These 20 Memorial Day Recipes Kick Off Grilling Season with Style

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.

“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.”

Here’s a trick from Rory’s Place‘s Rory and Meave McAuliffe to getting tender grilled greens cooked just right: After rinsing the radicchio, 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 were a hit at Diep Tran’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.

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.

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

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. 

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.”

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.

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.

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

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

At last, a decent veggie burger!

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 into Nuôc Châm. You can also slide the shrimp into moistened rice paper wrappers, or serve them as part of a rice noodle bowl.

A classic. Marinate the steak overnight for an even deeper flavor.

Grill still hot? Char that salad!

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.

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.

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

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

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