Summer Cookout + Recipes for Last Minute Entertaining

Host a backyard summer cookout with recipes and tips for a last minute party. You really CAN pull together a stylish and delicious gathering with minimal notice! Get ready for summer entertaining!

Easy Summer Cookout Ideas

If you sometimes end up being a last minute hostess, then you’re going to love this summer cookout with recipes. 

Over the years I’ve hosted a lot of parties – casual, formal, themed – and they usually take weeks or even months to pull together. The thing I’ve noticed though, is that some of the most fun parties have been the ones we pulled together at the last minute with a few close friends.

Everyone pitches in and brings food, and everyone is in the mood to have a good time. And Memorial day weekend is ideal for hosting a hamburgers and hot dogs cookout to welcome summer.

You can do this on 24 hours notice like we did. We provided the meats, potato salad, and a quick and easy dessert, while friends filled in with other side dishes and sweets. Here are the details and recipes that are great for a summer cookout.

How to host a Last Minute Cookout 

1. Make a quick trip to the store for groceries and pick up the meat to make our favorite juicy burger recipe. Instead of the usual hot dogs, I chose sausages so we could have mini versions of sausage, peppers, and onions. I made the burgers smaller too, so people could have a burger and a sausage dog without getting too full.
2. Get the ingredients for my classic potato salad and make the recipe the morning of the party so the flavors can mingle all day.
3. Get a watermelon and chill it if you have room. Otherwise, place it in a cold water bath about an hour before you’re ready to serve it.
4. Mini berry cobblers are easy to make for dessert, and the crumble topping MAKES them.  Get the recipe below.
5. Purchase containers of iced tea or lemonade and serve it from milk bottles, pitchers, or flip top bottles. 
6. Add the ingredients for making some yummy sherbet fizzy sodas {raspberry sherbet + ginger ale}. The kids can drink these while the grown ups make an adult version by adding an ounce or two of vodka.
7. Pick up a bouquet or two of mixed flowers so you can make simple flower centerpieces.

Outdoor Table Setting

• Setting up a table for 6 is pretty easy. Use a piece of fabric right off the bolt and layer it onto the table.
• Use white melamine plates with red napkins. Red and white makes a wonderful color theme for any summer party. The combination is perfect for Memorial Day, 4th of July, and Labor Day.
• Bamboo forks are kinder to the environment than plastic. And you can actually wash them by hand and reuse them a couple of times.
• Create an easy and inexpensive summer centerpiece with clean cans and white spray paint. This is another way to recycle or “up-cycle” household goods. They make fantastic diy flower vases.
• Use scrapbook paper to make toppers for canning jars. This will help keep any flying insects at bay. I punched a hole in the top and pushed a straw through for the perfectly sized drinking glasses.

Set up a Buffet Table

Place the food on a large serving table so guests can help themselves. For more details check out everything you need to know to host a potluck party.

• Find a creative way to serve the main dish. Here we used a 2-tiered wire stand to hold burgers on the top tier and sausage dogs on the bottom. It adds height and interest to a simple display of food.
• Serve gourmet mustard {chipotle and dill flavored} for an updated twist, along with ketchup and mayonnaise. Serve them inside glass votive containers and line them up on a wooden paddle or cheese board.
• You can use popsicle sticks from the craft store to label each condiment. And the sticks double as spreaders! Use a stamp set or a Sharpie pen to write on the stick.

Easy Menu

If you want easy dinner party menu ideas for your outdoor party, then classic dishes are a great choice. They’re universally loved which is why they’re “classic.” You’ll find a list of side dish recipes below.

For the main entree grill the best juicy burgers, and add a hot dog roast. You can find more casual cookout party ideas for hot dogs, including some delicious topping ideas. 

Of course you can also get creative with new food trends and special diets too.

What to bring to a cookout last minute

Although this party plan is focused on a 24-hour timeline, sometimes you have even less notice. In that case here are some easy last minute foods you can bring to a cookout.

NOTE: I don’t recommend bringing combined salad-style dishes (ie: potato or pasta salad) for an impromptu party, unless you have several hours to let the flavors blend together.

• Watermelon – Fresh sliced watermelon is a summer favorite and can act as a snack or a dessert.
• Crudites Platter – Bring fresh, sliced vegetables and Ranch dip. People love to nibble on a veggie platter, and it suits all diets.
• Chips – You can never have too many chips at a backyard party. Bring interesting flavors of potato chips, or tortilla chips with salsa. People can snack on them before the meal and eat them with their burgers and hot dogs. 
• Caprese Salad – Slice some tomatoes and combine it with fresh basil, mozzarella, and a little balsamic vinaigrette for a simple caprese salad everyone will love.
• Brownies or Cookies – Stop at the bakery and pick up a box of cookies or brownies. No matter how many homemade desserts there are, people will always go for those.
• Fresh fruit – Another easy food is fresh fruit. Just as watermelon is great on its own, a fruit salad, a bowl full of berries, or sliced fruit with caramel dip are easy and delicious.
• Family Friendly Drinks – Bring a gallon of iced tea or lemonade for everyone to drink. Pour them into your own pitchers or bottles for prettier display.

Side dishes for burgers and hot dogs

I’m sharing a list of recipes for side dishes below. Keep in mind that people love variety at a summer cookout, so the more the better. These are some of the best sides for burgers and hot dogs.

• Corn on the cob
• Baked Beans
• Potato Salad
• Pasta Salad
• Veggie Salads like Cucumber, Broccoli, or Corn
• Slaw – can double as a hot dog topper
• Caprese Salad
• Fresh Fruit
• Fresh Cut Vegetables or Crudites
• Chips

Summer Cookout Recipes

Add one or more of these recipes to round out a backyard cookout of burgers and hot dogs. The classic flavors will compliment any party.

Chris' Classic Potato Salad Recipe

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Easy Pesto Pasta Salad Recipe 

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Pasta Salad with Broccoli and Peanuts

This pasta salad with vegetables is perfect for summer parties. There's no creamy base or mayonnaise to worry about in the heat.

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Classic Pasta Salad Recipe

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Mediterranean Chickpea Salad recipe

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Savory & Sweet Broccoli Salad

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Creamy Crunchy Cucumber Salad with Bacon

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Fresh Gazpacho recipe

Serve up this delicious gazpacho for summer parties. This is a fantastic shrimp boil dinner party appetizer and is packed full of fresh ingredients and flavor.

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Summer Corn Salad recipe 

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Sweet and Spicy Baked Beans Recipe

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Watermelon Basil Salad

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Easy Desserts

Remember that summer cookout parties are likely outside in the heat. Therefore you want to have dessert options that can stand up to that environment for short periods of time, while they’re being served.

I don’t suggest anything too fancy. Save that for an elegant dinner party. Here are some of the best ideas for desserts at a backyard party.

• Bars – chocolate marshmallow bars, lemon bars, or Rice Krispies treats 
• Sheet Cakes – easy mini dump cakes and simple sheet cakes serve a crowd.
• Cookies – peanut butter cookies, chocolate chip cookies,  shortbread cookies
• Cupcakes and Brownies – mini sizes are great for young kids
• Interactive dessert station – build your own shortcakes, and an ice cream sandwich bar are super fun!
• Cobblers and Crumbles – Make simple individual cobblers using canned fruit pie filling and my crumble topping recipe below.

Here’s the recipe for my all-purpose crumb topping for any fruit crumble or cobbler dessert. Just sprinkle it over canned fruit pie filling and bake, for the easiest dessert for a last minute party.

You can make six mini desserts, or a 9 x 9 pan. Double the recipe as needed.

All-Purpose Dessert Crumble Topping

Yield: 6 individual desserts or one 9x9 dish

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Ingredients

• 1/4 cup All purpose flour
• 1/4 cup firmly packed brown sugar
• 1/4 cup chopped pecans
• 3 Tablespoons quick cooking /old fashioned oats
• 2 Tablespoons butter, melted

Instructions

1. Mix all dry ingredients together, and combine well.
2. Add melted butter and mix until moistened through.
3. Sprinkle topping over cobbler or canned pie fruit filling, and bake until filling is bubbly and topping is browned.
   

Notes

You can easily double this recipe as needed.

This party was a lot of fun and we stayed up laughing and sipping until past midnight.  I guess the big tip here is to have things on hand that you can pull out at a moments notice.  Simple ingredients, spray paint, clean empty cans, fabric, etc.