6 Easy BBQ Recipes When You're Stuck Indoors

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With New York and surrounding states continuing to be devastated by the coronavirus pandemic, many more people are stuck at home and don’t have access to their favorite restaurants. This is actually forcing people to ⁠— gasp ⁠— cook at home.

Cooking at home can be a challenge for New York and New Jersey residents because a lot of us don’t have backyards. Or you may have a backyard but not enough cash on hand to splurge for a nice grill or smoker.

Have no fear. If you want to try your hand at barbecue in the kitchen, there are lots of great meats you can make. Here are six fairly simple recipes, five with video instructions, to help you make good barbecue or meaty dishes while you’re stuck inside.

If you don’t have a grill, try out this recipe for BBQ baby back ribs in the oven.

If you don’t have a grill, try out this recipe for BBQ baby back ribs in the oven.

BBQ Ribs in the Oven
The YouTube channel Cooking with Ry features lots of traditional barbecue recipes where you use a grill or smoker to cook your meat. But in this video recipe for Easy Baby Back Ribs Made In The Oven, Ry shows you how to make baby back ribs in the oven that replicate the flavors and texture from traditional smoked ribs.

View the recipe here.

Pulled pork can be made in a slow cooker and it can make a killer sandwich.

Pulled pork can be made in a slow cooker and it can make a killer sandwich.

Pressure Cooker BBQ Pulled Pork Sandwiches
Sam The Cooking Guy has more than 1 million subscribers for his humorous and creative videos. In one of his videos, he outlines how to make BBQ pulled pork in a pressure cooker along with everything else you need to make a perfect pulled pork sandwich. Sam’s approach is unique in that he also shows you where he makes mistakes, and that’s very relatable.

View the recipe here.

You can make a surprisingly awesome steak in the kitchen.

You can make a surprisingly awesome steak in the kitchen.

Pan-Seared and Butter-Basted Steak in Skillet
If you love steak and have never attempted to make a steak at home, this recipe is for you. Chef Daniel Gritzer from Serious Eats shows off how to pan sear and butter baste a steak, which will provide more flavor than almost any other method of cooking.

View the recipe here.

One of the most basic (but still satisfying) recipes is for BBQ chicken in the oven.

One of the most basic (but still satisfying) recipes is for BBQ chicken in the oven.

Oven-Roasted BBQ Chicken
In this video recipe from the Simply Mamá Cooks channel, you can learn how to make top-notch BBQ chicken in the oven. This recipe is great for beginners because it makes the process very simple, showing you what spices to use and how to make homemade BBQ sauce.

View the recipe here.

Smash burgers are perfect for when you need some comfort food.

Smash burgers are perfect for when you need some comfort food.

Smash Burger in the Kitchen
I absolutely love a good smash burger, so of course, I needed to include a simple smash burger recipe from the folks at Bon Appetit. Chef Carla Lalli Music, who was the first general manager at Shake Shack, walks us through the process of making one in the kitchen.

View the recipe here.

Daniel Vaughn of Texas Monthly recently published a hot recipe for pork steak. (Photo by Daniel Vaughn)

Daniel Vaughn of Texas Monthly recently published a hot recipe for pork steak. (Photo by Daniel Vaughn)

Sous Vide Pork Steak
The final recipe you need to check out is for sous vide pork steak from Texas Monthly BBQ Editor Daniel Vaughn. Pork steak is typically a slice of pork taken from the Boston butt, and one of the most notable examples you’ll find is at Snow’s BBQ in Texas. In this variation, you’ll seal a pork steak in a bag and have it cook for 24 to 28 hours. It’s a long process, but hey, what else do you have to do?

View the recipe here.

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These are just a few BBQ recipes that are worth trying when you are stuck inside and need to shake up your menu. If you have a favorite recipe that you’d like to publish via NYC BBQ, please get in touch!

Sean Ludwig
Founder, NYC BBQ

EAT ALL ABOUT IT

Here are the top BBQ and related food news stories you need to know about this week:

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Forbes profiled the New York-based service Goldbelly, which can deliver food from top restaurants via mail to nearly anywhere in the country.

  • During the coronavirus crisis, more Americans than ever before are experimenting with food delivery services. One New York company, Goldbelly, was ahead of its time with its service to let people get food delivered in the mail even from restaurants nowhere near them. Forbes profiled the company’s services this week and notably, several great BBQ joints are available there from New York, Texas, Missouri, and beyond. New York-based options include Dinosaur Bar-B-Que and Mighty Quinn’s Barbeque.

  • Popular food site The Infatuation has created takeout and delivery directories for restaurants still open in ManhattanBrooklynQueensThe Bronx, and Jersey City

  • NJ Monthly has created a comprehensive list of restaurants in Jersey that have temporarily closed or are offering takeout.

  • Local Smoke BBQ partnered with Chatham Wealth Management to provide BBQ meals for the emergency room workers of Monmouth Medical Center in New Jersey. Local Smoke hopes “to bring meals to northern New Jersey hospitals next week.”

  • Finally, a bit of sad news: Fletcher’s Brooklyn Barbecue has closed until further notice. “For the safety of our employees and our community, we have made the difficult decision to temporarily suspend operations at Fletcher’s,” the team there wrote on Facebook. “We plan to be back in a few weeks. We thank you all from the bottom of our hearts for your patronage and support over the last month that enabled us to remain open, and hope you know how much that means to us.” 

IRL BBQ

NOTE: Given the coronavirus crisis, I will be leaving this section blank for the next few weeks. Some events have been canceled entirely while others have been postponed to the summer or fall. Many events during the next two to three months are now up in the air, but I’ll be doing my best to keep the website up to date with events that are confirmed.

Check out the full up-to-date NYC BBQ calendar here.

SAY HELLO (BUT 6 FEET PLEASE)

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