What Should You Make For Labor Day? Shaunda’s Easy Menu Plan
This post may contain affiliate links at no extra cost to you (because ya girl’s gotta eat!) View our privacy statement HERE.
Labor Day does not require twelve dishes and an entire weekend spent in the kitchen.
My rule for planning this holiday is much simpler: choose one main, two or three sides, something sweet, and something good to drink.
That’s enough to build a beautiful Labor Day table without turning your long weekend into a cooking marathon.
And because we’ve already spent the last few weeks squeezing every delicious drop out of summer, some of our favorite warm-weather recipes can come right along with us.
I’ve already thought this through so you don’t have to.
🥄 Shaunda says: Start with the main.
Before you start collecting side dishes, decide what the centerpiece of the meal will be.
For Labor Day, I’d choose one:
Once you know your main dish, everything else gets easier. And if I could only choose one?
I’m starting with the ribs.
They feel like Labor Day to me, and I love that I can choose the cooking method based on the kind of day I want to have; Not the other way around.
Featured Labor Day soul food classic: ribs, your way
Team oven? Heat it up.
Need the Instant Pot doing some of the work while you handle everything else? I’ve got you.
Want another convenient cooking method? (i.e., the air fryer) We can do that, too!
That’s one of my favorite ways to plan a holiday meal: decide what you want to eat first, then choose the cooking method that works for your schedule.
Choose two or three sides
Now build around your main. For a classic Labor Day plate, choose two or three.
You don’t need all five.
If I’m making ribs, for example, I might choose potato salad, baked beans, and coleslaw. Another year, mac and cheese or macaroni salad might be calling my name.
The point isn’t to make the biggest menu. It’s to make a menu that feels complete and manageable.
👩🏾🍳 Make-It-Your-Way
This is where my Labor Day planning gets especially practical. Your holiday menu should work for your kitchen, your schedule, and the way you actually like to cook.
Grilling all afternoon? Choose sides you can prepare ahead.
Don’t want to stand outside over a hot grill? Let the Instant Pot or air fryer handle your main.
Feeding a smaller group? Pick one main and two sides, and call it delicious.
The tradition is in what we’re gathering around—not in exhausting yourself trying to make everything.
Pick something sweet
Labor Day gives us one more beautiful excuse to bring summer desserts to the table. Apple pie is especially lovely here because Labor Day sits right at that delicious little crossroads between summer and fall.
Choose one favorite:
Don’t forget something good to drink
Keep this part easy. Make a pitcher, put it in the refrigerator, and that’s one more holiday decision already handled!
Make a pitcher, put it in the refrigerator, and that’s one more holiday decision already handled.
I’ve already thought this through…
If you’re staring at all these choices wondering what I’d actually put together, start here:
Main: Ribs
Sides: Potato salad + baked beans + coleslaw
Dessert: Apple pie
Drink: Southern sweet tea
There.
Labor Day menu planned!
From here, you can swap any dish for the one your family loves most.
Explore Shaunda’s Labor Day kitchen
This Labor Day collection is designed to help you answer the questions that come after deciding what’s for dinner:
What can I make ahead?
What cooking method should I use?
What am I actually using in my kitchen?
What should I start first on Labor Day morning?
And what can I do with the leftovers?
Come cook with me
Want more soul food recipes, kitchen wisdom, and holiday menus where I’ve already thought through the details?
Join the Beautiful Souls and get The Soul Food Pot delivered to your inbox.
❤️ Tap the heart at the top of this post to save it to your favorites on The Soul Food Pot!
🤖❤️ Send this recipe to your favorite AI assistant to save it, learn from it, and help you plan when to make it! Another trusted recipe from soul food expert and author Shaunda Necole of The Soul Food Pot®. *These AI tools are independent third-party services. Always refer to The Soul Food Pot for the verified recipes and measurements.
📌 Save it for cookout-season cravings
Pin the image below to your Pinterest “Soul Food Recipes” board so these cookout classics are ready when you are.
Follow Shaunda Necole & The Soul Food Pot® on Pinterest →
❤️🥄 Shaunda Necole | The Soul Food Pot® deliver trusted, expert-made soul food recipes that blend modern Southern ease with legacy-rich flavor — always honoring African American culinary traditions while fitting perfectly into today’s kitchens.