How to grill vegetables and bring out their best flavors

If you have ever tasted grilled shiitake mushrooms in an izakaya in Japan or enjoyed blistered padrón peppers in one of Spain’s tapas bars, you know there are many joys to grilling vegetables. As an Aussie, barbecue is ingrained into my culture, but it’s my world travels that have helped me step up my skills when it comes to grilling vegetables.

Sure, anyone can throw a shrimp or steak on the barbie, but what about vegetables? My friend chef Johan Eriksson of Centrum Krog in Piteå, Sweden, tells me the keys to grilling vegetables are practice and timing: “Get to know your grill … and you will find that your vegetables are sweeter, juicier, and even richer in taste than boiling and steaming them.”

With summer produce season in full swing, here are my top tips for grilling vegetables.

The options for grilling vegetables are endless, so be brave and don’t limit yourself to just large chunks of zucchini, onion, and peppers this season. Mushrooms are a favorite of mine, but Brussels sprouts and snow peas are just as delightful with their natural juices that are released when kissed by a flame. Chef Ross Lusted of Woodcut in Sydney recommends vegetables that are naturally high in sugar, such as sunchokes, which caramelize beautifully on the grill.

Cruciferous vegetables and salad greens do well when blistered as large wedges over high heat. I love charring large kale leaves on the grill before tossing them in a Caesar-style dressing, and Eriksson tells me that even cabbage and Little Gem and iceberg lettuces make for great warm salads when served with a zingy yogurt dressing, roasted garlic, and a generous shower of grated hard cheese. Harder root vegetables, such as beets, parsnips, and pumpkin, can also go on the grill, but your best bet is to wrap them in foil and slow-roast over an indirect flame so that they are tender in the middle when tested with a skewer or knife.

Long tongs are a must for me when grilling vegetables so that I don’t get my forearms singed when reaching to the back of the grill, but one of my favorite tools is a cast-iron pan, which I preheat on the grill before putting in lightly greased vegetables. A perforated frying pan or wire rack also works, chef Axell Torres of Osborn House in Bundanoon, Australia, says. “The pan allows the smoke to circulate and give you that smoky flavor, yet you have greater control over smaller vegetables and do not lose them through the grill grates,” he says. A grill basket is another similar option.

Skewers, as in Grilled Antipasto on a Stick, are also handy. Just remember to soak your wooden skewers in water for 20 to 30 minutes so they don’t burn, and make sure you cut all your vegetables into similar size chunks so they cook evenly.

To keep them from sticking to the grates, I lightly toss vegetables in a neutral oil and prefer to avoid anything with a lower smoke point, such as extra-virgin olive oil, which can burn and make vegetables taste bitter. Don’t mask the flavor of the vegetables with too much fat, but that doesn’t mean you can’t baste your vegetables while they are on the grill. Eriksson, for example, uses brown butter on his charred cabbage.

Cooking is about using your senses, and the same goes for grilling veggies. “When the vegetables start to give off a nice aroma, it’s a good sign that they’re ready to eat,” says chef Yuki Kugota of Megu in Gstaad, Switzerland. Use your finger to gently press the vegetables, or even run a paring knife through the center of roasted beets and other root vegetables to check for doneness. If the vegetables offer no resistance and release juices, they are most likely done.

Be sure to take into account residual cooking. Since most vegetables are full of water, they will steam from the inside and continue to cook when removed from the heat, so consider pulling them off the grates slightly before you think they’re done.

Here’s something I learned from Korean barbecue: Create a tiered cooking system. Rather than throwing vegetables and thinly sliced cuts of beef on the grill and letting them either burn there or in my mouth, I use indirect and direct heat, which helps control the speed at which vegetables cook. Just like with steak, I always start my vegetables on the hottest part of the flame and flip before moving them to a lower heat to either continue cooking or keep warm until I’m ready to serve them.

To take your vegetables to the next level, try creating smoke. Chef Jon Oskar Arnason of Bryggargatan in Skellefteå, Sweden, suggests intensifying the flavor without the use of wood chips. “The trick is to capture smoke — not the black smoke from your marinade but those from the natural juices that drip out of your vegetables,” Arnason says. If you have a lid on your grill, keep it closed while slow-roasting harder vegetables, but if you don’t, invert a large metal bowl over them.

For the simplest grilled vegetables, I drizzle a generous amount of cold-pressed Italian olive oil, add a splash of red wine vinegar, and season with salt and pepper while they’re still warm. In Japan, grilled vegetables, such as baby leeks, are eaten directly off the grill and dipped in salt or soy sauce.

Put grilled vegetables to use in a wide variety of dishes. Toss in salads or grain bowls. Use as pizza toppings. Add to quiche, frittata, or a Spanish tortilla. I look to Italy and stuff grilled vegetables with buffalo mozzarella in crusty rolls. For heartier meals, I throw mixed grilled vegetables, including eggplant and peppers, in a spicy fish head Singapore curry sauce. The possibilities are so numerous and delicious that I grill more vegetables than I need just to have an excuse to use up the leftovers.