As the weather warms up, many people gather around a grill or BBQ to enjoy all that summer has to offer. Traditional cookout fare often leans towards heavy meats, creamy salads, and sugary treats. However, there are plenty of ways to lighten up your spread without sacrificing flavor or fun.
Rethinking the Main Course: Lean Meat Options
Cookouts can be very meat-centric. It’s hard to walk or drive through a neighborhood on a summer weekend without smelling charcoal and grilled meat. While tasty, red meat contains a high amount of saturated fat. Eating foods high in saturated fats can raise the level of cholesterol in your blood, which also raises the risk of heart disease and stroke.
Opting for lean cuts of meat like chicken breast, turkey burgers, or fish for grilling is a great way to have meat, but reduce saturated fats and calories. These options are lower in saturated fats and calories compared to fattier cuts like ribs or sausages.
Grill the Rainbow: Seasonal Fruits and Vegetables
While nowadays we have access to seasonal fruits and vegetables all year round, eating produce within its season guarantees peak taste and freshness, along with the added benefit of it being a bit cheaper due to its abundance. Summer has some great fruits and vegetables that you can take advantage of at your next cookout. Grilled vegetables are not only delicious but also nutritious. Skewer some bell peppers, zucchini, mushrooms, and cherry tomatoes for a colorful and healthy addition to your cookout spread.
When grilling vegetables, keep in mind that some vegetables take longer to cook, so pairing them together on the skewer for cooking is important. For example, cook softer vegetables together such as asparagus, eggplant, mushrooms, peppers, and onions.
Read also: Healthy food access with Highmark Wholecare explained.
Don’t leave out the fruits, as well! Many fruits can be grilled, with the added bonus of gaining some nice caramelization of their natural sugars, making them feel almost like an indulgent treat. Some fruits that do well on the grill are bananas, peaches and pineapple.
Sides with a Twist: Lighter and Healthier Options
Swap out calorie-laden sides like creamy potato salad or mayo-heavy coleslaw for lighter options. Consider making a fresh salad with mixed greens, cucumbers, and cherry tomatoes tossed in a vinaigrette dressing.
One healthy side dish option is Cowboy Caviar. Mix all ingredients together and serve chilled or at room temperature. Hummus with pita chips, whether homemade or store-bought, and tossing together some chopped vegetables with vinaigrette are other great side options.
Pasta Salad is an absolute must-have at cookouts and summer picnics. Traditional pasta salad recipes are typically loaded with unwanted fat and white carbs. An easy recipe has all the bold flavors you love, but a few simple tweaks make it so much healthier, too.
Coleslaw is also a must-have at cookouts and summer picnics. A lightened-up dressing is the perfect middle ground between creamy, deli-style coleslaws and tangy vinegar slaws.
Read also: Healthy Eating on the Run
Grape Salad is a summertime fave. This updated version features a lighter, healthier vanilla-cream cheese dressing.
This fantastic, super-easy recipe is so yummy and SO versatile! You can toss it together with either fresh, raw corn or with toasty, grilled corn. And you can serve it as a dip with tortilla chips, or as a side salad (or both!). You can even make it ahead, too. With this recipe, you’ve got LOTS of options!
This lightened-up adaptation of classic potato salad works on a lot of levels! Oven-roasting the potatoes adds wonderful flavor and texture, and is arguably easier than the traditional peeling-and-boiling route.
This speedy side dish is an updated riff on the beloved Bean Salad recipe served at the iconic Nick Anthe’s restaurant for more than 30 years. It’s uniquely delicious, but with no cooking and just a bit of quick chopping, it’s also ultra-fast.
A lighter version of the cookout favorite! The creamy sauce in "typical" fresh broccoli salad recipes usually contains mayo, sugar, and white vinegar. This recipe swaps most of the mayo for 2% Greek yogurt, swaps the sugar for a little honey, and uses more complexly flavored cider vinegar instead of white.
Read also: Mobile Dining Revolution
This ultra EASY salad gets an extra boost of flavor from vibrant, crunchy peppers. It’s a signature summer recipe from one of the very best cooks I’ve ever known - my Oma!
This Healthy Macaroni Salad is made with a lighter dressing, but Kathryn promises you and your guests won’t even taste the difference!
This showstopper 7-Layer Salad takes those iconic potluck layered salad recipes to whole new heights (literally!). Piled high in a trifle bowl, it’ll be the “Oooooh … who made that?” hit of the cookout.
Crisp cucumber, kicky red onion, tangy feta cheese, cooling mint, and juicy-sweet watermelon combine in this colorful watermelon salad.
Superfoods like Brussels sprouts, broccoli, kale, and cabbage are accented with crunchy pistachios and sweet-tart dried cranberries, and then drizzled with a fantastic balsamic and maple syrup dressing.
Just 4 simple ingredients! This is a party-worthy, portable take on the classic caprese salad.
Summer parties and potlucks always seem to have at least one version of Cowboy Caviar on the buffet table. It's THAT good!
Showcase garden-fresh beans and perfectly ripe tomatoes in this pretty salad, sprinkled with slivered almonds and parmesan cheese. Bonus: it easily doubles to serve a large crowd! Be sure to check out the suggestions for yummy swaps and substitutions to adapt it to what you have on hand.
In this sunshine-y fruit salad recipe, the best, in-season fresh fruit is tossed in a simple honey lemon dressing. The dressing is not only delicious, but also helps to keep the fruit from browning.
Sweet and savory, soft and creamy, these beans have the exact texture and flavor you’d hope for in a baked bean. With all of this jam-packed flavor, you’d think it had been cooking for hours on the stove. But, thanks to your pressure cooker, this recipe cooks in a fraction of the time of traditional versions!
This healthy potato salad recipe adds in nutrient-rich green beans and roasted red peppers, along with Kalamata olives, briny capers, and a Dijon-spiced vinaigrette. It's naturally vegan, made without eggs or mayo, and bursting with zesty flavors.
This unique, extra-easy recipe is ready in 5 minutes flat - a perfect side dish to make when a last-minute cookout party invite comes your way!
Inspired by a favorite Disney recipe, this salad is light and fresh and perfect for warm summer days! It's bursting with vibrant flavors and scrumptious textures: nutty quinoa, protein-packed chickpeas, creamy feta, crunchy carrots and sweet citrus. They all add up to a surprisingly delicious combination that's been a favorite for more than a decade.
Tender kale is combined with cannellini beans, fresh summer basil, red onions, roasted red peppers, feta, parmesan, and both sun-dried and fresh tomatoes. Mmmmmm … all draped in a honey-balsamic vinaigrette.
This easy cucumber salad always takes me by surprise! It's fresh and nourishing, with crisp cucumbers and red onion in a tangy dressing. If you'd prefer a creamier dressing, try this no-mayo Creamy Cucumber Salad recipe. Or, if you'd like an Asian-inspired version, try this Easy 5 Minute Asian Cucumber Salad.
A stunning showcase of summer's best! Delicious summer corn and sweet-tart cherry tomatoes are perfectly accented by chunks of creamy avocado. Super simple and incredibly fast … with absolutely no cooking needed!
This is a healthier remake of the classic potluck favorite! It features a low-sugar, olive oil-based dressing, crispy brown rice ramen noodle topping, and tons of veggies.
Corn, red pepper, cilantro, lime juice, and tangy pickled jalapeños take coleslaw to a whole new level!
It's really not a proper summer party without veggies and dip, right? But these eye-popping raw veggie skewers are so much more fun than a plain-old veggie tray!
It's light, refreshing, and full of crunchy vegetables and fresh herbs. Fresh, raw, and so healthy!
Replacing couscous with nutritious minced cauliflower in this light and summery salad not only WORKS, but it's totally delicious!
The magic of this simple recipe is that fresh mozzarella has a creamy texture and light flavor which easily picks up the zippy notes from fresh herbs, a tang from the garlic, and richness from a high-quality extra-virgin olive oil. Wonderful with colorful, juicy cherry tomatoes. And really … you can’t help but love a dish that’s fresh and beautiful yet takes about 10 minutes of your time!
Just a few simple ingredients yield bold, bright flavors in this spin on trendy tabouli! This pumped-up version of the classic recipe adds super-nutritious kale and swaps protein-packed, gluten-free quinoa instead of the traditional bulgur wheat.
This vitamin C-rich salad is full of antioxidants! It combines baby spinach, spicy arugula, fruit and berries with a smattering of cheese.
Full of caramelized veggie flavor that really comes alive when tossed with tangy fresh lemon and herbs. This salad is overflowing with healthy ingredients and can be eaten warm or chilled.
Besides being incredibly nutritious, quinoa is also a great backdrop for flavor combinations. This gorgeous salad includes confetti greens, sun-dried tomatoes, basil, pine nuts, cheese, and a fabulous balsamic vinaigrette.
This summery masterpiece features an unexpectedly delightful mix of sweet and savory components, with juicy watermelon, ruby beets, crunchy walnuts, and Manchego cheese.
Thai and Japanese flavors are intriguingly combined in one gorgeous but easy salad recipe. Refreshing cucumber is terrific with salty peanuts, feta, onion, summer basil, and bright lime …
Creamy, bright, and packed full of (hidden) spinach, this healthy pasta salad just happens to be vegan-friendly, too. If you're an avocado fan, this one's definitely for you, since avocados make a double-appearance, in both the dressing and the salad itself!
Smart Swaps: Whole Grains
An easy switch can be swapping out white buns or bread for whole-grain options. But whole grains don’t have to be limited to bread. Try swapping out refined pasta for whole grain pasta in your pasta salad, or try your hand at making a quinoa salad as a side dish.
This summer, I’m excited to try some new salads with quinoa. One recipe I found has quinoa, diced red onion, grilled corn cut off the cob, basil, feta cheese, fresh sliced peaches, and avocado.
Stay Hydrated: Rethinking Beverages
Staying hydrated is important no matter the season, but when it’s hot outside, there’s no better time to put hydration as a top priority.
During the summer months, focus on staying hydrated. The best way to do that is to drink water. Eight to 10 cups a day is a good number. During the summer, you may want to up that amount especially if you’re active or spending time outside. If you're craving something fruity, opt for homemade fruit-infused water or unsweetened iced tea. Skip the soda and opt for water (make it fancy by infusing it with fresh herbs and fruit), sparkling water (I love LaCroix), unsweetened iced tea or homemade low-sugar lemonade.
It's also important to limit your alcohol consumption to a couple of beverages, while always ensuring you’re rehydrating with water in between drinks.
definitely recommend setting out an enticing pitcher of our infused Cucumber Water, our fruity Lemon Lime Cucumber Water, or our oh-so-sippable Cucumber Lemon Mint Water.
Portion Control and Mindful Eating
It's easy to overindulge at a cookout with so many delicious options available. Rowan recommends keeping portion control at top-of-mind.