Summertime is here and it’s time to break out the grill! Most of the barbecue recipes we use are smothered in sugary sauces. These 9 healthy barbecue recipes will help you stay on track while enjoying the weather! This post will contain barbecue recipes for breakfast, lunch/dinner, and dessert!
Some Barbecuing Problems
First off, being a woman does not prevent you from stepping behind the grill. I used to make this mistake all the time. I didn’t think I was supposed to use the grill because I am a girl. As soon as I started using the grill, everything changed. Using the grill can really mix up your meals and make you excited to try new healthy recipes. Will they all come out perfect the first time? Heck no. However, practice makes perfect!
Secondly, people typically only use the grill to do meat, veggies, and potatoes. There is a whole wide world of barbecue recipes out there that can really ramp up your summertime diet! The recipes listed in this post contain eggs, fruits, and pasta. Trust me, they are delicious.
Lastly, when grilling people tend to smother everything in BBQ sauce, teriyaki sauce, or some other type of marinade that is LOADED with sugar and un-nutritious calories. You could be adding HUNDREDS of calories to your dinner with sauces.
Benefits of Barbecuing
Barbecuing is excellent for mixing up recipes and tastes that will keep your diet interesting. Cooking on the grill gives you flavor WITHOUT adding any sauces. Not to mention, you can get more people on board with the healthy food if its cook on the grill. For some reason people who are not super healthy eaters tend to enjoy healthy barbecue recipes the most. Maybe it feel less like a diet and more what it is: healthy, nutritious food that your body needs.
What About Carcinogens?
Carcinogens are a substance capable of causing cancer in living tissue. The smoke and charring of meat has been found to contain carcinogens. However, here are a few tips to keep the HCAs to a minimum.
Four tips to keep the HCAs to a minimum:
- Do not over cook your meat. Well-done meat contains the most amount of HCAs.
- Cook on lower heat and not on scalding.
- Use a vinegar based marinade for your meat. Substances like balsamic vinaigrette, lemon garlic sauces, or apple cider vinegar will give your meat great flavor while reducing the amount of HCAs.
- Trim the fat so that it doesn’t drip and cause smoking!
Don’t sweat the fruits and veggies. Meat has a combination of creatine and sugar that are the cause of the carcinogens when cooked. Fruits and veggies don’t contain this combination, therefore you can grill fruits and veggies to your hearts desire.
5 Tools to Make Barbecuing Easier
- Electronic meat thermometer literally a game changer. I use it for grilling, sauteing, baking, and everything else. This is the most important tool to creating delicious, juicy meat.
- Spatula For flipping.
- Tongs- sometimes easier to use than the spatula.
- Scraper- to keep your grill nice and clean!
- Oven mitt- especially useful when cooking kabobs.
Breakfast
Rise ‘N’ Shine Pizza
Ingredients:
- 1 small whole wheat pita
- 1 whole egg and 3 egg whites
- 1/4 cup low-fat mozzarella cheese
- 1/2 cup diced mushrooms, onions, and peppers
- 1 green onion, sliced
- 2 sliced turkey bacon
- 1/2 tbsp. olive oil
Find the directions here!
Grilled Banana French Toast
Ingredients:
- 4 slices of Ezekiel Bread
- 2 Whole Eggs and 2 Egg Whites
- 1/4 cup Skim Milk
- 1/2 tsp Vanilla Extract
- 2 medium Bananas, halved and sliced lengthwise
- Cinnamon to taste
Find the directions here!
Lunch/Dinner
Grilled Shrimp & Avocado Kabobs
Ingredients for 5 hearty kabobs:
- 1lb (454g) jump shrimp (prawns)
- 1.5 large semi-ripe avocados (you want them somewhat ripe but firm)
- 1 red bell pepper
- 1 orange bell pepper
- 1 yellow bell pepper
- 1 red onion
- Seasonings for shrimp
- 1 tablespoon garlic (paste)
- 1 teaspoon cayenne
- pinches of sea salt & pepper
- Marinade
- 1/2 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
- juice from 1 large lime
- 1 tablespoon Brag Apple Cider Vinegar
- 1/2 teaspoon ginger (paste)
- 1.5 teaspoon garlic (paste)
- 1/8 cup finely chopped cilantro
- sea salt & pepper to taste
Find the directions here!
Grilled Taco Spiced Chicken
Ingredients
- For the taco seasoning:
- 2 teaspoons chili powder
- 2 teaspoons ground cumin
- 1 teaspoon sea salt
- 1 teaspoon black pepper
- ¼ teaspoon garlic powder
- ¼ teaspoon onion powder
- ¼ teaspoon dried oregano
- ¼ teaspoon paprika
- 4 boneless skinless chicken breasts
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- ½ onion, sliced (optional)
- 1 tomato, sliced (optional)
- 2 jalapeno, de-seeded (optional)
- 1 Lime for drizzling
- Taco seasoning (packet or homemade recipe)
Find the directions here!
Grilled Kale, Pear, and Walnut Salad
Ingredients:
- 1 bunch kale leaves rinsed and peeled from stem
- 1 pear, sliced
- 2 tbsp chopped walnuts
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 1/2 tbsp lemon juice
- 1/2 tbsp apple cider vinegar
- 1 tsp Dijon mustard
- 1/2 tsp Stevia
- Salt and pepper, to taste
Find the directions here!
Stuffed Flank Steak Rolls With Chimichurri Sauce
Ingredients
- Lean flank steak, 1.5 lbs.
- Carrot, sliced, 2
- Red bell pepper, sliced, 1
- Black pepper
Marinade
- Garlic cloves, 4
- Olive oil, 1/4 cup
- Bragg Liquid Aminos (or coconut aminos), 1/4 cup
- Lemon juice, 2-3 tbsp
- Parsley, 1 bunch
- Cilantro, 1 bunch
- Sea salt
- Black pepper
Find the directions here!
BBQ- Grilled Healthier Mac & Cheese With Asparagus
Ingredients
- Uncooked quinoa pasta or wheat pasta 4 oz.
- Chopped asparagus 2 cups
- Red onion, diced 1/3 cup
- Uncured, nitrate-free turkey bacon 3 slices
- Garlic minced or paste 1 tbsp
- Low-sodium chicken broth 1 cup
- Quinoa flour or wheat flour 2 tbsp 2%
- Greek yogurt 1/2 cup
- Goat cheese 1/3 cup
- Freshly rosemary, chopped 1 tbsp
- Reduced-fat shredded mozzarella 1/2 cup
- Wheat panko crumbs or homemade wheat-bread crumbs 4 tbsp
- Sea salt and pepper to taste
- Coconut oil spray as needed
Find the directions here!
Dessert
Grilled Fruit Salad (Paleo + Refined Sugar-Free)
Ingredients:
- 1 watermelon – cut into cubes
- 1 cantaloupe – cut into cubes
- 1 pineapple – cut into cubes
- 2 peaches – cut into wedges
- balsamic vinegar – to drizzle over the top
- 2 tbsp fresh basil – chopped
- salt – to taste
Find the directions here!
Grilled Pineapple with Coconut Cinnamon Whipped Cream
Ingredients:
- 1 can of full fat coconut milk or coconut cream (refrigerated at least 3 hours)
- 1 Tbsp maple syrup
- 1 tsp cinnamon
- 8 slices of pineapple
- Misto with extra virgin olive oil, or a small amount of olive oil to brush on the pineapple
Find the directions here!
Wrap-Up
I hope that you enjoy these recipes as much as I do! Mixing up your diet and recipes can be a great way to stay on track, especially during cookout season. What are some of your favorite healthy barbecue recipes? Drop them in the comments so that I can try them out!
