Something has changed at the backyard grill. Burgers and hot dogs still show up every summer, but now they’re sharing the grill space with gochujang-glazed chicken thighs and jerk-rubbed ribs that would have turned heads at a cookout a decade ago. This July’s National Grilling Month is proof of how far things have come.
Home cooks aren’t picking a lane anymore. The people manning the grill are cooking with more curiosity than the recipe box from ten years ago. Ribs get a Kansas City glaze one weekend and a gochujang lacquer the next.
Chicken thighs might sit in a jerk marinade overnight, then finish with a pineapple glaze that leans sweet and spicy at once. Nobody’s arguing about it. The plate just tastes better.
That curiosity isn’t a fluke. Grilling has become a year-round ritual for a lot of owners, not just a summer thing.
More than 80% of avid grill fans cook with BBQ flavors every month, and most of them are actively hunting for new recipes to try. That appetite is exactly why gochujang and jerk found such an easy way onto the grate this year.
Gochujang brings layered heat home
Gochujang is a fermented Korean chili paste, and it’s exactly the kind of ingredient home grillers can’t stop reaching for. It’s spicy, sweet and deeply savory all at once, which makes it perfect as a glaze on ribs or a marinade for chicken thighs. Some cooks even melt it into a compound butter and spoon it over grilled corn.
Nobody’s dumping the classic BBQ sauce for it either. Plenty of grillers finish a smoky Kansas City-style rack with a gochujang lacquer on top, blending two traditions instead of picking one.
Jerk rubs turn up the heat
Caribbean jerk was built for the grill long before anyone called it a trend. Its mix of allspice, Scotch bonnet peppers, thyme and smoke comes from centuries of outdoor cooking in Jamaica, and it performs like it was made for a backyard fire.
Jerk chicken finished with a pineapple and Scotch bonnet glaze fits right into what food watchers are calling the year’s defining flavor movement: sweet plus spicy. More than half of people around the world say they’re actively seeking out food from other cultures, and cherry, hot honey and pineapple are some of the most requested flavors on the grill right now.
Global comfort food landed among the top trends restaurants are watching for 2026 too, with Caribbean curry bowls named as one example of the flavors customers keep asking for.
This July feels like the perfect time to switch things up. Skip the plain burger for one cook and reach for a gochujang glaze or a jerk rub instead. Your taste buds will thank you.
Jennifer Allen is a retired professional chef and long-time writer. Her work appears in dozens of publications, including MSN, Yahoo, The Washington Post and The Seattle Times. These days, she’s busy in the kitchen developing recipes and traveling the world, and you can find all her best creations at Cook What You Love.