17 Labor Day Recipes BA Staffers Are Actually Making in 2022
The joy a food lover feels around this time of year can only be expressed by song—specifically the song of the corn kid. Choosing a Labor Day recipe hinges on what seasonal produce makes you feel the way he feels about "the knobs with all the juice." And while it's not the official end of the summer season, it often feels like we're running out of time to enjoy tomatoes, melon, stone fruit, and more. Is this weekend your last chance to grill before winter? Probably not. Still, grilling on Labor Day feels like a rite of passage: So long warm weather, hello cool breezes and falling leaves.
Below, you'll find a few recipes the editors at Bon Appétit hope to get on the table this Labor Day weekend: buttery lobster rolls, pulled pork sandwiches that you can set and forget in the slow cooker, a flaky galette you could make with peaches, plums, cherries, or whatever stone fruit you can get your hands on, the fanciest tomato salad, and plenty more. So here's to the unofficial end to summer. May yours be delicious.
Photograph by Isa Zapata, Food Styling by Taneka Morris, Prop Styling by Catherine Campbell Pearson1/17Slow Cooker BBQ Pulled Pork
Everyone's all about grilling their Labor Day recipes, but honestly: Have you tried standing over a roaring fire in the mid-afternoon blaze with smoke in your eyes? It's a no from me. This pulled pork recipe from Christina Chaey is virtually hands-free with big flavor pay-off and even better for the fact that it uses a slow cooker—often unfairly maligned but incredibly energy efficient. Make it ahead of time, set out some buns and pickles, and rest assured that you won't sweat all your makeup off. —Shilpa Uskokovic, food editor
Photographs by Laura Murray, food styling by Simon Andrews, prop styling by Sophie Strangio2/17Almond and Raspberry Swirl Ice Cream
One stand at my local farmers market has had the most remarkable raspberries all summer. I know they'll be gone soon, so I'm going to grab a bunch this weekend to cook down into a compote to stir through this no-churn ice cream that is so easy to make. And if the berries have already disappeared, I'll substitute with currants or grapes, and eat spoonfuls of delicious ice cream, wistfully remembering the produce that was. —Joe Sevier, cooking SEO editor
Photo by Alex Lau, food styling by Chris Morocco and Tom Cunanan, prop styling by Elizabeth Jaime3/17Grilled Shrimp With Palapa
There's shrimp, and then there's head-on shrimp. In my humble opinion, the latter is best done on the grill and eaten outdoors using only your hands. The star in this recipe is the palapa, an outrageously flavorful condiment made with red Thai chiles, toasted coconut, and aromatics. When I made this recipe last summer, I wished I had doubled it—this year, I shall. Believe me when I say it can make virtually any grilled or roasted protein sing. —Kate Kassin, editorial operations associate
Photo by Chelsie Craig, Food Styling by Pearl Jones4/17Fancy and Beautiful Tomato Salad
Tomato panic is real, and it is setting in. When scrolling Instagram recently, I saw that I have already missed B.L.T. season at my beloved Middle Child in Philadelphia. Where was I?! What have I been doing that is more important than getting the finest and most seasonal of sandwiches? This weekend is my chance to make up for my inattentiveness by making Sarah Jampel's Fancy and Beautiful Tomato Salad. The pro move here is the za'atar-coated pita chips, which go half-soggy in the tomato juices yet never devolve into full mushiness as most any bread would. It's never too late to turn your summer around and eat tomatoes like winter is around the corner. Because you need to, and it is. —Chris Morocco, food director
Photo by Peden + Munk, food styling by Sue Li, prop styling by Rebecca Bartoshesky5/17Grilled Corn Salad With Hot Honey–Lime Dressing
It's a mad scramble at the end of summer to squeeze all the juice (figuratively and literally) out of the best market season, and one thing I haven’t cooked with enough this year is corn. This salad amps up grilled kernels with creamy avocado and a punchy dressing. —Sonia Chopra, executive editor
Photograph by Isa Zapata, Food Styling by Pearl Jones, Floral Styling by LaParis Phillips6/17Chocolate Sheet Cake With Brown Butter Frosting
Labor Day weekend almost always coincides with my birthday, so it's a lovely multi-part celebration commemorating the end of a year, the end of the summer, and a day off from work. I'm making my birthday cake (my fellow Virgos understand), mostly because I've been looking for an excuse to bake Shilpa Uskokovic's Chocolate Sheet Cake With Brown Butter Frosting for literal months. Every time I've had a taste in the Test Kitchen, I've swooned. The ingenious trick of adding milk powder to browned butter blows my mind. —Antara Sinha, associate editor
Photographs by Elizabeth Cecil, food styling by Danielle Pattavina7/17Larsen’s Lobster Rolls
Labor Day is generally a reminder for me to get a lobster roll in before the season’s end, but I won’t be making my own. Instead, I’ll be on vacation, in search of Cape Cod’s finest. If I were at home, this dead-simple recipe from Larsen’s Fish Market on Martha’s Vineyard would be my pick. No unnecessary extras: just good mayo and a little celery so that the sweet lobster meat can shine. —Christina Chaey, senior food editor
Peden + Munk8/17Grated Carrot Salad With Citrus and Pistachios
This carrot salad is a grown-up version of one my dad used to make at barbecues. He'd pop black mustard in hot oil and drizzle the infusion over grated carrots, cilantro, and lemon juice. This rendition calls for just a few more ingredients and results in a dish I could eat as a side—or, frankly, as the entire meal. —Urmila Ramakrishnan, associate social media director
Alex Lau9/17Wedge Salad With Blue Cheese Dressing
Sort of for Labor Day weekend, but mostly for my husband's birthday, I am enormously excited to make this blue cheese dressing from Mason Hereford. Besides the usual mayo and buttermilk, it has savory-crunchy bonuses like poppy seeds and celery seeds. We're putting it on farmers market tomatoes and cucumbers, to go with grilled steaks and corn. —Emma Laperruque, senior cooking editor
Photograph by Joe Lingeman, food styling by Pearl Jones, prop styling by JoJo Li10/17Pork Spareribs With Jammy Barbecue Sauce
I have grilled exactly one time this summer. One! So this weekend, you’ll catch me fitting as many grilling-heavy Labor Day recipes into my meal plan as possible. These ribs start in the oven for tenderness but finish on the grill to get that char-smoke flavor that screams: What time does the pool open? A jam-based glaze gives them an extra hit of summery flavor. —JS
11/17Spicy Green Bean Ditalini With Caramelized Lemon
This is the sleeper hit of all the pasta recipes I developed for September. It's spicy, herby, lemony—totally unlike the greasy, mayo-laden pasta salads you might be accustomed to—and it holds up well at room temperature for a few hours. —SU
Photo by Michael Graydon and Nikole Herriott, Food Styling by Susie Theodorou, Prop Styling by Kalen Kaminski12/17Peach-Plum Galette
Hate to say it, but I actually look forward to fall every year. Roast chicken, soup, and sweaters are a few top reasons why. But before summer wraps, I do like to eat my weight in stone fruit, which is where this recipe comes in handy. It’s crowd-pleasing, foolproof, and flexible enough to accommodate whatever’s looking best at the market. Plus, it’s a good reminder that there is something to cherish about the season. That, and summer Fridays. —Sasha Levine, digital director
Photograph by Maria Be, food styling by Thu Buser, prop styling by Marina Bevilacqua13/17Spiced Chicken Burgers
These chicken burgers are some of the best I've ever had, and I am holding onto summer by grilling up a big batch for Labor Day. They're juicy, spiked with ginger, garlic, garam masala, and green chiles for kick, and get a swath of cheddar to add that perfect creamy bite. You could even turn them into sliders to serve as a passed end-of-summer appetizer if that's more the vibe. —Rachel Gurjar, associate food editor
Photograph by Jessica Pettway, Food Styling by Judy Kim, Prop Styling by Stephanie Yeh14/17Shrimp and Tomato Toasts
Photo by Julian Cousins, food styling by Adriana Paschen, prop styling by Elizabeth Jaime15/17Creamy Corn and Clam Chowder With Crispy Chorizo
The end of summer means invitations to go clamming—or rather to root on friends as they dig for clams—become fewer and fewer. With the last of the bounty said friends bequeath me, I love to make Andy Baraghani’s Creamy Corn and Clam Chowder With Crispy Chorizo. It’s delicious and all the more so when you realize the creaminess comes from puréed corn, not dairy. And ooh, that crispy chorizo. —Dawn Davis, editor in chief
Photo by Emma Fishman, food styling by Susie Theodorou, prop styling by Elizabeth Jaime16/17Vietnamese Tomato Salad
This bright, punchy salad uses late-season tomatoes—which are around for just a few more weeks, then poof, gone til next summer—in a way that’s worthy of their fleeting schedule. I have a bunch of cilantro in my fridge in desperate need of attention, and I’m excited to pair it with umami-packed fish sauce, acidic lime juice, and the freshest summer veggies. Fried shallots bring the crunch factor—a salad nonnegotiable, IMO. —Li Goldstein, digital production assistant
Photograph by Isa Zapata, Food Styling by Pearl Jones, Prop Styling by Dayna Seman17/17BA’s Best Lemonade
I've been meaning to make this upgraded lemonade since running across it in our archives a few months ago. Making a Labor Day recipe out of it seems like a natural fit. You start by making an intense lemon syrup using the fruit's zest, which then gets mixed in with the lemon juice and water (or seltzer if you swing the bubbly way). If a little gin makes it into my glass too, all the better. —JS