Celebrate the end of summer with our best Labor Day recipes! They include fun appetizers, picnic salads, grilling recipes, no-bake desserts, and more.
Looking for Labor Day food ideas? You’re in the right place!
Below, I’ve rounded up our best Labor Day recipes for an epic end-of-summer cookout. You’ll find easy mains that you can toss on the grill, fun appetizers, seasonal side dishes, and—of course—summer desserts to round out the meal.
I don’t know exactly what I’m making for our BBQ yet…but I do know that corn, tomatoes, and peaches will be on the menu. If you ask me, summer food is the best food. Celebrate it this weekend with these Labor Day recipes!
Labor Day Appetizer Ideas
Corn Salsa
Crisp, juicy sweet corn is the star of this fresh, 5-minute salsa. Serve it with tortilla chips for a zesty Labor Day appetizer!
7 Layer Dip
Can’t decide whether to serve guacamole or bean dip? This recipe delivers the best of both…and then some. A creamy layer of refried beans is topped with guac, taco-spiced sour cream, and loads of fresh fixings. It’s one of our family favorites.
Avocado Salsa
Another fun, fresh salsa for your Labor Day menu! This one is a delicious combination of creamy avocado, sweet, juicy mango, and spicy chiles. Fresh lime juice brightens it all up.
Tomato Galette
Filled with herbed goat cheese and jammy heirloom tomatoes, this galette is a summer stunner. I love to serve small slices as an appetizer. Guests are always impressed!
Caprese Salad Skewers
Classic Caprese salad in bite-size form! Drizzles of olive oil and balsamic reduction take these over the top.
Main Dish Labor Day Recipes
Best Veggie Burger
This recipe has over 450 5-star reviews for a reason! Made with mushrooms, walnuts, and brown rice, the burgers have an amazing meaty texture and savory flavor. They’re grill-able too!
Vegan Hot Dogs
Ok, bear with me here: marinated grilled carrots make a shockingly delicious hot dog sub. Serve them on buns with all the fixings, and even meat eaters will love them!
BBQ Tofu
Slathered with barbecue sauce and nicely charred, these tofu skewers are a delicious plant-based cookout main.
Black Bean Burger
These burgers are easy to make in one bowl in under 30 minutes…no food processor required! I like to prep the patties ahead so that they’re ready to grill when guests arrive. They keep in the fridge for up to a day before cooking!
Picnic Salads
Easy Pasta Salad
Filled with fresh herbs, feta, and a zesty lemon dressing, this packable pasta salad was one of our most popular recipes of the summer. It would be a perfect side dish for a Labor Day cookout!
Mexican Street Corn Salad
Speaking of popular recipes, readers RAVE about this elote-inspired salad! Paula wrote, “Oh wow! This was so amazing I may have made it as a side and then ate the whole bowl for dinner! Honestly one of the best things I’ve eaten this summer.”
Greek Salad
If you’re looking for Labor Day recipes that are 1) easy, 2) super fresh, and 3) great for making ahead, this Greek salad is for you! Just wait to add the mint until right before serving so that it doesn’t wilt.
Watermelon Salad
What’s a summer cookout without watermelon? This ultra-refreshing salad is my favorite way to serve it. I love how the sweet melon plays off the bright lime dressing, tangy feta, and creamy avocado.
Black Bean and Corn Salad
Looking for make-ahead Labor Day recipes? You can’t beat this salad. I actually like it best a day or two after it’s made. The flavors just get better as it sits in the fridge!
Best Potato Salad
Dill lovers, this creamy potato salad is for you! Dill pickles, dill pickle brine, AND tons of fresh dill pack it with tangy, savory flavor.
Creamy Coleslaw
Who else loves coleslaw?! I can’t get enough of it, especially when it’s coated in my 5-minute, naturally sweetened coleslaw dressing.
Tortellini Salad
I’ve shared a lot of pasta salad recipes over the years. They’re all delicious, but this one might be the most fun. It stars chewy, cheesy tortellini, plus pepperoncini, artichoke hearts, and a homemade Italian dressing for bold, zesty flavor.
Chickpea Salad
You could use regular red onion in this refreshing chickpea salad, but pickled red onions really make it pop. Bring it to a cookout over Labor Day weekend, or pack it up for lunch by the pool or at the beach.
More Side Dish Labor Day Recipes
Grilled Vegetables
Loaded with late summer veggies like peppers, zucchini, and corn, these colorful skewers are one of my favorite Labor Day sides. They’re delicious on their own, but I like to serve them with a tasty sauce like tzatziki or Greek dressing to bump up the flavor factor even more.
Grilled Corn on the Cob
Serve it simply with butter and salt, or dress it up with elote fixings for a show-stopping cookout side dish.
Grilled Zucchini
You won’t find an easier Labor Day side dish—this simple recipe is ready in under 15 minutes!
Labor Day Dessert Recipes
Blackberry Crisp
This easy crisp has a brown sugar and oat topping and a tart, jammy blackberry filling. Just add a scoop of vanilla ice cream for the perfect Labor Day dessert!
Easy Peach Cobbler
My goal over the last month has been to eat as many peaches as possible. So naturally, I’m planning to make this cobbler over Labor Day weekend. It’s one of my favorite summer desserts—lightly sweet, buttery biscuits top a thick layer of juicy peaches.
Strawberry Tiramisu
This fruity no-bake dessert was a HIT over the 4th of July. If you’re looking for one more excuse to make it this summer, a Labor Day gathering is it! Heads up that it needs to chill overnight in the fridge before serving, so plan to make it at least 1 day ahead.
Homemade Vanilla Ice Cream
What better way to celebrate the end of summer than with a bowl of homemade ice cream?! My recipe is easy to make with 5 ingredients, and it’s creamy, sweet, and delicious.
Best Labor Day Recipes: Black Bean Burger
Ingredients
- 3 cups cooked black beans, drained and rinsed
- ⅓ cup grated yellow onion*, about ½ medium
- 2 garlic cloves, minced
- 2 chipotle peppers from a can of chipotles in adobo, diced
- 2 tablespoons adobo sauce
- 1 tablespoon tamari
- 1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
- 1 teaspoon ground cumin
- ½ teaspoon sea salt
- ½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- 1 large egg
- 1 cup panko bread crumbs
- Extra-virgin olive oil, for brushing
- Cooking spray, if grilling
- Hamburger buns, for serving
- Desired fixings, for serving
Instructions
- In a large bowl, combine the beans, onion, garlic, chipotles, adobo sauce, tamari, balsamic, cumin, salt, and pepper. Use a potato masher to mash until the mixture holds together but still has some visible chunks of black beans. Add the egg and use a spatula to fold until combined. Then, fold in the panko.
- Use your hands to form the mixture into 6 patties. The mixture should be cohesive and a little wet. If it’s too wet to handle, chill in the fridge for 20 minutes to firm up or mash your beans a little bit more.
- Heat a cast-iron skillet over medium heat. Brush with a little oil and cook the burgers for about 5 minutes per side, until charred on both sides, turning the heat down as necessary. The exact timing will depend on the heat of your stove and cookware.
- Alternatively, preheat an outdoor grill to 400°F. Lightly brush the patties with olive oil, spray the grill grates, and grill for 8 minutes on the first side and 4 minutes on the second side.
- Serve with hamburger buns and desired fixings.
I thought these were delicious. I had to mash the beans for a while longer than I expected, but then the burgers came together perfectly. Not sure I would like it with a bread bun, but it tasted delicious on a lettuce bun. Adobo chilies added nice flavor but not too overpowering. I will happily make these again! I made 5 , not 6 from the mixture so they were more substantial.
So glad you loved them, Mary!
I agree with Elizabeth below – I struggled too
These Labor Day recipes are the perfect way to celebrate summer flavors—I can’t wait to try a few at my cookout!
Thank you so much! So many great ideas!
Hello –
Your post with Labor Day recipes just arrived. I’ll leave this note as a comment, since you send from a “no reply” address, and I don’t see an address to send comments to. (Why not?)
Your posts with roundups of recipes, like this one, consistently have a lot of space between the photo and the name of the recipe + the recipe itself which follows the photo.. I took a screenshot to show you, but I have nowhere here to attach it. Anyway, there’s too much scrolling to do to get from the photo, past the blank space, to the name of the recipe. The name is much closer to the pic of the next, other recipe that follows. Confusing, and I can barely’ get the pic and the name of the recipe on the same screen. Makes me give up every time bc all that scrolling up and down is a small hassle. Hope that makes sense. Do a test email to yourself to scroll all the way down, and you’ll see what I mean. Thanks for all the great recipes, though!
These Labor Day recipes look perfect for the holiday weekend! So many fresh and tasty ideas.