15 Mouthwatering Side Dish Recipes for BBQ Dinners
Updated on March 13, 2023
Our favourite time of the year has finally come around again and we couldn’t be more thrilled. The skies are cloudless, the sun is out, and everyone in our neighbourhood has fired up their barbecues and grills. The patio furniture is our and the air smells heavenly thanks to all of the delicious meals and dishes people are making in their yards. Now, we already have our BBQ favourites, so we never really have any trouble choosing what we’d like to make on the grill itself. This always means, however, that we’ve got our main course covered but find ourselves lacking in or constantly repeating the same side dishes. That’s part of the reasons we’ve been feeling determined to find awesome new side dish recipes for our BBQ dinners lately! In addition to asking our neighbours for their favourites, we also took to the Internet in search of unique things we’d never tried before. We were pleasantly surprised with just how many things we found.
Are you feeling just as intent as we have been, if not more, on finding new delicious side dishes that will take your BBQ meals to the next level? Then check out these 15 mouthwatering ideas, recipes, and tutorials that we came across in our search.
1. Grilled sweet potato salad
If we’re being honest, potato salad has always been our absolute favourite BBQ side dish. In fact, it’s quite possibly our favourite side dish for just about any other kind of meal too. We make it constantly! As usual, however, we’re always open to suggestions for new ways to put an interesting spin on the things we like most. That’s why we were so excited when we found this delicious grilled sweet potato salad featured in detail on Tasting Table.
2. Lime and sesame grilled eggplant
Just because you’re making a side dish does not, of course, mean that you can’t put your grill to use again for that part of the meal too. We always really like having a filling vegetable based side dish on hand whenever we can in order to give any visitors who we didn’t realize don’t eat meat something equally satisfying as an alternative to our usual meat entree. Our most recent favourite was this recipe from Taste of Home for making lime and sesame grilled eggplant!
3. Easy balsamic grilled vegetables
Have we really caught your attention with this idea of grilled vegetables but you’re also the kind of person who loves vegetable mixes and medleys best, since that gives you more flavour and more nutrition? In that case, we have a strong feeling that you’d get along a little better with something like this easy balsamic grilled vegetables tutorial outlined in detail on Neighbor Food.
4. Grilled garlic butter mushrooms
If you’re like us and happen to be of the opinion that the absolute best complement to a delicious grilled steak is a batch of grilled mushrooms then we’re pretty sure this next recipe from The Endless Meal is the one for you! Take a better look at their page to learn more about how they made these delicious and fragrant garlic butter mushrooms and served them as skewers (which also makes them easier to grill).
5. Best ever grilled onions
Rather than mushrooms, have you always loved onions with your steak the most? Well, luckily for al of us, those are a side dish that you can prepare perfectly on the grill as well in just a few easy steps. Just in case you’ve never done so before or need a few tips for seasoning and how to stop the onion layers from falling through the grill slats, here’s an awesome grilled onion recipe from Fox and Briar to help you out.
6. Grilled Mexican street corn
If you’ve never tried Mexican street corn then we’re sorry to tell you that you’ve been missing out on something very delicious indeed! Fix that situation as soon as you can by following along with this next recipe from Tasting Table. They show you now only how to make perfectly grilled corn, but also how to prepare authentic sauce and seasoning and to properly dress the corn for the best taste.
7. Grilled watermelon, feta, and basil salad
We had actually never heard of grilled watermelon until recently and now that we know how fantastic it is, we can’t believe we ever lived without it! Save yourself from missing out on this scrumptious dish any longer as well by following along with the recipe and tutorial outlined on Recipe Runner. They show you how to make a well-rounded side dish from grilled watermelon served with cubed feta cheese and basil.
8. BBQ baked beans
If you’ve ever thought that you know just about everything you could make within the realm of BBQ meals, here’s one that you might not have heard of yet (or at least we hadn’t)! This delicious recipe featured in step by step detail on Food Network teaches you how to make a batch of BBQ baked beans that are packed with flavour and complement just about anything you’d like to serve them with.
9. Fresh corn salad with tomato, basil, and feta
Have we really got your attention with the mention of feta cheese now but you’ve actually never been a very big watermelon fan? Well, luckily for all of us, there is absolutely more than one BBQ-appropriate side dish that you can make feta a delicious part of! If you’d rather work with vegetables than fruit, then take a better look at The Ktchn to see how they made this delicious fresh corn salad with tomato, basil, and feta.
10. Avocado caprese salad
Have you been a long time lover of classic caprese salad made with tomatoes, basil, and fresh mozzarella cheese but, like we said before, you’re feeling adventurous enough to put unique spins on your trusted regulars here and there? Then we have a feeling you’re going to love what The Ktchn made here. Their recipe and tutorial teaches you how to make a unique version of the salad that uses grape tomatoes instead of full sized tomato slices, and that is also packed with delicious chunks of avocado!
11. Sunny broccoli salad
Just in case we’ve still got you really feeling the idea of veggie based BBQ salads but you’re not a big corn fan and just haven’t quite felt convinced by anything else yet, here’s another yummy alternative for your consideration. This recipe outlined nice and simply on Lil’ Luna shows you how to make a “sunny” broccoli salad that’s packed with that essential nutrition green veggies supply you with so well.
12. Classic macaroni salad
What if you’re brand new to the world of cooking for yourself and you’d actually like to stick to those basic, trusted favourites we were talking about earlier but you’re also just not sure where to start in making them, even though you’ve eaten them a million times? Then here’s a great point of reference for the macaroni salad lovers out there. Cooking Classy is here to show you how they make their classic and long-loved version.
13. Classic potato salad
Speaking of classics, potato salad is another time-honoured partner to any BBQ meal! We find, however, that potato salad is also the kind of thing that can be made about a thousand different ways, depending on where you’re from and what your flavour preferences are. This particular recipe from My Organized Chaos, however, is prepared just like the kind we always had as a kid and have seen most commonly since then, so that’s the one we’ll recommend starting out with, even though we totally support the idea of trying as many different kinds of you can.
14. Classic coleslaw
Macaroni and potato salads are by no means the only “standard classics” that you’ll find at a family BBQ or cookout. If you ask us, no BBQ meal would be anywhere near complete without a healthy helping of coleslaw as well. Even though it’s a pretty basic recipe that’s pretty consistent throughout the world, we figured we’d better still show you how it’s done just in case you’ve never tried it. Get the full details for making classic coleslaw on Simply Recipes!
15. Mediterranean quinoa zucchini salad
If you’re going to put in all the time and effort it takes to make a homemade salad that will really suit the flavours found elsewhere at a BBQ dinner, would you rather do something a little more unique or with an internationally inspired taste? In that case, we’d absolutely suggest taking a look at this tutorial and recipe from Sunkissed Kitchen. They show you step by step how this mouthwatering and incredibly fresh tasting Mediterranean quinoa zucchini salad was made.
Do you have another BBQ dinner side dish favourite that’s always a huge hit with your friends and family and that you make all the time but that you don’t see here on our list? Tell us all about what you made and how it’s done or link us to the recipe in the comments section so we can try it out too!