There are three main components to a complete vegan cookout menu: the (faux) meats, the sides, and the produce. And within that framework, there is plenty of room to experiment and make things your own.
Whether you love a the classic cookout dishes, or you’d rather get weird, this roundup is for you.
Vegan Cookouts: Your Style
In the last few years, the field of realistic plant-based meat substitutes has exploded. So, there are plenty of ready-made protein options for the grill. If you have some veggie burgers, brats and buns, you’re well on your way to a complete cookout menu. But there are plenty of other tasty options to go along with the non-meat meats.
For example, I haven’t yet met the vegetable that cannot be grilled. I’m not sure such a thing exists. Classics like eggplants, zucchini, and roasted bell peppers are the most obvious options. They just need to be cut into spears or large slices, then add a brush of olive oil, salt, and pepper, and you’re ready to grill.
But there are a lot more grill-able options in the produce aisle. Try peaches or pineapple, kohlrabi or potatoes. Even leafy items like romaine lettuce or radicchio can benefit from a bit of char.
In this list, you’ll find a classic pasta salad, a lightened-up slaw, and a variety of grilled vegetables that are tasty on their own or as a layer on a burger or veggie dog. But feel free to add, subtract, or substitute your own favorites.
Vegan Cookout Cheat Sheet
Veggie dogs and Incogmeato/Beyond/Impossible burgers are great, but they’re not your only options for a great vegan cookout. Read on a few tried-and-true dishes for your next barbecue, from veganized picnic classics to unusual grilled veggies.
This colorful, crunchy slaw is the perfect quick side dish for a summer cookout.
This cool and creamy macaroni salad just might take you back to the summers of your childhood. It's an easy, nostalgic vegan side dish for your cookouts and picnics.
With its firm texture and fresh, mild flavor, kohlrabi could be the new star of grilling season.
These grilled beets are savory-sweet and smokey. Enjoy them as a side dish, or in a salad or wrap.
It's luscious, creamy, and blows the store-bought stuff out of the water. The BEST homemade hummus is only a few minutes away with this easy recipe.
Crispy and soft, smoky and savory: grilled potatoes are the new hotness.
Preparing mushrooms on the grill intesifies their savory flavor, and a delicately herbed yogurt sauce is the perfect pairing. Make extra sauce to use along with your other grilled veggies.
Green tomatoes aren't just for frying anymore. Their intensely tangy flavor means that you hardly have to do more than slice them and throw them on the grill.
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