Favorite side dish for cookout?

Ashley's Girl Scout awards ceremony is going to be a little less formal this year... a backyard cookout. The hamburgers and hotdogs will be provided, but we need to bring a side dish. I am baking Mac N Cheese for the kids, but I want to bring something a little more flavorful for the adults. I usually like to bring a pasta salad, but I want something different. Any ideas?

My family's favorite (not mine because I actually have to cook it ) is what I call "party potatoes". Every family picnic/cook-out I take it to I always come back with an empty dish.

You take frozen hash browns (the squares not shredded), a can of mushroom soup or any kind of cream soup, butter, shredded cheese, onions optional, and sour cream. Mix it all together. Put it in a casserole dish. Put more shredded cheese on top of the dish. Then bake for 45 minutes at 375, I think. lol. Then at 45 minutes, take it out and you mix corn flakes with melted butter and pour that over the top of the potato dish, bake 5 minutes or so and voila!

Taco salad! Every time I make it I get compliments and people wishing I had made more.

Can you give your recipe for this? I'm sure it's obvious, but I don't cook so I need recipes to make anything. Is this where you make it on crescent roles like a pizza? My girlfriend did this at her last party and my family LOVED it. I need to get that recipe.

This is one of our absolute favorites! We use shredded hashbrowns though and cream of chicken soup ( I don't like mushrooms). This is always one of the first things to be eaten wherever I take it!

OOOHHH! I just discovered the joys of buffalo chicken dip!

http://www.rachaelrayshow.com/food/recipes...lo-chicken-dip/

I don't bake it tho, I just layer everything in my slow cooker.

This is one of our absolute favorites! We use shredded hashbrowns though and cream of chicken soup ( I don't like mushrooms). This is always one of the first things to be eaten wherever I take it!

I didn't have cream of mushroom the other day and used some cream of herb chicken soup (something like that, can't remember exact name by Campbell) and it was FANTASTIC! The family loved that more than when I use cream of mushroom.

Does using the shredded hashbrowns make it cook faster? I thought about trying the shredded, but I'm not sure the girls would go for it. They can be picky some times, even though it's the same thing.

I usually cook it for an hour, so no it probably doesn't cook any faster. Another tip-I forgot to add the butter when I made it the other day and we couldn't even tell that it was missing, so if you want to lower the fat content (now why would anyone want to do that? ) that is an option!

I usually cook it for an hour, so no it probably doesn't cook any faster. Another tip-I forgot to add the butter when I made it the other day and we couldn't even tell that it was missing, so if you want to lower the fat content (now why would anyone want to do that? ) that is an option!

Yeah because that dish is FATTENING! I will have to try it w/o the butter. Ryan is pretty good about making sure I don't skimp on butter or cheese in that dish, but when he's not around he won't know. Thanks for the tip.

I usually cook it for an hour, so no it probably doesn't cook any faster. Another tip-I forgot to add the butter when I made it the other day and we couldn't even tell that it was missing, so if you want to lower the fat content (now why would anyone want to do that? ) that is an option!

Yeah because that dish is FATTENING! I will have to try it w/o the butter. Ryan is pretty good about making sure I don't skimp on butter or cheese in that dish, but when he's not around he won't know. Thanks for the tip.

How much of each ingreadient do you add?

I usually cook it for an hour, so no it probably doesn't cook any faster. Another tip-I forgot to add the butter when I made it the other day and we couldn't even tell that it was missing, so if you want to lower the fat content (now why would anyone want to do that? ) that is an option!

Yeah because that dish is FATTENING! I will have to try it w/o the butter. Ryan is pretty good about making sure I don't skimp on butter or cheese in that dish, but when he's not around he won't know. Thanks for the tip.

How much of each ingreadient do you add?

2lbs hashbrowns (shredded or regular)

1/4 cup butter

1/4 cup diced onions (optional of course)

1/2 cup shredded cheese (I put much much more in there than that, just how much I feel like doing. My husband LOVES them cheesy )

16 oz. sour cream

1 can cream of mushroom (chicken, whatever) soup

salt & pepper (to taste)

Mix together hash browns, butter, onions, cheese, sour cream, soup, salt and pepper. Put in 9"x13" pan. Bake at 350 degrees for 45 minutes. Combine corn flakes and softened butter. Add crumb mixture on top. Bake another 10 to 15 minutes.

Crumb mixture ingredients are:

2 cup crushed corn flakes
2 tbsp softened butter

I put the mixture in a plastic baggie and shake it all up, then pour out on top of potatoes.

I make this all the time for cookouts and it makes a lot! Everyone loves it.
CHINESE COLE SLAW

1 lb. pkg. chopped cole slaw mix
1 med. onion, chopped fine
1 green pepper, chopped fine
1 (4 oz.) pkg. slivered almonds
2 pkg. Ramen noodles, crushed (Oriental flavor)

DRESSING:

2 tbsp. sugar
2 packets season mix from noodles
1/3 c. oil
1/4 c. vinegar
1/4 c. water

Put first 3 ingredients in bowl. Toast almonds by putting in single layer in shallow pan for a few minutes in oven at 400 degrees. Add almonds and noodles to first 3 ingredients.
Mix dressing in small bowl. Toss with slaw and serve immediately. Makes 12 servings.

For noodles to remain crunchy, mix dressing into slaw close to serving time.

This dip is AWESOME! My brother made this over the holidays and it was so good. My Mom has made the Chinese Cole Slaw for a cookout before and that was really good too. By far my favorite side for a cookout Bacon Potato Salad

Prep: 15 min., Cook: 18 min., Chill: 1 hr. Round white potatoes work well in this recipe. To lighten, use light mayonnaise and sour cream. To make ahead, peel and cut potatoes the night before, cover with water, and chill.

Yield: Makes 6 servings


Ingredients
6 to 8 medium potatoes (about 3 pounds), peeled and cut into 1-inch cubes
1/2 pound bacon, cooked and crumbled
6 green onions, chopped
2 celery ribs, finely chopped
2 tablespoons diced pimiento, drained
3/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
1/2 cup mayonnaise
1/2 cup sour cream
Garnishes: paprika, celery sticks
Preparation
Cook potatoes in boiling water to cover in a Dutch oven over medium heat 15 to 18 minutes or until tender. Drain and let cool slightly.

Place potatoes in a large bowl. Add bacon, chopped green onions, and next 4 ingredients. Stir together mayonnaise and sour cream until blended. Pour over potato mixture, tossing gently to coat. Cover and chill at least 1 hour. Garnish, if desired.

Macaroni Salad

I make a pretty basic recipe, cook box of elbow macaroni as directed on box. Rinse noodles when they are done add tomatoes, onion, cucumber & mayo to your liking.
I sometimes add pickles instead of cucumbers if I do not have any. I added a little ranch dressing also the last time I made it. It added a little flavor.

The recipe Cary posted is normally what I take...or potato salad. But there always seems to be a lot of potato salad at cookouts.

All of these suggestions sound delicious. I'm writing them down!!!

I would like it too

I always make potato salad. I don't do anything special, just mix mayo, mustard, potatoes, hard boiled eggs, salt & pepper. I don't measure anything, just add what looks right. There is NEVER any left, and get told all the time to start a business out of it. Yeah right.

Brown 1lb ground beef or turkey drain, put in bowl and let cool. Chop one medium onion, 2 medium tomatoes, half brick of colby jack and half brick of sharp cheddar and add to bowl. Chop up some lettuce and add to bowl. Then crush up about 3/4 of a bag of nacho cheese Doritos and add to bowl. Now, when I tell you what dressing to add you're probably going to be like..."oh, gross, no way", but I can tell you that added with everything else the flavors mesh so well together. Add 16oz's of Thousand Island dressing and mix well. I promise you it will not disappoint!

Now I am going to have a hard time choosing what to bring, it all sounds good.

Well I'm sure there will be many opportunities over the summer to try them all. I know I plan to use them all.

I think I'm just gonna have to make a bunch of side dishes for dinner one night - these all sounds so good!!

oh man all of this sounds good...wouldn't be good for my diet tho ah who cares lmao