Cookout and Party Food Menu Ideas

Your favorite menu ideas, cookout and BBQ recipes from Deep South Dish for Labor Day, Memorial Day, 4th of July or for any day, all in one place!

Here's my collection of Best of the Best from Deep South Dish cookout and party food recipes, all tried and true, just in case you're still looking for some menu ideas. Some of these are outdoor recipes, some are "cheater" style crockpot and some are for the oven.

There are beverages & cocktails, appetizers and dips, salads of all kinds, chicken, pork, a little seafood and even steaks, and of course there's always room for dessert.

I hope you find some inspiration here - enjoy!

 

My classic barbecue menu - get all the recipes right here on the blog - just click on the links! Grilled ribs, classic southern potato salad, southern baked beans, corn on the cob, marinated tomatoes and old fashioned macaroni salad.

Yum y'all!

Cookout Recipes

Beverages

Southern Sweet Iced Tea

No Calorie (Milo's Copycat) Diet Iced Tea

Southern Fruit Iced Tea

Memorial Day Recipes

Update:  Be sure to pop over and check out my
Labor Day menu ideas and recipes
with these and more updated recipes!

Memorial Day is right around the corner y'all! Why is it time drags when you are young, but once you become a man or woman of a certain age, it seems to fly by? It is almost June! {and, ugh.. hurricane season for us}

Besides the commemoration of our country's servicemen and women who have died in the line of duty, Memorial Day also kicks off the unofficial beginning of summer in the U.S., with sporting events like the Indianapolis 500, family gatherings, picnics and, of course, yummy barbecues!

The Grilled All-American Burger

The good ole classic All-American Burger to me means a good ground chuck beef burger, pickles, tomato, grilled onion, mayo, mustard and ketchup on a toasted bun & topped with bacon and cheese, if you like. 

Grilled All-American Burger

Saturday was a gardening day so supper had to be simple. Grilled burgers and southern style potato salad.  Grilled corn on the cob would be good too, but we just had that the night before {and yeah, I know, that's a lot of starches} so I settled on the burger and tater salad and it was plenty.

Oh, well, there might have been a bit of leftover banana pudding involved there too. 

 

A 3-hour pulled pork that is tender and juicy and tastes like it simmered in the crockpot all day - no kidding.

The Easiest (Cheater) Pulled Pork Ever, No Kidding

This cheater pulled pork recipe kind of came on a flashback. No, not that kind y'all. But... years ago I really got into frugality, and one of the many places I frequented back then included the Dollar Stretcher website. Now I admit, I had kind of forgotten about Gary until I found him on Twitter and rediscovered him again.

Burgers stuffed with Pepper Jack cheese and flavored with an all-purpose sauce.

Pepper Jack Stuffed Burgers

I got this idea from my Mother-in-Law, when she made some stuffed burgers that she had seen in an issue of Woman's World magazine. They were delicious!

I had won a couple bottles of Country Bob's sauce (#ad), which I had never tried before, and the wheels started turning. I thought, "hey, I'll bet I can make something like this using some of that Country Bob's sauce!"

So, I took the general idea of that recipe and came up with this one. They turned out excellent and got a big thumb's up from my hubby aka The Cajun.

Small red potatoes are first baked, then chopped or sliced and tossed with bacon and onion in a mayonnaise, vinegar and ranch dressing seasoning.

Bacon Ranch Cold Baked Potato Salad

I've already shared my just-like-Mama's southern style no-frills simple potato salad but this one here is also a big favorite of mine.

Initially, this was my attempt to duplicate a potato salad served at one of our local favorite barbecue hangouts, but since writing the recipe, they've changed their version which has no eggs, is much whiter in color and seems to be heavy in sour cream and mayonnaise.

Juicy and delicious onion burgers made with an envelope of onion soup mix (or equivalent homemade), tomato sauce and Worcestershire are a long loved classic.

Classic Onion Burgers

I do love a grilled burger, and like many of you, I've been making these burgers for years. It just produces a tender, yummy burger full of onion flavor - by far one of my favorite ways to eat a grilled burger.

A simple packet of onion soup mix provides all the onion flavor you need (or you can make up your own homemade version of the packet too), the Worcestershire sauce gives it a tasty punch and the tomato sauce - my change from the water in the original recipe - helps to keep the burger nice and moist.

Old Fashioned Hand-Squeezed Fresh Lemonade

Old fashioned homemade lemonade made with freshly squeezed lemons and simple syrup.

Old Fashioned Hand-Squeezed Lemonade

I admit, there are some pretty good frozen lemonade concentrates out there, but a holiday like Memorial Day, 4th of July and Labor Day, just calls for something special and that means fresh, homemade lemonade to me. This one begins with a simple syrup, which really helps to provide that perfect balance between tart and sweet. Be careful not to over-boil the syrup though ... you don't want to make candy!

A basic and traditional southern potato salad - simply potatoes, onion, celery, eggs, just a bit of mustard, some pickle and mayonnaise, shown here plated with my BBQ menu, including grilled ribs, baked beans, macaroni salad, marinated tomatoes and Silver Queen corn on the cob.

Classic Southern-Style Potato Salad

Potato salad reminds me so much of my Mama. This recipe is basically the same as hers - simple, basic, southern potato salad. Nothin' fancy or highfalutin' - just potatoes, eggs, onion, celery, a little bit of mustard, some pickle relish, salt & pepper. Oh, and mayo, of course!

A long-held southern favorite, Texas Sheet Cake, is the lightest, fluffiest, perfectly sweet, rich and delectable, melt in your mouth, best chocolate cake ever. No matter how hard you try you will not be able to eat just one piece.

Buttermilk Chocolate Texas Sheet Cake

I got this big batch brownie recipe several years ago from Tommie, a friend of mine from Oklahoma, but it's essentially one of those recipes that has been around in one form or another, and by one name or another, for as long as I have, and probably longer.

It originated with Hershey many years back, and was on the back of the cocoa tin. One year, I can't even remember how many orders of this sheet cake Tommie said she did for a church bake sale, but it had to be a few dozen all told. As soon as somebody would find out she was making them for the bake sale, they'd be calling to place an order for a full tray before the bake sale even started! I can certainly see why.

 

Tri-color rotini pasta is paired with red onion, celery, green and red bell pepper, black olives, chopped tomato and dressed with an Italian dressing.

Tri-Color Italian Rotini Pasta Salad

Here's another pasta salad for the recipe box. The first one I posted was a Creamy Pasta Salad version, and my attempt at duplicating a local restaurant's menu item. This one is made using Italian dressing and no mayonnaise.

 

Layers of cream cheese filling, bananas and pudding in a vanilla wafer crust

Layered Banana Cream Pie Dessert

This Layered Banana Cream Pie Dessert starts with a quick baked vanilla wafer and pecan crust {though walnuts would be amazing here too} that is pressed into the bottom of a 9 x 13 inch baking dish. Sliced bananas go over that, and then are topped with a bit of plain vanilla pudding, which sort of then seeps into the cracks and crevices between the bananas.

 

A well-loved pie, reminiscent of those served at Shoney's restaurants back in the day, made with fresh sliced strawberries and set with the help of strawberry gelatin and a secret ingredient!

Fresh Strawberry Pie

It's the season for strawberries, which makes me a happy person. I LOVE strawberries! And especially locally grown sweet Louisiana or Florida strawberries.

Strawberries are best purchased fresh when you need them because they just do not store well. Last year though, I discovered that the Debbie Meyer green bags and boxes (#ad) kept them fresh in the fridge for much, much longer than any other storage method.

Grilled spareribs or baby back ribs, get a boost first in the oven and then take a final sear on the grill.

Grilled Pork Spareribs or Baby Back Ribs

Now that the rain has moved outta here and the sun has resurfaced, I was in the mood to hit the grill for dinner today.

So as I write this it's March and I know that some of you are hunkered down inside due to unexpected spring ice storms and snowfall, but maybe this'll give y'all a glimmer of hope that summer is really just around the corner! And, maybe when y'all are relaxing and enjoying your summer, you'll think of us in the Deep South while we are melting right about that same time.

So I figured it'd be a good time to show y'all that other rib recipe I mentioned in my other rib post. Back in a day when I was doing yet another diet, Lisa, one of the gals on the board I was frequenting gave me this method.

Barbecue Sundae

It may seem strange, but this is a great way to use the leftovers from your cookout - a very clever and a great presentation and everybody loves this.

A creamy pasta salad, made with shell pasta, bell pepper, red onion, black olives, cheddar cheese, tomato and bacon and tossed with a mayo, sour cream, vinegar dressing, seasoned with onion powder, garlic salt.

Creamy Pasta Salad

I love pasta salad. Any kind.

It is another one of those dishes that I have no loyalty to though, so I love switching it up, different veggies, different dressing bases. This one is a mayonnaise-based pasta salad and my interpretation of one that was once served at a local favorite BBQ joint.

A basic cabbage coleslaw with a creamy vinegar and mayonnaise base.

Basic Creamy Coleslaw

Of course most everybody has a coleslaw recipe they love. I happen to like a variety of them, so I'm not really loyal to any one. This coleslaw is loosely based on LuLu's in Gulf Shores, Alabama, but I added in bread and butter pickles because I liked the extra contrast they provide beyond the usual vinegar and sugar. If you happen to have some - or want to make some up - Fire 'n Ice pickles would be fantastic too.

Oven Baked Pork Ribs with Sweet and Spicy Homemade Barbecue Sauce

When you don't want to fool with the grill or smoker, these fall off the bone spareribs will satisfy that rib craving. Slow baked in the oven, they'll hit the spot!

Oven Baked Pork Ribs

Fall off the bone ribs, now that's what I'm talkin' about y'all!
This beautiful weather the past few weeks has had me in the mood to get a garden going for sure, but it's also had me in the mood for barbecue! I have literally been craving it for weeks now.

Deep South Dish Signature Barbecue Sauce

 

 Like all regions of The South, we also have our own style of barbecue sauce, and here in the Deep South it's spicy sweet! Homemade is just so easy y'all, really it is! Give it a try and make this your signature sauce too.

Sweet and Spicy Barbecue Sauce

This is my personal homemade signature recipe for a sweet and spicy barbecue sauce. When I created it, I was trying to duplicate the flavor of a very popular barbecue joint here on the coast.

There are a lot of commercial barbecue sauces on the market today - some good, some fantastic - and I can tell you how to dress up the less expensive stuff, but... if you really want to bump up your barbecue, you really can't beat a good homemade sauce.

Southern seasoned baked beans with chili sauce, mustard, brown sugar, bacon, onion and bell pepper - they're a cookout tradition! Pictured here with grilled ribs, Mama's Southern potato salad and marinated tomatoes.

Classic Southern Style Baked Beans

I have been cooking my baked beans pretty much this same way since the 70s. And all those years I have been doing them in this old Pyrex dish.

Well... that is until one day I dropped it and broke it. This was a wedding gift back then and I can't tell you how many potlucks that little carrier basket has been to over the years! {I told y'all I had some old dishes, though I guess the politically correct way to say that would be "vintage."}