Vegan Summer Recipes for Cookouts, BBQs, Picnics, and Potlucks

These Vegan Summer Recipes are perfect for cookouts, bbq, picnics, and potlucks! With recipes for sandwiches, wraps, salads, and skewers, you’ll find something for everyone, wether your having a dinner potluck in your backyard or a lunch picnic in the park. 

Summer Food

I’m going to have to admit that summer isn’t my favorite season. I get hot and sweaty very easily, which makes me cranky and uncomfortable. What I do like about the season, though, is the food! I love having potlucks and cookouts in my backyard, and I also love to go on picnics. Sometimes Dennis and I will make sandwiches and take them to a park just up the street from us that overlooks the New York City skyline. Other times we’ll get more “formal” about our picnics, and we’ll pack a big basket with sandwiches and salads and head out to one of the many historical parks in our area. Summertime may actually make the heat a little more bearable for me.

Since summer is almost upon us, I’m sharing some of favorite vegan summer recipes

Vegan Summer Recipes for Cookouts, BBQs, Picnics, and Potlucks

Vegan Picnic-Worthy Sandwiches and Wraps

Chickpea Salad Sandwiches

Chickpea salad sandwiches are are my go-to for picnics.

 

Apple-Pecan Tempeh Salad

These sandwiches were inspired by an apple-picking adventure, and it’s perfect for picnics in the park!

 

Tofu Tuna Sandwiches

Frozen tofu gives these sandwiches a meaty texture.

 

Vegan Chicken Salad Sandwiches 

Made with Soy Curls, this easy recipe comes together quickly.

 

Baked Falafel 

This healthy Baked Falafel in Pita from The China Study Cookbook by LeAnne Campbell comes together quickly, and it makes a terrific lunch or light dinner.

 

Curried Mango Chickpea Wraps

Sweet mango is paired with creamy tahini and flavorful curry in this easy-to-make Curried Mango Chickpea Wrap from The Plant-Based Diet Meal Plan by Heather Nicholds.

 

Soy Curl Shawarma 

Made with Soy Curls, loaded with vegetables, and drizzled with sauce, Vegan Shawarma is lunchtime perfection.

 

Seitan Gyro

Seitan, veggies, and tahini sauce all wrapped up in a whole wheat pita – these gyros are the perfect lunch!

 

Sunflower Seed Tuna Collard Wraps

Vegan Tuna Wraps are perfect for lunch on those hot summer days when it’s too hot to cook! They travel well, so you can take them with you for lunch at the office or a picnic in the park.

 

Sushi Wraps

Made with nori seaweed sheets and loaded with veggies and an easy-to-make sunflower seed cheese, these wraps are great for lunch or dinner.

For the Grill

Seitan Skewers with Chimichurri and Jalapeno Lime Aioli

Made with homemade seitan, these skewers are a great grilled appetizer!

 

Tofu and Pineapple Kebabs

We moved into our house 3 years ago, and we were happy to find an old grill in new condition hiding in out the garage. We had come from a rental townhouse that didn’t have backyard, so grilling was a new and wonderful thing for us. I skewered just about everything I could get my hands on and played around with various marinades. These  were a favorite.

Grilled Eggplant Sandwiches

Eggplant does really well on the grill, and these sandwiches are one of my favorite ways to eat.

 

Grilled Eggplant Wraps

These wraps are a copycat of a sadly  now discontinued Trader Joe’s favorite. 

 

 

Grilled Ratatouille Sandwiches

This is the ultimate way to enjoy summer’s harvest!

Lemon-Rosemary Grilled Tofu

This recipe was inspired by a favorite from Blossom du Jour in New York City.

 

Potluck-Worthy Vegan Salads

Summertime Avocado-Chickpea Salad

This is one of my favorite salads to take on picnics.

 

Potluck-Worthy Rice Salad

This recipe was one of those happy accidents that come from throwing some ingredients together. I took this to a potluck and everyone wanted the recipe. Fortunately, I remembered what I did, so I was able to type out the recipe to share.

 

Raw Kale Slaw

This salad is kind of like a grown-up, healthy version of the coleslaw we all grew up eating.

 

Cruciferous Crunch Salad

A copycat of a Trader Joe’s favorite, this salad is super easy to make using cabbage, kale, Brussels sprouts, carrots, and a creamy, dairy-free cashew based dressing.

 

Broccoli Slaw

I’ll turn pretty much any veggie into a slaw, and is one of my favorites!

 

Vegan Tomato and Feta Pasta Salad

This recipe is a vegan version of an Ina Garten recipe I came across on Facebook a few years ago. 

 

Caesar Pasta Salad

I turned my favorite salad into a pasta-based dish!

German Potato Salad

This warm potato salad is a fun change from the usual mayo-laden variety. 

 

Niçoise-Style Potato Salad

Serve this salad from Kathy Hester’s Gluten-Free Vegan Cooking in Your Instant Pot as a side dish with grilled vegetables or your favorite vegan burger – or serve it on its own as a light lunch or dinner.

 

Classic Quinoa Salad

I make this salad time and time again, and I never get tired of it!

What are your favorite vegan summer recipes?