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The goop Guide to Plant-Based Grilling

The goop Guide to
Plant-Based Grilling

Whole, well-seasoned, deeply charred vegetables make for brilliant main dishes at a BBQ. Truly, no one will miss the meat—the days of veggies being relegated to slaws and salads are completely over. The key is to treat whatever vegetable you’re cooking the way you’d treat a piece of meat: Rub it all over with olive oil, season liberally with salt, and give it ample time over the fire. One especially useful tip: Maintain high-heat and low-heat zones on the grill so you can move the vegetables as they cook to attain optimal doneness.

Once you’ve mastered making incredible grilled cauliflower steaks, sweet potatoes, or cabbage, the addition of fantastic, cleaned-up grilling sauces takes them to the next level. We were inspired by ingredients from global cuisines that are known for phenomenal grilled food. Our Korean-inspired bulgogi-style BBQ sauce is a delightfully sticky, garlicky umami-fest, while the Tex-Mex chipotle sauce is smoky and spicy with a classic tomatoey tang. The tamarind grilling sauce nods to the Caribbean with sweet heat, warm spices, and the citrusy, addictively piquant tamarind.

Combine a perfectly charred vegetable with a fresh, sophisticated sauce and you’ve got a BBQ all-star that’s spectacular, easy to make, incredibly delicious—and infinitely healthier than the old standard.

  • Grilled Cauliflower Steaks

    Grilled Cauliflower Steaks

    Cauliflower steaks are the most pleasing crowd-pleaser for good reason. They’re hearty, with an assertive savory flavor and satisfying texture. Cauliflower is great roasted, but it really shines when grilled. Slather this with our cleaned-up Tamarind BBQ Sauce and serve with rice, beans, and mango salsa.

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  • Grilled Cabbage

    Grilled Cabbage

    You won’t believe how much you love cabbage once you have it grilled. The otherwise humble vegetable becomes sweet and earthy when you allow the outer leaves to really char, while the inner leaves delicately steam, becoming infused with the smoky flavor.

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  • Grilled Sweet Potatoes

    Grilled Sweet Potatoes

    By steaming the sweet potatoes first, you get an incredibly moist and creamy texture. A few subsequent minutes on a hot grill allows for some of the natural sweetness to caramelize and gives a slight bit of char for balance. These are the perfect vehicle for any of our cleaned-up BBQ sauces.

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  • Tamarind BBQ Sauce

    Tamarind BBQ Sauce

    This jerk-inspired sauce is a little sweet, with warmth from the allspice, heat from the chilies, and an addictive tang from the tamarind. We love it over grilled vegetables served with rice, beans, or plantains, or over grilled chicken with crunchy slaw on a toasted bun.

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  • Chipotle BBQ Sauce

    Chipotle BBQ Sauce

    This sauce has all the tangy, tomatoey sweetness of a traditional BBQ sauce, adding depth with smoky, spicy chipotle chilies. It stands up to the flavors of the typical American BBQ spread, and it’s delicious in Tex-Mex-style recipes, too.

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  • Bulgogi-Style BBQ Sauce

    Bulgogi-Style BBQ Sauce

    This Korean-inspired sauce adds lots of umami to whatever you’re barbecuing. It’s great on grilled meats, but we especially love the salty tang of this sauce on grilled Japanese sweet potatoes. All you need is an easy sesame slaw and some charred shishito peppers and dinner is served.

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