Trying to have a vegan barbeque would have been a sad affair a few years ago. But these days it’s only possible, it’s something we heartily recommend. You’ve got the range of foods available, but it’s also much easier than handling meat.
We organised a vegan barbeque at Adventure Nene Ltd, Sibson Lake to prove just how simple and tasty vegan cooking is at the campsite.
The menu
If we were to consult recipe books on the topic, it’d be too easy to get weighed down by the sheer volume of potential vegan recipes one can do while camping. That’s all well and good and you can explore those in line with your personal tastes.
But we wanted to find out how the barbeque staples, sausages and burgers, go in the vegan world.
Thus, what was on the menu was burgers, sausages, and some bruschetta to give our mission a tinge of sophistication.
What’s it like barbequing vegan food?
Barbequing is very straight forward by nature, which is why so many of us adore it. Substituting meat for vegan equivalents makes it easier still. You don’t have to worry about food contamination or food poisoning. Obviously, you want your food to be well cooked but there isn’t that concern about whether it’s still a little too pink on the inside.
Cooking times of vegan burgers and sausages are similar to meaty ones from chilled. But one of the flexibilities of vegan versions is that you can cook them from frozen too. You may think so what? But it just means that you have options when it comes to storing your barbeque food prior to cooking it. Nor do you have to remember to get red meat to room temperature if you want the best succulence. Just throw it on a heated grill and wait for your vegan food to be piping hot.
Our results
Bruschetta came first and grilling bread (it doesn’t even need to be fresh) drizzled in olive oil and topped with a zesty mixture is a super easy and tasty way to start.
For our burgers, we added vegan bacon to the mix, along with vegan cheese and vegan mayonnaise and ketchup. The result was superb and even the vegan cheese melted to the correct consistency.
The Wicked sausages got thumbs up all round, and we certainly recommend you try them. Just don’t expect them to taste like traditional sausages, that’s all.
Flavour
The stigma around vegan food being flavourless is so outdated. In terms of burgers, you have options. You can go for meaty-flavoured, and Linda McCartney’s Vegetarian Quarter Pounder Burgers are a great option there. Or you can go full veggie, in which case, Goodlife Spicy Vegetable Bean Burger are super tasty.
It’s also quite easy to make your own and flavour them how you like.
Vegan sausages tend to have a stricter meatier focus than burgers do, and Linda McCartney brand does well here too with its Vegetarian Lincolnshire Sausages. Though, we used Wicked Kitchen 6 Chorizo Style Bangers. These taste a lot more like red pepper (because it’s a key ingredient), if you prefer something more veggie.
Vegan bacon is still a tricky one. We used THIS Isn’t Bacon Plant-Based Rashers and they reign supreme at the moment, we think. Made from soya and pea protein, this vegan bacon can be cooked crispy and tastes smoky.
How we cooked our vegan barbeque
Most importantly, we used a gas barbeque. With vegan food it makes more sense, simply because it’s faster and easier than coal. You’re not going to spend an afternoon smoking your bean patties, so we’d suggest sticking with gas. We’ll point out that you don’t need a gas barbeque, indeed any portable gas cooker will do.
We had a couple of coolers with us to store the chilled food in, plus the usual barbeque tools – scraper, tongs, and the like. You don’t need anything special for a vegan barbeque.
Parkers’ recommended vegan barbeque food
Burgers
Linda McCartney’s Vegetarian Quarter Pounder Burgers, £2.50
Goodlife Spicy Vegetable Bean Burger, £2.85
THIS Isn’t Bacon Plant-Based Rashers, £2.00
Violife Vegan Cheese Alternative Original Flavour Block, £2.50
Mr Organic Italian Ketchup, £2.88
Hellmann’s Vegan Mayonnaise, £2.60
Heinz Vegan Seriously Good Mayo Chilli, £2.14
Sausages
Wicked Kitchen 6 Chorizo Style Bangers, £2.50
Linda McCartney’s Vegetarian Lincolnshire Sausages, £2.00
The gear we used
Weber Traveler
Price: £479.00 | VIEW OFFER
Pros:
Powerful portable barbeque
Can run on screw top or big gas bottles
Hydraulic collapsing stand
Cons:
Won’t fit in a small car boot
Pricey
There aren’t many barbeques that are practically full-sized yet classed as portable. The Weber Traveler is a great barbeque for use both away from home and on the patio. It’s built onto a sturdy frame that can be collapsed on hydraulic legs. You can then wheel it around as you please.
Measuring over 110 centimetres in length and nearly 60 centimetres in width, it’s a portable model you’ll need plenty of luggage space for. But you do have the space, you’re in for a treat. The Traveler has a powerful single burner and loads of cooking space. As standard it runs off screw top gas cannisters, but you can buy an adaptor hose so it can connect to five and 11 kilogram gas bottles.
15 Litre Picnic Cool Box By ICED
Price: £125.00 | VIEW OFFER
Pros:
Very robust
Amazing insulation
Supplied with gel packs, baskets, and divider
Cons:
Quite expensive upfront (but cheap in the long term)
There are cool boxes and there are serious cool boxes. This ICED unit is the latter. It’s a pricey thing but it’ll be the last cool box you’ll buy. The compartment is surrounded by some beefy insulation, which can keep contents cold (5 degrees Celsius) for about five days.
The bungee straps are a unique and effective means of keeping the cooler shut. Inside, it measures 30 x 25 x 23.5 centimetres, which is enough for a family’s picnic food and canned drinks. The ICED cool box even comes with gel pack, dry goods baskets, and a divider, which you can also use as a food prep board. Well, we did anyway.
Stanley Adventure Easy Carry Outdoor Cooler 15.1L
Price: £100.99 | VIEW OFFER
Pros:
Robust
Compact
Insulation better than most
Cons:
ICED cool box has better insulation
The ICED cool box is a tough act to follow and Stanley prides itself on its tough food containers. Therefore, if any brand was going to field a contender, it’d be Stanley. Its Adventure cool box is a decent one in its own right, even if it doesn’t quite match the ICED box for insulation.
The Stanley cooler is a bit smaller and lighter, despite having the same volume. It can keep its contents cold for 36 hours (1.5 days). This cool box has more conventional clips for the lid, and on balance, we think the ICED rubber straps are a bit sturdier. We certainly like the understated look, and it’s a tough unit. We also like the bungee straps on top for holding items.
But wait, there’s more: Skoda Enyaq FestEVal
If you’re in pursuit of a super sustainable camping trip, the Skoda Enyaq FestEVal might tickle your fancy. It’s a one-off creation by Skoda, but is a showcase that its EV, the Enyaq, is up for the demanding task of camping. We’ve tested it up the Yorkshire Dales and were rather impressed with it.
Sure, you still have to take charging into account, but the Enyaq FestEVal is certainly an impressive, silent tourer, provided you’re visiting places where charge points are plentiful. The FestEVal features a convenient hard shell rooftop tent that looks like a roof box when collapsed down. It weighs less than most adults (about 60 kilograms) and comfortably sleeps two. Despite this addition, the FestEVal still retains its excellent ride and handling.
Skoda has also added a pullout kitchen in the boot and another deconstructed bed that sits over the collapsed rear seats. The kitchen works a treat and houses a gas stove, sink, water tap powered by a 12V pump, and lots of storage space. The rear seat bed isn’t great, primarily because there isn’t really enough space. It works in a van, but not so much in a car.
The FestEVal won’t become part of the Enyaq range, but it serves as an applied example of an EV tackling more real-world challenges. It’s also quite a handy piece of design inspiration for those interested in undertaking low emissions camping trips.
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