Summer is prime time for fresh, right-out-of-the-ground fruits and veggies and that makes cooking a vegan or veg-forward meal easy! We put together a list of recipes for a mix-and-match vegan summer cookout that is sure to please any palate.
Side Dishes
Summer Rolls
Vietnamese Summer Rolls, or gỏi cuốn in Vietnamese, are a light, healthy dish that features fresh produce and toothsome noodles, all wrapped up in a rice paper package with a zesty and flavorful dipping sauce to go along with it. A recipe for Summer Rolls from food blog Cookie & Kate uses carrots, cabbage, and cucumber, loaded into a roll packed with fresh herbs, too.
Guacamole
Guac is *not* extra when you’re dining at home, and Spoon University has cracked the code on the recipe for everyone’s favorite burrito joint’s fresh guacamole. Totally vegan, but rich and spicy, it’s a satisfying appetizer or accompaniment to any cookout. Just make sure your tortilla chips for dipping are vegan-friendly and not cooked in lard or another animal fat. This guac will disappear in the blink of an eye.
Baked Beans
Traditional baked beans, a cookout staple, are made with lots of smoky bacon, which is decidedly not vegan. However, you can make baked beans that are heavy on flavor without adding any meat by using spices and ingredients that provide umami and body to the baked beans. In a recipe from Vegan Huggs, liquid smoke, cumin, and smoked paprika all help to replace that smoky bacon flavor. Great with any of our mains we’re sharing below, these are sure to be a hit.
Main
Veggie Burgers
You don’t need an official recipe for this one! Just grab your favorite meat-free burger and hamburger buns, throw the burgers on the grill and add your favorite sauces and toppings! Pro tip: make sure you clean your grill thoroughly between grilling meat and non-meat items so there’s sure to be no transfer onto the vegan foods.
Tofu Kabobs
Layered on skewers with peppers, onions, and zucchini, tofu cubes are marinated and then brushed with your favorite BBQ sauce while grilling. These meat-free kabobs from Tasty pair great with grilled corn, a baked potato, or rice.
Grilled Veggie Taco Bowls
While this recipe from I Love Vegan is fantastic and contains a minimum of five different vegetables, creating your own grilled veggie taco bowl is just as simple! Slice and grill your favorite vegetables—mushrooms, zucchini, corn, and peppers are great options—serve with rice and top with salsa, vegan cheese, and the guac, from above!
Dessert
Grilled Fruit
This one’s simple: throw some peaches, plums, or pineapples on the grill (these fruits all stand up to the high heat of a grill really well) and serve with a scoop of dairy-free ice cream for a cookout-friendly dessert that tastes way fancier than it is!
No-Bake Lime Tarts
Love Key lime pie? Then you’ll love these vegan No-Bake Lime Tarts from Bakerita! The crust uses dates and almond flour, and the filling is made using a surprising ingredient: raw cashews. Served chilled, these are sure to be a hit on a hot summer day.
Lemon Bars
Lip-puckeringly tart and equally as sweet, lemon bars are a refreshing and light dessert, perfect for summer. Replacing butter with coconut oil and cream with coconut cream, these vegan lemon bars from Oh My Veggies are an animal-product-free alternative that sacrifices none of the taste!
Strawberry Cobbler
Desserts like cobblers are usually off-limits to vegans because of the use of dairy products in the topping, but Bakerita hits the mark again with a vegan version of Strawberry Cobbler!
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