Summer is the perfect time to fire up the grill and enjoy outdoor gatherings with friends and family. A vegan BBQ offers a fantastic opportunity to showcase delicious, plant-based dishes that are ideal for hot weather. With a wide array of vegan BBQ recipes, you can create a memorable and enjoyable cookout that celebrates the best of summer. These recipes are perfect for hot weather, easy to prepare, and sure to impress your guests.
Read more: 10 Vegan Summer Recipes
One of the highlights of a vegan BBQ is the variety of flavors and textures you can offer. Vegan BBQs also allow for incredible variety and creativity. Each dish on this list shows that plant-based options can be just as satisfying and indulgent as their meat-based counterparts. From tasty salads and chewy seitan to creamy fudgesicles and crispy courgette skewers, there’s no limit to diverse plant-based food.
Read more: 15 Vegan Picnic Recipes
10 vegan BBQ recipes
With these 10 vegan BBQ recipes, you can create a diverse and satisfying menu that highlights the best of plant-based cooking, ensuring everyone at your cookout leaves happy and full.
Vegan grilled chicken
Seitan is becoming more and more popular in vegan cooking. Learning how to make your own seitan and having a grilled “chicken” recipe on hand for barbecues is just what this recipe from Romy London offers. This recipe shows you exactly how to make these plant protein fillets with white bread flour and water. It’s also covered in a flavorful tomato, tamari, maple, and paprika sauce, adding to the traditional BBQ flavor.
Find the recipe here.
Smashed ‘firecracker’ sweet potatoes
Smashed potatoes packed with spicy spinach and cannellini beans sound like the perfect side dish for a barbecue. From the creators at BOSH!, these spicy “firecracker” smashed sweet potatoes will be a winner at any summer function. The mixture of crisp potato skin and creamy sweet potato, topped with protein-packed beans and a creamy chili crisp sauce, makes for an incredible blend of flavors. This side goes well with vegan meat and any cold salad.
Find the recipe here.
Creamy vegan potato salad
Let’s not pretend potato salad isn’t essential to a summer barbecue. This one, in particular, comes from Ela Vegan and is light, refreshing, oil-free, and a completely vegan BBQ side you need to add to your recipe lineup. Potato salad is easy to make, and this recipe is no exception.
The base of the dish is wavy potatoes, red bell pepper, red onion, dill pickles, and green onion—you can add olives, too, if you want. Rather than using store-bought vegan mayo, the recipe details how to create a creamy dressing from white beans, plant milk, and a variety of tasty seasonings.
Find the recipe here.
Spicy courgette kebabs with apricot salsa
These spicy courgette kebabs with apricot salsa will be a hit at your next cookout. This recipe is also from BOSH! and is a tasty addition to any barbecue. Serve it as a main meal with flatbreads and vegan yogurt or as a snack to go with the rest of your BBQ dishes.
Flavored with harissa, paprika, chili, and cumin, the courgettes are sliced into 1 cm rounds and skewered before being grilled and charred perfectly. The addition of the apricot salsa makes this recipe bright. Simply chop up your apricots, parsley, and red onion. Then, add olive oil and red wine vinegar and mix.
Find the recipe here.
Southwest pasta salad
Expand your pasta salad horizons with something unique. This southwest pasta salad from Crow Moon Kitchen is certainly different from your average side dish. It features flavors inspired by the southwestern United States and is jam-packed with colorful ingredients.
You create this dish using farfalle (bowtie) pasta, fresh veggies like corn, kale, chickpeas, avocado, and red pepper, and seasoned generously with lime, paprika, cumin, and nutritional yeast. It’s also rather easy to make. You are welcome to switch the pasta for a gluten-free option and include shredded carrot, chopped celery, or fresh parsley for tasty add-ons.
Find the recipe here.
Miso aubergine steaks
Juicy, charred, and fabulous with almost any side, these miso aubergine steaks are a must-try. This recipe comes from Viva’s Vegan Recipe Club, and it’s quick and easy to make. For two servings, simply cut an aubergine in half, score it in a criss-cross pattern, salt it, let it sit, and prepare your glaze. The showstopper for this dish is a red miso, maple, mirin, soy sauce, and toasted sesame oil glaze, which gives the aubergines their delightful char and complex flavor. Then, place on a red-hot barbecue or well-oiled grill for a few minutes per side.
Find the recipe here.
Hearty vegan halloumi salad
Another fantastic recipe to bring to your vegan BBQ is this plant-based halloumi salad from BOSH! This salad is hearty, punchy, and filling. It’s made with pearl barley, tofu halloumi, bell pepper, tomato, and onion. The ingredients are cooked together, and the salad is topped with the baked halloumi. You can enjoy this dish warm or cold. Be sure to add a squeeze of lemon once the dish is complete.
Find the recipe here.
Vegan chili dogs
These cheesy and spicy vegan chili dogs are a no-brainer for a vegan barbecue. The recipe from World of Vegan makes eight servings, and you can use any vegan hotdogs and chili of your choice. Add soft hotdog buns, mustard, vegan cheddar cheese, red onion, chives, and sliced jalapenos to your chili dogs. It’s super quick to assemble, and you can even grill your hotdogs on the BBQ if you want.
Find the recipe here.
Grilled zucchini and ‘feta’ salad
This grilled zucchini salad is satisfying, flavorful, and straightforward to make. It is made with macadamia feta, walnuts, and wild rocket and topped with a zingy dressing. Grill your zucchini, toast your walnuts, and add your rocket as a base. For the macadamia feta, the recipe, which also comes from Romy London, shows you how to make it from scratch. Be sure to prepare the feta the day before your barbecue, as it needs to sit in the fridge to set. The rest of the salad can be made on the day, ensuring your zucchini stays fresh.
Find the recipe here.
Homemade vegan fudgesicles
To finish off this list of vegan BBQ recipes, Dreena Burton has created these homemade vegan fudgesicles. Affordable, chocolatey, and easy to make, these fudge pops are a wonderful vegan treat for hot summer days. The best part about making your own frozen desserts like these fudgesicles is that you can make as many as you want for big group hangouts.
They’re also simple, and as long as you have enough ice-pop molds and sticks, you’ll always have desserts on hand. The recipe is easy: macadamia nut butter, coconut sugar, cocoa powder, plant-based milk, and banana blended up and frozen.
Find the recipe here.
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