Who doesn’t love a BBQ? Not just the sausages but those tasty BBQ sides too? As you may have seen on my Instagram last week, we just had a mid-week BBQ. My friend Patrick came to stay for a few days and the weather was due to be nice so we thought why not? We’ve been house-sitting for Dave’s folks while they’re away. We’re loving spending time with the cats (who now live here) and also making use of the garden. Living in a city centre flat with no outside space, I hadn’t realised just how much I was missing it!
I’ve always loved a good BBQ (see a previous post here), and casual eating alfresco with friends. It shouldn’t be stressful; for the meaty element, we usually go with some pre-made high-quality burgers or sausages – in this case, sweet cider, sage & mustard porkies from the glorious Gloucester Services.
When it comes to your BBQ sides, move away from packet mixed coleslaw and bagged salad and try something bit more exciting. It doesn’t have to be anything hard or time-consuming and lots of it can be made ahead of time. Here are my suggestions, all measured up for four people:
Tomato and Mozzarella Salad
- Quarter 1 large juicy salad tomato
- Rip up a ball of mozzarella
- Drizzle with extra virgin olive oil
- Season with freshly picked thyme, sea salt & black pepper.
Veggie Kebabs
- Thickly slice red onion, courgette & peppers
- Thread them onto metal skewers with whole chestnut mushrooms
- Drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle with peri peri spice mix (we like the Aldi version)
- Cook on the BBQ for around 15 mins until the onion is cooked through and the peppers are showing charred bits.
Potato Salad
- Boil 500g (1 small bag) of jersey royal new potatoes for 10 minutes (until they slip off a knife)
- Drain and pour into a large bowl
- Mix in 2 finely sliced spring onions & 1/2 a small red onion
- Season with snipped chives, sea salt & black pepper.
Stuffed Romano Peppers
- Cut the ends off 2 long romano peppers and slice in half, removing the inside seeds and membrane.
- Mix garlic & herb cream cheese with 2 finely sliced spring onions & black pepper
- Stuff the pepper halves with the cream cheese and wrap in foil
- Cook on the BBQ for five mins until the peppers have softened, then remove them from foil and place straight onto the grill bars to blacken on the outside for a few minutes.
Chilli Halloumi
The king of BBQ sides right?? Because everyone loves halloumi, be a bit naughty and go for two packets.
- Thickly slice two packs of halloumi
- Put into a bowl with 2 tbsp tomato ketchup, 2 tbsp soy sauce and 1 finely diced red chilli (seeds removed)
- Gently mix and leave to marinate for up to 1 hour.
- Cook straight on the BBQ grill bars and turn after a couple of minutes. Once both sides are charred, take off and eat immediately!
Want some more inspiration? Try these additional BBQ sides from some of my favourite food bloggers:
- Strawberry, Cucumber & Mint Salad with Pimms dressing by Foodie Quine
- Coleslaw by Fab Food 4 All
- Beer Can Chicken – by MEEEEE
- BBQ Apricots with Goats Cheese by Tinned Tomatoes
- Fennel Salad from Tin & Thyme
- Campfire Chapati Bread from The Hedge Combers
- Summer Grilled Vegetable Salad by Family-Friends-Food
Love these stress free sides Alex, I usually throw some veggie kebabs on our BBQ as they are so quick and easy:-) Thanks for including my coleslaw:-)
You absolutely cannot have a BBQ without coleslaw! It was a well needed extra 🙂
I usually go a bit overboard with BBQ side dishes, but you definitely can't go wrong with potato salad.
Those stuffed peppers look gorgeous! I'm definitely going to give them a go if we ever get BBQ weather 🙂
Such good ideas, I am sucker for potato salad, so I know what I'm going for!!
Wow, what a spread – thanks for all the ideas Alex, these look amazing!! Love Jersey Royals in a potato salad – I'm from Jersey and my Dad grows them – they are SO good when eaten just a few hours old! Your chilli halloumi looks awesome too. Yum!
Ooooh you're making me so hungry! Why is it not lunch time yet?! Also super jealous of you enjoying the summer weather and having a BBQ. Can't wait until we have a garden all to ourselves and can BBQ again. In the meantime I'll have to whip up some of these side dishes when I go to other people's BBQs 🙂
Oh! I miss so much BBQing… You have such lovery recipes to be inspired from, but my favorite is the ''Stuffed Romano Peppers''!
Love the stress free idea. I am big on BBQ's anmd their casual aspect so why not have simple, stress sides as well. These sides look great.
Yes for stress free! BBQ's should be fun, not stressful. Love all these side ideas!
Great dishes! They all sound easy and delicious. 🙂 I've never heard of halloumi before, though. I'll have to keep my eyes open for it!
I love finding new ideas for sides. They are my favorite part
Thanks Raia – if you like salty cheese like feta you'll love halloumi. It's really tasty and lovely done on the BBQ.
Thanks Mark, I love casual dining too and am also a big BBQ fan!
The picture of the romano peppers isn't very good but they taste great!
Oh how jealous am I! Jersey Royals freshly grown and cooked! I bet that's delicious!
At least if you go overboard, you can always pick at things the next day!