Summer Side Dishes: 20+ fresh, seasonal recipes for your next BBQ party
But what if you have little time or it's too hot? Don't worry, we have selected 20+ side dishes among pasta salad, coleslaw, potato salad and cornbread.
With the arrival of summer, hunger is always there, yet with the hot weather you don't feel like cooking and spending time in the kitchen is minimal! What you need to pair with your steak or pork main dishes is to prepare recipes that are quick, fresh and easy to make.
Today we bring you 20+ easy, tasty summer side dish ideas to serve both cold or warm, you'll love them from the first bite. Whether you're planning a barbecue party with friends and family or want to enjoy a healthy outdoor potluck, you can't miss these crowd-pleaser dishes we've selected for you.
Summer side dishes that you absolutely must make should always include macaroni and pasta salad, grilled corn, and creamy potato salad. Make sure you also prepare baked beans and a crisp coleslaw to complete your BBQ meal.
What's better than a dinner with friends with simple dishes and light side dishes? But what if you have little time or it's too hot? Don't worry, we have chosen for you the best side dish recipes for every occasion. Try them all and tell us what you think!
Grilled corn on the cob is one of the ultimate summer side dishes. It's a perfect way to make the most out of that fresh, in-season sweet corn and requires virtually zero prep to make. Grilling adds a delicious smoky char which offers a tasty foil to the natural sweetness of the corn.
Cornbread is a classic quick bread that's a staple in Southern cooking. No barbecue or cookout is complete without a plate of homemade cornbread. This tasty bread is popular all over the US, thanks to its wonderfully buttery, rich corn flavor and fluffy, moist texture.
Creamy broccoli salad with bacon is a sensationally tasty dish that everyone will love. This is a brilliant recipe to serve for the broccoli skeptic in your life: the tantalizing combination of savory bacon and red onion combined with a hint of sweet raisins and a mouthwateringly red wine vinegar-mayonnaise dressing make broccoli bacon salad hard to resist. Even the most broccoli-averse folks out there will be converted. It's effortless to prepare, so you can throw this simple salad together if you need a quick, delicious side dish for your table.
If you're planning on hosting any picnics, barbecues, or potlucks this summer, you'll definitely want to make this easy creamy potato salad. Made with tender boiled potatoes, crunchy chopped celery, and hard-boiled eggs coated in a creamy mayonnaise-mustard-relish dressing, potato salad is a classic, hearty side dish that everyone will love.
When you're looking for an easy, tasty summer salad to serve at your picnics or backyard barbecues, there's nothing quite like an Italian pasta salad. This cold pasta salad is full of fresh ingredients like tomatoes, red onions, olives, which are complemented by savory chopped salami and mozzarella, to make a hearty, yet fresh salad.
Spicy, smoky, and a little bit sweet (thanks to the fresh sweet corn), Mexican street corn salad, or esquites, is a fantastic summer side dish that's ready to eat in under 20 minutes. This ultra-flavorful Mexican street food recipe is the off the cob version of elote, Mexican grilled corn. You don't need a grill to make esquites, so it's effortless to prepare and cook – the perfect last-minute quick side dish that tastes amazing and goes with everything from tacos and enchiladas to your favorite barbecue dishes.
Boston Baked Beans is a recipe of small white beans original of the city of Boston. It is one of the oldest American dish that dates back to Colonial period, then Boston was a trade center for rum imported from Caribbean.
This creamy cucumber salad is a much-loved favorite side dish to serve at potlucks, picnics, and barbecues. Made with refreshing cucumber and red onions tossed in a richly creamy sour cream dressing, this fantastic old-fashioned salad is light, crisp, and so easy to make.
Whether you’re preparing burgers, steaks chicken, or more, these crispy baked sweet potato fries are the perfect side no matter the dish! This baked sweet potato fry recipe is incredibly tasty all while being healthier than classic French fries. In addition to all the health benefits that come with sweet potatoes, these fries are baked in the oven instead of being fried – omitting any unhealthy, unnecessary frying oil. Plus, they can be baked in a shorter amount of time! These crispy wedges of sweet potatoes are easy to make and result in a salty, sweet, crunchy, and spicy (if desired) side all in one!
Sometimes all you need for a side dish is a fresh salad, chock full of nutrients. This Cucumber Tomato Avocado Salad is an easy, quick, and light salad recipe you can enjoy in the spring and summer months. The avocado makes it slightly creamy, while the onion and cucumber make it slightly crunchy. Tomatoes and cilantro add tons of flavor, together with a squeeze of lemon and a drizzle of olive oil. This is the perfect side dish if you’re craving fresh ingredients without much of a hassle. It’s quick and easy to assemble—a simple salad with all the taste. Your guests will be surprised at the simplicity of this delicious, full-of-texture salad.
Who doesn’t like a well-made, tasty fritter? There’s a reason why zucchini fritters are a childhood appetizer favorite in summer. They’re quick and easy to make, and it’s a great way to sneak in leftover vegetables!
Planning the menu for your next summer barbecue? This easy German potato salad is the perfect side dish for your next backyard bash! Great for potlucks, picnics, cookouts and even Oktoberfest, German potato salad has it all.
If you're on the hunt for a fantastically flavorful, yet super simple main meal that you can throw together on a busy weeknight, look no further than this chicken Caesar pasta salad recipe inspired by classic Caesar salad.
Panzanella salad is prepared with fresh vegetables, fresh herbs, and toasted bread, all of which is tossed in an olive oil-based dressing. This is a fairly light and filling salad, which dates back to the 16th century.
Caponata is a traditional, vegetarian Sicilian side dish recipe, perfect to enjoy during summer season. It is a sort of relish made of chopped fried eggplants, bell peppers, tomatoes, onions, celery, olives and capers flavored in a sauce which is sweet-sour or agrodolce as Italians say.
This cherry tomato confit is an easy, gluten-free, vegan side dish recipe perfect for summer. Confit refers to a food that is slow cooked in fat (it can be oil or animal fat) at a low temperature, usually over a longer period of time. Unlike deep-frying which involves cooking foods in fat at high temperatures for a shorter period of time, confit is the opposite—longer times at lower temperatures.
Fried zucchini are a quick, easy recipe perfect for the summer season. You can serve it as a vegetarian side dish or a tasty appetizer. These crispy fried zucchini are sliced, coated with semolina flour and fried until golden brown like zucchini fries.
For a beautiful, refreshing salad you can make this summer, there's nothing like watermelon feta salad. This is one sweet yet savory salad that absolutely everyone will love. It's made with juicy, sweet watermelon, creamy avocado, sharp red onions, and refreshing cucumber tossed with a garlic-lime dressing and topped with salty feta cheese.
