These 20 Memorial Day Recipes Kick Off Grilling Season with Style (2024)

Arc Burgers

For these extremely flavorful, deluxe burgers, Noah von Blöm, chef at Arc restaurant in Costa Mesa, California, mixes ground rib-eye with boneless short ribs and bacon. Then he sizzles the patties in a cast-iron skillet set in the coals of a wood fire. At the restaurant, each one weighs a full pound. “People get up from their tables to take pictures,” he says.

M5 Burgers with Bacon Jam

Burn Barrel Chicken

“Grilled chicken is an excellent humble family meal, although the marinade in this recipe adds an incredible glaze worthy of a restaurant meal,” Matt Horn says in his cookbook,Horn Barbecue. “The brown sugar speeds up caramelization and deepens the flavor of the finished poultry.”

Grilled Treviso Radicchio with Lemony Aïoli

Here’s a trick fromRory’s Place‘s Rory and Meave McAuliffe to getting tender grilled greens cooked just right: After rinsing theradicchio, shake off excess water, but don’t worry about drying completely—the water in the leaves will help to cook the treviso before the outer leaves begin to char.

Blistered Vegetables with Scallion Oil

Blistered vegetables were a hit at DiepTran’s restaurant Good Girl Dinette, in part because grilling vegetables causes their natural sugars to caramelize. Dousing super-fresh produce in fish-sauce-infused scallion oil will make an appetizer that is crunchy, sweet, and salty all at the same time.

Spiced Beef Burger

Middle Eastern kofta kebabs (spiced ground lamb or beef shaped around skewers) are delicious, but a bit of a project. Here, a similar spice blend flavors a weeknight-friendly burger.

Carne Asada with Guacachile

This carne asada from Damian comes together with just a few ingredients and a quick sear on the grill.

Grilled Snap Peas with Everything Bagel Seasoning

Everything’s better with everything bagel seasoning, including Yangban Society’s grilled sugar snap peas. Crunchy, nutty fried shallots add earthy notes while lemon zest makes the whole dish sing.

Watermelon Salad

Matt Horn on the watermelon salad recipe from his cookbook,Horn Barbecue:“This is such a light summer salad to freshen your palate between barbecue dishes. If you have time, I recommend chilling the salad for about 20 minutes before serving for the best flavor and most refreshing bite.”

Zucchini Burgers

We’ve given the veggie burger a serious upgrade, with browned mushrooms, nuts, and spices in the shredded zucchini patties, and raw zucchini ribbons on top for freshness.

Hawaiian style grilled chicken

With a dead-simple marinade, this chicken comes out tangy and sweet, with just the right hint of bitterness. The only trick is: turn it frequently, to keep the sugars from burning.

Grilled Lemongrass Pork Chops

Vietnamese cooks love thin pork chops because the chops pick up seasonings quickly, cook fast, and taste great.

Grilled Crisp-Skinned Salmon with Gochujang Marinade

Wrap chunks of the spicy, meaty salmon in lettuce for a hot-cool crispy Korean-ish contrast.

Lentil Veggie Burgers

At last, a decent veggie burger!

Chao Tôm

If you are fortunate enough to have fresh sugarcane at your local farmers market, pick up a few stalks and make good use of them in this recipe. Otherwise, canned sugarcane is widely available at Asian grocers and will work just fine. The Chao Tôm are great snacks to nosh on, especially when dunked intoNuôc Châm. You can also slide the shrimp into moistened rice paper wrappers, or serve them as part of a rice noodle bowl.

Grilled Flank Steak, Onion, and Peppers

A classic. Marinate thesteakovernight for an even deeper flavor.

Charred Caesar Salad

Grill still hot? Char that salad!

Gochujang Spareribs

Los Angeles restaurant Yangban Society’s sweet and spicy and oh-so-sticky pork ribs benefit from a sauce spiked with gochujang, the deeply flavored fermented Korean chili paste. For maximum deliciousness, make sure you give yourself 3 to 12 hours to cure the pork ribs in the dry rub.

Grilled Rib-eye Steaks with Miso Butter

Many consider rib-eye to be the tastiest steak anyone can buy. We also love it because it cooks so quickly. Miso butter brings umami to this beautiful cut of meat.

Easy Yogurt Beet Dip

Cool and refreshing, spicy and earthy, this Indian-inspired dip contains multitudes.

Grilled Corn Poblano Salad with Chipotle Vinaigrette

The chunks of creamyavocadosoften the heat of the vinaigrette, and the corn freshens everything up. It’s easy to make the day ahead.

Summer Nectarine and Herb Salad

A salad so sweet and summery you’ll want to eat it for dessert.