Easy BBQ recipes to impress family and friends
Make your summer party one to remember with these 5 easy BBQ recipes
Whether you’re hosting a summer garden party, or taking a portable BBQ to a picnic, these easy BBQ recipes are sure to impress your guests. Swap those boring burgers and not-so-hot hot dogs for these delicious dishes.
Prawn tacos with salsa
Image: Fire Food: The Ultimate BBQ Cookbook, David Loftus
These are great finger food for summer garden parties. You may want to do more than one batch as they tend to disappear fast!
Ingredients
(Serves 4-6)
For the tacos
12 extra-large juicy tiger prawns, heads on, tail shells removed and deveined
1 green or red jalapeño chilli, sliced open lengthways
and deseeded
Soft tortilla wraps
For the salsa
2 medium-sized watermelon slices
1 red onion, finely chopped Handful of coriander leaves, chopped
1 green jalapeño chilli, deseeded and chopped Juice of 1 lemon
Method
1 Remove the rind from the watermelon and grill the slices over direct heat until a dark char appears on the flesh. Once both sides have a good colour, take them off to cool down. Don’t worry if bits of the fruit go black – it’s all flavour.
2 Prepare your salsa by mixing the red onion, coriander, chopped chilli and lemon juice in a bowl. When the melon has cooled down, give it a chop and add it to the bowl.
3 Rub your prawns with the opened chilli and salt, and grill on direct heat for about 5 minutes until cooked through.
4 When cooked and cooled a little, take the heads off the prawns and lose the juice. Next, toast your tortilla wrapson the grill. It’s now time to assemble everything.
5 Fill the wraps with the prawns and top with the salsa. Fold and consume your creation. And smile – but you don’t need to be told that because it will happen involuntarily!
Lamb rib burger
Image: Fire Food: The Ultimate BBQ Cookbook, David Loftus
The ribs are one of the best-tasting parts of the lamb due to the fat that surrounds it. Put that meat in some buns with some pineapple salsa and you’ve got an unbelievably delicious burger! The salsa also works well with a black bean burger, a great veggie option.
Ingredients
(Serves 4)
For the burgers
1 rack of lamb ribs with breast attached
Chilli flakes
4 soft white buns
Sea salt and black pepper
For the pineapple salsa
1 pineapple, cut into steaks
12 cherry tomatoes, quartered
Zest and juice of 2 limes
1 medium red onion, finely chopped
Bunch of coriander, chopped (including stalks)
1 red chilli, deseeded and finely chopped
Method
1 Get your lamb ribs out of the fridge at least an hour before you want to cook them. Preheat your oven to 220°C (425°F/gas mark 7). If you’re using the outdoor grill, get it up to the same temperature – nice and hot! Lightly score the lamb fat with a sharp knife and season the joint with salt and chilli flakes.
2 Roast your lamb straight on a rack in the oven or right on the grill over direct heat, so the fat drips down and doesn’t suffocate the meat. Cook for 20 minutes, then drop the heat to 135°C (275°F/ gas mark 1).
3 You’ll need to cover with foil for both indoors and outdoors (put the lid on outdoors, too). Slow-cook for another 11⁄2 hours. While the lamb is cooking, make the pineapple salsa. You need a high heat, so if you’re cooking outside, do it in the first 20 minutes of the lamb cooking. Inside, use a griddle pan in your own time.
4 Grill the pineapple steaks until you have a nice char. Set them aside to cool, then dice. Chuck the chopped pineapple into a bowlwith all the other salsa ingredients, season with salt and pepper and mix well. Set aside ready forthe main event.
5 After 11⁄2 hours, remove the foil and lid, and see where you are at with the lamb. The meat shouldbe pulling away from the bones and feel quite tender to the touch. Continue cooking without foil until you’ve got a nice crisp on the outside. That crunchy savoury more-ish lamb fat will be the single best taste you’ll have had since the first time you had a pork scratching in a sunny beer garden with a lovely pint of Pilsner!
6 Let the lamb ribs rest for 5 minutes but not much longer – you do not want to bite into lukewarm or cold fat; it needs to be hot and crispy. Remove all the bones and slice the lamb ribs into bite-size morsels.
7 Toast your buns (griddle pan or direct heat) and begin the build. For more flavour and naughty deliciousness, dip the soft insides of the bun halves into the lamb fat before toasting. For the build: bottom bun, lamb rib meat, salsa, love – but don’t get lost in your creation, you still need to put the top bun on and eat!
Grilled halloumi burgers
Image: Fire Food: The Ultimate BBQ Cookbook, David Loftus
These burgers are a great vegetarian BBQ alternative and are packed with so much flavour that even the meat-eaters can’t resist. It’s also a quick and easy BBQ recipe so why not give it a go?
Ingredients
(Serves 4)
For the burgers
4 halloumi cheese slices, approximately 2cm thick
Olive oil,for drizzling
4 burger buns (or brioche)
Handful of mint leaves chopped
Pomegranate molasses to drizzle
2 ripe tomatoes (preferably beef), sliced
Bunch of rocket
For the seasoning
1 tsp sumac
Pinch of cayenne pepper
1 tsp paprika
For the avocado
2 super-ripe avocados
Juice of 1 lime
Method
1 Put all the seasoning in a bowl and mix well.
2 Halve the avocados, remove the pits and pull the ripe flesh away from the skin using a large spoon, and empty into a bowl. Smash the avocado to a chunky paste. Next, pour in the lime juice, give it a light mix and set aside.
3 Lay the halloumi slabs on a plate and drizzle olive oil on both sides. Lightly sprinkle over the seasoning mix.
4 Once seasoned, place the slabs over direct heat and grill for a couple of minutes on one side until you have some lovely golden marks. Flip and repeat. Everything happens pretty quickly, so this is a good time to grill your buns.
5 Spoon your avocado mixture onto the four bun bases. Now sprinkle the chopped mint onto the avocado, then place the halloumi steaks on top. Next, drizzle the pomegranate molasses onto the cheese. Top with tomato slices and rocket. Serve everything while it’s piping hot.
Stuffed rainbow peppers
Image: Fire Food: The Ultimate BBQ Cookbook, David Loftus
This is another easy veggie BBQ recipe that works well as a starter, side or even as a main at your summer gathering.
Ingredients
(Serves 6)
50g cous cous
200ml cold water
2 red, 2 green and 2 yellow peppers
50g flaked slivered almonds
50g pistachios
1 courgette, sliced lengthways
1 cucumber, peeled and sliced lengthways
Bunch of asparagus
1 red and 1 green chilli
Olive oil, for drizzling
Juice of 1 lemon
200g feta, in chunks
Sea salt and black pepper
Method
1 Pour the cous cous into a small roasting tin with a lid. Pour the cold water over until it’s just covered. Pop the lid on and place on the heat.
2 Bake for 25–30 minutes, stirring every 5 or 6 minutes, until all the water has been absorbed and the cous cous is light and fluffy. Take off the heat and leave to rest.
3 Put the whole peppers on the direct heat, turning regularly until caramelised. Move them to a lower heat to cook until tender. When done, carefully slice off the tops – keep them for presentation later on – and take out the seeds. Set to one side.
4 Toast the nuts in a small dry pan until slightly golden, then set aside. Drizzle olive oil over the rest of the vegetables and get them on the grill. Once charred, take them off and chop.
5 Put all the chopped veg, including the onions and chillies, into the bowl. Drizzle liberally with olive oil. Add in the toasted nuts, couscous, lemon juice and feta, and season to taste. Mix it all together well and stuff your peppers like your life depends on it! Place the tops back on and serve.
Monkfish skewers and lentils
Image: Andalusiaby Jose Pizzaro, Emma Lee
Bring a taste of the Spanish seaside to your BBQ with this classic dish, best served with a glass of sherry.
Ingredients
(Serves 4)
200g brown lentils
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
5 vine-ripened tomatoes
1 onion, finely chopped
4 garlic cloves, finely sliced
2 tsp pimentón de la vera (Spanish smoked paprika)
Few sprigs of thyme, leaves picked
Olive oil, for frying
600g monkfish, cut into cubes
12 large raw shell-on prawns
1 green pepper, cut into chunks
1 courgette, cut into chunks
1 red onion, cut into thin wedges
Extra-virgin olive oil for drizzling
Method
1 Place the lentils in a medium saucepan with a generous pinch of salt and cover with cold water. Bring to a boil and simmer gently for 20 minutes, until almost cooked.
2 Meanwhile, peel the tomatoes by scoring a cross in the base of each. Place in a bowl and cover in just-boiled water. Leave for 30 seconds, remove and plunge into cold water. Peel the skins, and roughly chop the flesh.
3 In a frying pan over a medium heat, gently cook the onion and garlic with the pimentón and thyme in a little olive oil for 10 minutes, until softened. Add the tomatoes and season well. Drain the lentils and add to the tomato pan with a splash of the cooking liquid and cook for 5 minutes, until the lentils are tender.
4 Meanwhile, light a charcoal barbecue and add some kindling to get it nice and hot and full of flames, then wait for it to cool to a medium heat. You can also use a griddle pan on the stove. Thread the fish, prawns and vegetables onto metal or wooden skewers (if using wooden, soak them in warm water for 30 minutes beforehand). Drizzle with olive oil and season, then sear for 2–3 minutes on each side, until the fish is cooked, and the vegetables are tender and a little charred.
5 Serve the skewers on the lentils with a good drizzle of extra-virgin olive oil.
Try out one of these recipes and send us a pic by tweeting us @goodhomesmag or posting on our Facebook page.