Low Effort Labor Day Recipes

Easy Recipes to Celebrate the End of Summer

Simply Made Eats by Tara

I'm not going to lie, I think I'm ready for Fall Weather. We've had a couple cooler days here in NC and I'm really enjoying it. I'm also getting obsessed with golf, which is much easier to play when it's not 98 degrees out.

Has anyone had the pumpkin spice latte yet? I want to do it, but I'm holding off 🤣🤣

Enough Fall Talk...It's still technically Summer, but this will be my last official Summer inspired newsletter, so let's finish the season off right.

To the last Summer Recipes....

Chicken Pesto Pasta Salad

New to the blog this week and really delicious with my homemade pesto sauce and marinated Chicken. I love this one because it feels like more of a meal versus just a side dish and it's ready in under 40 minutes.

Shortcut options: You could use store bought pesto and rotisserie chicken to save time.

Main Course Ideas:

​Blackstone Smash Burgers: Always my favorite recipe for Summer holidays and super easy to make!

​Boneless Smoked Chicken Thighs: The smoker makes everything better, including chicken thighs. They're cooked until tender and juicy and coated in bbq sauce.

Pulled Meats: If you have a smoker, you can't go wrong with this Smoked Pork Butt Recipe, which will feed a crowd and then some.

If you're cooking inside, this Dutch Oven BBQ Pulled Chicken is a great recipe. Serve it plain with bbq sides or on hamburger buns topped with my 5 minute Coleslaw recipe.

Side Dish Ideas:

​Street Corn Pasta Salad: Tastes just like Mexican Street Corn in a pasta salad and uses fresh corn on the cob.

​Hawaiian Macaroni Salad: Tangy and delicious with minimal ingredients.

​Dill Pickle Potato Salad: A little bit more effort than the others, but totally worth it and you can prep it up to a day ahead of time.

​Melon Salad: Ready in minutes with fresh watermelon and cantaloupe.

Dessert Recipes:

I'm loving mini individual desserts like these Strawberry Shortcake Parfaits and Mini Banana Pudding Cups.

Also, this Peach Crumble Cake is so good and so easy to make with boxed cake mix and fresh peaches.

That's it for this week. Thanks for reading and have a great Labor Day weekend. Stay safe, have fun, and cook something yummy for me.

My 30 minute dinner series starts next week, and I've got lots of easy recipes coming to your inbox to save you so much time in the kitchen.

xoxo~Tara with Simply Made Eats