The Essential Vegan Guide to Grilling: Burgers, Brats, Ribs, and More

We’re taking every opportunity to get outside while the sun still shines, and that includes plenty of plant-based cookouts, especially during the Independence Day weekend. In fact, cookouts have been a part of American life since the 1500s, according to Food52.

And today, thanks to the mouthwatering innovations in plant-based meat, those who abstain from meat can still enjoy a delicious barbecue. It’s high time to don that “Kiss the Vegan Cook” apron and get grilling! From vegan burgers to bratwurst sausages, here is your comprehensive guide to vegan grilling.

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What is vegan meat made from?

Vegan meat looks, cooks, and tastes very similar to animal-based meat, only instead of animals, it’s made from plants. While a number of different ingredients can be used to replicate the feel of real animal meat, most brands opt for soy or pea protein, or even fungi. Ingredients like tofu, seitan, jackfruit, and tempeh can also be used to create homemade burgers, sausages, wings, and more. In other words, you don’t have to buy real animal meat to enjoy the sizzle of the barbecue this summer.

RELATED: You’d Never Know These 7 Hot Dogs Are 100 Percent Meat-Free

The best vegan meat for summer grilling

Beyond Meat

1Beyond Meat Beyond Burgers

We can’t pass up a summer without grilling up a few Beyond Burgers. It’s a delicious exercise to try new patties, but we will never go without the brand that catapulted the veggie burger into something that could be legitimately considered as “beefy.” We don’t have to tell you how to dress up this burger—you top it any way you like it.
FIND IT HERE

Impossible Foods

2 Impossible Burgers

These patties need no introduction. Impossible Foods’ products have been flying off grocery shelves and restaurant menus at an unrelenting pace. Impossible fans, you know who you are, and we can bet you already have these beefy burgers in the fridge, queued up and ready to grill. 
FIND IT HERE

Lightlife

3 Lightlife Smart Dogs

These plant-based hot dogs have been a longtime vegan go-to, and for good reason. Made from soy and pea protein, Smart Dogs are perfect for throwing on the grill. The texture, flavor, and snap replicate their meat-based analog to our liking. Load them up with mustard and grilled onions or a pile of sauerkraut—these links can handle it. 
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Field Roast

4 Field Roast Smoked Apple Sage Sausages

The flavor is what truly brings us back to these hearty links. Made with apples and sage, they offer a complex taste most brats lack. The slight smokey flavor is amplified when grilled—resulting in a sausage that really doesn’t even need toppings. We enjoy eating them with a side of sauerkraut and spaetzle.  
FIND IT HERE

Upton’s Naturals

5 Upton’s Naturals Bar-B-Que Jackfruit

This meat isn’t meant for the grill (unless you want to spend the rest of the afternoon cleaning it), but this sticky-sweet and smoky pulled pork replica is a wonderful complement to grilled onions and toasted buns. Get some char on those veggies then pile on the jackfruit! 
FIND IT HERE 

Madison Vegan Eats

6 Gardein Ultimate Plant-Based Burgers

The makers of fishless fish sticks and porkless sausages  debuted their meatiest creation to date—the Ultimate Plant-Based Burger. Unlike its black bean patties, this burger stands up to the heat of the grill. Find it in the frozen aisle among other Gardein favorites.
Find it here

The Herbivorous Butcher

7The Herbivorous Butcher Summer Grill Packs

The original vegan butchery is supplying our cookouts with grillable proteins we’ve yet to find elsewhere. Complete with burgers, Bacon Cheddar Brats, Huli Huli Ribs, Beer Brats, and sliced cheddar, this collection is perfect for a large family barbecue or an al fresco dinner party. Cooking for one? Check out the à la carte online ordering option. 
FIND IT HERE 

Alpha Foods

8 Alpha Foods Crispy Chik’n Pattu

You can grill way more than burgers and brats, and this juicy chik’n patty proves it. The breading crisps up nicely on the grill—leaving Instagram-worthy char marks. Pair it simply with lettuce, mayo, and a thick beefsteak tomato slice. 
FIND IT HERE 

Tofurky

9 Tofurky Plant-Based Burgers

The original Tofurky has come a long way since its humble hippy beginnings in 1995. The brand is now competing in the plant-based burger space, and we couldn’t be more thrilled. The soy-and-seitan patties are juicy, grillable, and contain 19 grams of powerhouse protein. Recreate a veganized, at-home version of a McDonald’s classic burger by topping it with ketchup, mustard, a few pickles, diced raw onions, and sandwiching it all on a soft sesame seed bun.
FIND IT HERE 

Tanya Flink is a Digital Editor at VegNews as well as a writer and runner living in Orange County, CA.