With the days getting hotter, more people are starting to dust off their barbecues and firing up the grills for parties and family dinners out on the deck or backyard. Burgers, hot dogs and steaks are thawed and buns are toasted.
With warm Fridays and long weekends in the future, everyone is looking for new recipes to try out. But, the only problem is that many recipes for barbecues aren’t exactly vegan friendly.
Thankfully, there are a number of great vegan options you can still make for backyard parties, either as a side or main dish. While they don’t need to be prepped over grills to be delicious, using a pellet or charcoal grill from companies like Dickson BBQ to add additional flavours make them even better.
We’ve collected some of the best vegan options for you to try out this summer, whether it starts by firing up the barbecue to roast some corn or mushrooms to make burgers or just adding a little authentic smoky flavour to a great meal.
Barbeque Portobello Burgers
One great recipe to start with is a good old fashioned burger grilled to perfection over hot charcoals or using the Traeger timberline pellet grill which is excellent for these. As with many of the recipes to follow, these best burgers brisbane don’t need a single animal product to be just as delicious.
All that’s needed is a few large portobello mushroom heads and some seasoning that you more than likely have in your kitchen’s cupboards.
Though this recipe originally works for two vegan burgers, the ingredient amounts can easily be multiplied or divided for a larger group or just a single dinner. While you don’t need to start the barbecue to make these, the smokey taste will definitely make it even better!
All you need to do is to remove the stalks and gills before giving the caps a light roast for a great burger patty. If you can’t find portobello mushrooms, any mushroom works just as well.
To finish off the burgers, you can also prep a quick marinade to give the caps some flavour. All you need to do is put some vinegar, some mustard and any other seasonings into a ziploc bag along with your mushroom caps before mixing it all up together. Leave it in the fridge for a minimum of 30 minutes before assembling your burgers.
To make it even healthier and more vegan friendly, these burgers go great with avocado based sauces and sweeter vegetables like beets for toppings.
Vegan “Ribs”
One of the most classic staples at any barbeque is ribs. So, prepping some vegan “ribs” to put on the grill for your friends, family or even yourself is a must. Not only do they taste great without the need for animal products, having some ready includes everyone at your table.
Like with many meat substitutes, these ribs can be made up out of soy mixed with barbecue seasonings or marinades before lightly charred over the grill for a few minutes. But if you or your friends don’t like the taste of soy burgers or ribs, there are many other vegan alternatives that are just as great or even better.
Some recipes use a combination of jackfruit and seita due to their chewy and stringier textures that imitate meat. Once you mix them together and form your “ribs”, all you need to do is slather them in barbecue sauce and grill them right up!
The great thing about these vegan ribs is that you don’t need to make a separate side dish to go along with it. Just like how you can choose between the classic bbq sauce or a honey garlic glaze for both vegan and non-vegan ribs, you can still roast potatoes, make a quick bean salad or even whip up a garden salad for a side dish.
With your main dish right off the grill, cool refreshing or roasted sides work perfectly for everyone at your party.
Vegan Hot Dogs
Just like with burgers, some of the simplest vegan options for hot dogs are made out of soy granules or a mixture of carrot chunks, peas, corn and potatoes. If neither of these options sound all that appealing to you even without barbecuing them, good news is that there are many different options you can choose from for your next backyard barbecue party.
Some vegan hot dog recipes use ingredients like seitan, potatoes, beans and lentils or different types of flours to form the base of the hot dog. From there, all that’s needed is some garlic, onions, some seasonings and a little sweetness to flavour it.
Once rolled and steamed, you can take these vegan hot dogs a step further and barbecue them to make them even more flavourful.
As far as toppings go, these hot dogs go well with the same kinds as a regular hot dog would pair well with. Since you can add ketchup or mustard to the hot dog mixture before steaming, adding more once grilled isn’t needed. But all the other classic toppings are also great additions to these as well as sauerkraut and avocado dips.
Barbecue Sauce
If you want to make sure that the barbecue sauces you use for ribs, burgers or any other dishes are just as vegan friendly, there are many recipes that perfectly fit the bill. To make it even better, you don’t even need that many ingredients. All you need is ketchup, vinegar, hot sauce, and some brown sugar. Mix them all together and add any additional seasonings to taste!
Takeaway
Meat and other animal products often play a big part in barbecues and outdoor parties, often leading to some people feeling left out due to the fact that they don’t eat meat for health reasons, religious statements or simple preference.
However, there are more opportunities for vegans to take part in these kinds of events and join their friends without needing to stray from their dietary needs. Many of the barbeque staples you likely know of have vegan alternatives that can be put on the grill with everything else, making them just as tasty.