Ahhh, summertime and the living is easy. Or so the saying goes. When it comes to entertaining in the summertime, can the same be said?

This easy summertime entertaining recipes post has been compensated by Collective Bias, Inc. and The Coca-Cola Company. As always, all opinions are mine alone. #BestSummerBBQ #CollectiveBias

YES!

Summertime entertaining doesn’t have to be hard. We tend to slow life down a bit during the summer months. School is out. Vacation time is upon us. Enjoy getting together with family and friends with a few simple helps.

To get ready for our recent BBQ night, I headed to Sam’s Club to stock up on supplies. I love the convenience of one-stop shopping and buying in bulk. Saves us time and money!

The first item that I put in our cart is a new-to-me product, KC Masterpiece® BBQ Sauce Mix & Dry Rub. I am so glad that I tried this new product! It can be used as is as a dry rub for meats, but can also be combined with your choice of liquid to make your own personal creation BBQ sauce.

For KC Masterpiece BBQ sauce, simply add water. Want a fruity BBQ sauce? Mix in lemonade and pineapple juice! Want a savory sauce? Mix in broth and coffee. Or maybe a spicy sauce? Mix in hot sauce and Siracha. Create your own sauce by adding 3/4 cup of your favorite liquid to the packet of BBQ goodness. You can be as creative as you want to be- there are 6 packets in the box!

Since I was going for super convenience for our cookout, I also stocked up on Simply Lemonade® and Gold Peak® Tea. I had a few new recipes in mind and these two products were a perfect fit! More on those new recipes later. 

In keeping with the simple cookout plan, I picked up a package of buns from the bakery. While we tend to eat a low carb diet, sometimes you just want a burger on a bun, ya know?!

Rounding out this summertime BBQ shopping trip, a huge package of boneless, skinless chicken breasts and a huge package of ground beef went into the cart.

Easy Summertime Entertaining Recipes:

When BBQ day arrived, I began by mixing up one packet of the KC Masterpiece BBQ sauce with lemonade and apple juice. Then I cut the chicken breasts into quarters. I split the chicken breasts into two pans. With one pan of chicken, I coated with the BBQ sauce.

The other pan of chicken, I covered with Gold Peak tea to marinate. Try it- the tea gives a subtle flavor that we really liked. I let the chicken marinate all day before grilling.

The next prep-ahead job was to begin lemonade slushies. To make this, pour the Simply Lemonade into a cake pan and then place it in the freezer. Every 30 minutes or so, I scraped the frozen lemonade with a fork to make slushies. This whole process takes about 3 hours or so. Once the lemonade is completely frozen and scraped, just keep it in the freezer until ready to serve.

Lemonade slushie are a refreshing summer drink!

To make simple BBQ baked beans, I began by frying chopped bacon in a cast iron pot. I cooked onion in the bacon fat, then added 2 cans of great northern beans from my canning shelf, along with 1/2 package KC Masterpiece BBQ sauce mix, salt, pepper, ketchup, mustard, and brown sugar. (printable recipe below)

For the burgers, I kept half seasoned with our usual salt & pepper. The other half was mixed with the remaining half package of KC Masterpiece BBQ sauce mix. I preformed the burger patties to make grilling and supper time a snap.

My son took care of lighting the charcoal and getting the fire pit ready. He’s handy to have around. 😉

We grilled everything up and had a relaxing meal around the firepit.

Our drink of choice changed from the lemonade slushies to Arnold Palmer slushies. Simply combine the frozen lemonade slushie half and half with the cold Gold Peak iced tea.

This drink is one of our favorites, though we hadn’t ever made it with the lemonade slushie. The nice part about enjoying it this way is that the “ice” is frozen lemonade, so there is no dilution of your drink. 

Here are a couple of tips for your next cookout-

1. Don’t waste the coals! Cook BIG. We also cooked hot dogs and sausages, along with the burgers and chicken. Especially when it’s hot, I don’t care for making big meals in the kitchen. I’m not a hot weather fan (ask me again why I live in the south?!) Once a week or so, I like to BBQ a bunch of different meats on the firepit. Meals for that week are simple- re-heat the meats and serve with a simple salad.

2. Put your condiments into a cupcake pan. Instead of toting all of those bottles outside, you simply tote the cupcake pan outside. MUCH easier!

If you’d like to make this BBQ a party, print my free printable invitation here. 

Here’s the recipe for the BB Baked Beans. Enjoy!

 

What’s your favorite BBQ food? Do share! I’m always looking for new ideas!