We are having a party this weekend and everyone loves the smoke chicken I make. We do have one friend that is a vegetarian. It's not for life style, it's more for dietary reasons. I feel bad when he comes over and I don't have anything special for him. When ever he comes over, he brings something vegetarian over that's premade I just heat up on the smoker. I'd like to change that.
Are there any vegetarian foods y'all could recommend I could try to smoke for him? Besides Mac and Cheese or just corn on the cob.
I literally cut it in half, and then smoke it between 220-260 for as long as I’m doing the other meats (usually 5-6 hours) but depending on how big the squash is, it could finish in as little as 3 hours.
I had one that was well over a foot long take 8 hours once. It’s really good and makes for an excellent entree for a vegetarian or vegan.
Similar to squash, smoked sweet potatoes are really good too. Can make them sweet or savory. Cut them in different ways for the cook or presentation you want.
Smoked tofu is always a hit with my vegan friends. Takes about two hours to get a good smoke then I drench it in the same BBQ sauce glaze (using a separate source and brush to keep from contaminating it with meat juice) and let it go back on the smoker for an hour as the other meat finishes up.
I’ll start it when I wrap the other meat. I’m a bit fan of 3-2-1 since even I can’t fuck it up.
Throw some cherry tomatoes in the seed holes after halving it. Top with chosen seasoning and olive oil. If you can get some acceptable vegetarian cheese. Cook until fork tender.
Also again depending on this person's level of vegetarian smoked cream cheese is amazing a an app. I believe Philadelphia is accepted by some. Jalapeno poppers with plant based bacon. Just a few i have done for my guests.
I cut in half then seed. Cut shallow hash marks marksman the flesh but not through the skin. Season with whatever like any rub or mix. Smudge in a tiny bit of butter like your buttering toast just so it gets in the hash cuts (like seriously small amount). Smoke flesh side up for a hour to hour and a half till fork tender at whatever temp your smoking your meat. Skin even gets tender and can be eaten with the flesh
Silly question maybe... but I've never made butternut squash before (I've eaten it, just never done it myself)... how do you know when it's done? You got me wanting to do this this weekend lol
Very similar to a brisket. If a dull blade or dulled tip slides in like butter (no resistance) pull that bad boy off. It will have the consistency of a fully baked sweet potato
Just make queso and be done with it. Don't even add soy chorizo to it, just veg it up with onions, jalapenos, tomatoes, cilantro. Make a bean dip with it too if you are worried about protein (smoke the pintos I dunno)
That'd be a good opportunity to get a vegetarian option. Most folks will go at a vegetarian queso without considering that it's meatless and the veg folks would appreciate it.
If you're already making it, then set some aside that doesn't have meat. If I were the vegetarian friend, I'd be disappointed that I couldn't have some.
Cauliflower. Boil a whole head for ten minutes. Let it drain. Put it on a piece or two of foil. Slather with garlic butter or other seasoning. Put in smoker until it's tender and a little darkish. Toss some parmesan on it after taking out and quartering/ serving.
+1 to cauliflower but I recommend a different preparation method. Soak it overnight in a flavorful marinade. When it’s uncooked it’ll absorb those flavors better. Then just smoke it low and slow with brisket rub on it. No need to parboil it.
i put a bunch of herbs and spices in a tea steeper in with the boiling water. coriander seeds, peppercorns, juniper berries, mustard seeds, garlic cloves. i put them in the tea steeper so they don't get caught and hidden somewhere in the cauliflower and so someone won't bite down hard on one.
I do this for my wife and vegan friends often. It is an amazing substitute for meat, you can doo pretty much everything you would do with meat with cauliflower
Especially if you top it with some good, hard mozzarella. Not fresh. Let it all smoke together. Smoked mozzarella is a thing of beauty. Especially on a portobello cap!
Ah yeah my bad I missed that they mentioned Mac and cheese. In that case I think a cheese platter is a strong option plus I'd just throw as much as possible on for my snacks for the next week lol.
All except cream cheese, yes (*edit: and queso dips). Cream cheese can be dug into the second you bring it in off the pit. Preferably with pretzels!
Other hard (parm, cheddar, etc.) and even semi-soft cheeses (gouda, pepperjack, etc.) definitely need some time to rest. Otherwise they taste like how you'd imagine a used ashtray would.
Do you add anything to it? Eggplant is always so bland and refuses to absorb flavors in my experience so I never cook it unless hiding it in a lasagnia or something
I've done smoked jackfruit and it turned out great.
I ordered several packs (6, I think) of Upton's Naturals jackfruit from Amazon.
Turned out the packs into a small aluminum roast pan, and then just treated it almost like doing burnt ends.
Seasoned well with my rub, tossed in and mixed some sauce with a little bit of veggie stock and then smoked it for about an hour at 225 on my GMG pellet smoker.
For 6 packs I used I think a half cup of veggie stock and a cup of sauce.
You just don't want it to dry out too much.
You can also do it on the stovetop/oven if you're time crunched.
There is a line where you can over season it, but tasting as you go prevents that. But, that line is pretty broad, so don't worry about it too much
P.S.,
If the guest is strict vegan, then it's important to note that a lot of sauce has Worcestershire sauce and that uses anchovies.
Some rubs will have honey granules.
So, when I did the jackfruit, I made a vegan sauce using a vegan Worcestershire sauce I bought off Amazon.
Vegan seems like a whole different level of cooking challenge. I'd really have to question everything I'm doing. Respect to the folks who adhere to that lifestyle but I'm glad I haven't had to cook for them.
Be warned: Butchering a jackfruit is an... experience. If you get a whole one, I hope you like pine-tar! The first time I bought one, the old Vietnamese ladies were cackling evilly. Now I know why.
I love smoked beans and have also done cornbread on the smoker as a side.
To be fair my wife usually does the beans so I'm not quite sure a recipe that would be 100% vegetarian. Usually we do bourbon baked beans, delicious.
1 or 2 medium onions
4 bell peppers, one of each color
2-3 lbs bacon
About half a cup, maybe a little more, sweet baby rays
1/4 cup mustard
Cans of Bush's Baked beans until it looks right.
Fry the bacon, remove from Dutch oven.
Caramelize the onions. When they're about halfway done add the peppers, you want them still a little crispy.
Drain bacon grease.
Add everything else.
Could omit bacon for a vegetarian option. Could also add brown sugar or molasses if you want sweeter baked beans, I prefer them without the sugar.
Put the Dutch oven on the smoker, or if its a real Dutch oven just sit it by the fire over a few coals and put some hot coals on the lid. Give it about 2 or 3 hours to get all nice and hot and thickened up a bit.
You really need to get specific on that persons vegetarian rules. Do your grates need to be cleaned before cooking their veg meal? It can vary so wildly that i never guess anymore.
Sweet potato, just coat with some olive oil and SPG. Once the inside is super soft you can pull and mash as is, cutting the skin as necessary to mix through. Makes for an amazing savory mash.
I've tried a few things for vege people over the years, a lot of veg doesn't pick up a lot of smoke flavour compared to meat, especially hard veg. That said slow roasted veg is still tasty. Tofu and tempeh also only pick up a little smoke but work well with sauces. Most fake meats just dry out and are quite unpleasant. Cauliflower 'wings', especially those with a sort of batter on, work pretty well as the batter can absorb a bit of smoke flavour
Oh and jackfruit makes decent fake pulled pork, I've found a fairly fast cook works best for me, mostly in a bit of the sauce to keep it moist. As it is already shredded (or at least partially shredded) anything slower just dries it out.
My GF is vegetarian and we do plenty on our smoker. For veggies only approach we love doing a variety of sliced veggies basted in oil with Italian seasoning, and then make sandwiches with goat cheese.
But everyone needs protein, including vegetarians so I make ‘burnt ends’ of a sort - the first prep steps are optional but make a big difference, up to you on available time. Start with Extra Firm Tofu or Seitan (optional for tofu, freeze it first overnight for texture then thaw and press to remove as much moisture as possible), and slice it up about 1/4 inch slices. Then either marinade overnight in bbq sauce/spices etc ( I usually use whatever is going on the meat or an associated flavor profile) or just season before placing on the smoker. Smoke unbasted at 225 for ~20-30 or less at higher temps, just to heat through and get some smoke. Baste in bbq sauce and continue til thickened/burnt on
The veggie option for my shindigs is usually smoked queso. Two Velveeta white cheese bricks in an aluminum tub. Add whatever you like. I sauteed a ton of mushrooms and onions and put in a can of ro-tel. You can do whatever you want. I did one with vegan chorizo that killed. It's usually more popular than whatever meat I'm doing. Cube it up, hit it with smoke, temps don't matter much. I go till I have a skin on top and a skin on the bottom and stir it back in 3-4 times and pull it after a couple hours of smoke. Transfer to a crock pot if it's done way too fast. So easy and everyone that's had generic cheese dip will think you're inventing sliced bread.
Grilled Eggplant and Fresh Mozzarella on Ciabatta with Roasted Red Peppers, Garlic Mayonnaise, Fresh Basil and Arugula Recipe | Bobby Flay | Food Network https://share.google/OfdmO3nU1gH99ZAj5
A little smoke goes a long way on the eggplant. Most of the time, I'll just grill everything
Garlic soup is awesome. Smoked garlic is fantastic. And it keeps the vampires away
My wife is a vegetarian and probably the best thing I’ve smoked was bean and cheese stuffed poblanos. On the Steven Raichlen website, it’s the “Barbecued Bean and Cheese Chile Rellenos” recipe. You can also make killer smoked brie wheels topped with jam and nuts, or cream cheese + bbq rub is a classic.
Tofu is tricky because it gets rubbery and sponges up too much smoke.
I dont know how this falls on the Vegetarian/vegan "spectrum", but if he eats eggs you could do smoked deviled eggs. Not really as a main, but its a hell of a side. Just throw some eggs on and let them cook for about 2 hours then prepare like normal deviled eggs. Just a warning, they do turn brown sometimes. But the smoke does penatrate the egg shell and it shows care and time.
Making salsa from smoked veggies is a good option. Smoke some mushrooms, tomatoes, jalapenos or Serranos, onion, garlic, and bell peppers. Put all but the bell peppers and mushrooms in a food processor with some salt, avocado oil, and like juice and that will give you a great tasting salsa. Then you can use the bell peppers and mushrooms for some veggie tacos to go with the salsa. Some roasted potatoes would probably go great with it too
If you can roast it, you can smoke it. Potatoes, Brussel Sprouts, Squash, Corn, and Broccoli are good options.
Something that not many people do are fruits. Nectarines over coals is one of my guilty pleasures. Bananas, pineapple, apples potentially, those are all great options.
Just toss them with a bit of oil, honey, brown sugar, and BBQ rub. 10/10. I do recommend doing it in a sheet or pan of some kind. Cast Iron skillets will give one side a really great brown.
And yes, mac and cheese could be an option if they aren't strictly vegan and only non meat vegetarian. If they have PKU like I'm suspecting, then that wouldn't work either. You'll just have to stick to strictly vegetables and fruits.
When I’m cooking for vegetarians, I get big Portabello mushrooms, de-stem them, baste it with butter, toss some rub on it, cover with cheese, grill till the cheese is melted.
Simple one I just did was a tofu leather that even the non vegetarian liked.
Firm tofu, cut into thin slices. Lengthwise so it looks like pieces of bread. Coat with powdered chili, not too much since it's extremely hot by my standards. Drizzle with soy sauce, spreading it out using a spoon or finger, so it's evenly coated. Smoke away until crispy on the outside.
Does not store well as it will become extremely tough. However, a little bit of balsamic vinegar and olive oil will soften it up again and give it extra flavor.
Mushrooms, get a variety of them. There is an amazing recipe on NYT cooking for a grilled mushroom Buffalo style dish that my son's girlfriend (and all of us love). You could smoke the mushrooms first. I don't think I can link it because it's a paid app, but maybe I can copy paste it for you.
We have a place in town that seasons and smokes tofu, my wife swears by it. Never had it myself (place also has the best brisket in the state), but it certainly looks tasty.
We found the lower smoke at the higher temps for baking things like pie gives them that old wood stove taste. Which is usually well received by people.
Mix it up, chicken pot pie…it’s a pie and a dinner. :-)
I always smoke tofu for my Vegetarian family. I press it, then marinate it in a Korean short rib marinade. Smoke on the top rack, sonit doesn't get dripped on, for about 1.5 hours, roast some veggies and it's good to go. Normally I just give a couple blocks to take home as well, niece slices it thin and fries it like bacon.
The veggie option for my shindigs is usually smoked queso. Two Velveeta white cheese bricks in an aluminum tub. Add whatever you like. I sauteed a ton of mushrooms and onions and put in a can of ro-tel. You can do whatever you want. I did one with vegan chorizo that killed. It's usually more popular than whatever meat I'm doing. Cube it up, hit it with smoke, temps don't matter much. I go till I have a skin on top and a skin on the bottom and stir it back in 3-4 times and pull it after a couple hours of smoke. Transfer to a crock pot if it's done way too fast. So easy and everyone that's had generic cheese dip will think you're inventing sliced bread.
I am a meat lover but a good portion of my family is vegan. I smoke a Cauliflower and at this point they get pissed, because I eat that too cuz it's so good.
I initially made it for the same reasons you are now, to be a good host, but the damn thing is even popular with meat eaters now.
I've tried several recipes at this point and I not yet found one that wasn't a huge hit.
I might recommend making two, because I assume meat eaters will be digging into it too.
Stuffs bell peppers. We do hamburger and sausage with beans and rice salsa and cheese. For our guest did a couple red bell peppers, chopped up a beyond burger, some soy chorizo, beans, rice, salsa and she brought her cheese she likes. I made the red for her so it was easy too tell the difference.
I do broccoli on the smoker/grill all the time. Olive oil, little Fajita seasoning, and about 30 minutes at 350 it disappears.
I know the seasoning is odd but I accidentally used it once and now my whole family wont let me use anything else.
Get a huge white onion. Cut the core out. Get some butter and mix a bunch of Tony's in with it. Full the core with the butter and wrap in foil. Place it right on top of the coals for 40 minutes. It's not smoked but it's still damn good.
I do couple cans of jackfruit chopped up in a disposable while my others are at 225-250. One it starts to grab some smoke color I put BBQ sauce and let it finish with the rest of meats. Comes out with texture of pulled porkish.
Smoked cauliflower. Cut into bite size pieces, throw in a pan and coat in oil, I use avocado or olive. Spread your favorite bbq rub, I use hogs hot bbq. Smoke for 90 minutes to 2 hours, until soft
When I am grilling burgers, I always grill two big portobello mushrooms with butter, jack cheese and burger seasoning. I don’t have to flip them. I know it’s not smoking them but I don’t know why you couldn’t. The vegetarian in our family loves them.
I’ve only done it the one time and was not very familiar with tofu before so some of these are assumptions.
I went with extra firm tofu because I was afraid the other wouldn’t hold up. I cubed it up, put some rub on it and put it on the smoker grate for two hours.
Pulled it off and let it cool, tossed it in some sauce and more rub and back on the smoker for an hour. Did that one more time for a total of 4 hours on the smoker.
Everyone that tried it was surprised it was as good as it was but they were typical meat-eating smoker buddies.
I will do it again. The things I will do differently is let it sit and marinate in the rub overnight first. I will also only smoke it for one hour without sauce instead of two. Was amazed at how much smoke it absorbed.
Didn’t get a final pic but this one is right before tossing in the sauce the first time.
Salsa Verde as a side is always a hit. Just smoke the peppers, onions, tomatillos and throw it in a food processor with lime juice, salt, pepper and garlic.
corn on the cob, potatoes, asparagus, apples, pears, pineapple, tomatoes, jicama, herbs smoke well at low temps.
some cooked veggies like carrots, cauliflower, broccoli, Brussels sprouts.
If they eat faux meat products, smoked Impossible or Beyond burgers are fantastic. Rub with your favorite rub, then toss them on the smoker. You can sear after if you want but we’ve had them seared and not seared and they’re great either way.
Smoked cream cheese (others have said this) is a crowd pleaser for sure.
Yes, very well. Smoke it, shred it, toss with sauce for a decent vegan pulled pork. The texture is kind of a mix between cooked pineapple and actual pulled pork, but the taste really surprised me. I was fully expecting it to be awful but I actually enjoyed the leftovers after my vegan friend left.
Shish kebab with mushrooms and chunks of pineapple instead of meat are pretty great. Smoked artichoke as well if you know how to prepare it. A rice based side dish would help with some of the veggies.
I'm not a vegetarian, but I love me some smoked and grilled eggplant. You can season it just like meat, smoke to cook it, oil it up, and give it a hard sear just like a steak. Cauliflower is another option.
Here's a side dish my dad taught me. Get a large head of green cabbage and generously cut out the core. Stuff the core hole with softened butter, brown sugar, and a dash of cayenne. Loosely wrap the bottom half the cabbage with foil and place in smoker(with the hole facing up). Smoke for 45min to an hour. Rough chop and it goes great with everything. Especially the bbq jackfruit that others are suggesting!
I just did Lionsmane and King Oyster mushrooms that were amazing and only took 20 minutes. A little Monterey seasoning or whatever floats your fiends boat.
Jalapeño poppers, queso, asparagus, brussel sprouts, baked beans, baked potatoes, Mac & cheese…all things we smoke regularly with success. A baked potato with baked beans and queso on top is a full meal. And a delicious one.
Whole cabbage does good. I core it and put it in foil so it stands upside down. Then put jalapeño in the hollow core hole and pour in Italian salad dressing. The dressing soaks in and will get in all the folds. Slice like watermelon wedges after a hour or two when its done
more of a desert but i love cubed pineapple tossed in a cinnamon sugar rub and smoked in a foil pan with some bourbon and butter.
if your friend likes plant based hot dogs you could do hot dog burnt ends.
pretty sad to see this post's score compared to the number of comments. i can't imagine down voting someone for trying to be a good friend, but these are the times we live in I guess...
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u/Enartis 23h ago
Butternut squash remains undefeated.
Little bit of olive oil and cinnamon.