Top BBQ Recipes for Your Next Backyard Bash

Warm weather is here at last! For many of us, that means heading outside and trying our new barbecue recipes out. All winter you’ve been dreaming of family and friends gathered in the backyard and firing up the grill. Are you ready to make some mouth-watering easy grilled recipes that will make your neighbors envious? 

Here are some great easy grill recipes to make your next backyard barbecue unforgettable.

BBQ Chicken Recipes to Impress The Party

When it comes to barbecued chicken, there’s a delicious divide that often sparks debate at the dinner table (or over the grill), are you team dark meat or light meat? Well, we’ve a barbecue chicken recipe for both sides of the divide.

Easy BBQ Chicken Thighs 

Ingredients:

• 2 tbs. dark brown sugar
• 2 cloves of garlic, minced
• 2 tsp. salt
• 1 tsp. black pepper
• 1/2 onion, finely chopped
• 1/2 cup ketchup
• 1/4 cup of kecap manis (Indonesian soy sauce)
• 2 tbs. white wine vinegar
• 2 tbs. Lizano sauce
• 2 tsp. oil
• 5 chicken legs
• 5 chicken thighs, bone in

Make a paste out of the brown sugar, garlic, salt pepper then put into a Ziploc bag, and add the chicken. Coat the pieces thoroughly. For best results, marinate in the fridge for about an hour. While the chicken is marinating, heat up the oil in a skillet, add the onions, and cook till they’re transparent. Then add the vinegar, ketchup and Lizano sauce. Simmer for about 10 minutes.

Have someone watch the sauce while you prep the grill. Preheat it and make sure the grate is well oiled. When it’s hot enough, place the chicken over the coals, and cook for about five minutes. Turn the chicken over once. Then, move them over to the indirect heat, cover and cook for about 20 minutes.

Turn over after 10 minutes, and baste them with the sauce on both sides. The chicken is done when a thermometer reads 165 degrees Fahrenheit. Be careful not to let the thermometer touch the bone, or you’ll get a false reading. Remove the chicken from the grill, let it cool a bit and enjoy.

More into barbecue chicken breast? Try this easy grill recipe:

Grilled Balsamic Chicken

Ingredients:

• 1/3 cup balsamic vinegar
• 1/3 cup olive oil
• 2 tablespoons soy sauce
• 3 tablespoons brown sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon coarse ground black pepper
• 3 or 4 rosemary stalks, leaves only
• 5 garlic cloves
• 1/2 teaspoon smoked paprika
• 1/4 - 1/2 teaspoon cayenne
• 3 tablespoons mayo
• 2-4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
• Neutral oil

Put everything except chicken in a blender or processor, and whiz until smooth. Put breasts in a zip lock bag with a tablespoon or so of oil, close up and pound to an even thickness - 1/2 inch would be great. Add most of the marinade, seal and refrigerate at least a couple hours.

Remove from the fridge about 30 minutes before cooking, and heat the grill to medium high. Cook the breasts, turning every couple of minutes, but making sure to get good grill marks.

You can start basting it when it nears 150 degrees, then pull off the grill at 160 - it'll continue to rise a few degrees.

Looking For More Easy Grill Recipes?

If you’ve grilled enough chicken and are looking to expand your repertoire, it may be time to graduate to steak. Cooking steak on the grill can be intimidating the first time and we have come up with some tried and true tips.

How to Cook Steak on Grill

Although grilling may seem intimidating at first glance, grill top cooking is actually quite easy – including cooking steak!

First, make sure the steak is dry, as a dry steak has a better sear. Then, be sure to season it appropriately. The seasoning can be as simple as salt and pepper or the complex marinade that’s been in your family for generations. After seasoning your steak to the appropriate level, crank the grill up to 400 degrees F.

How long you cook the steak depends on the cut and how well-done you want it. A steak that’s an inch thick needs to be cooked directly over the coals for three to four minutes per side. A thicker steak, meanwhile, will need to be cooked over direct heat for the same amount of time, but has to be moved to indirect heat until the desired cooking level is reached (i.e. rare, medium rare, medium, well done). After it reaches the desired temperature, remove it from the grill, plate it, let it rest for 3-5 minutes, then enjoy.

Ready to try out a mouth-watering steak recipe?

Herb & Garlic Butter Rib Eye

Ingredients

• 1 big  bone in or out rib eye (up to 4 lbs.)
• Kosher salt
• Coarse ground pepper
• A handful of herb sprigs (still on their stems as opposed to loose) like thyme, rosemary, sage, cilantro - any really are ideal
• 1 cup butter
• 4 cloves garlic smashed

Remove rib eye from packaging, dry well with paper towels, and salt on all sides (it's big) then set on a rack on a baking sheet, and ideally put in the fridge uncovered for 24 hours. But if you only have an hour, go with that but no need to refrigerate.

Take out of the fridge (if that's where it's been) at least an hour before cooking, now season well with the pepper. Make herb brush by tying together 3 or 4 sprigs of each herb to the end of a wooden spoon, chopsticks or even a stick with kitchen twine.

Put butter and garlic in a small pot, and let it melt over low heat. Set up grill for 2-zone cooking (charcoal or briquettes on one side), and when hot, put the steak over the hot side. Give it a couple minutes to get some good marks, then flip and repeat.

Once both sides have some color, move to the indirect side. It will live here most of the time, with you dipping the brush into the garlic butter and basting the steak. Flip every 5 minutes or so and baste again. You're looking for the internal temperature to be about 125 for rare steak, and 160-165 for well done steak. Then, remove, cover loosely with foil, and let rest for 10 minutes.

No matter what you are trying to barbecue, check out Sam the Cooking Guy for all of your summer recipe needs. (Follow Sam the Cooking guy on instagram)