The recipe I always take to a BBQ that my friends rave about (and 4 other recipes you have to try)
Need some ideas for things to make and take to your next BBQ? Our resident BBQ obsessive, cookery editor Emma, has you covered
It’s hard to overemphasise how much I love a BBQ. The sunshine, being outdoors, the informality, that aroma of lightly charred meat (and fish, and cheese, and veggies), sipping wine in the sunshine with friends… it’s everything I enjoy most.
Of course, since everyone knows I both work in food and love to BBQ, I tend to get roped in to cook more often not (whether or not I’m hosting), but I love that too. There’s something so much more low-key about turning food on a grill than cooking in a kitchen, especially when you can just plop everything down on a table and holler for people to help themselves. It’s the polar opposite of a stiff and formal dinner party – something I’ve loathed since my childhood days helping my mum prep for them (something that always stressed her out no end, yet she never said no when people suggested them!)
When asked what s my go-to dish to take to a BBQ is, people are often surprised by the answer. It’s simple. It’s got no chilli in it (something I’m known to add to everything). It’s something anyone (and I do mean anyone) can make. It is, of course, potato salad. In my mind, no alfresco meal – BBQ or otherwise – is complete without potato salad. And for anyone who questions this, I can only suspect they’ve only ever had the shop-bought ones, claggy with heavy mayo and cold from the fridge.
‘In my mind, no alfresco meal is complete without potato salad’
Home-made potato salad is in a different league entirely. You can choose the perfect potatoes for maximum flavour and optimum texture – no one likes a soggy, clumpy salad. Charlottes are the key to my family’s top-secret recipe, but Jersey Royals are the ones to go for if cooking early enough in the year for them to still be in season, and Anya are also superb. You can dress the salad while it’s still a little warm, so the flavours are properly absorbed by the potatoes, and, best of all, you can ditch the mayo entirely. While I personally love mayonnaise, more and more friends and colleagues are coming out of the secret mayo-hating closet, and since mayonnaise doesn’t sit well in the sunshine anyway (ewww), the potato salad I swear by for hot, sunny days is made with pesto instead and is the first serving bowl to be scraped clean any time I bring it to an event.
And once you’ve whipped up a bowl of potato salad, I’ve got a few other sure-fire hit recipes you might want to consider making next time someone asks you to bring a dish to a BBQ…
Just 4 ingredients, and so simple anyone can make it in no time. This mayo-free potato salad is my go-to side dish for summer dining, with oodles of flavour from aromatic fresh basil pesto.
Recipe: Pesto potato salad
If I know there’s at least one non-meat eater attending a BBQ who might go overlooked, this easy aubergine dish comes to the fore. It’s simple, delicious and sure to be hoovered up by everyone, not just vegetarians. It can be cooked at home (under the grill) and reheated on-site for a bit of BBQ smoke or simply served at room/garden temperature. Pop the garnishes in a little sealed container to add just before serving.
Recipe: Harissa Aubergines
Bringing home-made bread to a BBQ is next-level impressive, and the effort-to-impact ratio is firmly in your favour (everyone thinks bread is harder than it is). Simple griddled herby flatbreads will trump any pack of burger buns, every time.
Recipe: Grilled Rosemary Flatbreads
If you haven’t tried giant couscous (also known as Israeli couscous) in a salad you’re in for a revelation. It soaks up flavour like nobody’s business, so paired with juicy seasonal tomatoes and tangy pomegranate molasses it just gets better and better the longer it sits (though if you want to get ahead and make it the day before, leave the herbs out until serving and let it come to room temperature for a couple of hours beforehand). You could throw in some torn mozzarella or crumble over some feta if you fancy.
Recipe: Tomato and Giant Couscous Salad
What to take to a BBQ if the host says they’ve already got the proteins and salads covered? Well, apart from a bottle or two (and if you’re looking for ideas on that score, check out our GHI’s guide to the best rosés to enjoy this summer), something to enhance the food without overshadowing it is nice. Ketchup, hot sauce and mayo all have their place at the BBQ table, but if you want to add a dash of home-made flair then a bowl of salsa is wonderful. Customise it to your taste – adding chilli or substituting herbs as you prefer – it says ‘I made something special’ without overshadowing the other food.
Recipe: Tropical Salsa
And for something sweet, after gorging on grilled goodness I usually find people claim they’re too full for pudding – unless it happens to involve ice cream. And if it involves home-baked cookies, too? Guaranteed winner every time. Make these chewy, meringue-like cookies the day (or 2) ahead and bring with a tub of your favourite ice cream. Sandwich scoops of slightly softened ice cream between two cookies and watch people’s mouths water.
Emma is Cookery Editor for Good Housekeeping and loves nothing more than sharing her bottomless enthusiasm for all things food and drink with anyone who wants to learn (and even those who don’t!). From super simple one pan suppers to showstopping wedding cakes and everything in between, there’s very little that doesn’t come out of her kitchen. When not developing recipes, writing features or styling food for photography she can be found hiding behind the mountain of cookery books that’s slowly overtaking her house, or exploring restaurants, food shops and festivals in search of the next big thing to share with readers. On the rare days when she’s not thinking about food, you’ll find her in a cosy pub at the end of a long walk with her dog and expert food taster, Angua.
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