Almost every barbecue enthusiast invites friends, neighbors or work colleagues to a backyard BBQ at least once a year during the warm summer months. From the decoration to the meat to the choice of drinks, the Backyard BBQ gives the garden party a little more originality. So how do you wow your guests with such an all-American barbecue?

Decoration: The eye eats with you

Regardless of whether you have chosen a special theme for your backyard party or simply want to spend a nice barbecue evening among friends, the decoration plays a supporting role. The bigger the wow-effect is already when entering your garden and the first look at the buffet, the longer the guests will remember this event. Men in particular often make the mistake of focusing exclusively on the choice of meat or the barbecue itself. Paper cups, a crate of beer and ketchup as a garnish – done! But even a few simple tricks can help you get more out of your backyard party and turn it into a real backyard BBQ:

Fairy lights help you point guests in the right direction and bathe the event in a pleasant glow – especially after dark. They are available in one color, colorful or, depending on the theme, in special shapes.

Torches look a bit more rustic than fairy lights and provide a warm light. Perfect is the combination of both variants, i.e. the fairy lights on top and the torches on the ground.

Separate tables for the buffet provide more clarity and shorter queues. The more different foods as well as drinks there are, the better they should be divided among different tables: One for the grilled food, for example, one for side dishes, one for drinks and one for the dirty dishes.

A slate with the menu or small signs can serve the clarity and give your garden party a more professional touch.

An extra bar for serving drinks is often a popular place for guests to gather after dinner for conversation and to share a beer, cocktail or other drink.

Coffee filters as hotdog holders or other creative alternatives to classic tableware can be quite sufficient for a Backyard BBQ. It does not have to be the noble version made of porcelain. You’ll save yourself a lot of cleanup and still offer your guests a little surprise.

Children’s paddling pools can be filled with ice cubes to cool food or drinks. A variant that does not necessarily look nice, but serves its purpose on hot summer days.

You should also take care to keep insects and bugs like wasps away from your buffet. A plague of wasps or a swarm of mosquitoes in the evening can quickly turn your backyard BBQ into a disaster.

Meat, fish & Co: Which grill food belongs to a successful Backyard BBQ?

When you think of a barbecue in the USA, the first thing that comes to mind is juicy meat, such as Argentine beef. However, you can get creative with an All-American barbecue: From spareribs to hot dog sausages to burger patties, you can actually put anything on the grill that can be fried.

Attention: Even if you yourself are an absolute meat lover, you must not forget your vegetarian guests. Therefore, provide a sufficiently large selection of grilled food and offer your guests the opportunity to put specialties they have brought along on the grill – ideally on an extra grate without meat leftovers from before.

Different kinds of meat from beef, pork, lamb or chicken may be on the program at the Backyard BBQ as well as the classic German bratwurst or the Mediterranean salmon. Shrimp, stuffed zucchini or other delicacies such as grilled cheese should also complement the selection. So you are guaranteed to find the right delicacy for every taste.

If you can’t find what you’re looking for at your local butcher, you can easily order the meat you want online. There you benefit from a larger selection and possibly better quality at a lower price.

The importance of the right side dishes is often underestimated

A common mistake is to open up the best culinary horizons to guests when it comes to the barbecue food – but to serve them afterwards with just bread and ketchup. The special thing about a typical Backyard BBQ, on the other hand, are the lovingly prepared side dishes, which hold many a surprise in store for the guests. These include, for example:

Salads: To add some variety to the taste buds as well as vitamins to the body, salads cannot be missing from a successful barbecue. Potato salad, pasta salad or original mixtures such as lamb’s lettuce with asparagus and strawberries neutralize the taste of meat and round off the menu. If this is too much work for you, just ask your guests to bring something – this can be a salad or a dessert, a sauce & Co.

Sauces: Eating a high-quality meat with ketchup is almost a mortal sin for connoisseurs. Instead, you can really bring out the unique flavor of different types of meat or fish with the right sauce. Therefore, provide your guests with a selection of different flavors. You can either buy them or, better yet, simply make the sauces yourself.

Tacos, burgers and other specialties: If you grill burger patties or hot dog sausages, for example, you must of course also provide the appropriate side dishes such as the burger bun or the taco to go with the ground meat. The overall concept must remain coherent!

Desserts: For many people, dessert is another highlight in itself. On hot summer days, a cooling ice cream is always very popular. But of course you have to store it in the freezer until consumption. So that there is still a “sweet eye-catcher” on the buffet, you can serve small desserts in jars. Chocolate mousse or panna cotta are ideal for this. An unusual idea is also “flower soil” in small pots as dessert, which of course consists of paradise cream, chocolate mousse or curd cheese. You can colorfully paint the flower pots if you wish, or you can lay out suitable paints so that the guests’ children have a fun activity with the little pots after the meal.

Cool offs: However, not only the drinks or an ice cream as a dessert can provide for the cooling in the summer, but also different kinds of fruit are ideal for this. For example, cut a watermelon into triangles and store them on ice cubes. You can also skewer them with a wooden stick and bathe them in tequila or another alcoholic beverage of your choice. This way you get a special kind of cooling with a shot.

Speaking of which, you can’t forget the drinks, of course. In addition to a cool beer, you should also offer the guests a white and a red wine with the meal. Drinks such as Aperol Spritz or cocktails such as Hugo and Caipirinha are also trendy. Non-alcoholic drinks must also be available for all guests. Here, too, you can turn the water into a special delicacy by filling it with ice cubes and fruit such as limes or melon pieces. This will give it a hint of flavor and keep it nice and cool for a long time, even in high temperatures.

Other ideas at the garden party for the guests

Lastly, you can spice up your Backyard BBQ by providing games for the guests. On the one hand, the children should be kept busy after the meal, so that their parents can drink and talk in peace. On the other hand, bocce, badminton & Co before or after the meal also bring adult guests a lot of joy. What could be better than to be able to eat, play and laugh together?! If desired, the games can of course also be transformed into drinking games – depending on the character of the garden party and the mood of the guests. As the Romans once said: “The people need bread and games”!

Tutu Gilbert