A Tropical Father’s Day Cookout Menu: Flavorful and Fun!
Menu Ideas for Hosting a Tropical Father's Day with Food, Drinks, and Desserts.
Lucky for Dad (and the whole family) that Father’s Day falls right within cookout season! You get to fire up the grill, set up the picnic tables and enjoy the outdoors together, as you honor the main man in your lives. Want to give your cookout a fun, new “flavor” this year, though? Take Dad to the tropics! See our suggested menu of dishes, drinks and desserts that celebrate the fresh fruits of an island paradise—coconut, mango, watermelon, avocado, oranges and of course pineapple—while still being hearty enough for big appetites, super-flavorful and handy to serve outdoors!
Take Dad to the Tropics with a Flavorful Cookout Menu
Easy-Serve Cookout Dishes
Salmon, shrimp, pork and chicken get an “island air” combined with the superstars of tropical fruits. Click on each link for the recipes, and impress the family with dishes that are fresh, light and so perfect for a summer gathering!
1 – Tropical Salmon Burgers with Grilled Pineapple and Avocado – Wicked Spatula
2 – Tropical Coconut Shrimp Bites – Family Fresh Meals
3 – BBQ Pulled Pork and Mango Pizza – The Belle Vie
4 – Jerk Chicken with Coconut Rice and Pineapple Relish – Gourmet Traveller
5 – Grilled Coconut and Pineapple Sweet Chili Shrimp – Closet Cooking
Sides and Snacks
A cold salad that you can make ahead is ideal for a cookout, plus it balances out the flavorful main dishes. And for munchies, we suggest macadamia nuts—suitably Hawaiian!
6 – Tropical Chicken Bowtie Pasta Salad – Yummy Healthy Easy
7 – Toffee Glazed Macadamia Nuts – Cookies and Cups
Drinks with a Tropical Kick
Since it’s Father’s Day, we included a couple of alcoholic beverages for the adults flavored with pineapple. Plus fruit-flavored sodas for the kids—with extra bottles dressed up with mustaches to take home as party favors!
1 – Tropical Pineapple Beer Party Punch – Cooking and Beer
2 – Pineapple Moscow Mule – Something New for Dinner
3 – Jarritos with mustaches – favor idea from The Beauty Dojo
Refreshing Desserts
Finally, the natural choice to round out this tropical feast is, of course, fresh fruits! And for extra coolness and sweetness, see our suggested frozen desserts. Yum!
4 – Fresh fruits – serving ideas from The Beauty Dojo
5 – Frozen Coconut Mango Pops – Skinny Taste
6 – Brown Sugar Pineapple Sundae – Kleinworth & Co.
So, are you even more excited for Father’s Day this year? This is your chance to have the traditional BBQ bash go trendy with a menu inspired by the balmy tropics!
UPDATE: 4/23/2022
Appetizers for a Tropical Father’s Day Party
“D Day” is coming up again! That’s right, Dad’s Day is right around the corner. So we couldn’t resist revisiting this menu section—this time, to share enticing appetizers to kick off your tropical-inspired Father’s Day eats!
1 – Hawaiian Kalua Pork Tacos with Pineapple Salsa – Joyful Healthy Eats puts a fun twist on Hawaiian classic roast pork by serving it on tacos.
2 – Hot Ham and Pineapple Sliders – The Hawaiian rolls and pineapple make this ham-and-cheese recipe from Kylee Cooks deliciously “tropical.”
3 – Spam and Pineapple Skewers – Spam cubes fried to a crisp and caramelized pineapple chunks are an irresistible pair, in these bites from Smart Cookie.
4 – Hawaiian Huli-Huli Chicken Lettuce Wraps – Wine Mag shares this super-flavorful sweet and sour shredded chicken to serve on beds of cool, crisp lettuce.
5 – Luau Meatballs – The kick of Hawaiian Sweet & Sour Sauce from Mr. Yoshida’s transforms your favorite meatball recipe into party-ready skewers with pineapple. Easy!
6 – Spicy Tuna Poke and Avocado Wonton Cups – In this recipe from Cake n’ Knife, melt-in-your-mouth fresh tuna cubes are coated with a mix of soy sauce, spices, and scallions, and scooped into golden crisp wonton wrappers.
7 – Baked Spiral Hawaiian Roll Sliders – Packaged Hawaiian flatbread is layered with a buttery spread and slices of ham and cheese, then rolled into spirals and baked till warm and melty. Fancy-looking party fare from Two Healthy Kitchens.
8 – Coconut shrimp tacos – Hy-vee brings you a tasty coconut shrimp taco recipe blending the flavors of coconut milk, rum, lime zest and juice, and brown sugar.
Happy Father’s Day, Dad!
We’ve got more tropical-inspired menus for Dad in these posts, too:
These all look incredible! Thank you for including my sundae!!!
Thank you, Gina! It is so irresistible!
Thanks so much, Gina. It looks so delish!