Colourful vegetables, sizzling skewers and tasty veggie burgers, your vegan barbecues will delight vegetarians and carnivores alike.
In this article, I will share some ideas to make your next vegan barbecue a success and impress the skeptics!
Go for meatless options
While I don’t recommend eating processed foods on a daily basis, plant-based meat substitutes can lend some of the traditional flavours to your barbecue. A variety of meatless options are available on the market today: wieners, croquettes, “meatballs”, etc.
Use a variety of sauces
Here are a few sauces and dips to add to the table that will spice up a burger and enhance the flavour of raw veggies. For example, you use BBQ or chimichurri sauce (LeGrand), hummus or that famous mayo-ketchup blend but vegan-style. And you can never go wrong with a good salsa and guacamole recipe, so here is mine:
- 2 ripe avocados, mashed
- ½ shallot, finely chopped
- Juice of half a lemon
- Salt and pepper to taste
- 30 mL (2 tbsp.) freshly chopped cilantro
- 1 small tomato, diced
Combine all the ingredients in bowl. Serve immediately.
Make veggie brochettes
Simple to make, but often overlooked, BBQ grilled vegetables are incredibly delicious. To cook them evenly and make them easier to handle on the grill, I like to cut them into cubes and cook on skewers, and even add some cubes of tofu. Brush brochettes with olive oil or BBQ sauce, add seasonings and grill on each side… that’s all there is to it!
Serve refreshing beverages
I love to serve a glass of cold kombucha at my vegan barbecues! Although I don’t drink alcohol, I do like to offer my guests a selection of alcoholic beverages. You may think that finding alcoholic beverages that are also vegan is difficult, but there are actually many options when you know where to look. Since beer is made with water, barley malt, yeast and hops, most beer is vegan and great for barbecues. However, some breweries use animal products in their filtering process, so it is important to choose products carefully. For wine and liquor, it can be a little more challenging to find in vegan products, but there are good ones out there that make the perfect aperitif.
