Four Tips For Your Backyard Barbecue Party

Posted on: 22 February 2019

If you love barbecuing meat, then you probably can't wait to have friends and family members come over for a backyard barbecue party. However, parties of this sort can be cumbersome to plan. Here are some ways to ensure your backyard barbecue party is a success, not a source of stress.

1. Have the side dishes catered

As much as you love barbecuing, it's a lot of work to prepare chicken, ribs, and other favorites for a crowd of people. Add the burden of making sides on top of that, and you could spend days in the kitchen making everything from coleslaw to potato salad. Consider leaving the side dishes to a catering company so you can just focus on making the meats. Many catering companies let you order a la carte, so you could simply order a few trays of salt potatoes, macaroni salad, green salad, cornbread, baked beans, and other classic barbecue sides.

2. Stick with large-cut meats

Handling 50 individual cuts of chicken is a lot more work than barbecuing four big briskets! Stick with larger-cut meats for your backyard party. This does not mean you can only offer one variety of meat. For instance, you could barbecue one brisket, one pork loin, and a turkey breast. Carving everything up takes a few minutes, but it's still less effort than cooking an individual steak or chicken breast for everyone.

3. Have guests bring desserts

If you have a few friends or family members who are known for being good bakers, ask them each to bring a dessert. Let them be creative and showcase some of their favorites. Do give them an estimate of how many people you expect to attend so that they can plan as they bake.

4. Keep the decorations simple

You will want to have your backyard decorated for the festivities, but it's so tempting to go overboard and spend a whole day hanging lights and streamers. Keep it simple to keep yourself sane. A single strand of colored lights on the fence, a few balloons in one corner, and a pretty pot filled with flowers is enough. The food will be the real star of the show -- not the decorations.

With the tips above, your backyard barbecue party will be a success. Hiring a caterer to provide the sides, especially, will take a lot of the burden off of you so that you can spend more time doing what you really like -- preparing meat.

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