The unofficial start of summer is here: Memorial Day Weekend! Feel good as you gear up for the social season with these Memorial Day recipes, keeping you energized for all the summer activities. Whether you’re on the grill or winning the side dish game, this lineup will provide plenty of inspiration for your Memorial Day menu.
It’s the season of summer entertaining, weeknight grilling, weekend BBQs, and picnic gatherings! We’ve got you covered with these Memorial Day recipes. When life gets busy, it’s easy to forget about eating well, but this collection of recipes is not only easy to prepare and simple to make, but they’re also totally delicious!
What do Americans eat on Memorial Day?
Memorial Day is about honoring military personnel who lost their lives protecting the country. Because Memorial Day is celebrated on the last Monday in May, when warm weather arrives, most Memorial Day food is centered around BBQ and summer foods. This is great news if you want some Memorial Day recipes, as there are many options for BBQ and sides!
Memorial Day side dishes
The side dish game is serious business, and we’ve got some winning recipes for the summer season. Incorporate fresh, seasonal fruits like bright peaches, bursting fresh berries, abundant greens, broccoli salad, and fresh herbs. Tossing fruit into your salads is a refreshing way to celebrate the sunshine. This blueberry coleslaw recipe packs a punch with broccoli, cauliflower, blueberries, and chopped almonds. Nothing says “SUMMER IS HERE” like a grilled peach salad – it’ll steal the show! These fresh salads work as appetizers or side dishes. Corn on the cob is a Memorial Day classic, and our chili lime corn on the cob recipe adds chili, lime, and fresh herbs. Summertime is about freshness, and this broccoli coleslaw understands the assignment. Herby grilled potato salad will have the whole family going back for seconds.
Memorial Day mains
Now it’s time for the star of the show: the main meals! These recipes taste so divine that you’ll forget they’re good for you. Grilled chicken, juicy burgers, refreshing tacos, and smoky hot dogs are coming right up! Impress your guests with the best grilled chicken breast – perfecting something simple is an art, and this recipe comes out perfect every time! The best burgers are so juicy they burst out of the fresh buns, and this guacamole burger celebrates fresh avocados and is ready in just 20 minutes! Nothing says summer like pineapple, and these Hawaiian hot dogs marry succulent smokey with tropical sweetness. We’ve got seafood, too! For hand-held bursts of flavor, whip up these crowd-pleasing baja fish tacos . Or for the ultimate way to prepare salmon on the barbecue, wow your guests with this grilled cedar plank salmon with avocado peach salsa.
Memorial Day desserts and drinks
These Memorial Day recipes are perfect for when your sweet tooth is calling but you want a lighter approach. Coconut raspberry popsicles and coconut lemon ice cream both use coconut milk, and this banana nice cream is made from a base of frozen banana. Sip away on this refreshing homemade blackberry lemonade , which is ready in just ten minutes and can easily be doubled or tripled for a crowd when entertaining.
