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Vegan Cookout Food – What to Bring Roundup!

What are you going to do when you are the vegan at the cookout? What do you eat? That’s when you think: “what vegan cookout food can I bring so I can eat, and make a contribution to the meal?

No matter what stage of vegan life you are in, it will happen: you’re going to a cookout

A lot of people (correctly) imagine the grill, and the table, heaped with bits of cooked animals, stacks of cheesy things, and all sorts of other dishes they simply will not (and cannot) eat. But, big get-togethers – like cookouts and family parties – are an excellent opportunity to share delicious vegan cookout food with people who have the all too common perception of vegan food being carrots and tasteless tofu and to introduce them to the wonderful variety. The choice then is to be rude and stay home, or be the vegan at the cookout with the awesome food that everyone wants to try! This post is to help you do the latter, and be the hero!

Summertime Means Cookouts

Here in North America, the cookout is a staple of Summer entertaining, and it officially starts with the Memorial Day weekend. That’s what got us started thinking about this. So, we reached out to a bunch of our awesome vegan blogger friends and asked them for their favorite vegan cookout food. Well, you are in for a treat because they really came through with some outstanding vegan dishes that even a newbie in the kitchen can put together and wow friends and family. Of course, we have a few in here, too 😉

WHAT TO BRING ROUNDUP Saves the Day!

We have compiled a fantastic list of options for you. There is something here no matter if you are rushing about last minute or all the way to hosting the whole thing at your place. We have organized the list into 4 categories (click on the category to jump down the page):

  1. Salad & Dips
  2. Sides
  3. Main Dish, Burgers, & Grill
  4. Desserts

OK! Enough of that – let’s get started!

VEGAN COOKOUT FOOD ROUNDUP

SALADS & DIPS

VEGAN FAMILY RECIPES: Summer Pasta Salad
Summer_Pasta_Salad-4

FRIED DANDELIONS: Balsamic Bean Salad
balsamic-bean-salad

CADRY’S KITCHEN: Peach & Black Bean Salsa
main_peach_black_bean_salsa

THE VEGAN 8: Smoky Jalapeño Black Bean Dip
blackbeandip3-1-of-1

HEALTHIER STEPS: Garlic Tofu Salad with Lime Dressing 
tofu-saladwb

GLUE & GLITTER: Vegan Dilly Pesto Potato Salad
dill-pesto-potato-salad

VEGGIES DON’T BITE: 7 Layer Taco Dip 
seven-layer-taco-dip-43

VEGGIES DON’T BITE: Italian Orzo Salad
italian-orzo-salad-basil-spinach-mushrooms-tomatoes-49

FULL OF BEANS: Can’t Stop Eating This Bean Dip
Vegan Cookout Food: Bean dip on a cucumber chip

VEGGIE INSPIRED JOURNEY: Cucumber Chickpea Salad with Tahini
Cucumber-Chickpea-Salad-Redo

SIDES

TRINITY’S CONSCIOUS KITCHEN: Raw Sunflower Seed Pate
Raw-Sunflower-Pate-2

ELEPHANTASTIC VEGAN: Mediterranean Couscous with Olives, Artichokes, & Dried Tomatoes
couscous

FULL OF BEANS: Fat-Free Vegan Baked Beans 
Vegan Cookout Food: Vegan Baked Beans

FULL OF BEANS: Best Ever Cornbread
Vegan Cookout Food: The Best Cornbread Ever

MAIN DISH, BURGERS, & GRILL

HEDI HEARTS: Clean Eating Falafel Burger
clean-eating-falafel-burger-009

CADRY’S KITCHEN: Curried Tofu Salad – Quick & Easy Lunch
maincurriedtofu

VEGANOSITY: Red Wine Portobello Burger

VEGANOSITY: Pulled BBQ Carrots

FULL OF BEANS: Tofu Dill Salad

Tofu Dill Salad Wrap

GO DAIRY FREE: Famous Black Bean Chipotle Burger
Candle-79-Black-Bean-Chipotle-Burgers

XANDER FRIENDLY FOODS: Veggie Carrot Hot Dogs
Hot-Dogs-576x1024

MY PLANT BASED FAMILY: Secret Ingredient Vegan BBQ Sandwich
BBQ-sandwich

FULL OF BEANS: Killer Vegan Chili!
Vegan Cookout food: Killer Vegan Chili!

DESSERTS (everyone’s fav!)

FRIED DANDELIONS: Coconut Almond Tart
tart-580x331

A VIRTUAL VEGAN: Raspberry Walnut Squares
raspberry-walnut-slice-1-copy

GO DAIRY FREE: Frosted Strawberry Shortbread Bars
Strawberry-Shortbread-Bars-A-delicious-dairy-free-recipe-for-barbecues-potlucks-and-more-vegan-too-3

FEASTING ON FRUIT: Easy Chocolate Chip Cookies
IMG_7064-2

UNCONVENTIONAL BAKER: Caramelized Peanut & Chocolate Pie
Caramelized-Peanut-and-Chocolate-Pie-Gluten-Free-Vegan-Refined-Sugar-Free-and-can-be-made-with-almonds-for-paleo-version1

Have fun sharing this fantastic food with friends, family, and skeptics!

🙂

Husband and wife, father and mother, working adults – Greg and Georgia formed Full of Beans to share encouragement, inspiration, and tips to get you started on, and maintain, a plant-based vegan diet (even if you think you don't have the time/money/skills/energy). See the About page for more.

This Post Has 17 Comments

  1. WOW! I think the vegans at this cookout might have to fight the non-vegans off. So many delicious options. Thank you for including my pulled carrots and Portobello burger recipes. 🙂 Sharing everywhere!

  2. It sure would be fun to get all of us together for a feast! Thanks for sharing my recipe and putting this all together. What a great collection! Can’t wait to share this with friends.

    1. Wouldn’t it be fun? Its an awesome list – glad that you like it and thanks for your contribution. 🙂

    1. It would be an epic event, for sure!! Thanks for the comment, your contribution, and the share! 😊

    1. Skeptics have officially run out of the ability to claim that vegan food is “limited”, or “tasteless”, or “boring”. But we knew that already! 😄 It was fun putting it together – thanks for your pie, Audrey, it’s exceptional!

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