24 Labor Day Recipes With Endless Summer Vibes
Eva Kolenko / Food Styling by Carrie Purcell / Prop Styling by Nidia Cueva
Even though summer's official end isn't until the third week of September, Labor Day is widely considered the season's last hurrah. It's a great opportunity to gather some friends, show your grill some love, and relish all the fruits and vegetables that are ready to strut their stuff this time of year. Corn is at its sweetest, tomatoes are still succulent, melons and blackberries are full of flavor, and okra is just hitting its stride — among many others. From tomato pie bars and pimiento-stuffed burgers to miso caramel blondie sundaes, put together a menu of endless summer vibes with these recipes for Labor Day food.
Chorizo and Kimchi Dogs
At chef Claudette Zepeda-Wilkins’ regional Mexican restaurant in San Diego, this dish is served as an homage to the Sonoran hot dog. Easy hacks like crumbled chorizo make this restaurant favorite easy to pull off for backyard entertaining.
Crunchy Eggplant and Corn Salad with Mint and Feta
Tossed here with hearty breaded and roasted eggplant, fresh mint, and tangy feta, fresh corn is one of the great joys of late summer. In this quick-cooking recipe, corn is just lightly charred to add a bitter note, offsetting its sweetness. A glug of hot chile oil drizzled on top finishes off each plate.
Okra Mac and Cheese with Andouille Sausage
Antonis Achilleos / Food Styling by Emily Nabors Hall / Prop Styling by Lydia Purcell
New Orleans chef Kevin Belton brings okra’s thickening power and a little Louisiana flair to his baked mac and cheese. It's loaded with andouille sausage, Creole seasoning, white cheddar and Gruyère cheeses, and of course, okra.
Grilled Burgers Stuffed with Pimiento Cheese
Greg Dupree / Food Styling by Micah Morton / Prop Styling by Claire Spollen
These decadent burgers are stuffed with pimiento cheese for an inside-out cheeseburger packed with flavor. One bite is all you need to see how different they are from the usual. If you like, prepare these burgers a few hours in advance of cooking, and store them, covered, in the refrigerator. Once they're grilled, you'll want to eat them immediately so the cheese inside is still warm.
Miso Caramel Blondie Sundae
Jennifer Causey / Food Styling by Chelsea Zimmer / Prop Styling by Christina Daley
For this crunchy, nutty, sweet-and-salty ode to the iconic hot fudge brownie sundae, white miso tempers the ripple of sugary caramel in the cakey blondies with a savory undertone. Use our No-Churn Vanilla Ice Cream recipe to make your own over store-bought.
Chile Crisp Shrimp Rolls with Cucumber Salad
Victor Protasio / Food Styling by Margaret Monroe Dickey / Prop Styling by Christine Keely
Toasted brioche buns are piled high with succulent shrimp and crisp celery slaw in this riff on a classic shrimp roll. Melted butter, chile crisp, and tangy rice vinegar coat the shrimp in color and flavor. A simple shaved cucumber salad rounds out the plate and offers a cooling finish.
Sugared Melon With Cardamom and Mint
Sugar, cardamom, and fresh mint are all you need to transform ripe melon into a memorable dessert. Muskmelons, such as cantaloupe and honeydew, are sometimes treated like an afterthought — that's why chef Vishwesh Bhatt sometimes calls this recipe Don't Forget the Melon. "If you have the right melon that's nice and ripe, it's just so good," he says.
Potato Salad with Fresh Corn and Basil
Red baby potatoes are ideal for potato salad because their tender skins and creamy interiors hold together, even when cooked. Quickly soaking the onions in vinegar mellows their bite and allows the summery fresh herbs to shine in the dressing. Be sure to taste the salad after chilling and adjust the seasoning before serving.
Peach, Tomato, and Feta Salad with Candied Jalapeño Dressing
Tangy, sweet tomatoes and peaches are one of our favorite combinations for late summer eating. Here, they star in a salad atop a bed of peppery arugula and basil. The salad gets even more zip with a sweet-spicy vinaigrette made with candied jalapeños or pepper jam. The feta and sliced onion scattered on top add more contrast and flavor, and the final sprinkle of za'atar lends this salad an extra level of texture.
Cevapi with Ajvar and Kajmak
Morgan Hunt Glaze / Food Styling by Margaret Monroe Dickey / Prop Styling by Caleb Clark
These Balkan sausages made with beef and lamb have a wonderful subtle smokiness from the spices and grill. Chef Joe Flamm serves them with avjar, a sauce made from roasted peppers, eggplant, and garlic. A dollop of kajmak, a Serbian and Croatian fresh cheese, adds a bit of tanginess to balance the rich meat.
Summer Squash Carpaccio
"When summer squash is freshly picked, all it needs is a little olive oil, salt, pepper, and maybe a hit of lemon juice," chef Marcela Valladolid writes. "Here, I've taken it to next-level magic by adding sweet dates, fresh mint, and toasted pepitas spiced with Tajín seasoning to the thinly sliced summer squash. For a gathering with friends in the garden or a light lunch, this has become a favorite of mine."
Plum Gin Fizz
This fruity gin fizz isn't overly sweet, allowing the flavor of the caramelized plums to shine. A botanical gin works well with the fruit in this cocktail, adding herbaceous and fruity notes. To play up the deep color of the plums, try Empress 1908, a royal purple–hued, botanical-style spirit.
Pollo Yucateco Asado (Yucatán-Style Grilled Chicken)
Eva Kolenko / Food Styling by Carrie Purcell / Prop Styling by Nidia Cueva
These juicy grilled chicken thighs are marinated in achiote powder and spiced orange juice, giving them a peppery and sweet aroma.
Tomatillo Salsa Cruda
Chef Fermín Núñez's raw tomatillo salsa combines tart, fresh tomatillos; jalapeño and serrano chiles; tender scallions; and pungent cilantro for a juicy, refreshing salsa perfect for topping tacos, eggs, or tortilla chips.
Italian Beef Sandwiches
Fred Hardy / Food Styling by Melissa Gray / Prop Styling by Shell Royster
Topped with bright homemade giardiniera and roasted sweet peppers, these Italian beef sandwiches have lots of beefy flavor and a deeply satisfying jus.
Chile-Coconut Watermelon Crudo
This sweet, spicy, and punchy upgrade to classic slabs of salted watermelon is the palate-pleasing appetizer your cookout guests deserve. Fresh coconut water is much sweeter, and has a greater depth of flavor than bottled versions, so crack open a coconut if you can.
Grilled Halloumi Burgers with Citrus Tapenade
When grilled or sautéed, halloumi develops a charred crust that yields to soft cheese inside. Here, we cut the halloumi across the equator for the centerpiece of the burger, and season it with cumin, salt, and pepper. It's then topped with a citrusy olive tapenade with just enough crushed red pepper flakes to lend it a touch of heat.
Grilled Corn Salad With Coconut-Peanut Chaat
Make sure you grill corn for this salad before summer ends. It combines sweet, lightly charred fresh corn with a topping that stars ingredients including flaked coconut, curry leaves, and peanuts. It's a side dish or main that's bursting with flavor and texture — salty, nutty, crunchy, juicy, sweet, savory, and crisp.
Tomato Pie Bars
In his riff on tomato pie, food editor Josh Miller uses crushed saltine crackers and Parmesan cheese to give these tomato pie bars a crispy, savory bottom crust and enhances the rich, savory filling with mildly spicy curry powder and chipotle chile. A topping of juicy slices of tomato brings the finished tomato pie bars into perfect balance.
Grilled S’mores Pie
Jennifer Causey / Food Styling by Ali Ramee
Grilled S'mores PieThis decadent pie with a chocolate ganache filling is topped with gooey toasted marshmallows, giving you all the flavors of s’mores but in a pie cooked on a grill.
Grilled Short Ribs with Smoky Blackberry Barbecue Sauce
© Christina Holmes
This delicious barbecue sauce gets its smoky flavor from berries that are grilled in a perforated pan; you can use sturdy foil or a foil pan with holes punched in instead. Chipotle chiles packed in adobo amplify the smokiness of the berries.
Warm Puttanesca Pasta Salad
Cherry tomatoes are the star of this vibrant dish, which also includes crispy prosciutto, fragrant herbs, anchovies, and punches of garlic. A couple tablespoons of petite capers pull their weight, lending an unmistakable briny goodness.
Bacon-Wrapped Cherry Peppers
This genius hors d'oeuvre from 2005 F&W Best New Chef Colby Garrelts calls for just three ingredients. The recipe comes together in only half an hour and can be made ahead of time, so it's great for parties.
Layered Blackberry and Turmeric Lemonade
This spritzy, summery drink is a showstopper with its distinct pink and yellow layers. It's also incredibly versatile: Swap in raspberries or strawberries for the blackberries, double the recipe for a crowd, or serve the homemade soda and the turmeric-spiked lemonade on their own.
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