Grilling may be marketed as a summer activity, but most Americans are not bound to this ploy. The summer angle has never made a whole lot of sense, frankly — who in their right mind wants to sit by a 650-degree hellfire in the summer?
This curated and wide-ranging list of 25 great grill recipes includes sides, desserts and plenty of charred meat. Some are simply the best versions of a very typical dish (ribeye, fish tacos and so on), others are clever takes on classics. Use it year-round — your appetite isn’t bound to the temperature on your porch.
Grilled Pork Shoulder Steaks with Mustard Greens
This is one of thost part-recipes, part-exceptionally useful ideas. Bon Appétit shows us that cuts of meat needn’t always be bound to the philosophy that you should slow cook “bad” cuts and sear “good” cuts. Not only is this recipe delicious, it’ll save you cash.
Grilled Marinated Flank Steak
Due to its idyllic mix of thickness and width, flank steak is among the best grilled meats for a crowd. Though there are plenty of marinades, rubs and sauces to flavor it with, the soy, garlic, oil variety is probably the most popular. Just remember to slice across the grain.
Burnt Oranges with Rosemary
Burning fruit is a very simple way to show off without doing anything difficult. This recipe from the NYT’s cooking team throws in a bit of added sugar for caramelization and aromatics for a slightly elevated take on it.
Grilled Jerk Chicken
Jerk chicken is not bound to any single cooking method. After a longwinded introduction (just keep scrolling) this recipe’s simplicity and relatively low ingredient count is a welcome sight in the face of 25-ingredient jerk marinades.
Curry and Coconut Milk Grilled Pork Skewers
Epicurious’s very simple marinades pork skewers work just as well as a party hor d’oeuvre as they do the star of a meal. Toss the very affordable skewered pork in its marinade before friends come over, chill and slap on the grill for a few minutes once they’ve arrived. Or just eat them all yourself.
Grilled Skirt Steak
The best parts about this recipe is its lack of direction after you’ve grilled the skirt steak. Put it on tacos or sliders, stab tiny pieces with toothpicks and snack or just slab big portions over some rice and beans and feast. Whatever delivery method, Food Republic’s no bullshit recipe is ripe for a go-to or eat-then-adjust tweaking.
Grilled Whole Chicken
If you want to know how to cook something and why you do it the way everyone tells you to, you look for any recipe guide by J. Kenji López-Alt of Serious Eats. No matter how much testing you think you’ve done, he’s done more. This guide to grilling a whole chicken is no different, and you’ll be a better cook having read it.
Grilled Fish Tacos
This is one of those ideal, straightforward recipes of one of the grill’s best uses. Courtesy of Bon Appétit, this concise recipe is devoid of 1,000-word introductions. Make these fish tacos, then twist this base recipe (and accoutrements) to fit your tastes.
Thai Grilled Cornish Hens
Cook’s Illustrated is one of the OGs in the recipe-building game, and this take on Thai street food is well worth plugging in your email for a trial.
Grilled Pizza
Read The Kitchn’s guide in full before attempting a grilled pizza. There is a recipe on the bottom, but, as the guide notes, it should be treated more like a foundation than anything else. Pick your own toppings.
Grilled Fish
A recipe from Garden & Gun by way of Chris Hastings of Hot & Hot Fish Club in Birmingham, Alabama, this is how a James Beard-winning chef grills fish on his off days.
Grilled Pineapple Salsa
Whether for a weekend gathering or weekday dinner, everything is easier if all food is cooked on the grill, rather than some half-stovetop-half-grill confusion. That’s what this grilled salsa recipe is for — when you’ve got a hot grill going, use it.
Grilled Shrimp Satay
Yes, satay is typically chicken or lamb, but that doesn’t mean shrimp isn’t just as good. This unfussy recipe is easy to follow and doesn’t bore you with an essay on satay’s cultural relevance (go here for that).
Grilled Okra with Sriracha Lime Salt
How to impress with minimal effort, 101. Okra is cheap, limes are cheap, and there’s a good chance you already have Sriracha and salt. Put them all together, apply flame and serve a starter that’s got something more to offer than chips and salsa.
Indian Grilled Ribs
You don’t need a tandoor to make tandoori ribs. This is how to shake up ribs in a way that’s more impactful than changing from a dry rub to a tomato-based sauce.
Grilled Artichokes with Espelette Mayo
Yes, you need to boil the artichokes for a few minutes before grilling. But the difference between a plain, boiled artichoke and a smokey, charred artichoke is equivalent to the difference between the Orlando Magic and the Golden State Warriors — one is sad, the other is world-beating.
Grilled Mexican Street Corn (Elotes)
If you’ve not eaten elotes yet you need to fix that. These mayo, cheese and pepper-covered wonders of a side dish are among the greatest street food dishes on the planet, and they’re dead simple to make.
Grilled Chicken Souvlaki
Another example of Cook’s Illustrated noticing a silly oversight in other recipes and correcting it. Over-marinading skewered meats leads to a dry, unpleasant finished product. The solution is a quick brine and last second dip in a bath of everyday ingredients.
Grilled Buffalo Chicken Sandwich
I’m fully aware this is a recipe on a website that sells chickens en masse. That doesn’t mean it’s not the ideal baseline for a grilled buffalo chicken sandwich. It doesn’t recommend a specific hot sauce, so choose your personal favorite or let the pros guide your way.
Grilled Cauliflower Steaks
The hardest part of making cauliflower steaks is cutting the steaks evenly. After seasoning and grilling, throw them as the base for a dish to sit atop of, or use it as the centerpiece of a vegetarian spread.
Grilled Beer Brats
We can all thank the Midwest for gifting us a better-tasting, less-repulsive, more-filling hot dog alternative. There are few grill recipes as necessary to master and the humble bratwurst, and this recipe understands the importance of the beer sauce to top one with.
Grilled Steak
To my mind, this is the guide to grilling steaks, and it’s another entirely free masterclass courtesy of Serious Eats and J. Kenji López-Alt. If you’re in too much of a hurry to read the full recipe guide, try the shorter version.
Spicy Grilled Eggplant
Don’t discount this recipe’s quality on account of its simplicity. Grilling is how you set the vegetable-rejecting masses on the right course. Eggplants are among the best grilling veggies, and throwing in a familiar heat element is the icing on the cake.
Grilled Beer Can Chicken
Few recipes are better than those that require you to drink to execute them. Drink half a can of your preferred beer, shove it in the cavity of spice-rubbed chicken, stand it up over indirect heat on the grill, wait a bit and you’ve done it. This is your grill’s version of rotisserie.
Grilled Rack of Lamb with Mint Chimichurri
A rack of lamb is not too fancy to go on the grill. This recipe provides some trimming tips, and it understands lamb doesn’t need a whole lot to be delicious. It also offers up a pitch-perfect sauce to slab over when serving (a completely optional addition).
