25 Grilling Recipes for Mix-and-Match Outdoor Meals (2024)

Meat

Breads! Meats! Vegetables! Dessert!

by: Samantha Weiss Hills

June26,2017

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Grab some charcoal, skewers, and a chimney to light your coals. Marinate whatever suits your fancy, chop up salads, mix up some drinks. Revel in the fact that you won't be smoking up your house with screamin' hot pans—because you're preparing to cook outside after all, and grill grates and cast irons are happy to be super toasty over a blazing flame.

Grilling is, to me, aseasonal (as I'd don winter boots and a coat to do it in the snow) but it's extra exciting when the sun never seems to set. Since it's past time to pull out the grill and have nothing to do with the cooking apparatus inside your kitchen: Here are 25 recipes and ideas for the next outdoor party you're hosting or heading to.

HotBreads!

Why yes, you can use the grill to make bread—and even if you hadn't thought to do that, you can grill already-made bread, too! Think flatbreads that pouf when they hit the heat, cast iron challah, grill-marked rustic loaves that you can eat with a slick of garlic and oil or tear into breadcrumbs.

Grilled Flatbread
Challah Bread Baked on the Grill
Grilled Lemon and Herb Flatbread

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ToastyVegetables

Bright, bursting-with-flavor summer vegetables take to grill smoke like they take to vinaigrette or salt: happy and relaxed, with a little sigh of contentment. Whether you've got an abundance of fleshy friends like zucchini or eggplant, or spicy alliums, or greenies like romaine or snap peas, grilling gives 'em a toasty touch.

Vegetable Salad, Capri Style
Best Grilled Brussels Sprouts
Grilled Leeks, Red Onions with Tomatoes and Thousand Island Dipping Sauce
Grilled Avocado "Guacamole" with Parmesan and Basil
Grilled Baby Bok Choy with Miso Butter
Grilled English Peas

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Meats MeatsMeats

There are always ways to up your meat-grilling game, however familiar this staple cooking method might be to you: Get outside your comfort zone! Marinate your meats! Make sauces and salsas! Serve over greens! So what are you waiting for?

Alabama-Style Chicken Kebabs
Grilled Steak Salad with Italian Salsa Verde
Arrosticini (Barbecued Lamb Skewers)
Grilled Sambal Shrimp with Peach Salsa
Grilled Fish Hoagies with Za’atar, Harissa Aioli, and Carrot Cilantro Pickle
Thai Grilled Chicken with Hot and Sweet Dipping Sauce
Kalbi-Style Short Ribs

Sweets with GrillMarks

The sizzle and pop of the grill when something sweet, like peaches or watermelon, hits it is music to my ears. There's just something about the smell of caramelizing sugar that makes my not-so-sweet tooth get a little more excited than usual.

Grilled Stone Fruit with Coconut Snow
Grilled Apricots with Whipped Ricotta, Basil and Sherry Vinegar Syrup
Grilled Watermelon with Tequila
Grilled Bananas with Buttered Maple Sauce and English Almond Toffee
This Strawberry Shortcake is Made of Grilled Doughnuts

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What's your favorite thing to grill? Tell us in the comments!

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Tags:

  • What to Cook
  • Outdoor Entertaining
  • Bread
  • Grill/Barbecue
  • Dessert
  • Vegetable

See what other Food52 readers are saying.

Written by: Samantha Weiss Hills

I love oysters and unfussy sandwiches.

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25 Grilling Recipes for Mix-and-Match Outdoor Meals (2024)

FAQs

What are 5 foods good for grilling? ›

  • Chicken halves. You get a great dinner plus leftovers for chicken noodle soup or enchiladas or whatever.
  • Pork steak 2 inches thick cut from the butt/shoulder. ...
  • Shish*to peppers. ...
  • Any kind of large peppers you like. ...
  • Onions. ...
  • Mix the peppers and onions. ...
  • Golden beets are f'king amazing grilled. ...
  • Spring/bulb/grilling onions.
Feb 4, 2022

What are 4 foods that can be grilled? ›

Grill-Worthy Veggies
  • Sweet peppers (6-8 minutes each side)
  • Onions (5-7 minutes each side)
  • Zucchini and other summer squash (5 minutes each side)
  • Corn (25 minutes)
  • Portabella mushrooms (7-10 minutes per side)
  • Romaine lettuce hearts (3 minutes per side)
Jun 26, 2022

What is the most popular item to grill? ›

Steak was the favorite grilled food of roughly one third of Americans in 2020. When asked which grilled food they enjoy the most, 34 percent of the respondents to a widespread survey opted for the beef steak, with hamburgers and chicken completing the top three.

What is the best meat to cook on a charcoal grill? ›

The best BBQ meats for roasting directly over the grill include steaks, lamb chops, beef ribs, burgers, chicken wings, and seafood. If you're looking for something that needs cooking low and slow, then consider pork shoulder, brisket, or ribs.

What is best to cook on a gas grill? ›

Top 10 Foods to Cook On Gas BBQs
  • Hamburgers. Burgers and gas BBQs are pretty much synonymous, yet the options for the type of burger you can cook up are limitless. ...
  • Steak. There are all kinds of different steak cuts that you can prepare on a gas BBQ. ...
  • Fruit. Yes — fruit! ...
  • Chicken. ...
  • Sausages. ...
  • Vegetables. ...
  • Potatoes. ...
  • Pizza.

What is the best meat to cook on charcoal? ›

If you mean grill, ie cook hot and fast, any relatively tender cut will be fine: beef, pork, lamb, chicken (spatchco*cked or in pieces), fish (sturdy fillets, steaks, or whole fish on the bone). If you mean low and slow BBQ, then you need tough fatty cuts: beef brisket, pork butt, or beef or pork ribs.

What is the easiest meat to grill? ›

Chicken is the go-to option and holy grail of any grill experience. If you are looking for the best and easiest meat to grill—chicken thighs are just the meat cuts you need. Talk to experienced grillers and they will tell you that this part of the chicken, especially with the skin left on, is superior to any other cut.

What is the best fish to grill? ›

What Fish to Grill. Salmon and firm, thick white fish like sea bass, red snapper, grouper and halibut are the best types of fish to grill because they are hearty. If you would like to grill thin, delicate fish, it is best to wrap them in foil instead of using this method.

What to feed 20 people at a BBQ? ›

For 20 people I would keep it simple. Some really good sausages and some pre-cooked chicken whch you just finish off on the bbq. Huge green salad. If there are any veggies I also make a salad from puy lentils and feta cheese.

What to serve at a BBQ for 20 people? ›

BBQ recipes to feed a crowd
  • Dill and buttermilk chicken legs. ...
  • Cherry s'more campfire cones. ...
  • Smoky skewers with parsley dipping sauce. ...
  • Blackened spiced spatchco*ck chicken. ...
  • Piri piri prawns with basil and lemon sauce. ...
  • Garlic pesto bread. ...
  • Barley, courgette and mint salad with barbecued halloumi. ...
  • BBQ sticky ribs.

What are 3 ways of grilling food? ›

Virtually all cooking on gas and/or charcoal grills can be divided into three cooking methods: direct, indirect or combo. As the names imply, the difference between the methods is determined by where the food is placed in relation to the fire. The DIRECT method cooks foods with the direct heat of the flame.

What are the soft foods for grilling? ›

14 Delicious Foods You Can Grill This Summer
  • Watermelon. Kicking off our list of foods you can grill is no other than the quintessential fruit of summer — watermelon. ...
  • Pineapple. ...
  • Peaches. ...
  • Romaine Lettuce. ...
  • Avocado. ...
  • Bananas. ...
  • Artichokes. ...
  • Tomatoes.

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