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Celebrate grilling season with this Grilled Vegetable Salad! It’s the ultimate summer meal, loaded with chopped grilled veggies, crispy chickpeas, tender kale, and a Creamy Tahini Dressing to tie all of the flavors together.
Chris and I made this summer salad a few years ago in one of our What I Eat in a Day videos on our Youtube Channel. It was a such a hit, we’re still making it years later at the first sign of hot summer nights.
Not only is it bursting with flavor, it’s the best clean out the fridge recipe (use any veggies you have on hand). Plus, it’s really easy to make and a hit with vegans and non-vegans alike!
Ingredients You’ll Need
- Kale: We’ve made this salad using curly kale and lacinato kale and both are great. If you choose to use baby kale, you can skip massaging it as baby kale is much more tender. Or, if you don’t love kale, swap in your favorite leafy greens. Spinach or romaine would be fantastic.
- Vegetables: We used yellow and red bell pepper, zucchini, asparagus, cremini mushrooms, and corn because they were what we had at home. Feel free to change up the vegetables as desired or needed. Eggplant slices, portobello mushrooms, sweet potatoes, artichoke hearts, yellow squash, cherry tomatoes, red onion, carrots, and other types of peppers would be tasty.
- Lemons: For serving on the side. If desired, you can grill them with the vegetables for an added charred flavor and gorgeous grill marks.
- Chickpeas: In order to keep this vegetable salad recipe simple and easy, we opted for crispy chickpeas as the protein. They’re easy to crisp up in a cast iron on the grill and add a nice crunch. Feel free to swap in alternative proteins like vegan chicken strips, grilled tofu, or tofu bacon, or omit the chickpeas completely and just enjoy a veggie salad!
- Spices: Ground cumin, chili powder, garlic powder, smoked paprika, onion powder, and salt and black pepper are used to season the grilled chickpeas. If you’re omitting or opting for another protein, feel free to skip these!
- Vegan cheese: While optional, you can’t go wrong with a sprinkle of vegan cheese. We love our Vegan Feta Cheese or vegan mozzarella on this salad!
Salad Dressing Variations
We absolutely love this grilled salad with our 5-Minute Tahini Dressing, but it would be delicious with a number of salad dressings. Below we’ve included a few of our favorite variations:
- Italian Dressing
- Best Vegan Ranch Dressing
- Easy Avocado Dressing
- Vegan Honey Mustard Dressing
- Oil-Free Vegan Ranch Dressing
- Vegan Caesar Dressing
You could even go with a simple balsamic vinegar or a simple balsamic vinaigrette! Don’t be afraid to switch it up.
Equipment Needed
- Large salad bowl
- Grill or grill pan
- Cast iron skillet (or similar grill-safe pan)
- Sharp knife
- Small bowl
How to Make a Grilled Vegetable Salad
- Massage the kale. Place the de-stemmed and roughly chopped kale in a large salad bowl along with about 1/2 of the tahini dressing. Massage the tahini into the kale using clean hands. Scrunch up large handfuls at a time until the kale brightens in color, softens in texture, and the kale is well coated in tahini dressing. Dress the salad with additional salad dressing as needed or desired, then set aside.
- Grill the veggies. Preheat your grill over medium heat for 10 minutes. Alternatively, you can preheat an oiled grill pan over high heat on the stove top. Place vegetables of choice on the grill grates and cook, turning often, until the vegetables are charred to your liking, about 10-20 minutes.
- Prepare the crispy chickpeas. In a small bowl, mix together all of the spices until uniform. Set aside. Add the chickpeas to a cast iron skillet or another grill-safe pan. Sprinkle the spices evenly over the chickpeas. Mix the chickpeas until well coated in the spices. Place the cast iron skillet over the preheated grill. Cook, stirring often, until the chickpeas have browned and dried out, about 5-8 minutes.
- Toss the salad. Chop the grilled vegetables and cut the corn off the cob. Add to the large salad bowl with the massaged kale along with the spiced chickpeas and toss to combine. Drizzle with additional tahini dressing, as desired.
- Serve. Serve with fresh or grilled lemon wedges, and enjoy!
Serving Suggestions
With the grilled chickpeas, this delicious grilled vegetable salad is hearty enough to enjoy as a main dish, but it can also be enjoyed as a healthy side dish alongside your favorite summer main.
Try serving it with one of these summer staples: Grilled BBQ Tofu, Grillable Veggie Burgers, Vegan Twice Baked Potatoes, or Grilled Portobello Mushroom Burgers. Or, if you’re looking for additional summer sides, you might enjoy these blog favorites:
- Easy Avocado Corn Salad
- Easy Vegan Antipasto Skewers
- Buffalo Vegan Corn on the Cob with Ranch Dressing
- Mom’s Vegan Potato Salad
- Vegan Pasta Salad
- Classic Vegan Macaroni Salad
Recipe FAQs
Absolutely. You can “grill” your favorite vegetables in a grill pan or hot cast iron skillet on the stovetop. You can also bake the roasted vegetables with a little olive oil at 425F until fork tender. To recreate a similar charred flavor, broil the vegetables for a couple of minutes at the end of cooking. Watch carefully so the veggies don’t burn.
The best way to prevent your vegetables from falling through the grill grates is to grill them in large pieces, then cut into bite-sized pieces afterwards. For smaller vegetables, such as cherry tomatoes or cremini mushrooms, you can grill them in a grill-safe pan or grill basket.
If you are finding that larger veggies are still falling through the grates, try skewering them on grill-safe skewers.
Grilled vegetables and leafy greens tossed in dressing are best served fresh for optimal flavor and texture. However, leftover salad will keep in an airtight container for up to 3 days. Enjoy chilled straight from the fridge!
More Summer Salad Recipes You May Enjoy:
Appetizers and Sides
Easy Avocado Corn Salad
Appetizers and Sides
Classic Vegan Macaroni Salad
Appetizers and Sides
Summer Cactus (Nopalitos) Salad | Vegan & Oil-Free
Appetizers and Sides
Grilled Romaine Lettuce (Easy + 3-Ingredients)
Make sure you tag us on Instagram @sweetsimplevegan and @consciouschris and hashtag #sweetsimplevegan if you make this recipe. We love to see your photos!
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Grilled Vegetable Salad Recipe
- Total Time: 30 minutes
- Yield: 4 servings
- Diet: Vegan
Description
Celebrate grilling season with this Grilled Vegetable Salad! It’s the ultimate summer meal, loaded with chopped grilled veggies, crispy chickpeas, tender kale, and a Creamy Tahini Dressing to tie all of the flavors together.
Ingredients
- 5-Minute Tahini Dressing
- 1 bunch kale, stems removed and roughly chopped
- 2 bell peppers, cut into thick slices
- 1 large zucchini, cut into thick rounds
- 1 bunch asparagus, ends removed and cut into thirds
- 4 oz. crimini mushrooms, cut into thick slices
- 2 ears corn, shucked
- 4 lemons, halved
Grilled Chickpeas
- 1 (15.5 oz) can chickpeas, drained and rinsed (about 1 1/2 cups)
- 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
- 1/2 teaspoon chili powder
- 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1/4 teaspoon smoked paprika
- 1/4 teaspoon onion powder
- Salt and black pepper, as desired
Instructions
- Place the kale into a large salad bowl along with about 1/2 of the tahini dressing. Using clean hands, massage the tahini into the kale by scrunching up large handfuls at a time until the kale softens and the tahini is well incorporated. Add more tahini dressing as needed or desired. Set aside.
- For the vegetables: Preheat your grill on medium heat for 10 minutes. We didn’t use oil but you can oil it if you’d like. Alternatively you can preheat an oiled grill pan on high. Add the vegetables to the grill and cook, turning often, until they are charred to your liking, about 10-20 minutes depending on the grill and the vegetables. Some of the vegetables will cook faster than others depending on their size and variety.
- For the chickpeas: In a small bowl, mix together all of the spices until uniform, and then set aside. Add the chickpeas to a cast iron skill (or a grill safe pan), and evenly sprinkle over the spices. Mix together until the chickpeas are well coated and then transfer the pan to a heated grill. Cook, stirring often, until the chickpeas have browned and dried out, about 5-8 minutes.
- Assembly: Once the corn has cooled enough to handle, use a sharp knife to remove the the kernels from the cob. Place your desired amount of kale into your serving bowl and then dress it with vegetables and chickpeas. Drizzle some additional tahini dressing on top as desired and serve it with an extra half or wedge of lemon. Enjoy!
Notes
- We decided to grill a few lemons and use those in our tahini dressing. It added a fun charred element to them + the lemons were gorgeous!
- You can really use any vegetables of your choice in this salad, these are just what we had on hand this day!
- If you don’t have a cast iron skillet, you can cook the chickpeas on your stovetop. Add them to a pan over medium-low heat with the oil, stirring often, until they have browned a bit. You can also cook the chickpeas in your oven by placing the seasoned chickpeas on a lined pan and placing them into the oven at 400F for 20-25 minutes.
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Cook Time: 20 minutes
- Category: Entree, Salad
- Method: Grill or Stovetop
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Really delicious and simple recipe. I don’t have a grill, so baked everything. I added some oil, soy sauce, garlic powder, and red pepper flakes to the veggies for extra flavor. The tahini dressing was so yummy as well!