plus a dab of butter and Dijon mustard make this sauce an amiable companion for some cooked veggies—drizzled or like fondue, it's up to you.

Recipe: Asparagus Gratin

Here is potatoes au gratin's (somewhat) lighter counterpart, which uses perky green asparagus as the vehicle for the shallot-, garlic-, and mustard- laden sauce.

Recipe: Mushroom Gravy

You might reach for the mashed potatoes with this gravy, but it will do just fine on about anything you want to pour it on, including your vegetables. Roasted, sautéed, boiled—however you prepare the veggies, you can't go wrong if you serve them with Mushroom Gravy.

Recipe: Mustard-Cream Sauce

Creamy yet zingy, our Mustard-Cream Sauce features a generous heap of Creole mustard, a serious splash of white wine, and some garlic and shallots that pack it full of flavor.

Recipe: Grilled Hot-Pepper Sauce

Hot sauce fans, here's your opportunity to make your own. Grilling the peppers will give the sauce a smokey element, and the use of bell peppers provides a little sweet contrast to the hot jalapeños and serranos.

Recipe: Parmesan Cream Sauce

If we had to describe this sauce in only two words, they would be: cannot resist.

Recipe: Cool Ranch Sauce

Give your condiment shelf an upgrade with this easy homemade Cool Ranch Sauce. Those carrot and celery sticks will fly off plates, guaranteed.

Recipe: Summer Sauce

Versatile, fun, elegant? That's a sauce we can get behind. Basil, parsley, and mint star with a little garlic and lemon juice for the sauce that sings the songs of summer.

Recipe: Rémoulade

A little Rémoulade never hurt any vegetable, cooked, raw, or otherwise.

Recipe: Herbed Cream Sauce 

Sour cream, chives, parsley, tarragon, lemon juice. This sauce is quick and bright, an easy companion to veggie sticks, salads, roasted vegetables, and more.

Recipe: Comeback Sauce

Comeback for seconds, that is. Described as spicier than ranch, creamier than barbecue, and more versatile than buffalo, this is the sauce to make if you want to leave an impression—guests will be coming back for more!