Before you read

The sides are how the plate gets balanced.

Rice, mac salad, lomi salmon, haupia, and the rest all do a job. CurtisJ's rule is to think about contrast: hot against cold, rich against sharp, heavy against something that resets the bite.

In Hawaiian food, the sides aren’t an afterthought — they’re half the meal. A plate lunch without its two scoops rice and one scoop mac salad isn’t a plate lunch at all. A luau table without lomi salmon and poi isn’t a real luau. The sides provide the balance, the contrast, and the comfort that tie everything together.

This guide covers every Hawaiian side dish worth making, from the absolute essentials to the lesser-known gems that elevate a meal from good to unforgettable.

The Non-Negotiables

These appear at virtually every Hawaiian meal. Master them first.

White Rice

Medium-grain Calrose rice, cooked in a rice cooker, served in two perfectly scooped domes. This is the foundation of every plate lunch and the accompaniment to virtually every Hawaiian main dish. Get a rice cooker. Learn to make rice properly. Everything else builds on this.

Hawaiian Macaroni Salad

The essential plate lunch side — creamy, simple, deliberately overcooked elbow macaroni in Best Foods mayo with grated carrot and minced onion. Make it the day before. Overnight in the fridge is what transforms it from pasta with mayo into Hawaiian mac salad. Mac Salad 101 covers the technique in detail.

Lomilomi Salmon

Salted salmon massaged (“lomilomi” means to massage) with diced tomato and sweet Maui onion. Cold, bright, and refreshing — the perfect counterpoint to heavy, hot proteins like kalua pig. Essential at any luau spread. Try it on taro chips as a pupu.

Poi

The ancient Hawaiian staple — smooth taro paste that’s been the foundation of Hawaiian eating for over a thousand years. Mild, starchy, and meant to be eaten alongside strongly flavored dishes. Learn more about poi’s cultural significance.

Classic Accompaniments

Kimchi

Korean fermented cabbage became a standard Hawaiian side through the Korean immigrant community. Its spicy, tangy crunch cuts through rich, sweet BBQ meats perfectly. You’ll find kimchi on tables alongside kalbi, teriyaki, and plate lunches across the islands.

Pickled Vegetables (Tsukemono)

Japanese-style pickled vegetables — cucumber, daikon, cabbage — show up as palate cleansers at plate lunch spots and bento shops. Quick-pickled in rice vinegar and sugar, they add brightness and crunch to any plate.

Namasu

A Japanese-Hawaiian side of thinly sliced daikon and carrot in a sweet vinegar dressing. Light, refreshing, and common at New Year‘s celebrations and holiday spreads. The sweet-tart flavor is addictive.

Green Salad (Island Style)

Not a fancy composed salad — just fresh greens with a simple dressing. Many plate lunch spots offer a small green salad as a lighter alternative to mac salad. The typical dressing is a sweet, soy-based vinaigrette or a creamy ginger dressing.

Starchy Sides

Fried Rice

Day-old rice stir-fried with scrambled egg, green onions, Spam or char siu, and a splash of soy sauce. This is the way to use leftover rice in a Hawaiian kitchen. Every family has their version — some add corn, some add peas, some add kimchi. All are correct.

Spam Musubi

Not technically a “side dish” — it’s a snack or a meal on its own — but spam musubi shows up alongside other dishes at every Hawaiian gathering. Grilled Spam on pressed rice wrapped in nori. Make a batch and put them on the table.

Sweet Potato (Uala)

Hawaiian sweet potatoes (purple or orange) are steamed, roasted, or mashed as a side. The purple Okinawan sweet potato is particularly prized for its stunning color and nutty sweetness.

Luau Table Sides

These appear specifically at luau spreads and traditional Hawaiian feasts:

Chicken Long Rice

Technically a soup, but it’s always on the luau buffet table as a side. Ginger-chicken broth with slippery bean thread noodles. Read more about this Hawaiian classic.

Squid Luau

Squid simmered in coconut milk with taro leaf tops (luau). Rich, earthy, and one of the great traditional Hawaiian dishes that most visitors never encounter.

Poke

At a luau, poke is served as a side dish or pupu — a bowl of seasoned raw fish on the table for people to scoop from. Check the Complete Poke Guide for all the styles and recipes.

Quick Sides for Weeknight Meals

When you don’t have time for a full spread, these come together fast:

  • Steamed edamame with Hawaiian sea salt — 5 minutes
  • Cucumber namasu — thinly sliced cucumber in rice vinegar dressing, 10 minutes
  • Mac salad — make a batch on Sunday, eat it all week
  • Steamed rice — rice cooker does the work
  • Store-bought kimchi — no shame in this

Building the Perfect Plate

The Hawaiian approach to plating is simple: protein + rice + one or two cold sides. The temperature contrast (hot protein, cold sides) is part of the experience. Here are classic combinations:

For the complete protein guide, see the Plate Lunch Guide. For party planning, check How to Throw a Hawaiian Backyard Party.

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