8 Best Grills To Keep Cooking (And Cleaning!) Quick & Easy For Family Meal-Time

Don’t have a lot of outdoor space to work with? You can still get in the grilling game with the Cuisinart Portable grill that’s just 14-inches wide and 15-inches tall! You can take this cute little charcoal grill with you to the lake, camping, the park, or just keep it on your apartment balcony whenever the urge for hot dogs hits. It’s also budget-friendly at only $40, plus it offers enough of a surface area to cook enough for your entire crew. It comes in black or cherry red if you want a pop of color on your porch. Even though it’s portable and budget-friendly, it has over 1,600 four-star positive reviews on Amazon. One happy customer said it was perfect for her vacation home, saying, “This little BBQ is perfect for my vacation home and my family of four. We cooked chicken, turkey burgers, and rib eye steaks. There is a lower grill, to keep the charcoal off the base of the BBQ, and there is a small, closeable air vent beneath that. Assembly was really easy, as is cleanup.”

When you’re ready to upgrade to a serious propane grill, but aren’t excited about a $1,000 + price tag, consider this durable option from Char-Broil. At just $300, it offers a number of top-of-the-line features like a 4 stainless steel burner cooktop, 425-square inches of cook space and enough room to cook a large meal for your entire family. Plus there’s an electronic ignition system that lets you startup the grill with just the push of a button, making it really easy for any novice griller. And you’ll love the two shelves on the side with plenty of space for prep and you know, holding your drink of choice. This popular grill has 554 four and half star reviews on Amazon, with one happy griller writing, “I put it together by myself and I’m a 40-year-old-lady! I used it for the first time to grill hot dogs to celebrate Mother’s Day. The grill did a great job! Can’t wait to grill lots more on there this summer.”

Some smaller charcoal grills are flimsy—but you won’t have any issues with the sturdy Weber Kettle grill. If you enjoy cooking over charcoal, you’ll appreciate the grill’s top features like the large 22-inch cooking area that allows you to cook the chicken or burgers AND the sides at once. Plus it’s designed to last more than one season—the porcelain enameled lid and bowl are made to retain heat, and won’t rust or peel. With over 2000 four and half+ star reviews, it is a popular choice, too. One customer raves, “At 57 years old, I’ve had a lifelong obsession with outdoor grilling, and I have used dozens of different grills of all design types and fuel sources. I can afford the most expensive grills on the market, and what do I use today, when cooking for my small family? This Weber 22 inch grill, which blows every other grill of any type away for real life every day grilling.”

For apartment or condo dwellers with only a small balcony to BBQ out on, there’s hope for you yet that you can enjoy a fully grilled meal without sacrificing flavor or space! The Weber Spirit II is here to save the day—it’s a full two-burner propane grill, but still compact enough to fit on your balcony. It offers lots of space to cook plus a warming rack to keep your corn or veggies on while your mains finish up. There are shelves for condiments and space to hang your tools (which is key in an apartment so you don’t have find a place to store these.) The fuel-gauge is also super handy so you know exactly how much you have left before you need to make another propane run. This popular grill has over 8,000 positive reviews, with one apartment dweller writing, “Love the compactness & simplicity of this grill. We didn’t need tons of bells & whistles and had limited space, so this worked really well.”

For a versatile charcoal grill that’s on wheels so you can easily move it around your backyard or patio, the Royal Gourmet is a top-notch choice. This charcoal BBQ is a lot larger than the regular round charcoal grill, with a 598-square inch cooking grate AND a warming rack you can utilize for vegetables or other sides. Other amazing features include a charcoal pan you can pull out and adjust for optimum heat and a front door that is designed to be cool to the touch. (This is key so you don’t burn your hand off if you’re busy focusing on your brewskie.) It has 595 four-star reviews on Amazon, with one satisfied griller writing, “Honestly the best charcoal grill to buy for the price. It’s easy to assemble. Great size and not heavy, so you can move it around really easy with the two wheels on it. The black with chrome color on this grill is actually really nice. Just grilled on it a few days ago and everything came out delicious and with nice char marks. I recommend this grill to many people.”  

If you take BBQ very seriously in your neck of the woods, gifting yourself this six-in-one smoker plus grill might feel like Christmas came early this year! This baby does it all—from grilling, to searing, to smoking to braising and even roasting. And it relies on pellets to get that true wood smoked flavor that only a true BBQ-lover could appreciate. Luckily anyone can take on the challenge since it’s easy to use, it has a one-button auto start and temperature controlled features. Plus the exterior bronze color is truly a thing of beauty. It has 771 four-star reviews on Amazon thus far, with one very satisfied consumer writing, “It’s time to say goodbye to my old Charcoal grill. Attracted by the cute look, I clicked into this item and found it seemed a high-tech smoker. I got annoyed with my old Charcoal grill since it’s slow and hard to control and clean. Z Grills, by contrast, uses the ‘wood fire’ technology to reach target temperature extremely fast and accurate. Also, the grease doesn’t build up for the sake of the grease collector. The wheels make it easier to move the smoker around in my yard. And need to say that installing this smart machine took me only one hour, with all tools needed in the box. I tried salmon and lamb with pecan wood pellet. It works like a charm. The meat was so tender and got the sweet flavors deep inside.” Is your mouth watering yet?

If you love the idea of grilling, but don’t really want to buy into the process of a charcoal or propane grill, George Foreman made an electric option that is simple enough for anyone to grill on. (Seriously, we mean anyone.) The indoor/outdoor setup means you can enjoy the cooktop on your balcony now, then remove the base and continue to use it indoors all winter long. That’s right, friends, you can enjoy grilled hamburgers or veggie hot dogs, even in February!) Don’t count this grill out just because it is an indoor/outdoor model, it has over 5,300 four and a half star reviews on Amazon. One happy customer wrote, “Our new apartment will not let us have charcoal or propane grills. We’re big BBQ fans and were determined to find a way to keep enjoying our favorite summer foods. We had had a George Foreman counter top- grilling machine in the past, so we looked to see if there were any sort of electric grills and were so excited when we found this grill! We bought it before Memorial Day and had our annual BBQ. All of our family and us LOVED how our food came out! One of the best parts is that this grill can be used with or without the stand. We used this grill right on our kitchen table and then just set it on the counter out of the way. My husband’s favorite thing was this was crazy easy to clean! We are so happy and ready for all the upcoming summer holidays!”

If you spend your summer days going back and fourth to the park with your fam in tow, or tend to tailgate several times a year (you know, when there are sports on, remember those days?), you’ll love this portable grill option that you can fold up and wheel along wherever you need to go. Don’t let the compact nature of the grill trip you up, though—it’s actually large enough to grill an entire meal on, plus vegetables, pizza, tortillas, or whatever you’ve got on the menu. There are even temperature control and side shelves that fold up when you’re done. One griller said, “The grill is amazing! It heats up fast and gives a great sear on a steak. It gets so hot that even high smoke point oils still smoke quite a bit. I’ve actually had people stop to make sure nothing was on fire during my steak sears. It’s great as all the flavor and juices get locked inside and leaves beautiful grill marks.”