Imagine being invited to a BBQ party. Now, you are probably wondering “What should I bring?”, you definitely don’t want to go empty handed unless the event is a catered event where all the food is being taken care of.
Here are some of the items that my friends and I brought to a recent BBQ we were invited to.
Without a lot of planning, the BBQ turned out to be a great success! The only planning we did was to have everyone post on what we are planning to bring just to make sure we don’t end up all bringing the same thing! Hopefully, our great afternoon BBQ will offer some ideas to you on what you can bring to your next BBQ potluck.
IT’S ALWAYS GOOD TO HAVE SOME SALAD! RIGHT?
Since BBQ is usually a party for the carnivores, it is easy to end up in a party with no greens at all. So, for those of you who, like me, need to have some greens for every meal, bringing a salad or a veggie plate is always a good idea.
While there are many pre-made salad and veggie plates that you can buy at the grocery store, I like to take the time to mix some of my own. They are very easy to make.
One idea is get some fresh spring mix from the farmer’s market or grocery store, add sliced grape tomatoes, sliced black olives and green olives, some sun dried tomatoes, and finish it off with some bow-tie pasta. Mix them with Italian dressing then top it off with feta cheese.
It really goes well with the BBQ!
ASIAN STIR-FRY TOFU
Chinese food? Why not? BBQ goes well with almost any food. Please don’t hesitate to bring different ethnic food to make it an international affair. In our case, my friend brought a Tofu dish, it was delicious! It went perfectly well with my friend Bob’s BBQ ribs!
VENISON BBQ CHILI
Chili is another dish that goes hand in glove with BBQ. In our case, we really got a treat with out-of-this-world venison BBQ chili with beans, green pepper, venison—and a lot of it, and great spices stewed to perfection. Just looking at the picture, mades me drool all over again!
THICK GARLIC TEXAS TOAST
While plain toast or French bread goes well with BBQ, it’s hard to say no to “garlic Texas toast.” This is also another easy one to make.
- Mix butter, garlic powder, and parsley until it’s a smooth spread.
- Spread over Texas Toast bread. TIP: it’s easier to spread when the bread is frozen.
- Keep them in your freezer until read to cook
- Pop in the oven at 400°F for 8-10 minutes until light golden brown. It will be crunchy on the side.
This is great to eat with BBQ beef or pork or dunk into some BBQ chili.
A wonderful addition to any BBQ party.
Just as a note, when I bring this toast to someone’s BBQ, I don’t usually bake it ahead of time. I just ask to use the host’s oven when I get there. This way it will be hot and fresh when served. It’s worth noting though, just to be safe, since everyone’s oven might be slightly different depending on whether the oven is properly calibrated, I would bake it in 5 minutes interval and check just to make sure I don’t burn it.
FAVORITE DESSERTS
This is probably an easy choice for everyone. We all have our favorite desserts. I cannot think of any one dessert that would not go well with BBQ.
The best part about this category is no one ever complains about having too many choices of desserts. So, even if someone already signed up to bring one kind of dessert, don’t hesitate to bring another type!
In our case, a friend of my brought Beckmann’s Strawberry Marionberry pie to share with us. Wow, it was so good that we all couldn’t help to have seconds even though we were all so full already.
https://beckmannsbakery.com/pages/pie
BEER OR WINE
Last, but not least, no BBQ party is complete without some good beer or wine!!! This is another area that’s “more the merrier.”
Just bring your favorite to share. The host and the guests will all cheer for you!
For us, we had two bottles of fine red wines to go with our BBQ. What else can we ask for?
Life is good!
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