36 Grilled Vegetables That Show Meat Who's Boss
Think veggies are just a boring side dish? Please.
Come summertime, we try to eat as many of our meals outside as we can. While we love throwing burgers, hot dogs, seafood, and more on the grill, sometimes our favorite things (the ones we dream about when the weather dips again) are the VEGGIES. With that in mind, we’ve rounded up our favorite 36 recipes for grilled vegetables here, everything from simple instructions (just how long do those zucchini take?) to sides made with your grill-charred produce. Our greatest tip? Make extra!
If you’ve never grilled veggies before (or just aren't that confident about it yet!), start simple with some basics, like grilled corn on the cob, grilled broccoli, grilled carrots, grilled potatoes (or sweet potatoes), or even grilled romaine lettuce. Have some grilled veg and want to take it to the next level? Try turning it into a salad or side, like we did with corn in our grilled corn salad, our grilled corn salsa, or our grilled creamed corn. You could also pop them onto skewers, like we did in our Buffalo cauliflower kebabs, our zucchini & cauliflower skewers with feta, or our veggie kebabs.
Speaking of skewers, they’re one of the best ways to guarantee you won’t lose any precious veg to the depths of your grill. Another good way? Foil! Check out our grilled green beans or our top foil packs for tips.
And don’t forget about condiments! You can turn average ones into spectacular ones by first charring them on the grill. Check out our grilled avocados (and our grilled guacamole), our grilled tomatoes, and our grilled onion blossoms to see what we mean.
Want even more grill ideas? Check out our favorite grilled fruit recipes and our favorite weeknight dinners on the grill too.
Grilled Corn On The Cob
This is our simplest, easiest corn recipe, but the flavor combo options are endless—check out the rest of our grilled corn ideas too.
Get the Grilled Corn On The Cob recipe.
Buffalo Cauliflower Kebabs
These Buffalo cauliflower kebabs put all your favorite flavor from classic Buffalo wings onto skewers–and they're vegetarian to boot! Glaze the kebabs with more buffalo sauce, grill until the cauliflower is tender, then drizzle with blue cheese dressing.
Get the Buffalo Cauliflower Kebabs recipe.
Grilled Carrots
Carrot's natural sweetness comes out during cooking, a complementary foil to the smoky char achieved on the grill. We love serving this veggie side atop creamy ricotta, with a punchy carrot top-based chimichurri sauce for some brightness.
Get the Grilled Carrots recipe.
Grilled Bell Peppers
Move over, meat: It’s the humble bell pepper’s time to shine. Grilling bell peppers is a quick and easy way to pack in a ton of flavor and this recipe is so easy that it’ll make you think twice before buying your next jar of roasted peppers.
Get the Grilled Bell Peppers recipe.
Grilled Corn Salad
This versatile, flavorful corn salad is the perfect way to use up leftover grilled corn. Mix and match your favorite cheeses, herbs, and nuts, but keep the citrus for brightness and oil for a little richness. And if you like a little *kick*, add some sliced jalapeños or a big pinch of red pepper flakes.
Get the Grilled Corn Salad recipe.
Grilled Asparagus
Few veggies grill up as nicely as asparagus. Thin stalks get crispy while thicker ones get tender. Finish with a bit of lemon or Parm, and you'll have the perfect summer side dish in under 5 minutes.
Get the Grilled Asparagus recipe.
Thai-Inspired Grilled Cauliflower Steaks
We found the perfect funky balance of sweet, sour, salty, and spicy in this Thai-inspired sauce to blanket your cauliflower steaks. Try the sauce and if needed, balance it out to your taste with brown sugar for more sweetness, red pepper flakes for more heat, lime juice for more pucker, and salt.
Grilled Baked Potatoes
Sure, a baked potato in the oven is great, but have you tried them on the grill? Use this method for your backyard grill or even when you're out camping. The potatoes cook up just as fluffy as they do in the oven, but have the bonus of smoky flavor.
Get the Grilled Baked Potatoes recipe.
Balsamic Grilled Mushrooms
Mushrooms can get sidelined at a BBQ as a lame side dish, but when tossed in a balsamic-soy glaze, they'll get ALL the attention.
Get the Balsamic Grilled Mushrooms recipe.
Grilled Green Beans
If you're cooking over an actual grill, place a heavy duty piece of foil over the grates before adding the green beans. It'll prevent all the veg from falling through the cracks. Not a fan of peanuts? Use any crushed nuts or seeds here (or everything bagel seasoning?) for a little crunch.
Get the Grilled Green Beans recipe.
Honey Lime Grilled Corn
Nothing says summertime like the smell of corn on the grill. It also happens to be the easiest side you’ll make all season. For this recipe, juicy ears of corn get some char on a hot grill, then get brushed with an irresistible honey-lime butter that you'll want to put on everything.
Get the Honey Lime Grilled Corn recipe.
Grilled Tomatoes
Tomatoes are maybe the best part of summer (that’s right—better than the beach and late sunsets), especially when you grill them. Not only does the char from the grill add a slight bitterness that balances a tomato’s acidity and sweetness really well, but the direct heat manages to bring some out some of their deep umami flavors without them falling completely apart.
Get the Grilled Tomatoes recipe.
Grilled Corn Salsa
We love a good homemade fresh salsa in the summer, and this one is especially good when sweet summer corn is in season. If you don't have a grill or grill pan, give your cobs a quick sear in a cast-iron skillet to get that smoky, charred flavor.
Get the Grilled Corn Salsa recipe.
Eggplant Steak Frites With Chimichurri
The two keys to these eggplant steak frites' success is to prep in the kitchen while the grill preheats AND make your to prep your sauce so the meal can go directly from the grill to the table. Chimichurri sauce tastes even better as the flavors meld, so don’t be shy about making it in advance.
Grilled Broccoli
If you're looking to throw some veggies on alongside those burgers and hot dogs, we highly recommend these nice broccoli "trees." Seasoned with a little soy sauce, honey, Worcestershire, and ketchup, the spicy-sweet-umami combo is guaranteed to satisfy even the most carnivorous of eaters.
Get the Grilled Broccoli recipe.
Grilled Potatoes
The char and smoke from the grill get picked up perfectly by potatoes to make an amazing summer side. Take it from us, though, and don't skip step 1. It's pretty much impossible to get potatoes tender and cooked through on the grill alone; parboiling the potatoes guarantees creamy centers and crisp, charred outsides.
Get the Grilled Potatoes recipe.
Elote: Mexican Street Corn
Elote is an unbelievably popular antojito (little craving) that you can find sold on the street in Mexico. It's often served on a stick, though you could skip the skewer and make it the same way you'd boil or oven bake regular corn on the cob.
Get the Elote: Mexican Street Corn recipe.
Grilled Zucchini
Zucchini is one of our favorite vegetables to grill in the summer. Why? It's healthy, it's easy, and it cooks SO FAST. This recipe takes just 10 to 15 minutes from start to finish!
Get the Grilled Zucchini recipe.
Grilled Green Tomatoes
Long a Southern staple in famous dishes like fried green tomatoes, green tomatoes are equally delicious in this lighter, healthier preparation that's perfect for summer. This rendition combines the slightly tangy flavor of underripe tomatoes with the smoky char of the grill and a whipped goat cheese schmear to boot.
Get the Grilled Green Tomatoes recipe.
Mediterranean Grilled Eggplant
Eggplant is infinitely better grilled, and this one comes with a simple yet delicious tahini sauce too. These are best served fresh off the grill when they are still warm, but you won't have to wait long—slices that are about 1/4" to 1/2" thick grill up perfectly in roughly 6 minutes!
Camille Lowder is the digital food producer at Delish, otherwise known as our resident queen of recipe galleries. Previously, she attended the Natural Gourmet Institute for culinary school and worked at/managed a number of New York restaurants. She loves anything vegan, foods masquerading as other foods (hello, cauliflower), and a well-used Oxford comma.