The English word “barbecue” comes from the Spanish word barbacoa and traditional barbacoa involved digging a hole into the ground and placing some meat above a pot to catch the juice drippings. Today, the word barbecue is both a cooking method and style of food.

How Do I Love Thee?

There are so many ways to enjoy barbecue, including smoking, braising, baking, roasting or grilling, traditionally being cooked at low temperatures for longer cooking times. Barbecue remains one of the United State’s favorite traditional foods and continues to be celebrated across the country, hence our dedicated National Barbecue Month in May.

The Atlanta History Center is celebrating the art of barbecue with a new food-centric exhibition called Barbecue Nation that focuses on the idea and history behind the thought that barbecue is a traditional American staple. In Kentucky, you can find the International Bar-B-Q Festival and in Memphis the World Championship Barbecue Cooking Contest. It’s pretty clear, our love for barbecue is alive and well.

Put Some Grill To It

If you can’t make it to a celebratory festival, but still can’t stop thinking about all that mouthwatering barbecue, break out the grill or smoker and choose a few of our top 21 barbecue and grilling recipes to make at home! Everything from seafood to steaks, fruits to vegetables, and anything else you can think of in-between.

Happy National Barbecue Month!

Kansas City Barbecue Sundae

Combining all of our favorite parts of a barbecue meal into one easy portable dish, this recipe is easily customizable to include your favorite bbq sauce and protein!

Carolina Pulled Pork Cocktail Sandwiches

These Carolina pulled pork sandwiches are served overstuffed with tender pulled pork simmered in smoky barbecue sauce, topped with a dollop of creamy coleslaw, seasoned with a tangy-sweet Carolina-style honey mustard.

Spicy Grilled Watermelon

The perfect treat to complement a summer day. It’s spicy, sweet, and juicy with a touch of smoky flavor! If you’ve never grilled fruit, you don’t know what you’re missing.

Grilled Prawn Recipe with Arugula Salad

This recipe makes it easy to cook perfectly grilled prawns over an outdoor barbecue for maximum flavor! The prawns take very little time, just enough to turn the flesh opaque, and you have delicious grilled seafood.

Talladega ‘The Big One’

This softball-size meatball, made to resemble an Italian meatball impaled with a forkful of pasta, holds a secret filling. The Big One is actually a deep-fried meatball filled with a molten center of smoky pulled pork, two kinds of cheese and BBQ sauce!

Grilled Onion Cheeseburgers

This recipe for Grilled Onion Cheeseburgers gives you all of the comforting feelings of a classic cheeseburger with the added twist of flavorful grilled onions, garlic, and your favorite crumbly cheese.

Jerk Pulled BBQ Jackfruit Sandwich

This sandwich features the meaty jackfruit, garlic aioli, pickled red onions, and vegan pepper jack cheese on a black goji berry gluten-free bun. This sandwich is irresistible and packed full of explosive flavor!

Guacamole Grilled Chicken Club

Add a Mexican accent to your run-of-the-mill club sandwich with a scoop of fresh guacamole. The crumbled cojita cheese adds another nice layer of flavor. Don’t skimp here… it’s worth it.

Great Grilled Mackeral

Grilling the mackerel on an outdoor grill brings out the smoky and rich flavor, and because mackerel is an oily fish you need little else than salt and lemon juice for seasoning!

Filipino Barbecue Chicken Skewers with Pickled Slaw

Spice up your barbecue by trying some new flavors. Filipino Barbecue Chicken Skewers are marinated overnight in a Banana Ketchup Barbecue sauce and then grilled and re-slathered in the delicious sauce, paired with fresh relish slaw.

Grilled Potatoes and Red Onions with Mustard Vinaigrette

This hearty side dish pairs beautifully with your favorite grilled steak and best of all you can prepare it all on the BBQ grill at the same time! It’s a healthier alternative classically fried potatoes.

Tequila Grilled Shrimp and Mango Skewers

The tropical flavors of mango and ginger paired with the Latin heat of jalapenos and tequila turn shrimp into a sweet and glossy appetizer or main dish.

Venison Burger Topped with Pulled BBQ Rabbit

This burger uses venison and pulled rabbit with a homemade barbecue sauce to make a unique taste that will make you wonder why you’ve never had a venison burger before.

Grilled Corn with Chipotle Lime Butter

This is a great time to get fresh corn from the local farmers market. The smoky chipotle really enhances the hot-off-the-grill summer taste of sweet corn on the cob. Try it!

Grilled Buffalo Wings

Grilled wings are a healthier alternative to fried wings, but just as satisfying. Use your favorite cayenne pepper sauce, and serve these with a chunky blue cheese dressing!

Applewood Smokehouse Sandwiches with Cider BBQ Sauce

Hearty BBQ smoked chicken or pulled pork sandwiches layered on toasted Kaiser rolls with crisp Applewood-Smoked bacon, smoky-sweet cider barbecue sauce and crunchy apple slaw. Tasty!

BBQ Chicken Grilled Pizza

Grilling adds a smoky-sweet flavor to pizza that can’t be duplicated in an oven. For this classic BBQ grilled pizza, we layered smoky char-grilled chicken, bell peppers, red onions, sizzling bacon, barbecue sauce and sharp Cheddar cheese on thin crust pizza dough grilled until golden and bubbly.

Peri Peri Chicken

Made entirely on an outdoor grill, this Peri Peri Chicken uses a delicious blend of South African spices, including the bird’s eye chili that gives the chicken its signature heat.

Grilled Lamb Loin Chops with Fennel

This simple and quick weeknight meal is made in less than 20 minutes, has tons of flavor, and looks beautiful when plated.

Marinated and Grilled Mexican Chorizo

Marinating the chorizo in a dark Mexican beer renders the meat more delicate and adds a great malty flavor. You won’t regret taking the time to marinade the meat!

Grilled Butterflied Leg of Lamb with Rosemary Sea Salt and Charred Lemons

Ready in under an hour, this Butterflied Leg of Lamb is generously seasoned with a homemade rosemary sea salt and served with a charred lemon for squeezing.

SaveSave

SaveSaveSaveSave

SaveSave

SaveSave

SaveSave