It’s only fitting to celebrate the unofficial end of summer, also known as Labor Day weekend, with a cookout. After all, you probably celebrated the unofficial start of summer—Memorial Day—by firing up the grill, right?
Every cookout needs an abundance of sides to go with the burgers, dogs, and chicken cooked up on the grill, and I have loads of options for you. Choose from pasta salads, bean salads, seasonal veggie and fruit salads, and even the must-have-at-all-cookouts, deviled eggs turned into a salad.
Of course, these delicious sides are good whenever you cook out, not just Labor Day weekend. Whenever you serve them, may I suggest a refreshing pitcher drink to accompany your cookout dishes?
Simply Recipes / Alison Bickel
This salad is full of cheese stuffed pasta, summer sausage, feta cheese, and basil. It tastes better on day two, so it’s a great make-ahead dish. If you double the recipe, you just might have leftovers you can take for lunch when you have to return to work after the holiday.
The combination of peaches, plums, and cherries with tomato, cucumber, and serrano pepper works really well. The key is to dice all the fruits and vegetables on the smaller side and about the same size for a flavor explosion in every bite.
Toss thick-sliced potatoes with bacon, onions, herbs, and mustardy vinaigrette (made with the bacon fat!) for this version of German potato salad. Served warm or cold, it will disappear from the side dish table very quickly.
Peppery basil vinaigrette made with honey covers this salad of crunchy English cucumbers and fresh peaches. It comes together in just 15 minutes, and it’s best served immediately.
There’s no mayonnaise in this spin on pasta salad. It’s full of white beans, tomatoes, celery, and onion, tossed together with a light apple cider and Dijon vinaigrette. There’s a full pound of pasta in the salad and two cans of beans, making it perfect for feeding a crowd.
The combo of orecchiette pasta and end-of-summer corn is brilliant, particularly when tossed with bacon, bell pepper, green onions, and basil. Homemade buttermilk ranch dressing ties it all together in the most delicious way.
Use canned black beans for ease, or cook up black beans if that’s what you prefer. Add red bell peppers, jalapeños, avocado, and corn. Lime juice and olive oil dress this salad that has the flavors of summer running through it.
Hard boiled eggs and roasted red peppers are the secret to this mom-approved mayo-dressed macaroni salad. Add optional touches such as pickles, chopped celery, and peas to switch it up.
Simply Recipes / Elise Bauer
Everyone loves deviled eggs, and this salad takes the beloved flavors and turns them into a salad of hard-boiled eggs, green onion, celery, and red bell pepper. The mayo dressing gets a kick from hot sauce, and a sprinkling of paprika on the top completes the deviled egg vibe.
Sometimes you just want the classic version of potato salad you know and love, and this is it. Boiled potatoes, sour cream, mayo, green onions, celery, parsley, pickles, and bacon combine for the perfect burger or hot dog side.
Simply Recipes / Shilpa Iyer
You know sour cream and onion chips? This fast and easy recipe lets you enjoy those moreish flavors in potato salad form.
Grilling corn caramelizes the natural sugars in the vegetable and gives it a smoky flavor. That’s the base of this salad tossed with serrano chile pepper, zucchini, red bell pepper, and cotija cheese. Serve it alongside BBQ chicken.
Simply Recipes / Mihaela Kozaric Sebrek
Need something you can throw together in 5 minutes? This is it. Chopped cucumbers (preferably English or Persian), fresh dill, rice vinegar, and salt and pepper combine quickly for a crunchy, flavorful, super-easy salad.
Just four ingredients combine to make one of summer’s brightest and most sought-after salads. Throw together shredded carrots, sliced apples, raisins, and mayo. Let them chill in the fridge for a bit. Serve and watch everyone dive in.
Basil pesto clings to spiral pasta in this salad that’s bursting with the summer flavors of tomato and fresh (or frozen) peas plus pine nuts and olives. If you want to sprinkle on a little cheese, goat cheese or Parmesan will do the trick.
Open three cans of beans—cannellini, kidney, and garbanzo. Chop celery, red onion, parsley, and rosemary. Make a quick apple cider vinaigrette. Combine. This classic salad is so simple and so delicious. Give it a few hours in the refrigerator so the beans soak up the dressing, but take it out of the fridge to come to room temp before serving.
Pickle juice is the secret to giving this potato salad tons of tang! You can choose to tell others the secret or keep it to yourself when they ask how to make this potato salad with celery, bell peppers, and hard-boiled eggs in a Dijon and mayo dressing.
Rosemary-infused olive oil, garlic, Parmesan, anchovies, and lemon add tons of flavor to this salad made with white beans such as great northern or cannellini and fresh, ripe plum tomatoes.
Simply Recipes / Lori Rice
Green goddess salad meets your friendly neighborhood pasta salad in this vibrantly hued dressed in a riff on green goddess dressing. Using nutritional yeast in the dressing makes it vegan, but if you’d prefer to use Parmesan cheese, you can do that, too.
