Barbecue is one of the highly patriotic and the most quintessential foods in America. After all, many pit masters create several BBQ foods across the country. When you arrive at a notable barbecue restaurant, you experience heavenly scent of smoked meats, like beef, pork, and chicken. While some BBQ lovers don’t prioritize side dishes, Rudy’s Smokehouse in Springfield, Ohio recommends mac and cheese, coleslaw, and cornbread as perfect pairings with BBQ. However, BBQ experts don’t recommend to have salads with BBQ food, and there are many good reasons for that.

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One of the major reasons for this advise is that people who see barbecue as a masculine food and consider salad as feminine or weak. Additionally, the authentic barbecue restaurants focus more on smoking meat and don’t even prioritize the ingredients needed for making salads, which requires refrigeration. This view was also supported by Hemant Bhagwani, owner and chef of Goa New York, in a recent digital interview.

According to Bhagwani, barbecue restaurants must not prioritize on smoking meat. They must not focus on dishes like salads, which are not part of the major concept. Even Rick Mace, the owner and executive chef of Tropical Smokehouse, has warned against having non-meat items on the menu of a BBQ restaurant. And, Mike Rice of Alexandria Restaurant Partners even goes as far as saying not to order sides because they can take away from the enjoyment of the meat, which is the centerpiece of the meal. After all, the pit masters slow-smoke the meat with great care for hours.

Some more logical reasons to not order salads with BBQ food are

• Salad dressings do contain some high amounts of calories, unhealthy fats, and sugar that may megate the health benefits of a salad.
• BBQ food is quite high in calories, and pairing it with several salad won’t provide you enough satisfaction or sustenance.
• The flavors of salad and BBQ food may clash. This makes it an unappetizing dining experience.
• Acid in the salad dressing can also interfere with the basic flavor of the BBQ sauce, and vice versa.
• The logistics of taking two dishes to an outdoor event can become challenting. And, salad may even wilt or unappetizing during transport.

Final Thoughts

The reasons not to order salads with BBQ food include the potential negation of health benefits due to salad dressings, potential flavor clashes, insufficient sustenance or satisfaction, interference between salad dressing and BBQ sauce, and logistical challenges when transporting both dishes to outdoor events. Ultimately, the decision to having a salad with BBQ food must depend on personal preferences and dietary considerations.