Kid-Approved Vegan BBQ Ideas + Beyond Burger Recipe

by Chelsea K. Baxter
Beyond burger with toppings alongside vegan BBQ sides of corn, potato wedges and zucchini

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! 

Ingredients for Beyond Burger recipe of beyond burgers, vegan cheese, corn, zucchini, potatoes, and buns
Ingredients for this Beyond Burger recipe and vegan BBQ sides

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!

Vegan BBQ sides of corn, zucchini and potato in a bowl.
Vegan BBQ sides of potato wedges, zucchini spears and corn ready to hit the grill

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.

Kids plate of Beyond Burger recipe
This bbq Beyond Burger recipe on one of our kid’s plates.

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!

Grilling vegan food of corn, zucchini, potatoes and Beyond Burgers
The placement of the vegan BBQ sides and Beyond Burgers on our grill.

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
Condiments and toppings for Beyond Burgers
Ideas for condiments for our Beyond Burgers

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! 

Ingredients for vegan s'mores of graham crackers, marshmallows, and chocolate
Ingredients for vegan s’mores.

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!

Vegan s'mores by a fire pit
One of our favorite vegan BBQ ideas for dessert is s’mores!

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

P.S. Like this post? Consider pinning it for later! 👇

This pin for Pinterest has four photos: One is the ingredients for the recipe, including Beyond Burgers, corn, cheese and and zucchini. The second is of the assembled burger with avocado and tomatoes and vegan cheese on top, with corn and zucchini and potatoes on a plate. The third photo is cut potatoes, zucchini and corn and Beyond Burgers on a BBQ. The last is another photo of the plate, with a focus on the grilled potatoes, corn and zucchini. The text reads BBQ Beyond Burger Recipe - Vegan BBQ Ideas for the Family (including sides and dessert) and the URL is listed Mama Has Her Mindful dot com.
Beyond burger with toppings alongside vegan BBQ sides of corn, potato wedges and zucchini

Vegan BBQ and Beyond Burger Recipe

Print
Serves: 4 Prep Time: Cooking Time:
Nutrition facts: 1053 calories 43 fat
Rating: 4.6/5
( 5 voted )

Ingredients

  • 4 Beyond Burger patties
  • 4 burger buns
  • 3-4 zucchini
  • 4 ears of corn
  • 4-5 russet potatoes
  • 1 Tbsp olive oil
  • salt and pepper
  • Earth Balance butter
  • 4 slices Follow Your Heart American Slices
  • 1 avocado
  • sliced bread and butter pickles
  • mustard
  • ketchup
  • 1 tomato
  • sliced handful of spinach
  • vegan mayonnaise
  • 8-16 vegan graham cracker squares
  • 4-8 vegan marshmallows (like Dandies)
  • 4-8 vegan chocolate squares (like Enjoy Life)

Instructions

  1. Wash potatoes and zucchini.
  2. Cut potatoes in wedges and toss into a large bowl.
  3. Cut the ends of the zucchini and slice in long wedges. (Each medium zucchini makes 4 wedges.) Toss the zucchini in the bowl.
  4. Add olive oil and salt and pepper to the bowl and toss with zucchini and potatoes until they're coated.
  5. Preheat the grill to high for five minutes.
  6. Brush the grill well. This recipe doesn't use much olive oil, so the food won't stick to it as much if it's cleaned well.
  7. Lower grill temperature to low heat.
  8. Place potato wedges on the hottest part of the grill. Then add the Beyond Burgers. Place the zucchini towards the back of the grill, further away from the heat. And put the corn on the top rack of the grill.
  9. Close the lid on the grill and check after 15 minutes. Flip the burgers, potatoes, and zucchini. Roll the corn.
  10. At about the 25 minute mark, add the cheese slices to the burgers. Close the grill for about another 5 minutes.
  11. Make sure the zucchini and potatoes are soft in the center. Continue cooking if they need more time. If they're ready to come off, remove the burgers, zucchini and potatoes from the grill. Move the corn from the top rack to the main grill and rotate for the next 1-2 minutes to blacken a bit before removing.
  12. Top burgers with avocado, tomatoes, pickles, spinach, mustard, ketchup and mayo.
  13. If you want to keep the corn on the cob, you can. If you want to serve it how we did, slice the kernels off onto a plate. Toss with some Earth Balance butter and salt and pepper.
  14. Serve Beyond Burgers with corn, zucchini and potatoes and enjoy!
  15. For s'mores, roast marshmallows over heat slowly until they are gooey inside and slightly brown on the outside. Slide marshmallow between graham crackers and chocolate square and enjoy!

Notes

*Nutrition information is approximate.

Kid-Approved Vegan BBQ Ideas + Beyond Burger RecipeKid-Approved Vegan BBQ Ideas + Beyond Burger RecipeKid-Approved Vegan BBQ Ideas + Beyond Burger RecipeKid-Approved Vegan BBQ Ideas + Beyond Burger Recipe

Leave a Comment

47 comments

Elise September 6, 2020 - 4:10 am

Some good tips here! As a long time vegetarian I have pretty much given up on the BBQ as most veggie burgers fall throguh the grill and are best done in a frying pan or oven as you point out. I liked seeing how you did the veggies. To be honest I actually don’t even own a BBQ as I didn’t think I could do much other than corn on it (my kids don’t like the taste of roasted veggies but will eat the dame veggies raw) but I’m thinking about it. I’ve gone to other BBQ before and ended up cooking my own veggie burgers in a frying pan in someone else’s kithen so it’s good to know that the Beyond Meat burgers stand up to the grill!

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Chelsea K. Baxter September 8, 2020 - 10:45 pm

Hi Elise! I hear ya. All of the veggie burgers we made fell through our grill too. Until we tried the Beyond Burgers. And when we go to parties where everyone is grilling, we bring our own Beyond Burgers and cook them on the grill. It’s super easy and my kids feel like they’re still part of the party. 🙂

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Ashley September 7, 2020 - 6:40 am

For us non-vegans, I have to say, you made all this look good! And the kid approval lends that credibility that it actually is, ha ha! 🙂

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Chelsea K. Baxter September 8, 2020 - 10:42 pm

Thanks Ashley! It was only a year and a half ago that we weren’t eating like this, so I can totally relate!

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Alyssa September 7, 2020 - 7:16 am

What great vegan options! I was just telling my husband yesterday I want create my own veggie burgers soon because we should incorporate more vegan dinners into our diet.

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Chelsea K. Baxter September 8, 2020 - 10:41 pm

Veggie burgers are awesome. We have 3 brands we love. I’ve made my own a couple of times, too. The veggie ones seem to fall apart on the grill, so I have to cook them in the oven. They’re tasty. But when I feel like grilling, the Beyond Burgers are great on the grill. I can’t wait to see what you come up with! I’ll be following on your blog!

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Siobhan September 7, 2020 - 7:21 am

Such a great list of vegan bbq dishes! Have you guys ever tried roasted and shredded jackfruit tossed with bbq sauce? SO good!

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Chelsea K. Baxter September 8, 2020 - 10:40 pm

I’ve only purchased jackfruit pre-shredded and seasoned. I’d love to try my own though because the store bought one was too spicy for my kids and I. I’d love to make it with BBQ sandwiches!

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Beth Shields September 7, 2020 - 7:38 am

What great ideas and your picture of the burger is great. It looks like a good old fashioned burger! Love the grilled veggies and potato wedges are the best grilled. Enjoy reading your creativity in keeping your family vegan. Thanks for the post and suggestions.

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Chelsea K. Baxter September 8, 2020 - 10:39 pm

Aw, thanks so much Beth!

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Erika September 7, 2020 - 7:46 am

Absolutely trying this after the next grocery run. Thanks for sharing! Totally
Pinning this to my food board!

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Chelsea K. Baxter September 8, 2020 - 10:37 pm

Thanks so much Erika! I’m glad you like it!

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Megan September 7, 2020 - 8:21 am

you’re right, it doesn’t have to be fancy to be vegan, or in our case, vegetarian. Sometimes I WAY overthink how to prep something without meat, and really, it can be simple! And these “burgers” look great!

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Chelsea K. Baxter September 8, 2020 - 10:37 pm

Thanks Megan! I get carried away sometimes too when planning our plant-based meals, but my husband keeps reminding me that we have more success when we keep it simple. 🙂

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Holly September 7, 2020 - 8:37 am

Amazing recipes and ideas for helping going vegan easier!! Lots of food for thought for me!

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Sydney Delong September 7, 2020 - 8:45 am

These look great!! I have heard a lot of good things about the Beyond Burgers!

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Christina Siwik September 7, 2020 - 9:32 am

Wonderful information for families. Thank you for sharing.

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Jenna September 7, 2020 - 10:03 am

Looks delicious! If your kids love everything, then it must be amazing! Thanks so much for sharing!

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Lisa Manderino September 7, 2020 - 10:09 am

I love grilling and these are some great ideas!

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Sabrina September 7, 2020 - 11:34 am

I am not vegan but you sure make it look super easy to become vegan. My nephew is vegan and I plan to share this post with him. Thanks for sharing.

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Chelsea K. Baxter September 8, 2020 - 10:35 pm

Thanks Sabrina!

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Leeandra September 7, 2020 - 12:14 pm

I love these recipes, I’ve recently stopped eating meat and love trying out new recipes!

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Kristin September 7, 2020 - 12:14 pm

A vegan burger that doesn’t require seasoning? I’m intrigued! Excellent, healthy grilling ideas here!

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Sabrina DeWalt September 7, 2020 - 12:58 pm

I have never had Beyond Burger but the restaurant I worked at had Impossible Burger. While it doesn’t taste anything like beef, and I (as a carnivore) would never order it over beef, it was good enough that I would eat one if it was served to me.

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Danielle Ardizzone September 7, 2020 - 1:32 pm

Grilled corn on the cob is one of our summertime favorites!

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Beth September 7, 2020 - 1:59 pm

I’m so motivated to try a vegan burger, thanks for demonstrating how tasty these are!

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Chelsea K. Baxter September 8, 2020 - 10:34 pm

Thanks Beth! I’m glad you found it helpful. I’ve tried vegan burgers at several restaurants too, but I enjoy the ones we make at home just as much. There are some vegan burgers that are more veggie based and less like real meat that we like, too. There are so many on the market now! I hope you find one you like!

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Debbie Lilly September 7, 2020 - 3:04 pm

Sounds like a delicious, hearty and healthy meal! Perfect!!

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Lisa September 7, 2020 - 3:20 pm

Great ideas for how to get some veggies for kids! These would be so good for my son.

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Marianne September 7, 2020 - 4:39 pm

Looks great! I haven’t tried vegan burgers before, but they look like the real thing. I do use the vegan cheese, and chocolate, as I have a dairy sensitivity. I even tried the vegan marshmallows! Its great that options like this exist, that actually taste good and don’t leave you feeling like you are missing out!

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Chelsea K. Baxter September 8, 2020 - 10:32 pm

That’s awesome you use the vegan cheeses Marianne. While I don’t care for all of them, I do enjoy Follow Your Heart. And thank goodness there is dairy-free chocolate. I don’t know how I’d survive without chocolate! 😉

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Barbara September 7, 2020 - 5:12 pm

Great ideas for vegan diets!

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Maria Gustafsson September 7, 2020 - 5:31 pm

Looks like you’ve found a great way to make bbq season work for your family

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Erica Pittenger September 8, 2020 - 1:34 pm

Yum!!! Looks like I have dinner for tonight!!

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Suz September 8, 2020 - 5:21 pm

I guess it’s important, when you have kids, to try to mimic what they’re used to eating. When I was vegan, I was also concentrating on whole foods, so wouldn’t have used processed items at all. Which can be pretty difficult! It was basically legumes, veggies, and some grains. Much easier to use all the items you’ve listed here!

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Chelsea K. Baxter September 8, 2020 - 10:30 pm

Hi Suz! Thanks for sharing. A whole-food, plant-based diet is definitely ideal. But realistically, it’s not practical at this point for our family. But we are working towards it for sure! 🙂

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Suzan | It's My Sustainable Life September 9, 2020 - 3:13 am

I fear as a “from scratch” household we don’t purchase or eat processed foods. I do, however, love that you’ve made them a bit healthier with the addition of fresh foods!!

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Alice September 9, 2020 - 12:40 pm

Sounds good to me. I’ve had veggie burgers in the past and they are good. I’ve also had corn on the cob cooked on the grill but the cook left the husks on. Best corn I ever had.

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Maya September 11, 2020 - 5:25 pm

Love your creative ways to make healthy vegan food interesting and kid friendly. Great recipes!

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Chelsea K. Baxter September 12, 2020 - 11:30 pm

Thank you Maya!

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Stephanie June 7, 2021 - 9:01 am

Looks amazing. I love Beyond Burger, but I have to say I love the Beyond Sausages even more! They hold up on the grill as well. Products like Beyond Burgers are making eating vegan a lot more accessible to people. I love seeing that happen!

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Chelsea K. Baxter June 7, 2021 - 3:02 pm

Oh man. The Beyond Sausages are SO good. We used them to make breakfast when we went camping in this post!

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Anyka Racelis June 7, 2021 - 12:37 pm

Man, this sounds amazing! I definitely want to do a corn on the cob type of bbq. I will look forward to doing this soon!

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Chelsea K. Baxter June 7, 2021 - 3:01 pm

Thanks! We love barbecuing corn on the cob!

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Keirsten June 8, 2021 - 8:55 am

Yes! These are great vegan BBQ ideas. Aaron and I have been thinking of getting a barbecue for the first time this summer. Now that companies like Beyond & Impossible are available it’s so much easier to grill up vegan burgers. And I looooove corn on the cob. I also really want to do veggie skewers. I remember eating those as a kid and haven’t really had them since haha. Thanks for sharing these easy vegan BBQ recipe ideas. Definitely going to join in this summer.

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Chelsea K. Baxter June 13, 2021 - 3:28 pm

We use our grill so much less since going plant-based. I missed it. So I’m glad we found something yummy to grill up! I agree, I really want to try veggie skewers too! And probably throw in some fruit as well like pineapple or peaches!

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Cindy June 12, 2021 - 8:05 pm

I love Beyond Meat patties! And these are great accompaniments for those grill patties.

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