Seasonal Basket
The Summer Cookout Index
U.S. city average · July 2026
A summer cookout for a small gathering cost $47.27 in July 2026, based on Basket Report's fixed 9-item Cookout Index of U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics average grocery prices — down 1.0% from the previous month and up 3.2% from a year earlier.
247 monthly observations · January 2006 to July 2026 · Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.
What's in the cookout basket
The Cookout Index is a fixed 9-item grilling spread — burgers, grilled chicken and pork chops, cheddar, buns, lettuce, tomatoes, potatoes for potato salad, and a bag of chips. In July 2026 it came to $47.27, down 1.0% from the prior month and up 3.2% from a year earlier. The priciest line is ground beef at $13.77, and the cheapest is lettuce at $1.75. Over the past year tomatoes moved most, up 11.7%.
| Item | Unit | Price | MoM | YoY | Cookout Cost |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Burgers — ground beef (2 lb) | pound | $6.89 | ▲ 0.9% | ▲ 10.1% | $13.77 |
| Grilled chicken breast (2 lb) | pound | $4.15 | ▼ 0.7% | ▼ 1.2% | $8.31 |
| Pork chops (1.5 lb) May 2026 price carried forward | pound | $4.91 | — | ▲ 6.5% | $7.36 |
| Cheddar slices (0.5 lb) | pound | $5.74 | ▼ 3.7% | ▼ 5.0% | $2.87 |
| Buns — bread (1 lb) | pound | $1.82 | ▲ 0.3% | ▼ 1.7% | $1.82 |
| Lettuce (1 lb) | pound | $1.75 | ▼ 12.9% | ▲ 11.0% | $1.75 |
| Tomatoes (1 lb) | pound | $2.00 | ▼ 7.0% | ▲ 11.7% | $2.00 |
| Potato salad — potatoes (3 lb) | pound | $0.94 | ▲ 2.1% | ▼ 3.7% | $2.83 |
| Potato chips (16 oz) | 16 ounces | $6.56 | ▼ 1.1% | ▼ 3.5% | $6.56 |
| Cookout total Fixed 9-item basket | ▼ 1.0% | ▲ 3.2% | $47.27 | ||
Methodology. The Cookout Index is a subset of Basket Report's 24-item grocery basket: the 9 tracked staples above, each at a fixed quantity, priced at the BLS U.S. city average. It is not a survey. For every fixed seasonal index, each target month uses the latest real BLS observation published at or before that month. If an item is not published for the target month, its raw series remains unavailable while the unchanged prior value is carried forward only in the derived seasonal basket, with its BLS series ID, value, source month, and target month disclosed in the page and downloads. No price is estimated or interpolated. Quantities are fixed and shown so the total is reproducible. Line items are rounded to the nearest cent for display while the total is summed from the unrounded BLS prices, so the column can differ from the total by a cent. A change to the quantities is a versioned methodology event (see methodology and corrections).
Cookout cost FAQ
How much does a summer cookout cost in 2026?
Basket Report's 9-item Cookout Index was $47.27 in July 2026, based on the latest U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics city-average grocery price published at or before that month for each component — covering ground beef, chicken breast, pork chops, cheddar cheese, bread, lettuce, tomatoes, potatoes, potato chips. 8 item prices were published for July 2026; 1 price was carried forward with disclosure.
Is a cookout more expensive than last year?
The cookout basket is up 3.2% from a year ago, at $47.27 versus $45.80 last year.
What's in the cookout basket?
A fixed 9-item grilling spread: ground beef (2 lb), chicken breast (2 lb), pork chops (1.5 lb), cheddar cheese (0.5 lb), bread (1 lb), lettuce (1 lb), tomatoes (1 lb), potatoes (3 lb), potato chips (1 16oz). Each uses the latest published BLS U.S. city-average price at or before the target month, and the quantities are held constant month to month.
Cite this
Basket Report. "The Summer Cookout Index." Basket Report — Grocery Price Index. Retrieved August 13, 2026 from https://basketreport.com/cookout/. Data: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. <a href="https://basketreport.com/cookout/">The Summer Cookout Index — Basket Report</a> (data: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics; retrieved August 13, 2026) Basket Report. (2026). The Summer Cookout Index [Data set]. Basket Report — Grocery Price Index. https://basketreport.com/cookout/