Your Ultimate Guide to Memorial Day Cookouts

Barbecue chicken is just one of the many delicious things you should be throwing on the grill this weekend. Photo: John Liu/Flickr

Memorial Day is the unofficial start of summer, and what better way to kick off a season of longer days, trips to the beach, and awesome farm-fresh produce than by having your best friends over for a party. We’re thinking delicious grilled foods. Home-baked desserts. Refreshing libations. Everything you’ve been dreaming of for the last six months of frigid temperatures.

Yahoo Food has pulled together everything you need to know before hosting your Memorial Day bash: the best gear for your grill; the best grilled appetizer, main course, and dessert recipes; what to bring to a potluck; the best must-try summer craft beers; and more.

First thing’s first! Get that grill in order. If you haven’t already, wheel that thing out of storage, dust it off (literally — who knows what may have hibernated in there over winter), and get ready to fire it up. Before you do, make sure you have a full propane tank or a new bag of charcoal. (You don’t want to find that you’re missing these key components just as guests are arriving for your barbecue.) And don’t forget to dig up your tools — grill brush, meat thermometer, and heavy-duty spatula — and make sure they’re clean.

New to grilling? Don’t worry, we have you covered. Check out this list of the best grills, tools, and gadgets to get you started.

Photo: Dani Vasquez/Flickr

Next up: What to cook on the grill. Yahoo Food has a collection of 21 recipes to help you decide. There’s chicken (wings and barbecue), lobster, steak, and most importantly, burgers. We even have a few grilled appetizer options (have you tried grilled romaine? It’s amazing), as well as desserts, like this grilled cobbler recipe.

Need some grilling pointers? Some people have been grilling meat since they were old enough to light a match, but for the rest of us, there’s a super useful guide from the guys over at Amazingribs.com. For example, they teach you how to properly sear your meat — a method called reverse searing, which will make sure you don’t give your expensive prime rib a gray, dry outer layer.

We also have advice from Kat Kinsman, formerly of CNN’s Eatocracy, and currently of Tasting Table. One of her tips? Start cooking early: she often “wouldn’t start early enough, and everyone would be sitting there starving at 10 P.M.”

Photo: Thinkstock

What if you’re not hosting, but attending someone else’s cookout? We can help. The folks at Martha Stewart have a few recipes that work great as potluck dishes (including a grilled asparagus flatbread that looks amazing). Also, you cannot go wrong with potato salad: Yahoo Food’s Rachel Tepper offers up easy ways to achieve tangy, spicy, or sweet versions of the tater classic. Don’t have time to cook at all before the party? That’s O.K.! Epicurious offers five great potluck ideas that don’t involve you being in the kitchen all morning. 

Now that your guests are fed, onto the important stuff: drinks! Drinking at a summer cookout requires a few things. Number one: a low-alcohol drink or beer that can be consumed slowly the course of the party without causing extreme intoxication. Also, make sure you have lots of easily accessible drinking water so guests can hydrate as the day goes on. If you fancy a cocktail, we recommend a shandy, which, in its most basic form, is simply beer cut with lemonade or another citrus juice. If you’re going the straight beer route, here are some of the best new craft beers coming out this summer.

Photo: Martha Stewart Living

Finally, we’re leaving the best for last — dessert. Pies are an American cookout classic. You can probably buy a pretty decent one at your local grocery store, but where’s the fun in that? If you do decide to bake your own, here’s a primer on making a prettier lattice crust. And here’s a classic rhubarb-strawberry pie recipe from our friends at Martha Stewart.

If pie isn’t your thing, at least make sure your dessert is red, white, and blue. Ali Larter’s strawberry mint cake is a luscious mess of strawberries and cream, and these fireworks cookies are a crowd-pleaser. Also try this American flag cake, which will get lots of oohs and ahhs as you slice into it. Find more red, white, and blue dessert recipes here. 

Hosting a cookout is a little like riding a bike. Once you get the hang of it, it’s a cinch. Here’s to happy barbecuing!