I'm going to be having a BBQ next weekend so I was thinking about what foods to cook for it. I'm thinking sausages and burgers are a must, and those are fairly cheap anyway. I'll also be making salads and colselsaw as well. What else would you recommend having at a BBQ that doesn't cost too much?
I know it's not in season, but perhaps check some of your local farmers markets for some corn on the cob? Some people grill them right in their husks, or in my case, I like to smear butter on them and wrap them in foil and roast them until they're super soft. Baked potatoes would also be another inexpensive side. Plus you can put out a selection of toppings for people to choose from, such as sour cream, butter, cheese, bacon, green onions, etc... What about some sort of selection of toppings for the burgers as well, and maybe some home made sauces or condiments for them, such as a home made BBQ sauce, an aioli mayo, sun dried tomato mayo, flavored ketchup, sauteed mushrooms, some home made pickled stuff like cucumbers and red onions, etc... Paula Deen's recipe for spinach & artichoke dip is always a hit when I bring it somewhere. It's only like 6 ingredients, and I like to serve it with garlic bagel chips.
You can usually buy a watermelon pretty cheaply. Also, since strawberries are getting closer to being in season most places, how about whipping up some strawberry shortcakes. You can put out all the fixings and let people make their own shortcakes. This seems like it would be a good way to go, and a way to keep people happy.
Roasted vegetables don't cost that much and you can cook them on the grill. I second corn or you can get a squash and grill it then chop it up and put it on the side. Yum! Have fun at your bbq! See if you can get some chips and dip on sale!
I like to serve potato salad as a side dish. If it's going to be warm a great potato salad to make is cubed, cooked potatoes, chopped celery, chopped red onion, chopped red pepper and use Kraft Sun Dried tomato dressing. It's very tasty and easy to make. You could make it the night before and it will taste even better the next day. I also like to make Greek salad using cucumbers, grape tomatoes, some finely chopped onions and yellow peppers. I use Kraft Greek dressing.
