A Delicious, Easy Menu For Memorial Day!
Memorial Day is a perfect time to relax and renew, and I’m also remembering those who served. My grandfather was a veteran, and I am so grateful to all who serve and protect us. For any holiday, I always find food at the center, and this one is no exception, especially because it’s time to start celebrating the bounty of local produce! I’ve got so many amazing ideas and wonderful recipes included in my menu for Memorial Day to help you kick off summer in the most delicious way.
Food truly unites us all, and it’s a great way to bring friends and family together, which is one reason why I love a holiday weekend. Use the moment to take a deep breath and know that you can create a little bit of magic time to be with family or friends.
Memories of Mom’s House: A Celebration of Family, Music, and Patriotic Holidays
Until we lost my mom, we spent our holidays at her house. All the kids and grandkids gathered there, and it was simply about being together, enjoying a beverage, swimming in the pool, and having something delicious to eat. On the red, white, and blue holidays, there would be a 5K race that ran past my parents’ house, and my mom loved to set up a cheering section. She was also part of a band, and here they are, playing informally and letting the kids join in the fun on Memorial Day.
Fabulous, Simple Recipes for a Flavorful Memorial Day Weekend
It’s not the weekend for an overly complicated recipe, and it’s definitely the time to get out and grill. Even though I love to grill 365 days a year, the true grilling season has officially arrived. Here are some of my favorite recipes that are perfect for your menu for Memorial Day.
Smashburger with Special Sauce
A Smashburger does not have many steps, but it does take some serious finesse.
Crispy Grilled Brick Chicken
Brick Chicken is a great option depending on the size of your crowd. It’s so crispy and delicious and truly fun to make!
It’s perfect for keeping the heat out of the kitchen throughout the summer, and you’ll have a delicious dinner ready in an hour, making this recipe great for a menu for Memorial Day.
Grilled Vegetable Salad
This grilled vegetable summer salad is easy to throw together with what you have on hand. I used peppers, asparagus, zucchini, potatoes, and sausage. Have fun with what’s available in your area and what’s in season! That’s what I love about a recipe like this. It’s so customizable and, in many ways, foolproof!
Epic Skirt Steak Taco Salad
My Epic Taco Salad recipe is kind of a masterpiece. I use some of my favorite hacks from the Epic Salad in my cookbook to make this Epic Taco Salad come to life!
Tuna Treasure
My Tuna Treasure Poke Bowl is also a great, easy recipe to add to a menu for Memorial Day. Bright, light, and fresh, this dish is always well-loved when I serve it.
Panzanella Salad
I love a dish I can make ahead of time and bring to a party or gathering. My Panzanella Salad is perfect because you can prep all of the different elements in advance, put them in individual Mason jars, and then simply assemble them when you’re ready.
Who can say no to delicious bread and cheese? Once you make this salad you are going to want to make it all summer long.
Vegan Pesto Grilled Vegetable Salad
Grilling season has officially arrived, and my Vegan Pesto Grilled Vegetable Salad is perfect for any day you want an easy, delicious meal. Plus, it is an especially great recipe to make for Memorial Day.
Grilling your vegetables sounds simple, but I shared some tricks to make it successful and ensure you get that beautiful crunch.
Chicken Salad with Mandarins
My easy, Asian-Inspired Chicken Salad also lends itself well to advance prep and is a total crowd-pleaser.
Bring it in containers, have your chicken already sautéed, and you can easily toss this deliciousness at the event. It is a magnificent dish to take to a party.
Tropical Thunder Esquite Salad
You likely already know that I love to eat my greens, and recently in Mexico, I enjoyed this exquisite Esquite Salad by the pool. The minute I tasted it, I thought it would be amazing with my Coconut Lime Vinaigrette, and their sumptuous bowl of goodness inspired me to create my own version.
Ice Cream Pie
I absolutely love that this pie is so simple and no-cook. You can choose your favorite ice cream and get to making this amazing summer treat.
Gluten-Free Strawberry Rhubarb Crumble
I’m not much of a baker, so I love putting together a crumble. They are sneakily easy to make and pretty much a fail-proof dish. Not to mention they are so delicious. There’s practically no better dessert, or next-day breakfast, for summer. Always use fruit that’s ripe and in season. I love the combination of strawberries and rhubarb.
Whatever you choose to do, cook, or eat this holiday weekend, I hope you’ll find time to take a deep breath and enjoy the day.
If you make any of my recipes for Memorial Day, be sure to leave a comment and let me know. If you’re looking for more inspiration, sign up for our Friday Favorites newsletter, and follow along on Pinterest, Instagram, and TikTok to join in all the fun!
Do you have a copy of the No Crumbs Left cookbook yet?
Food is my love language, and this book is a guide to getting you in the kitchen with me, rolling up your sleeves, and reigniting passion for everyday cooking. Woven throughout the book are my Teri’s Tips as well.
This cookbook is a love letter to my mother because it offers the recipe for a well-lived life.
All your stuff looks incredible here also! My family and me also have a long history in military and law enforcement/fire rescue work. From my uncle’s and cousins and in-laws (their wives) to my immediate family as well, dad like me went into law enforcement young then smartened up and became a Doc ? later joined the military as a commissioned officer and served in a medical unit almost two decades until they kept trying to call their unit up he could no longer go because he’d lose his practice. Good laws that protect the military from creditors weren’t in place yet but here in Texas he with some of our reps were instrumental in getting laws passed to protect active duty reservists from losing everything. Awesome man! Anyway, Good to see you’re in a patriotic family that honors the ones who made the ultimate sacrifice and have gone on also naturally or even other terrible means which we’ve experienced with close family in that last twenty years of what I believe now to be two unnecessary conflicts. But when you’re young and lied to and fool hearty and fearless… Anyway.
Out of my regular career path I finally settled on years back today, cooking (out of all my interests and other Hobby’s) has always been there to improve upon, learn, experience but most of all make people comfortable and happy to see them enjoy it. A true cathartic thing for us but done out of care for whoever needs a good meal you know and love for friends and family.
I’m definitely interested in your sauce and dressing recipes. Those I love developing and the use of different ingredients from everywhere that meld with other to unlock and enhance flavors of things many more degrees.
It’s incredible for instance what some high quality homemade beef steak tallow (a dab), red wine vinegar, butter, low sodium or artisan soy sauce, garlic salt and fresh grated garlic, cayenne, lemon, with a little MSG makes and slowly heated to incorporate them together. You can even add more stuff like fresh ground pepper, or Knorr chicken bullion powder and cut out the garlic salt and MSG and add garlic powder… This one’s great to inject in a deep fried Cajun Thanksgiving Turkey. I guarantee it’ll be one of the best Turkey’s you ever made and cooked in your like. You can sell these things also for buku bucks if you’re running a small catering business during the holidays. They go for big money around here and with that recipe you’ll have the best Deep Fried injected bird in the county. It’s great to baste a rotisserie chicken or on to grilled shrimp while they’re in the grill. Grilled Snapper, Amberjack, Reds, I haven’t tried it on seared Tuna because just sesame seeds, a quick sear and some real wasabi and soy mix knock that one out of the park for me.
Essentially you get a sauce that’s ingredients unlock each other’s near full potential, is super versatile and adjustable to suit many things.
That again very useful for injectable marinades, dressing enhancer, or turning into a mayo just whisk or blend it into egg yolks, make a hollandaise type sauce to put on grilled asparagus it’s the bomb,
adding the original version to soups like chicken tortilla in the cooking process (just great beef tallow unlocks the aromatics of soups and adds a delicious beefiness or for frying the best french fries on earth it’s what McDonald’s originally used they deemed “unhealthy” but it isn’t true it’s natural and great for you and diabetics with no additives).
Heck on it’s own just dipping something in like a fresh hot steak fajita, a hot tortilla and homemade salsa, fresh bread or preferably toasted ?
Anyway, I’ve rambled enough and shared one of my magic sauce recipes (but I’ve always kept one or two secret weapon ingredients back for competition and proprietary recipes ??)
Take care ma’am and thanks for sharing!
Gosh that punctuation ended up terrible like it deleted itself (auto correct on mine I’m sure). Barely legible and contextually some makes half sense…Anyway. No one wants to read ten page essays today regardless, hah!