Give Summer One Last Send-Off
Labour Day is one of the last chances to get everyone in the backyard before the leaves start falling. Instead of chasing the newest viral recipe, this is the perfect weekend to pull out the dishes that showed up at family BBQs and church picnics for decades! Grab a fork, and come with us as we break down 20 old-school recipes that deserve another round.
1. Classic Deviled Eggs
Deviled eggs were designed for a crowded table, even if transporting them without casualties takes some finesse. The traditional filling keeps it simple, too: mayo, mustard, vinegar, salt, and a pinch of paprika. Just do yourself a favor and make a full tray; these little guys disappear remarkably quickly.
2. Three-Bean Salad
Long before elaborate grain bowls hit social media, three-bean salad was the dependable cold side. It’s just kidney beans, green beans, and wax beans, all three of which are tossed with onion in a sweet-and-sour vinegar dressing. It tastes even better after a few hours in the fridge, making it ideal for prep the night before.
3. BBQ Chicken With Homemade Sauce
Old-fashioned BBQ chicken means bone-in pieces cooked slowly enough for the skin to crisp without burning the sauce. It needs a gentle touch, but that’s exactly why so many diners appreciate the effort! A homemade mixture of ketchup, brown sugar, vinegar, Worcestershire sauce, and mustard delivers the familiar sticky finish—just brush it on toward the end of cooking.
4. Creamy Macaroni Salad
Believe it or not, there was a time when no backyard gathering was complete without an enormous bowl of macaroni salad. We need to go back to those days! Elbow noodles mixed with mayo, celery, chopped pickles, and hard-boiled eggs? You can’t do any better than that.
5. Slow-Cooked Baked Beans
Though canned beans work, the old-school version actually requires more elbow grease. To make the best version, those beans should spend hours soaking up smoky, sweet flavors. Navy beans are also paired with molasses or brown sugar, onion, mustard, and bacon or salt pork.
6. Seven-Layer Salad
This unmistakably retro salad turns ordinary veggies into something impressive enough for any table. You don’t need much, either: lettuce, peas, tomatoes, hard-boiled eggs, cheese, and bacon! They’re all layered beneath a thick mayo-based dressing, and recipes vary by family, allowing you to play around a bit.
7. Sloppy Joes
Before gourmet burgers became cookout territory, you couldn’t ask for anything more than Sloppy Joes. They fed half the neighborhood without much effort! Browned ground beef simmers with onion, ketchup, Worcestershire sauce, and a little brown sugar before being piled onto soft buns. They're messy, yes, but they’re also inexpensive, and wonderfully suited for one last backyard blowout.
8. Southern Potato Salad
Potatoes, mayo, mustard, and relish? With a few chopped hard-boiled eggs? Oh, you bet they form the backbone of this picnic classic! Plenty of families have their own fiercely defended version, too, so you can make yours however you remember from childhood.
9. Coca-Cola Glazed Ham
Don’t get it twisted—using soda in savory cooking isn't some internet experiment. Cooks have been glazing ham with cola for decades. The drink's sugar caramelizes beautifully when combined with brown sugar, mustard, or cloves, and a baked ham also gives you an easy centerpiece.
10. Corn Pudding
Corn pudding sits somewhere between a casserole and a custard, making it one of the best old-fashioned sides that deserves more attention. Traditional versions combine corn kernels with eggs, milk, butter, and a dash of sugar before baking. Fresh late-summer corn also turns an already comforting recipe into something especially good for Labour Day.
11. Hot Dog Chili
Skip the bottled toppings on this one! It’s time to make your own finely textured meat sauce once common at every drive-in. Ground beef is cooked with tomato sauce, onion, chili powder, and other seasonings until thick enough to spoon over hot dogs. Add diced onion, and you have one seriously old-school treatment.
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12. Cucumber and Onion Salad
This refreshing side proves that vintage picnic food wasn't held together with mayo. Thin cucumber and onion slices sit in a simple dressing of vinegar, sugar, salt, and pepper, sometimes with sour cream added for a bit more richness. After chilling, the veggies also get nice and tangy.
13. Oven-Baked BBQ Ribs
Contrary to popular belief, you don't need a smoker to make good ribs. Older home recipes usually baked pork ribs slowly before coating them in a sweet tomato-based BBQ sauce. All that’s left is to finish them on the grill for beautifully sticky edges.
14. Ham Salad Sandwiches
Anyone growing up in the ‘80s knows that leftover ham routinely became the sandwich of tomorrow. Finely chopped ham was mixed with mayo, pickle relish, and mustard, then spread onto soft white bread. There’s no shame in bringing this classic back for a crowd!
15. Watergate Salad
Nothing announces a retro gathering quite like a fluffy green bowl filled with pistachio pudding mix. The classic recipe combines it with crushed pineapple, whipped topping, miniature marshmallows, and chopped nuts. It's technically called a salad, but really, it’s just one of our favorite desserts from the ‘70s.
16. Creamed Corn
Labour Day blessedly arrives right around the time fresh corn hits the scene. That’s exactly why creamed corn should be enjoyed before the season closes! Old-fashioned creamed corn is nothing more than scraping kernels and their juices from the cob, then cooking them with butter and cream.
17. Tomato Aspic
For anyone willing to commit to a retro theme, tomato aspic is tough to beat. Once a fixture at luncheons and summer tables, it suspends seasoned tomato juice in gelatin and can include celery or other vegetables. Modern guests won’t bat an eye at the wobbling creation once they know how good it tastes.
18. Strawberry Pretzel Salad
This sweet-and-salty layered dish has survived decades of potlucks—and for good reason. A crushed pretzel crust supports a sweetened cream cheese layer topped with strawberry gelatin and fruit. Just be sure to chill it thoroughly before slicing, particularly if your Labour Day forecast is still steamy.
19. Icebox Lemon Pie
No one wants to leave the oven on for hours in the summer, which is why old-school icebox lemon pies solve that problem! That crumb crust and chilled filling are built around lemon juice and sweetened condensed milk, leaving you with something tart and creamy. It’s also easy to make.
20. Banana Pudding
End the meal with a dessert that has been turning simple ingredients into something special for years. Classic banana pudding layers sliced bananas, vanilla wafers, and creamy vanilla custard, making it a gentle dessert anyone will love. Give it enough refrigerator time for the cookies to soften, and you'll understand why this one never really went anywhere.
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20 Old-School Recipes To Make This Labour Day
