Most Americans expect to pay more to host a backyard barbecue this summer, according to a survey released by the discount grocery app Flashfood. The poll, conducted by The Harris Poll on the company’s behalf, found that 85% of Americans think hosting a cookout will cost more this summer than it did last year, Supermarket News reported. More than half, 53%, said they are worried about the cost of hosting summer events because of food prices.
That means people will likely have to change the way they meet up and entertain each other. About a third of Americans with summer hosting plans, or 34%, said they’ll instead ask guests to bring something rather than provide all the food themselves. That means more of the traditional barbecue cookouts will effectively turn into potlucks instead.
Flashfood’s chief executive, Jordan Schenck, used the survey to pitch the fact that rising food costs shouldn’t get in the way of summer gatherings. Flashfood is an app that sells discounted groceries nearing their sell-by dates. It has a direct interest in the kind of price anxiety the survey measured, so it has a reason to hope that it can offer cheaper groceries.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture also forecasts that grocery prices will keep rising in 2026, with several cookout staples under continued pressure. Plus, the American Farm Bureau Federation put the average cost of a Fourth of July cookout for 10 people at a record $73.82 this year.
What a Fourth of July Cookout Actually Costs
The holiday has come and gone, but the prices have still lingered for many budgets. The Farm Bureau’s cookout number is the one to look at, because the group has tracked it the same way for years. Its 2026 survey priced a spread for 10 people, including burgers, chicken breasts, pork chops, cheese, buns, and sides, at $73.82, a record and an increase over last year. That works out to about $7.38 per person.
The Farm Bureau’s survey is an informal price check rather than an official index, with volunteer shoppers collecting prices across the country. Its value is in the trend it captures year to year. The direction it shows, staples climbing again in 2026, matches the USDA’s own forecast for food-at-home prices, which lends the cookout figure more weight than a single retailer’s snapshot would carry.
Why Grocery Prices Keep Climbing
Food-at-home prices have been rising steadily, and the pressure has not eased in 2026. Supermarket News has reported that grocery prices increased for the fifth month this year, and that more shoppers are leaning on savings and credit cards to cover the bill. That combination, higher prices and thinner cushions, is the backdrop to the cookout anxiety the Flashfood survey picked up.
Meat is often the biggest line item at a cookout, and beef in particular has stayed expensive, which pulls up the total for anyone grilling burgers or steaks. Hosts have a few levers to pull, including buying store-brand versions of sides and condiments, choosing cheaper proteins like chicken over beef, and splitting the load through the potluck approach, which a third of survey respondents said they already plan to use. None of that reverses the underlying prices, though it does spread them out.