Food Recipes Side Dishes 12 Great Side Dishes for Your Next Cookout By Food & Wine Editors Food & Wine Editors This is collaborative content from Food & Wine's team of experts, including staff, recipe developers, chefs, and contributors. Many of our galleries curate recipes or guides from a variety of sources which we credit throughout the content and at each link. Food & Wine's Editorial Guidelines Updated on August 1, 2023 Trending Videos Photo: Photo by Jennifer Causey / Food Styling by Ruth Blackburn / Prop Styling by Christina Daley No cookout is complete without a delicious spread of side dishes. Here, we're featuring a dozen options that would make perfect additions to your menu, from this Classic Slaw that's right at home on the side of smoked meats to a Gazpacho Salad that allows seasonal produce like heirloom tomatoes, cucumbers, and basil to shine. You can also try grilled corn, a fresh watermelon salad, or these baked beans, the latter of which made the list of our most popular recipes of 2021. Pick one, pick two, or even three — you can't go wrong, whichever you choose to complete your spread. 01 of 12 Stone Fruit Salad with Collard-Peanut Pesto Photo by Jessica Pettway / Food Styling by Micah Morton / Prop Styling by Paola Andrea In this savory fruit salad, roasted peanuts, collard greens, and Parmesan yield a hearty pesto that's the perfect partner for honey-dressed wedges of plums and nectarines. Fonio, a West African grain similar in texture to couscous, soaks up the pesto, flavoring each bite of this salad. Get the Recipe 02 of 12 Classic Slaw Photo by Victor Protasio / Food Styling by Torie Cox & John Somerall / Prop Styling by Audrey Davis "When you visualize a table loaded with barbecue items, I bet there is a heaping bowl of slaw," says barbecue expert and 2021 F&W Best New Chef Matt Horn. His cole slaw recipe is a natural side for smoked meats, with a cooling, creamy, tart-sweet dressing that balances the richness of barbecue. Get the Recipe 03 of 12 Gina Mae's Baked Beans Photo by Caitlin Bensel / Food Styling by Margaret Monroe Dickey / Prop Styling by Lydia Pursell Scholar Regina Bradley (nicknamed Gina Mae as a child) added a few special touches to her husband's baked beans recipe to make it her own. "A cookout's DNA is found in the sides and who made them. This task is not for the faint of heart or the thin-skinned," wrote Bradley, in an essay for Food & Wine on the hierarchy of a cookout. For this summer-perfect side, Bradley dresses up store-bought barbecue sauce with extra brown sugar; apple cider vinegar balances the smoky sweetness. Get the Recipe 04 of 12 Watermelon Salad with Feta and Mint Photo by Antonis Achilleos / Food Styling by Chelsea Zimmer / Prop Styling by Thom Driver This easy summer watermelon salad is perfect to make for eating under the warm sun. Watermelon and mint add plenty of refreshing flavor, while briny olives and feta offer the perfect counterpoint to the sweet fruit. Jacques Pépin cuts a small, seedless watermelon into rounds with a melon baller for this salad, but you can chop the watermelon into cubes if you prefer. Get the Recipe 05 of 12 Esquites-Style Poblano Pasta Salad Photo by Jennifer Causey / Food Styling by Ruth Blackburn / Prop Styling by Christina Daley Esquites is the creamy corn salad version of elote, the beloved Mexican street food where corn on the cob is slathered with mayo and sprinkled with chili powder and Cotija cheese. Here, we've taken esquites and turned it into a pasta salad, loaded with charred corn, zucchini, scallions, and poblano chile. A crema-mayo mixture flavored with lime and cilantro adds a bright finish, while Cotija and ancho chile powder seal the deal. Get the Recipe 06 of 12 Roasted Hot Honey Sweet Potato Salad Photo by Antonis Achilleos / Food Styling by Chelsea Zimmer / Prop Styling by Hannah Greenwood This sweet potato salad makes a colorful, satisfying side dish. Seasoning the potatoes with smoked paprika creates a sweet and savory balance while the hot honey dressing adds a touch of tangy heat. Homemade pickled red onions, crunchy toasted pecans, and fresh parsley round out the dish. Get the Recipe 07 of 12 Grilled Corn on the Cob with Calamansi Mayo Victor Protasio Chef Sheldon Simeon's recipe for a Hawaiian take on Mexican elote features grilled corn slathered in a creamy, cheesy calamansi mayonnaise, which gets its acidic twang from a sour citrus fruit native to the South Pacific (you can substitute Key Limes in a pinch). Ichimi togarashi (Japanese chile flakes) add heat; aonori (dried seaweed) flakes add umami oomph and island style. It's an easy and irresistible side dish for a luau-inspired cookout. Get the Recipe 08 of 12 Gazpacho Salad Photo by Tara Donne / Food Styling by Chris Lanier / Prop Styling by Raina Kattelson This side dish from 1995 F&W Best New Chef Anne Quatrano celebrates the best of summer with a combination of chilled gazpacho and chunky, fresh vegetables. "It's a perfect way to highlight all that is right about summer vegetables at their peak," Quatrano says. "We utilize tomato scraps for a juicy vinaigrette, and all the bounty of the summer can be combined in a delicious and healthy salad." Get the Recipe 09 of 12 Fairy Tale Eggplant with Crispy Shallots and Thai Dressing Photo by Tara Donne / Food Styling by Chris Lanier / Prop Styling by Raina Kattelson 2014 F&W Best New Chef Joe Ogrodnek pulls out all the stops with this next-level eggplant dish. First he seasons the eggplant and lets it sit before charring on the grill to draw out moisture and add flavor from the inside out. Then he adds plenty of crispy-crunchy texture to the silky grilled eggplant by stuffing each one with peanuts, fried shallots and garlic, fresh herbs, onions, and radishes before drizzling the punchy dressing on top. Get the Recipe 10 of 12 Masala Grilled Vegetables with Spicy Mint Chutney Greg DuPree Grilled summer produce meets a chile-spiked herb dressing in these Masala Grilled Vegetables with Spicy Mint Chutney. Heat and oxygen are no friends to fresh herbs; both break down the chlorophyll that gives leaves their green color, transforming bright emerald to muted brown almost instantly. Using a blender or food processor to prepare this sauce safeguards the color by instantly cutting and coating the herbs with oil, locking in the green. Get the Recipe 11 of 12 Mini Kabob Potatoes Photo by Julia Stotz / Food Styling by Caroline K. Hwang / Prop Styling by Samantha Margherita A crispy exterior with a soft, fluffy center makes these quick-cooking fried potatoes a fun addition to a kebab feast. Get the Recipe 12 of 12 Sweet Corn Succotash with Shiitakes and Sugar Snaps Photo by Tara Donne / Food Styling by Chris Lanier / Prop Styling by Raina Kattelson This bright, buttery succotash by 1998 F&W Best New Chef Katy Sparks is a perfect summer side dish that comes together in minutes. "My inspiration for this dish is to take a fresh look at an American classic, succotash, which is usually sweet corn cooked together with lima beans or other green beans," Sparks says. "I like to lighten it up with summery snap peas and add meaty shiitakes for depth of flavor. Fresh basil in the smoked paprika butter elevates the whole recipe to something that pairs wonderfully with anything you want to throw on the grill: chicken, pork, fish, burgers, eggplant, and peppers." Get the Recipe Was this page helpful? Thanks for your feedback! 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