15 Summery Salads for a BBQ
Pair these easy salads—including red-and-green coleslaw, sesame-ginger chicken pasta salad and arugula salad with potatoes and green beans—with your favorite BBQ dish.
Red-and-Green Coleslaw
This classic coleslaw dressed with mayo and sour cream is excellent on its own or piled onto pulled pork, brisket or smoked-meat sandwiches.
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Grilled Okra, Corn, and Tomato Salad
This next-level summer salad turns heads with its punchy charred jalapeño–and-herb-spiked dressing and a palate-perking topping of toasted crunchy coriander and cumin seeds.
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Roasted Carrot and Red Quinoa Salad
Anna Zepaltas grew up preparing tamales in her mother's Southern California kitchen, but she also loves Indian and Middle Eastern dishes. Cumin, coriander and cardamom punch up this salad, inspired by a favorite dish at Chloe's French Cafe in Santa Rosa, California.
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Sesame–Ginger Chicken Pasta Salad
This quick-prep, creamy, Asian-inspired pasta salad is a meal in itself or a great BBQ or picnic side dish.
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Arugula Salad With Potatoes and Green Beans
Use fingerling, Yellow Finn or Yukon Gold potatoes in this salad and toss them gently with the vinaigrette so they keep their shape.
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Creamy Cucumber and Grilled Potato Salad
"When I was a kid, my mom would marinate cucumbers, red onions and canned potatoes in jarred creamy Italian dressing," says Jamie Bissonnette. "I'm not saying she was a great cook, but creamy Italian dressing is still my favorite. I make a version of it for this salad."
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Green Bean Slaw
In this salad, tender haricots verts get tossed with crunchy strips of carrot, red pepper and parsnip. When TV personality Rachael Ray (who is originally from upstate New York) visited the Beekman farm, Lee Woolver made a version of this salad with bacon, but it's just as delicious without.
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Macaroni Salad with Chorizo and Roasted Cherry Tomatoes
This macaroni salad can be served hot or cold, either way it is delicious.
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Corn, Basil, and Quinoa Salad
This dairy-free and vegetarian salad serves as the perfect side or lunch.
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Two-Tone Potato Salad
Pickled onions and cucumber relish add a tangy kick to Emilee Gettle's blue-and-gold potato salad. Because she and Jere Gettle don't eat eggs, they opt for vegan mayonnaise.
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Grilled Squash, Corn and Kale Salad with Sunflower Seed Vinaigrette
The creamy sunflower seed dressing for this hearty summer salad is flavored with za'atar, the classic Middle Eastern spice mix that often includes thyme, oregano or marjoram, sesame seeds, tangy sumac and often salt.
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Classic Potato Salad
Baby potatoes have a naturally sweet flavor and creamy texture that's delicious in this classic potato salad recipe. Make it as a simple side for your next backyard bbq or summer picnic.
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Greens Pasta Salad
Justin Chapple set out to improve pasta salad, which is often bland, thick and laden with mayonnaise. Here, he dresses pasta with a tangy and creamy mix of buttermilk, vinegar and mayo, then mixes in plenty of greens to add a fresh, bright flavor. It's the best pasta salad ever.
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Avocado-and-Cabbage Slaw
When Suvir Saran's mother tried this spicy, crunchy cabbage slaw at his restaurant Tapestry in New York City, she said, "Baba, this is the best chaat I've ever eaten!" While Saran didn't intend to make over the traditional Indian snack, a dish with chickpeas, potatoes, yogurt and chutney, the crunch, spice and tang immediately elicit an iconic chaat. "There is nothing Indian about it, and yet, it's entirely Indian," says Saran.
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Collard Greens, Blue Potato, and Bacon Salad
Kale isn't the only green that's delicious raw: The thinly sliced collard greens in this salad are a delicious vehicle for all the goodies tossed with them, including roasted blue potatoes, bacon, crumbled Stilton cheese, toasted walnuts and hard-boiled quail eggs. Hard-boiled chicken eggs that are cut into smaller pieces would be a fine substitute.