National BBQ Week: The most popular foods for 2025 and tips for grilling to perfection

• National BBQ Week takes place from May 26 to June 1
• A BBQ expert has shared the most popular barbecued foods of 2025
• BBQ chicken takes the top spot with 5,192 searches

As we approach the warmer months of the year, it seems only right that we are starting to host barbecue’s in our gardens.

We are also right in the middle of celebrating National BBQ Week, a dedicated week to celebrating delicious barbequed food.

From Monday May 26 to Sunday June 1, National BBQ Week is being held, giving people across the country the ideal opportunity to fire up the barbecue.

To mark the celebration, a BBQ expert from Old Railway Line Garden Centre has shared the most popular BBQ foods for 2025, as well as expert tips on how to grill to perfection.

What are the most popular BBQ foods for 2025?

While burgers and sausages are usually known as the top barbecue foods, the study by Old Railway Line Garden Centre has found that Brits are now searching for a modern twist on the typical barbecued meat.

BBQ expert Liam Cleary has shared the top five most popular barbecued foods, as most searched by Brits across the UK, with BBQ chicken taking the top spot.

Other popular searches include; BBQ ribs, BBQ corn on the cob, BBQ burger and BBQ sausages.

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How do you perfectly grill chicken according to a BBQ expert?

Liam Cleary has shared his top tips to grilling chicken to perfection. Tips include; skipping the marinade, not using a meat thermometer, and cooking it on direct heat.

Liam said: “Chicken can easily dry out on the BBQ if you don’t marinade it properly, and I don’t mean just coating it in sauce right before you pop it on the grill. You need to prep it in advance. Infuse the chicken with those amazing flavours and let it soak in overnight.

“One of the biggest challenges with BBQ chicken is getting the temperature right. It’s so easy to end up with burnt skin and raw meat in the middle. But using a meat thermometer can take out the guessing. The internal temperature should reach 75°C to be safe to eat, while still being nice and juicy.” Says Cleary

In regards to cooking on direct heat, Liam said: “People often think that to get crispy BBQ chicken, it has to cook over direct heat the whole time. But that will leave you with dry, burnt chicken” explains Cleary. “To get the skin crisp and golden while ensuring the inside is still juicy, the trick is to use indirect heat to cook the chicken through first for roughly 20-30 minutes, then move it to direct heat for a few minutes at the end to get that perfectly crispy skin.”

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