Kid-Approved Vegan BBQ Ideas + Beyond Burger Recipe

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Have you ever tried barbecuing plant-based burgers? 

If not, let me save you the time: It’s pretty disappointing. 

Frozen patties crumble through the grill as soon as they thaw. Homemade, room-temperature patties slowly slide between the barbecue grates. 

Like I said. Disappointing. 

Especially when you come from over three decades of practically living next to your grill every summer. 

When we went plant-based, we were seriously stumped on what the heck to put on our well-loved grill.

So, we scoured the stores for a vegan burger that would hold up on our grill. 

Thankfully, we found the perfect plant-based patty!

Beyond Burgers!

Can you BBQ beyond burgers? Heck yes you can! And we’ll share what works for us.

You’ve seen our yummy vegan lunches for kids, easy vegan family dinners and vegan camping food ideas, now let’s talk about vegan BBQ ideas (and a ridiculously easy Beyond Burger recipe)!

But first, let’s be clear on this. 👇

What Makes a Vegan Barbecue Different?

When cooking vegan food, just remember: No animal products. The most common ingredients to stay away from include meat, dairy, honey, eggs and gelatin. If it comes from an animal (or fish or an insect), it’s off limits. 

Thankfully, there’s an endless selection of plants though! 

Like lots of veggies. As well as fruit. 

Some vegan barbecue ideas include potatoes, yams, squash, peppers, peaches, pineapples, Brussel sprouts, lemons and a whole lot more! And in addition to fruits and veggies, there are several meat substitutes available. Like plant-based burger patties and sausages, tofu, and tempeh! 

And vegan bbq sides aren’t that different from traditional sides. Think pasta salads, leafy green salads and fruit salad!

So, if you’re stressed about what to bring to a vegan BBQ, what to serve a vegan who’s coming to your BBQ, or what to cook on your own grill, you can relax. There are loads of options. 

I think the biggest point I want to stress is: You don’t have to get fancy to make it plant-based.

Let me show you the simple foods our family eats at our vegan barbecues!

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4 Family-Friendly, Kid-Approved Vegan BBQ Ideas

When we grill, if we can cook everything on the barbecue, that’s ideal for me. Less mess inside and the only heat source is the outdoor grill, which is great for keeping the house cool on hot summer days.

And since we have 3 young kids, when we make dinner, we want them to be able to eat it. I’m fine if they don’t love everything on their plate. But I hate going to the trouble of making dishes they can’t eat. It’s exhausting. 

So the following vegan BBQ ideas are all made outside either over our grill or our fire pit and the kids love them! 

Stupid-Simple Vegan BBQ Sides

Let’s start with side dishes!

I’m not kidding when I say these vegan BBQ recipes are “stupid-simple” by the way. Here’s what we’re serving on the side:

• Potato wedges
• Zucchini spears
• Grilled corn

And here’s how we make them!

Potato Wedges

Wash the spuds. Then cut them into wedges. Toss them in a large bowl with a drizzle of olive oil and salt and pepper. Place them on the preheated grill, over the hottest part of the flame and cook for about 30 minute until they’re soft inside. Check on them after 15 minutes and turn them. After 30 minutes, continue to check on them if they’re not done.

Zucchini Spears

Similar with the potatoes, wash the zucchini and cut them into long wedges. Toss them with the potatoes in the bowl of olive oil and salt and pepper. Put them on the grill at the same time as the potatoes. We put them in the back, where it isn’t as hot and cook them for about 30 minutes turning them after 15 minutes.

Grilled Corn

If the husk isn’t already removed, take it off. Place the corn on the top rack of the grill at the same time you add the zucchini and potatoes. Cook for the same time and turn the corn when you turn the zucchini and potatoes. After removing the potatoes and zucchini, place the corn over the flame for 1-2 minutes, rotating them until they get a little blackened.

When they’re done, remove them from the grill and you can top with vegan butter and salt and pepper. But we actually like to cut the kernels off, throw them in a bowl and toss them with vegan butter and salt and pepper. 

See, didn’t I tell ya? Stupid-simple vegan BBQ sides, right? You can add other seasonings to the veggies if you want, but for our kids, they enjoy it just like this.

Easy Peasy BBQ Beyond Burger Recipe

There’s lots of yummy plant-based burgers on the market. And we enjoy most of them.

In the oven. Since that’s their preferred cooking method.

We missed using our barbecue.

So when we experimented with vegan grilling dishes, and most of the burgers weren’t holding up, we were pumped when we tried Beyond Burgers.

For the carnivores out there, or the plant-based newbies, this burger mimics an actual hamburger more than any other plant-based patty we tried.

But unlike all the hamburgers we used to grill, these don’t require any seasoning. 

Yeah. You heard me right.

None. Nada. Zilch. 

This BBQ Beyond Burger recipe is—no joke—the simplest thing.

Here’s how to grill a Beyond Burger.

Take the frozen patties out of the freezer, putting them on the grill at the same time as the veggies, and cooking them for about 30 minutes, flipping halfway through. We put vegan cheese on about 5 minutes before they’re done cooking.

We’ve tried our old burger seasonings on the Beyond Burger and it’s really not necessary. But if you want some added spice, go for it!

Where we add extra flavor to the burger is the next part: the toppings!

Tasty and Kid-Approved Condiments

What is your favorite topping for burgers? The five of us don’t all use the same combination, but we all agree that we like a lot of condiments hugging our Beyond Burger!

Some of the toppings we didn’t use this time, but we’ve done in the past are grilled mushrooms and onions, romaine lettuce and guacamole. 

Here are the tasty vegan barbecue ideas for condiments we used for this post: 

• Follow Your Heart American Style Slices
• Avocado
• Spinach
• Tomatoes
• Pickles
• Ketchup
• Mustard
• Vegan Mayo

Could we go fancier, of course! But again, our goal is simple, yummy and kid-friendly!

OK, let’s continue with my favorite vegan BBQ ideas!

Don’t Forget a Delectable Dessert

Yup! You heard me right: dessert! Cooked over a grill (or a fire pit, which we used this time)! 

Some other vegan BBQ ideas for dessert include grilled strawberries (or any type of fruit actually) on top of vegan angel food cake and topped with vegan whipped cream.

But, in an attempt to keep this vegan barbecue easy and fun, we wanted to get the kids involved. 

So, s’mores it is! 

Our kids are in Cub Scouts, so s’mores are pretty much a regular thing. And when we became vegan, we knew we’d have to figure out how to keep this treat on our kids’ dessert menu!

Thankfully, Trader Joe’s carries vegan marshmallows around the summer holidays like Memorial Day and Labor Day. And if you don’t have a TJ’s around you, you can find Dandies Marshmallows online and in stores. 

And in case you didn’t know, marshmallows aren’t vegan: they contain gelatin. And gelatin is made from collagen taken from animal parts like skin, bones, tendons and ligaments.

So, vegan mallows. ✅

Next, graham crackers. Who’d have thought it would be so difficult to find honey-free grahams? Sprouts came through for me here. But you can find alternatives at other health food stores and Thrive Market. 

OK, grahams. ✅

Now, my favorite part: chocolate! Since a lot of chocolate has milk in it (especially milk-chocolate), it’s not plant-based. But there are several brands that make dairy-free chocolate. I found Enjoy Life at Amazon and Sprouts, but I’ve found other brands at Target. 

Yay! Chocolate. ✅

You can roast your marshmallows over the grill, fire pit, or heck, even your gas stove in the kitchen! This is our kids’ favorite part!

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What Are Your Go-To Vegan BBQ Recipes?

While we love these side dishes and Beyond Burger recipe, some other vegan barbecue ideas are veggie and tofu kabobs, pizzas or flatbreads and vegan sausages. But, as newbies, we’re keeping it simple, savory, low stress and fun! 

We recently went camping and made some yummy vegan BBQ meals on the camp stove. So if you’re headed to the great outdoors, check out these ideas for easy vegan camping food.

We’re looking for new ideas all the time, so leave me a comment below with one of your favorite vegan BBQ recipes!

And as always, stay mindful, even when your mind’s full!
~Chelsea

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