Some people are surprised how awesome BBQ vegetables recipes can be. 

Here are our best recipes for BBQ vegetables with a few unexpected tips and tricks along the way.

If we are going to consider BBQ vegetables we’re going to have to use the phrase ‘dirty.’ As in ‘dirty fries,’ ‘dirty onions,’ essentially ‘cooking dirty.’ This means cooking directly in the coals which will of course bring a fantastic charcoal and ashen taste to your veg.

You can add it to salads, burgers and various sides for your barbecue.  

‘Dirty,’ Onions – Best BBQ Vegetables

Get yourself a red or white onion, peel and wrap it in tinfoil. Place directly on your hot charcoals in your BBQ. Depending on how many burgers or salads you want to use your dirty onions in, you could add two or three or more. 

Add salt and pepper, as well as a little sugar and thyme for best results. 

Also if you want to go all the way, add a little red wine vinegar and olive oil to really pimp your dirty onions.

It’s best to keep each onion in its own tinfoil so it can cook separately to chargrilled perfection. 

Leave your dirty onion or onions in the coals for at least 30mins until it has disintegrated into a sweet, grilled side or relish. 

Add to chicken, beef or pork or to any kind of veggie burger.

BBQ Vegetables – ‘Dirty Rocket & Lemon’

Often salad is overlooked in a barbecue set up, but wrapping your salad leaves in tinfoil and placing them straight into the bbq coals is outstanding.

Rocket, watercress, and spinach are particular good for this but any soft and flavoursome leaves will work well in this context.

Add a little lemon juice, olive oil as well as freshly ground salt and pepper and you are going to hit new levels of flavour. 

Smokey, citrusy splendour awaits.

Great BBQ Vegetables – ‘Dirty Baked Potato’

Baked Potatoes are definitely one of the best side dishes for any BBQ, but a brilliant way to infuse flavour into them is always going to be finishing them off on your barbecue.

Make sure to give your baked potato an hour in the oven first at 180 degrees C and then finish it off on your barbecue for around 30mins. Again wrap it in tinfoil for best results. 

When you are cooking in the oven start it off the right way by adding freshly ground salt and pepper, as well as a little olive oil. 

Add butter or cheese when you are serving to really make it glorious. We particularly love cream cheese and bacon bits, or cream cheese and freshly chopped spring onions.

The chargrilled, smokey taste is so lovely with potato and the skins in particular.

Top BBQ Vegetables – ‘Dirty Butternut Squash’

A butternut squash can be difficult to prepare. Peel it, cut it into chunks, it really isn’t that easy. You have to scoop out the seeds which again, is difficult and time-consuming.

The best way to prepare a butternut squash is to cut it right down the middle, put the two halves on a baking tray and cook it at 180 degrees C for 35 minutes. 

After cooking it is much easier to scoop out the flesh, and discard the seeds. 

You can discard the skin more easily also as the flesh will have melted slightly.

Now you can take your butternut squash and cut it into manageable cubes. Once again you can place all your fleshy cubes into tinfoil and put them directly into your charcoal.

After 20 minutes you can take your BBQ butternut squash out. It should have melted a little. If not put it back in to take on more of the BBQ flavour.

If you like you can add a few dried chilli flakes or a splash of coconut milk to your squash afterwards to add to the flavour. 

Ingredients For BBQ Halloumi Burger

• 4 brioche baps
• 250g halloumi cheese, cut into slices
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 4 tbsp chilli houmous
• 5 Plum tomatoes thinly sliced
• Rocket, Spinach or Watercress leaves or a mix of them
• BBQ sauce – Check our Recipe here

Method

STEP 1

• Heat your barbecue up 30 minutes in advance. If you need tips on ‘How to Light Your BBQ,’ check here:

• Brush both sides of your halloumi slices with a little olive oil and grill them on both sides for 2-3 minutes. When ready the halloumi will take on a lovely golden colour
  
  
• STEP 2

• Cut the brioche baps in two and toast them lightly on both sides. Spread your houmous across the bottom part of your baps

• . Add your sliced plum tomatoes and then the grilled halloumi. 

• Put your salad leaves on top and then add your brioche bap on top.

Now you have an outstanding bbq halloumi burger!

Barbecue Vegetables – ‘Grilled BBQ Veg’

All these veg work best when brushed with a little olive oil on both sides.

We like to grill these veg on the BBQ:

• Courgettes — Don’t cut these too thin – about 1/3 inch is perfect 
• Aubergines are particularly good on a barbecue, and work so well grilled. Make sure you cut them into long slices at least 1/2 inch thick
• Red, Orange or Green Peppers— slice the peppers  around the core and remove seeds. Cut into finger sized slices
• Carrots — perfect for grilling on the barbecue, especially when you peel your carrot into manageable strips about 1/2 inch thick
• Portabello mushrooms – these taste lovely and meaty, and work so well on your barbecue
• Spring Onions – give these a quick blast on the barbecue and they will bring so much flavour to any dish as a garnish
• Corn on the cob – add salt, pepper, lime juice, butter and a pinch of cayenne pepper to really deliver 
• Cauliflower Steaks are perfect when smothered with butter, a little garlic and grilled to the point where they are a little crispy and crumbly!
• Broccoli Steaks can be treated the same way as Cauliflower! If you want to add a little blue cheese to your broccoli it will really bring out the best in your broccoli steaks. Make sure you properly season your broccoli and cauliflower with salt and pepper.
• A magnificent mushroom mix worth grilling – duxelles, large field cap mushrooms, Shiitake Mushrooms, Oyster Mushrooms, Chanterelle Mushrooms, Porcini Mushrooms – best done on skewers. Add salt, pepper and a little olive oil
• Mushroom Burgers – put 200g of chopped mushrooms in a preheated oven at 180 degrees C. The oven will dry them out perfectly. Take them out after 25 minutes and add to 50g of breadcrumbs, 1 beaten egg, 1/2 teaspoon of cayenne pepper, dried thyme, 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder, 1/2 teaspoon of oregano, 1/2 teaspoon of chilli powder. Shape into burger patties the size of a little more than the palm of your hand. Now grill on your barbecue.

If you enjoyed this article try this one on Vegetarian Chili:

https://bbqsmokergrill.org/chili-vegetarian/

If you would like to check out another awesome BBQ Vegetables Recipes Article try here:

https://www.recipetineats.com/marinated-bbq-vegetables/