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Sure, people give me that answer all the time.

If you actually went beyond basic setup and dealt with real enterprise/production level issues then make sure to point it out. I assume that “I learned it for a side project” means mostly happy path stuff.

Then by all means mention the project. To me, what matters in this specific answer is not the side project, but the learning opportunity and associated curiosity.

All bonus points, especially if the company uses k8s or if you can answer aptly "why did you choose k8s?"

FWIW, I'd expect 3 kinds of answers: 1. "This was a right fit because..." 2. "I knew this was NOT a right fit but I wanted to learn" 3. "I thought it was the right fit but I was wrong because..."

When I'm hiring I consider "I learned that on a side-project" to be an extremely strong positive signal.