9 Outdoor Kitchens That Will Make You Want to Host All the Cookouts

There’s nothing quite like the warm, nourishing aura of a cookout sprinkled with laughs and cool breezes. It’s an all-time favorite backyard recreation activity that brings family and friends together for tasty outdoor fun. Here in America, we love cookouts so much that we even have a national prime rib day. Of course, you don’t need a prime rib day to have a finger-lickin' good time and enjoy the fresh air of the great outdoors. 

What you may need, however, is an outdoor kitchen that fits the bill. A cookout aficionado needs a place to cook and host, and if you’ve grown tired of your little charcoal grill, it might be time for an upgrade. Pop-up grills might be convenient to move around, but they’re slow to heat up, and not big enough to feed many guests. If you want to get serious with your cookouts, it’s time to consider some outdoor kitchen ideas.

The Perfect Summer Entertaining Setup

Building an outdoor kitchen will hugely increase how much you can cook, but it will also make your cookouts much more convenient and comfortable. An outdoor kitchen takes some of the facilities of the home out into the great outdoors. As outdoor kitchens continue to grow in popularity, you could also stand to significantly increase your home’s value.   

There are many different custom outdoor kitchen designs to choose from in today’s market. These outdoor kitchen designs cater to every possible preference and requirement you may have, so you won’t be wanting for choice. As with indoor kitchen remodeling, outdoor kitchen remodeling options vary based on price and the time it takes to set up. If you're itching for inspiration for your latest and greatest outdoor kitchen, look no further. We’ve compiled the most stylish and modern outdoor kitchen layouts currently on the market that will make you the favorite summer evening host.  

Outdoor Patio Kitchen

Set Up An Outdoor Patio Kitchen Perfect for Every Occasion

Introduce some style and comfort to your backyard kitchen by bringing your kitchen and dining room outside. This space-saving design will transform your patio into a cozy haven for barbecued fun, complete with worktops, outdoor kitchen cabinets, and a dining table. A sturdy hardwood table will bring a charming rustic feel to your outdoor kitchen, and a durable concrete outdoor kitchen island gives ample room for the barbecue master to work their magic. You can also have a sink installed outside to make cleanup that much easier.  

The beauty of this design is that there is so much potential for even more additions. Add some bar stools beside the counter and give your guests a front-row seat to the master at work. Add some small potted ferns to your counter and dining table to give your outdoor kitchen even more of an outdoorsy feel. Instead of keeping your countertop in bare concrete color, you can repaint it to match your house color for an even better aesthetic. 

Outdoor Pizza Oven

Outdoor Kitchen Design Ideas to Inspire

An outdoor kitchen doesn’t just have to be for barbecuing. If there’s one thing that is more popular in America than succulent prime ribs, it’s pizza. And what better way to enjoy pizza than to have it fresh from an authentic wood-fired brick oven? These ovens can take some time to figure out, but once you do, you can churn out mouth-watering pizzas and hearty loaves of bread like nobody’s business. 

Pizza from an outdoor pizza oven also undeniably tastes better than from an electric oven. The wood gives it a deep, smokey flavor that simply can’t be beaten. This makes the difference between a pizza and the pizza. Though wood-burning ovens work slowly, they can be very fulfilling to bake with, especially when you get to taste the fruit of your labor. If you love sustainability, you’ll be happy to know that outdoor pizza ovens are pretty energy efficient thanks to their ability to retain heat well. They can also get much hotter than your average oven, which means you can experiment with new recipes. 

All in all, wood-fired pizza ovens are a great way to spice up any luxury outdoor kitchen design. And once your neighbors find out how good your wood-fired pizzas are, you’ll instantly become one of the most popular hosts in the neighborhood. 

Stone Outdoor Kitchen

Kitchen Peninsula Is Great for Outdoor Entertainment Too

Opting for paving stone as a building material for your outdoor kitchen will give it an even more natural appearance, which is perfect for a classic feel. If you’re looking for something especially luxurious, you can top off your paving stone fixtures with some beautiful granite countertops. In addition to adding some style to your outdoor kitchen, granite worktops are very durable, and when sealed stand up pretty well to the elements. Another great thing about stone outdoor kitchens is that they can be designed to fit nearly any budget, making them a great option for everyone. The stone also gives a greater degree of customization, since you can have your building materials in various colors.    

Farmhouse Outdoor Kitchen

Backyard Entertaining Had Never Been So Beautiful

You can’t get much more rustic than this. If you’re a fan of the simple charm of country living, this is the outdoor kitchen design for you. Farmhouse-style outdoor kitchens are heavy on the wood and light on glitzy decor. The beauty of this design is that it can easily be made from completely recycled materials, making it a perfect choice for more sustainable cookouts. These are the perfect choice for those that want a backyard kitchen atmosphere that is laid back and casual. Guests will love this design for the relaxed vibe it gives off and it’s flexible enough for any occasion, be it just a Tuesday, a birthday, or even an outdoor engagement party.   

Modern Outdoor Kitchen

Modern Outdoor Kitchens for Style and Convenience

If rustic isn’t your style, then you can take comfort here. Modern outdoor kitchens don’t work with the outdoors so much as transform them to suit your needs. A modern outdoor kitchen comes with all the usual traits of modernist design: smooth lines, minimalism, modern LED lighting, stainless steel, hardwood, and glass. The result is an outdoor kitchen with the space of the outdoors and all the modern conveniences of a high-end kitchen. This design is practical for guests and hosts alike, offering plenty of places for guest seating and plenty of room for storing all your cookout accouterments. It's also endlessly functional; every fixture looks good, premium materials feel good to touch, and enclose high-end appliances which work flawlessly. An all-inclusive kitchen is one to consider if you like dining outside often.  

Indoor-Outdoor Kitchen

Backyard Recreation That's the Best of Both Worlds

Why go through all the trouble of bringing the inside-outside when you can simply adapt your indoor kitchen for outdoor duty? If your kitchen window leads to your backyard, you can convert that window into a folding one. Then all that is needed are some minor additions, such as installing a small counter along the window sill, and a few bar stools. And just like that, you’ll have an easy way to combine the best of both worlds for the enjoyment of all. This way, you can have a versatile setup that allows you to feel like you’re cooking outside from the comfort of your home. 

Feel free to mix and match with this outside kitchen design. You can blur the lines between the inside and the outside by setting up half of your kitchen fixtures outside and keeping the other half inside. For instance, you can keep your electrical appliances, stovetop, and faucet safely inside, but extend your worktop so that your gas range and a second sink sit outside. 

Southwestern Outdoor Kitchen

How To Achieve Fun, Style, and Functionality With Your Outdoor Kitchens

This one is for the Southwest BBQ lovers out there. Instead of merely emulating the past, this outdoor kitchen allows you to bring the past to life in a picturesque tapestry of cultures. The Southwest outdoor kitchen displays many cultural influences, including Spanish, Native American, Mexican, and Pioneer. This makes for a space that both nods to the past but also presents a very contemporary aesthetic. The colors of the Southwest outdoor kitchens usually reflect the desert hues of the American West and have lots of stone, cast iron, and hardwood. For some added old-world charm, consider having a wood-fired cast-iron grill put in. You’ll love the smokey flavors, we promise.     

Party Pavilion 

Design the Perfect Outdoor Kitchen In Time for Summer

Convert your barren porch into a well-equipped cookout venue with this lone-star-themed design. Cookouts are a Texan specialty, and this outdoor BBQ kitchen is proof of that. It brings a unique feel to your backyard, with hardwood complemented by stucco, granite, tile, and brick. In addition to the elegant Western aesthetic, this design transforms your backyard into a specialized cookout kitchen. It has all the things you could ever need for a cookout: a full gas range, granite worktops, outdoor kitchen cabinets for storage, a fan for staying cool, and an expansive deck for outdoor dining. To top it all off, ample LED lighting means the cookout doesn’t have to stop when the sun goes down. To keep out the creepy crawlies you can easily screen in your porch for added comfort.    

Backyard Lounge and Grill

Pristine Backyard Fun For the Adults As Well as the Kids

If you don’t have a whole lot of outdoor space to work with, or if self-serve is your kind of dinner party, then beautiful cushions for seating and a grill for the main event are all you need. This set-up makes it so guests can eat as they mingle, whether standing around the fire or lounging on modern benches. A flexible layout like this is also perfect if the outdoor portion is only one part of your evening agenda. The lack of furniture (and clean-up) will also help seamlessly maneuver everyone to the next activity.