Bored Of Potato Salad? Make These Elevated BBQ Sides Instead

BBQ season is still in full swing – don’t put your grill away! Keep those tongs clean! We’ve got some cooking to do. We still have a good six weeks or so before the weather starts to gently turn and the prospect of grilling becomes less appealing, and if you’re anything like me, you’ll want to make the most of it all while you can. But is anyone feeling a bit burnt out from all the potato salads and coleslaw? It can’t just be me, can it? Don’t get me wrong, I like BBQ sides as much as the next person – but I’m feeling the inclination to mix it up. 

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Sometimes, that can come in the form of ELEVATION. For your next cookout, move beyond those mayo-based salads and try these recipes, which might just give the whole experience a touch more elegance. 

Tomato And Pomegranate Salad

A recipe here courtesy of Yotam Ottolenghi, inspired by a visit the chef made to Istanbul. Combining red and yellow cherry tomatoes, tiger (or plum) tomatoes, and vine tomatoes, this salad provides not just visual flair but also delivers a nuanced tomato flavor with sourness and sweetness coming at you from different angles. Pomegranate seeds and pomegranate molasses provide tartness and a sugary hit, while allspice and garlic create an aromatic sensibility. Easily spoonable, endlessly delicious. 

Quinoa Salad With Mint And Mango

If you’re keen to mix it up on the carb front, quinoa can be the way to go. Nutty, earthy, and characterful, when combined with mint, mango, spring onions, and coriander, it can be the underpinning for a hearty but light salad. Check out this recipe from BBC Good Food to make it; it only takes a couple of ingredients, and it’s versatile enough to go with anything. 

Grilled Zucchini With Ricotta And Walnuts

You’re grilling your meat anyway – you might as well throw some zucchini on there, too. This recipe from Delish hits zucchini slices with a blast of heat, charring the outside, before combining them with a melange of herbs, spices, lemon, garlic, feta, walnuts, and ricotta. It’s ample enough to serve as a main in itself, but the freshness of it makes it the perfect accompaniment to heavier entrées. 

Roasted Eggplant With Saffron Yogurt

We veer back to Ottolenghi for our last side, which again combines a robust vegetable with a creamy element. This one, though, is a bit of a space saver. Instead of grilling the eggplant, you roast it in the oven (you could grill it as well, but using the oven is a great way to have it cooking while you work on everything else), before drizzling it with a vibrant, aromatic, citrusy saffron yogurt. The saffron here provides a showstopping color, but also a floral note. Finish with pine nuts, pomegranate seeds, and basil leaves, and you have a side that’s herbal, earthy, creamy, light, and rich, all at once. The saffron might be a bit of an investment, but here, it’s hard to find an adequate substitute.