What 5 Southern Grandmas Always Bring To Summer Cookouts

No one does a summer barbecue side like a Southern Grandma. When temps are high, the eating’s good, and that’s because when Grandma’s invited, everyone’s going for second helpings of whatever she brought. Since no Southerner would dare show up to a gathering empty-handed, we asked five Southern Grandmas what they bring to every summertime barbecue. Here’s what they said—and if your mouth is watering and you want them at your next shindig, just know they’ll be there with bells on and a side of something delicious.

Baked Beans

I couldn’t write an article about what Southern Grandmas bring to every summer barbecue without starting with own Grandma. She’s the one who shows up to summertime soirées with a crowd-pleasing classic: baked beans. But she doesn’t just dump a can of Bush’s into a Crock-Pot and call it a day; she prefers to bring homemade baked beans. They taste better this way, and it doesn’t have to be complicated: “Three kinds of beans, barbecue sauce, mix, bake,” she told me. “Delicious.”

Potato Salad

My childhood best friend’s Grandma, who for more than 60 years has been the matriarch of a cattle ranch and farm that was named a historical agriculture landmark—as well as a resident of The Villages since 1987—said she doesn’t show up without a summertime classic: potato salad. 

For her, that means old-fashioned potato salad with eggs and green onions. (Yep, you know her stance on the Southern egg-in-potato-salad controversy.) You can’t go wrong with a popular barbecue staple like potato salad; it pairs great with basically any grilled meat.

Cowboy Caviar

My aunt, a teacher in Jacksonville and Grandmother to a toddler and preschooler, juggles it all while somehow always finding time to show up with a homemade dish, no matter the occasion or how busy of a week she’s had.

She keeps it light, colorful, and relatively easy to throw together with Texas caviar, also known as cowboy caviar. Amidst all the heavy dishes that sometimes dominate summertime spreads, who doesn’t love to see a bowl of this hearty-but-healthy summer-crop bounty of beans, corn, tomatoes, peppers, and spices? It’s a summertime staple for a reason. (This creamy version with a limey mayo-sour cream dressing is calling our names.)

Need other ideas? She’s got plenty. When she wants to switch things up, she’ll bring marinated shrimp—effortless to throw on anyone’s grill and ready in five minutes flat—or a Mexican skillet street corn with lime, cotija, and cilantro.

Or, for a refreshing side that everyone will appreciate, go the salad route. She likes to toss together a watermelon and feta salad with blackberry and mint—bright and cooling and perfectly summery—or a spinach salad with strawberries, candied nuts, feta, and poppyseed dressing (made from scratch, of course).

Baked Macaroni and Cheese

My own mother, a lifelong Floridian (and a Grandma by my siblings), said—in addition to her famous key lime pie—she always brings macaroni and cheese to a summer barbecue.

But not just any macaroni and cheese. My mom is well known around these parts for her special custard-style baked mac-and-cheese, an adaptation of a recipe from the iconic Fannie Flagg’s Original Whistle Stop Cafe Cookbook (basically a small-town Southern lady’s culinary bible). If you’re not familiar, go ahead and order the cookbook then watch the movie—and leave time to hit the grocery story afterward.

“I have childhood memories of my Grandmother always making macaroni and cheese at every family gathering, every holiday, every birthday party, and certainly every summer barbecue,” she told me. “I have long carried out that tradition.”

This forever favorite from her well-worn cookbook copy is rich, hearty, indulgent, salty, and cheesy in all the best ways, with a broiled crispy top that people will (decorously) fight over; you may think you know mac-and-cheese, but boxed and powdered versions have nothing on this casserole-adjacent kind.

Bring it to a summer barbecue and be prepared to field a lot of requests for your recipe; put your own spin on it and share it freely, just like my mom (and Fannie Flagg herself) does. Because any true Southern lady knows the best thing to do with all that kitchen-rooted love is to give it away.

Broccoli Salad or Three-Bean Salad

As for my mom’s best friends, who are also Southern grandmas, they say you can’t go wrong with a veggie-packed side. One swears by showing up with a broccoli salad (my aunt is also a fan) while the other is on a similar legume-y page as my grandma: always a three-bean salad.