It’s fair to say that as a nation, we Brits are pretty crazy about cooking outdoors, whether it’s on a gas barbeque or over coals. The humble barbeque, however, has acquired a reputation as being a meat-eater’s paradise; there is a common misconception that vegetarians have to stick to salad or go hungry. It’s time to put this fallacy to bed; just because you don’t eat meat doesn’t mean you can’t enjoy a barbeque; and with many vegetarian recipes available it’s time to get cooking.
Here are some old favourites and instant classics:
Barbecued corn on the cob
This needn’t be a boring side dish; with a little bit of work you can make your corn the talk of the town. The secret to perfect corn on the cob is to cook it on a sheet of tinfoil for the first 20 minutes, before cooking directly on the barbeque for the final 10. Don’t forget to lightly brush your corn with oil and butter and season with a good barbeque spice blend before cooking. Easy!
Tikka skewers
For this dish (which will make 12 skewers), put 250g of small new potatoes in a pan of salted water and boil for seven minutes. While the potatoes are boiling, take a large bowl and mix together three tablespoons of tikka paste with around 250g of yogurt, two tablespoons of cumin seeds, a thumb size piece of fresh root ginger (finely grated) and seasoning.
Once the potatoes are cooked, drain them and tip into your tikka mixture, adding 300g of paneer cheese (cut into chunks). Gently cover the cheese and potatoes with the marinade before leaving to chill for two hours.
To assemble, simply alternate marinated potatoes and paneer on the skewers with slices of onions and peppers. The finished kebabs will take 10 to 15 minutes to cook on a barbeque.
Carrot and sesame burgers
It’s just not a barbeque without burgers! To make these simple vegetarian ones you will need the following ingredients:
Start by blending a third of the grated carrot in a food processor with the chickpeas, onion, tahini paste, cumin and egg; you’re looking for the point at which it becomes a thick paste.
Next, heat one tablespoon of oil in a frying pan and add the remaining carrot; cook for around eight to 10 minutes. Add the cooked carrot to your bowl of blended ingredients with the breadcrumbs, lemon zest and sesame seeds. Mix this well with your hands and add seasoning.
Divide the resulting mixture and shape into six burgers, chill until cooking. To make a sauce for your burgers, mix the remaining tahini with the lemon juice and yogurt, adding a few drops of chilli sauce.
These burgers should take around five minutes to cook. Toast the buns and assemble with sauce, sliced avocado, rocket and onion.
Side dishes
No barbeque is complete without some delicious side dishes. For the perfect accompaniment to your vegetarian barbeque feast, why not create pasta salad? There are many pasta recipes available online. One example is this zesty lemon pasta salad. To make this salad, which will serve four people, follow these simple steps:
- Cook 325g of pasta. While this is cooking, heat one tablespoon of olive oil in a pan and fry one red onion (cut into wedges).
- Once you have cooked the onion for around five minutes (it should be lightly browned), add in one lemon (cut into thin slices) and sear for a few minutes until charred, then transfer into a large bowl. Drain the pasta and add this to the bowl.
- To make the salad dressing, mix two tablespoons of lemon juice with two tablespoons of ground thyme, black pepper, a pinch of salt and four tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil.
- Drizzle the dressing over the pasta and onions and add in two red peppers (cut into wedges) and six spring onions (sliced).
There are, of course, many more online recipes for you to discover; so don’t let anyone tell you that vegetarians can’t enjoy a good barbeque just as much as their meat-eating friends.

