Summertime is coming, and if you’re newly vegan or considering veganism you may be feeling a bit worried about the barbecue season. But don’t worry! You don’t have to give up all your favorite summertime get-togethers. 

   It’s fun for me to address vegan barbecue. In fact, this post idea was one of the very first ideas I had for this website, but I never quite got around to it. This year, however, I kicked off the warm weather with a vegan barbecue of my own! So here are some ideas for dishes you can make if you’re hosting your own vegan barbecue! (And stick around for tips if you’ve been invited to a nonvegan barbecue, because we’re going to talk about that too.)

Main dish

Vegan replacement products –There are a growing number of vegan products out there that make a vegan barbecue easier. Think “fake meat” burgers, hot dogs and/or brats. I’m partial to Beyond Brats, but we went for burgers this time around.

Make your own veggie burgers–Another option is to make your own veggie patties. (You could also try making sausages, but I find that process to be more complicated.) A good veggie burger will usually have some sort of grain, some vegetables and spices to flavor it, along with some protein source like beans, lentils or peas, and you can find lots of good recipes online.

Vegetable kabobs–Food on a skewer is a barbecue fave! This time around, mine had tofu added to make them more substantial as a main dish, but for a side, just vegetables are okay too. Either way, you’ll want to make a flavorful marinade. I went with olive oil, salt pepper, onion and garlic powder, a little bit of sumac and some pomegranate molasses for mine this time, but I would really encourage you to get creative and find what works for you!

Salads

Potato Salad–If you can find some vegan mayo, you can make potato salad. I put two kinds of mustard, pickles and red onion in mine, but use your own family’s recipe and veganize it for a more familiar flavor.

Coleslaw–I didn’t make coleslaw this time around, but I could have. If you’re able to get your hands on a vegan mayo for a potato salad and pasta salad, you can definitely use some of it to make a coleslaw. In fact, if you can only find one special vegan ingredient for your barbecue, I would say vegan mayo is where it’s at.

Macaroni/pasta salad–This was my first time making a macaroni salad so it could’ve been better, in my opinion. But I wanted to try my hand at it as it’s a regular at many barbecues and potlucks. And I think it went well enough. All you need for this one is elbow macaroni with mayo, flavorings and vegetables. So in that regard it’s pretty simple.

Fruit salad–There are infinite ways to make a fruit salad so don’t let me crimp your style. It’s nice to have something fresh and juicy to accompany all of the charred and mayo-based foods. And fruit is a great way to do that!

Lettuce or kale salad–I didn’t go into this barbecue thinking I was going to try to make a lot of healthy food. Nope, we were celebrating. But, I think a nice green salad can be a good accompaniment to a barbecue too.

Sides

Baked potatoes–You can make baked potatoes on the grill too. Just cover them in foil and stick them on there. They will need more time than you think they probably will. Although you could steam or partially cook them beforehand to make it a little faster.

Macaroni and Cheese–I can’t help but suggest Mac and Cheese at any function where nonvegans are going to be. Whether you’re buying the Daiya Mac and Cheese out of the box or making your own, people who eat the standard U.S. diet tend to love Mac and Cheese. While I didn’t make it this time, it never fails to impress when I do.

Chips–The easiest thing on this list. Buy a bag of chips and set them out. At a barbecue, I’m personally looking for potato chips. But you might be more of a spicy sweet chili Doritos kind of person or a chips and guac fan. It all works, and it’s incredibly easy.

Grilled corn–In my opinion, it’s not a barbecue if you don’t get a piece of grilled corn on the cob. This is the perfect accompaniment to pretty much any barbecue fare, and not something you want to skip. It does cook pretty slowly though. So put it in one corner of your grill first, and then continue with your other foods after.

Watermelon–Slice it up and get it on a plate!Watermelon is one of those foods that needs no explanation, just include it. For our barbecue, we leaned on it completely to be our dessert, but you could decide to actually make a dessert too.

Dessert ideas

Fruit crisp — Something relatively simple you can bake beforehand is a fruit crisp. Grab a can of peaches or pears and pour them in a 9 in square pan and then layer the top with a mixture of oats, brown sugar and some fat along with whatever sweet spices you like, like cinnamon, nutmeg, etc. Put it in the oven covered until you can smell it, and like magic, there’s your dessert.

Popsicles–Can you tell I’m a sucker for easy desserts? Popsicles. If you want to get fancy, you can make them yourself but for me, there are more than enough options on the market to just buy them. Popsicles are great for hot weather and tasty too. Just make sure you don’t let them melt!

Vegan Cheesecake–I like the Daiya Cheesecakes that I can find sometimes at the store. (I like them a lot.) However, the key word is sometimes. Because of their inaccessibility, I decided that I really didn’t want to go running around looking for them for my barbecue this time. But, if you want a cheesecake and can’t find Daiya, you can always make your own. There are lots of good recipes online that use silken tofu as a base that I would recommend giving a try.

Drinks

   It generally isn’t too difficult to find vegan drinks. However, if you are going to have alcoholic beverages at your barbecue, it may be difficult to know what is and isn’t vegan since they don’t have to list the ingredients. 

   For me, this is where Barnivore comes in. Barnivore is the vegan alcohol resource, and is made better all the time by consumers corresponding with companies about their alcoholic drinks. You can check it out here!

Our barbecue had three choices of drinks, although I didn’t get a picture of our cooler. We had water bottles, Sprite, and some Sapporo beer. Between the three of those things, all the guests were happy. I find that one alcoholic option, one non-alcoholic but still fun drink and water are the most useful options if you’re on a budget or otherwise don’t want to be carrying around a bunch of heavy drink options.

If you’re the guest…

   Now this is all well and good if you’re making your own vegan barbecue and all but I think for most of us we tend to be invited to barbecues more than we host them. So what do you do if you’re invited to a nonvegan barbecue?

Talk to your host

   Figure out what kind of an event this is. If it’s a potluck or if they are taking care of the whole menu. Either way, ask what is being served. It’s customary for the host to supply the main dish even at a potluck, and many hosts would be quite grateful if you could bring a main dish for yourself, or at least recommend something they could pick up for you. 

What to bring

   Whenever I’m going somewhere, I like to make sure I will have at least three things on my plate plus something pleasant to drink. So if your host says “okay I’ll buy these veggie dogs for you”, then maybe you want to check to see if someone else is bringing some fresh fruit or vegetable option and you can bring a more starchy side. 

The mindset

   I think that being a vegan at a barbecue requires a specific mindset, if you’re vegan for animal rights reasons. There are some pretty graphic scenes playing out in front of you on the grill and that can be upsetting, especially if you’re new to these situations or if you’re already not feeling robust mental and emotional fortitude at any given moment. 

   Here’s my advice. First and foremost, avoid. Stay far away from the grill whenever possible and don’t hang out helping with the raw slabs of meat. If you were invited by anyone who cares about you, they’re not expecting you to extend yourself and make yourself emotionally ill to help them out with something anyone else could do at this function. The meat is not your responsibility, so ignore it. 

   If this means you have to set a boundary because you “used to help with this stuff just fine”, that’s okay. Set that boundary. Both for yourself and for the future health of your social relationships. You can get a new barbecue job. The beer, the veggies, the tunes, some fun games, child care. There are all sorts of things you can do to still contribute to the event but avoid handling pieces of dead bodies. 

The jokes

   If  you’re a new vegan especially, your social circle may not yet understand how important veganism is to you, and may still be making jokes. 

   For me, it was important to make it clear from the getgo that I was not going to be the butt of the jokes for being vegan. I think it was important for me to strike the balance between firm and respectful. And if I was met with disrespect, then I dipped into sass, but not before. 

The questions you’re asked

   You may feel the need to prepare some responses to questions you get asked a lot, so you won’t feel so rattled when they come up. If that’s the case, I would encourage you to check out my series on questions for vegans, which you can find here. 

Hold your head high

   But as for the jokes, try to remember that they don’t understand the gravity of the situation. Even if you have told them before, they’re not correctly registering the seriousness of the animal agriculture industry. This is all socialization, and we can’t entirely blame them for what they’ve been told all their lives. This won’t erase the pain and anger you feel on behalf of the animals and yourself, but it will help to direct it in a way that is more appropriate. Because as much as it may feel otherwise, we’re not fighting people. We’re fighting a system, a culture, a narrative. And that’s a little more tricky. 

   If you’re in a social circle who really cannot respect your decision to go vegan and refrain from joking around about it, I would have a conversation beforehand with the person/people that you find to be the biggest issues and let them know that you would appreciate their kindness at this event, to lay off the jokes. Let them know that while they may think it’s fun or funny, you’re not having a good time. 

   Often enough, nonvegans tend not to realize how upsetting and insensitive their jokes come off, because to them they’re talking about a choice for dinner while to a vegan we are talking about literal life and death. When you remind them of that, however, many will be more understanding if you’re able to communicate it in a semi-composed manner. 

Share food

   So back to food once more. It may strike you as odd, but sometimes the same people who will make fun of you for not eating the regular barbecue fare will then turn around and be very interested in your vegan food. 

   I’ve found this to be true in almost every nonvegan gathering that I’ve been to. The vegan food is very interesting to the other party guests. It’s for this reason that I try to bring my A game to events when it comes to food. I make sure that whatever I’m bringing is very tasty, not just to ensure I have a good time, but also that any nonvegans who try it will know that vegan food can be delicious too. And I always bring plenty to share with everyone. 

   I like to make sure that anyone who is curious about a vegan meal gets to see what it can look like and try some for themselves if they’re interested. And usually, they are. Because as we vegans know, vegan food can be incredible! It’s not that nonvegans are against vegan food. In my experience, they’re just scared. They worry that they’ll have to give up all their favorites and that there won’t be anything left. 

   And I can say with full certainty that after getting to know me, many people have learned that vegan food doesn’t have to be extremely healthy or bland. It doesn’t have to be boring or sad. They’ve seen that vegans can eat well and have special celebration food too. And for me, that’s a good feeling. In fact, that’s what makes me not choose the liberation pledge as a way of life. Even though it can take a lot out of me to join nonvegan gatherings, I feel my presence can do more good than my absence would do. 

Conclusion

So that’s all she wrote about vegan barbecue. When you go vegan, you don’t have to give up your summer social events. In fact, you can have them just as robust as before. Thank you for reading my thoughts. If you have any questions, let us know in the comments of this post. And if you have any vegan barbecue favorites, share them with us too! We love to get new vegan food ideas! If you’re interested in more vegan content, subscribe to the blog. We talk both about going vegan and staying vegan, and the emotional and logistical aspects to both. And as usual, have a fantastic day!