8 barbecue dishes to cook this Bank Holiday weekend

Bank Holidays are all about friends, pub gardens and mini-breaks – or they were, until lockdown happened. Now we’re pretty much confined to where we live, bar some socially-distanced walking or exercise at the park. But while drinks with friends will have to wait until August’s Bank Holiday (we hope!), there’s no reason to draw the curtains and spend the long weekend cooped up indoors. For those of us lucky enough to have a garden, there’s ample opportunity to enjoy the warm weather – and nothing heralds the start of summer quite like the smell of a barbecue.

While sausages and burgers are all well and good, there’s so much more we can do when cooking over coals. Planning in advance works wonders, as you can marinate meats, prepare sauces and get some prep done in advance, meaning your full attention on the day can be on the grill (and whatever drink you happen to have in your hand too, of course). Below are our eight top picks for this Bank Holiday, but be sure to check out our full collection of barbecue recipes for more inspiration.

Kebabs are always a winner when cooking outdoors – they can be eaten with your hands, take mere minutes to cook and can be prepped in advance to minimise hassle. These chicken kebabs from Sambal Shiok’s own Mandy Yin are marinated in a heady satay spice mix – think lemongrass, garlic, palm sugar and chilli – which are then served with a rich peanut dipping sauce. A guaranteed hit.

Fruit and veg benefit from a lick of smoke just as much as meat and fish, and this colourful dish combines seasonal asparagus with sweet slices of charred nectarine. The romesco sauce steals the show, however – green peppers are blackened over coals until smoky, then blitzed with almonds, bread, sherry vinegar and garlic to create an incredible base for the rest of the ingredients to be piled upon.

American barbecue is world-famous for a reason – the low-and-slow approach to cooking and smoking huge cuts of meat until they fall apart is perfect for feeding crowds. While an entire pork shoulder or belly is going to be a bit too big for a lockdown-based barbecue, this burnt ends recipe is perfect for a family of four and encapsulates everything great about US barbecue technique. It does require a long cooking time, however, so be sure to get things going in the morning – eight hours later, you’ll have a plate of gnarled, charred beef brisket in a tangy Kansas-style sauce (and a very happy family).

Cooking a whole chicken on the barbecue can be tricky, as the legs and breasts will finish cooking at different times. The best way to remedy this is by spatchcocking the chicken – essentially flattening it – so it cooks evenly over the coals. Adam Gray’s recipe sees the chicken marinated in a simple combination of spices overnight, before being lovingly grilled for half an hour until smoky, charred and incredibly moist.