14 outdoor kitchen ideas for year-round al fresco feasts 

Our expert tips will guide your transformation, from picking the best spot in your garden to knowing which features to choose for an outdoor kitchen that can withstand the elements.  

Choosing a U-shaped outdoor kitchen can emulate the design of an interior room. And as this design by Blakes London shows, you don’t have to construct this shape under a purpose-built shelter or structure. This free-range U-shape creates space for a bar (with stools hiding just behind the shrub on the left) and provides plenty of opportunities for storage.  

The units’ clever façade conceals a drinks fridge, and a variety of drawer and cupboard configurations, behind uniform panelling. The seamless effect is smart and means you can have a separate set of outdoor utensils safely stored away. Ideal if you’re avoiding clutter.  

Any outdoor kitchen idea must include hardwearing materials. These spaces will take a battering from heat, utensils, water (from a sink and the sky), smoke and messy hands. 

But this doesn’t necessarily mean you have to sacrifice style for utility. This design from DesignSpace London shows just how sleek an outdoor kitchen can be, with a minimal approach that integrates appliances and features like the sink without interrupting the units’ clean lines.  

“Many of our kitchens are made with porcelain doors and worktops, which is a great solution for outdoor kitchens as this material is unaffected by wet, hot, cold conditions,” says Richard Atkins, managing director of DesignSpace London. “Porcelain is incredibly flexible in that it can be made to look like marble, concrete, metal or flat colours. This enables the units that we use outside to look as good as the units we would use inside.” 

Why not recreate a top restaurant in your garden by reimagining a traditional kitchen island as a chef’s table? If you have a flair for cooking and hosting in front of an audience, then this design from KönigOutdoor should inspire you.  

It’s hard to take your eyes off the vibrant red of the barbecue egg and wood-fired pizza oven. This outdoor kitchen is completely covered, meaning there’s no danger of wet weather dampening the mood (or your canapés). 

“If your main focus is on entertaining, make sure you specify plenty of suitable refrigeration and consider integrating seating areas for your guests,” says Joanne Bull, marketing manager for KönigOutdoor. “If you really want to express your culinary skills outdoors, and have the budget, think about more than one type of cooking appliance. Pairing a traditional grill with a charcoal/wood fuelled Kamado or pizza oven will give you more variety and keep you motivated to experiment with new dishes.” 

Not everyone has access to a large patch of garden that can be transformed. This doesn’t mean you can’t turn out a diverse range of dishes, though. Garden designer Marlene Lento says that people with limited space should opt for multifunctional appliances.  

“There are dual-fuel barbecues that let you use charcoal or gas,” she explains. “And there are inserts for your barbecue, such as BakerStone, that allow you to make great pizzas using your gas barbecue – no bulky pizza oven required.” 

This outdoor kitchen idea from Harrison Ovens is multifunctional on a small footprint (the appliance combines a charcoal oven, plancha, hotplate and hob) and doesn’t let the aesthetics of the workspace distract from that incredible view out to sea. Though Lento suggests that if you want a ‘designed’ outdoor kitchen look, go for a built-in barbecue model instead. 

Perhaps you have a patio that can be the setting of your new outdoor kitchen? This seamless design from The London Tile Co. links its interiors and al fresco living, and it’s so smooth you can barely tell where one ends and the other begins. The design conversation between both areas is maintained by using the same indoor-outdoor floor tiles, as well as the same units and worktops.  

Continuing the kitchen units along the same wall is also an option for people who don’t want to interrupt their current garden landscaping. 

“Consider the view while you’re barbecuing and what the view is as you look out from the house,” says Lento. “You don’t want your kitchen to block your view of the garden or see a covered barbecue for most of the year. At the same time, consider positioning the kitchen so that it’s a ‘social’ setup, where you can interact with people as you cook.” 

As well as choosing weatherproof materials for your outdoor kitchen units and worktops, you might wish to physically protect some or all of the area from the elements.  

This design from Grillo has a retractable roof, meaning guests can soak up the sun or shield from the rain as needed. Having a low-rise backsplash running the length of the cooking units and prep area also protects the food while not obscuring the view of the garden beyond.

Bring the whitewashed stonework of the Med to your back garden. Cladding concrete, and then painting it white, is an affordable option for constructing an outdoor kitchen – and we love how much it reminds us of being on a sun-bleached Greek island.  

Garden designer Marlene Lento says that outdoor kitchen ideas should consider the storage of firewood, which will need to be kept dry to be effective. 

This particular setup from AOS Outdoor Kitchens has so much room for firewood in its units, with an open-front, rustic style that lets the logs become part of the design itself. If you’re planning for a pizza oven, this is the perfect look. 

We have a soft spot for black kitchens at Exceptional. Black even made our list of favourite kitchen colour ideas, because of its elegance and ability to be paired with any colour (just like a black outfit). 

As long as you have a spot in your garden that’s bathed in sunlight for a good portion of the day, a black design will look chic and elevated. 

A black outdoor kitchen idea will work even better if it’s contrasted with neutral and natural elements. This design from Satara Australia places the natural shades and textures of potted plants, wood-panelled wall and wooden dining tops in the frame, so the black feels earthy, rather than lifeless.  

Choosing a series of modular units on castors means that you never have to commit to one location for your outdoor kitchen. This is a great example of how three units can be set up to create a corner space for entertaining and you could easily slot an ample-sized barbecue in at any point. 

If you simply can’t decide where to construct an outdoor kitchen, or don’t want to have one as a focal point all year, modular units are a godsend.  

These units from Danetti can be easily picked up (or wheeled) to wherever you decide to host on the day.  

Just as you’d choose interior kitchen units that are in keeping with your home’s decorating style, it’s a good an idea to match your outdoor kitchen to your house exterior. 

This steel Formalia Outdoor kitchen idea from Scavolini complements the slick, modern industrial aesthetic of the building’s exterior walls and canopy. 

Garden designer Marlene Lento says you can take this idea even further by choosing units in the same colour as the brick or render of your house with. Or she suggests using the same paving slabs for the countertops and patio floor. 

If you’re working with a modest budget, but still want your outdoor kitchen to make a big impression, why not upcycle heat-resistant materials you may already have? 

Though slick, custom-built outdoor kitchens are a majestic addition to any garden, we have a soft spot for this DIY, rough-around-the-edges style of al fresco living. 

This idea from Grillo has transformed a rustic corrugated iron shed with a compact pizza oven, bar and egg-style barbecue. The pairing of pizza oven and sizeable barbecue will mean that your outdoor kitchen may be smaller, but your family-style feasts can remain the envy of your neighbours.  

Though many outdoor kitchen ideas include smart, modern unit designs, cooking outside in the elements will always have a traditional, almost ancient feel about it. 

If you have the space available, then pair your new outdoor kitchen with some traditional fireside cooking. This glorious wood fire doesn’t look out of place next to these Grillo units, leaving chefs to cook different elements of their feast using the various methods close to hand. This is a great option for people keen to cook outdoors all year long. You can enjoy a warming negroni cocktail from the bar in the coldest months, keeping warm by the fire while dinner cooks on the barbecue.  

Who says outdoor kitchen ovens have to be boring? Whack a pop of colour into your al fresco feast with a vertical cooking unit. 

This Charlie Oven is a charcoal oven, pizza oven and smoker all in one. It’s on wheels, so the party can move to wherever you want to base yourself around the garden. It’s a useful option if you don’t want to install a full kitchen setup. Perhaps you want to pair this type of oven with a small outdoor sink and worktop that can also come in handy for general gardening jobs throughout the year when you’re not hosting.  

Nature isn’t known for its straight lines. And though you may think your garden is fairly level, any lumps, bumps and slopes will become immediately obvious when trying to design an outdoor kitchen. 

“The level of the floor can be a challenge,” says Joanne Bull of KönigOutdoor. “Fitting paving with minimal falls [or the most even gradient] is the best way to go if you are installing an outdoor kitchen.” 

Opting for larger floor tiles or paving slabs will make this job easier, as this design shows. But if you’re planning on modular units, or units on wheels, it’s essential that you properly level the ground before laying any paving. Otherwise, you might find your dinner rolling away from you.