The official beginning of summer is also the start of barbecue season—but that doesn’t have to mean only burgers and ’dogs. We’ve pulled together a smorgasbord of our favorite snack-attack dishes, all of them awesome for feeding a crowd. Most can be made in advance, and (maybe best of all) you won’t even have to light the grill.
Things on buns
Our best veggie burger ever
The best burgers in life are smashed. Our speedy, crispy black bean patties go from bowl to griddle in less than 20 minutes, with zero sacrifice in flavor or texture. How? We took inspiration from one of the best veggie patties around, and deployed a few time-saving cheat codes to slash prep time by more than half.
Maple mustard BBQ sandwiches (+ slaw!)
Pulled pork lovers will find a lot to love in these tangy-sweet, satisfying sammies. Canned jackfruit—which has a neutral flavor and shreddable texture—is an ingenious stand-in for meat, and we swathe it in an easy homemade BBQ sauce and top it with a crunchy, creamy slaw. These may just become the sandwiches of the summer.
Confident Joannes (a.k.a., TVP sloppy Joes)
Our take on the sloppy Joe is pure fun on a bun. The star of this recipe is TVP (textured vegetable protein), a fantastic soy-based meat swap that soaks up flavor. In this case, that’s a zesty, molasses-and-mustard-spiked tomato sauce.
Things for snackin’
Miso-ranch snack mix
When creating the snack mix of our dreams, we were torn between two flavor templates: a classic salty, herby mix with ranch seasoning, and a sweet and salty blend of Asian rice crackers, roasted edamame, and nuts flavored with brown sugar and miso. But then we realized we didn’t have to choose. We combined the two to create an ultimate sweet-savory-herby-umami flavor explosion.
‘Beef’ and plantain empanadas
A series of time- and energy-saving hacks make these flaky pockets of savory goodness almost as easy to whip up as they are to scarf down. Just grab your favorite alt ground meat, frozen plantains, and a pack of puff pastry and you’re on your way to empanada ecstasy. Consider making a double batch so you have them on hand for future fiestas—they freeze beautifully.
Chipotle jalapeño poppers
Nondairy cream cheese mixed with smoky chipotle and umami-rich nutritional yeast make these picante poppers as planet friendly as they are mouthwatering. But that’s not all we love about them: The crushed tortilla-chip topping is a low-waste way to add a satisfying crunch.