10 Amazing U Shaped Outdoor Kitchens To Inspire You

Most outdoor kitchen designs are in the L formation, not the U formation, but that type of design only works for a certain yard design. If your outdoor space is large enough for a complete U, then installing an L-shaped outdoor kitchen will leave you wanting more counter space. You have the room for it after all.

To help you imagine this new concept, we have gathered 10 outdoor kitchen designs which show the diverse and open-spaced environment you can create outdoor dining.

1. Wide Space Grill Design

In this design, we see beautiful false brick cabinets, with three grill types and an abundance of countertop space. Here you can host a large party without feeling crowded. Multiple meals can be cooked at the same time, while people can eat at the table or pick up the side dishes for the barbecue snack.

You can replicate the design by buying a pizza oven, a built-in outdoor cooker set, and countertops built on either real gray bricks or faux gray bricks (so you can turn them into drawers).

2. Simple Sink And Cooker

Here we can see a small but refined U-shaped outdoor kitchen area. There is a space for eating and chatting with the chef, a simple sink, and a cooker. Outdoor kitchen sinks need more than just running water.

They need to hold all the compartments you’d expect in a real kitchen.For example, in that small space, there isn’t enough room for a freezer to contain your ice. However, if you use a Blaze Beverage Center (SKU: BLZ-30CKT-SNK) sink, you’ll have an insulated ice bin, which you can remove to attach as necessary.

It also has a bottle opener, and a removable cutting board so the sink can be useful on all occasions. Even the soap dispenser is built in, so you don’t need to worry about it flying away on a windy day.

Alongside an outdoor cooker, this is all you really need for a minimalist but luxurious outdoor kitchen area.

3. An Indoor Kitchen But Outdoors

So far our two suggestions include outdoor kitchens which lean into the outdoor aesthetic. The stone countertops are great for a woodland vibe, but if you prefer classic indoor designs, you don’t need to change your fashion tastes for this to work.

In this example, the outdoor kitchen sides use beautiful and classic countertops. You can replicate this indoor feeling using countertops by Naturekast Weatherproof Cabinetry’s outdoor custom cabinets.

They can make the cabinets fit your garden using their custom skill set. These cabinets will have enough storage space to fit all your appliances such as a refrigerator, freezer, and general storage. They can even build their grills and other accessories to include all the gadgets you need.

Indoor designs can look natural outdoors too!

4. Make The Furnace The Star Of The Show

The only thing that makes this a U-shaped kitchen is the strict placement of the built-in grill and the rollable grill. The real reason we want you to consider this design is to make you think about the focus. What do you want to stand out the most?

Here the standout feature is the pizza oven and the display of wood on show. Pizza ovens are a great centerpiece, as the action and movement around the appliance is fun for everyone to watch.

You know what you and your friends enjoy cooking the most, so focus on that concept and design your U-shaped kitchen around that.

5. A Subtle Curved U

Depending on the space you have, you may prefer to create a slightly curved U shape instead of rigid lines. This type of design is perfect for homes with curved yards that overlook a forest or other gorgeous scenery.

Even if the space you have is small, you can buy small side burners to fit inside a built-in countertop.

What really makes this image pop is the blue light along the cooking tools. Just imagine the nighttime ambiance with the firelight, blue light, and candle line along your outside kitchen.

But it’s not just the light that makes this counter stand out. It’s the subtle cupboards too. You can buy doors and drawers that fit seamlessly into your outdoor kitchen without taking the spotlight.

6. Wooden Chic

Just because your kitchen is outdoors, that doesn’t mean you need to forgo the classic wooden aesthetic. Wood is the perfect material to feel cozy, rural and connected to nature. It doesn’t matter if your home is in the middle of a city or surrounded by suburban landscapes, wood will make you feel rustic.

To make sure the wood isn’t just one note, you should choose colors that match and contrast each other. For example, if you have grained wood, make sure the grain shapes match. If you are using wood with rings, make sure they all have rings. If they have lines, make sure they all have lines. Or, more commonly, if they are MDF make sure all wooden parts are MDF.

Although MDF is weaker than normal wood, it can feel more sophisticated. However, this sophistication loses its touch if it’s placed alongside normal wood.

Make your choices carefully, and ensure the designs match.

7. Small But Classy

Here we see a small outdoor kitchen. It has a full grill with a refrigerator, sink, storage cupboard, and freezer. The stops are clear so you can easily chop and serve your meals, but it doesn’t take up a lot of space in your yard.

The classy aspect of this outdoor kitchen comes from the gray base and silver tops. Everything is neat, minimalistic, and contains all the gadgets you need to be prepared for an event.

You can even add to this image by placing black stools around the outside of the table. This addition creates a seating area or breakfast bar!

We think this design would be perfect for cocktails in particular. Store everything you need in the refrigerator, put ice in the sink as we mentioned before, and hold even more ice in the freezer.

What more could you possibly need?

8. A Kamado

Okay, there is one thing that the outdoor kitchen was missing – a kamado (SKU: BLZ-20-KAMADO). Kamados are a type of grill, but they have a very controlled temperature, making them closer to an oven. In fact, that’s exactly how you should consider them – an oven but oval and outside.

The thick structure allows the temperature to remain exactly the same for 12 hours without going through extra materials. This makes them energy efficient too.

This type of grill is perfect for long roasts, making jerky, or cooking anything that needs precise timings.

In this U-shaped design, we have a grill and a kamado. This means the chef can cook some food separately at different temperatures. This is perfect for vegans or those with food intolerances who need their food separate to avoid contamination. It’s also great for a full day of barbequing as the kamado can keep going all day long, cooking your evening meal, and the grill can be turned off and on for the odd snack.

9. Greek Style

What makes this outdoor kitchen design stand out isn’t the beautiful brick top or the touch of salmon or pick colors, it’s the slight curve around the breakfast benches.

This curve gives the table an extra seat’s worth of room while not detracting from the kitchen surface.

Embracing this curve gives you and your guests a little extra room all around. You could use it as an extra serving area or add another appliance to the working top.

If you look at the image closely, you’ll see the serving area is just a touch higher than the preparing area. This allows chiefs and diners to have their own room without interfering with the other.

This is the only kitchen area that we have suggested with this feature, but it’s an elegant style for you to take inspiration from.

10. A Prue Curve

Our last example for you to take inspiration from is a pure curved outdoor kitchen set. For this one to work, you’ll need everything to be custom designed as very few pre-bought applications will fit in the served shape.

The gradual curve still counts as a U-shaped kitchen, but of course, it’s more dramatic and some may call it a semi-circle rather than a U.

As you can see from the picture, the sink in the very center is still a square shape, and the cupboard units are also standard. It’s just the cooker that is truly curved.

This shows that you can still create this design without spending tens of thousands on a full custom kitchen.

Final Thoughts

Clicking on the links above, you’ll find stores that create custom outdoor kitchenware. Talk to each manufacturer to see if they can make your dream kitchen come to life.

Our design ideas and inspirational images should hopefully help you narrow down your thoughts and see them in action.