Vegetarians often draw the short straw at barbeques, fated to nosh on limp asparagus or sad vegetable skewers. But armed with the right recipes, your trusty grill, and fresh seasonal produce, you’ll be able to create meals that will convert even the most die-hard carnivore.
There’s one important part we haven’t mentioned yet: cheese. The fastest way to liven-up any vegetable barbeque is a whole lot of Wisconsin Cheese. Whether you’re craving classic mozzarella or an Italian herb juustoleipa, your taste buds are guaranteed to be happy. Fire up the grill, wash those veggies, and get ready for a delicious, colorful, and nutrient-packed plate.
Grilled Vegetable Antipasto Salad
Toasted crostini, grilled veggies, and fresh mozzarella meet in this refreshing summertime salad.
Cheese, veggies, and bread is a combo we’d happily enjoy any time of year, but throw it all on a grill on a sunny day and something magical happens.
Grilling adds some light smokiness and caramelization to your veggies, which contrasts perfectly with fresh mozzarella. The final touch? Toasted crostini for some crunchy goodness between bites of mozzarella.
Featured cheeses
Crave Brothers Farmstead Classics Fresh Mozzarella – Marinated Ciliegine: Let’s start by answering the obvious question: ciliegine means “cherry size” in Italian. That means these bite-size mozzarella balls are the ideal size to snack on while the veggies are on the grill. (Just try not to eat all of them while getting things ready.) Crave Brothers marinates their cheese in a special mixture of olive oil, herbs, and spices to give their traditional mozzarella recipe a bit more of a kick.
Get the recipe for our Grilled Vegetable Antipasto Salad.
Grilled Stuffed Tomatoes
Nothing says summer like fresh off-the-vine tomatoes stuffed with creamy, tangy mascarpone cheese. It’s the ultimate sweet-yet-savory appetizer.
This veggie-friendly appetizer brings some serious flavor and flair to your feast. After all, what meal isn’t made better by stuffing it with cheese? Fresh, firm tomatoes are filled with citrus-y, herb-y mascarpone and mozzarella.
As they grill, the tomatoes soften and develop a smoky, roasted note while the cheese gets irresistibly melty and sweet.
Featured cheeses
Crave Brothers Farmstead Classics Mascarpone: Similar to cream cheese, mascarpone adds a little bit of sweetness and a whole lot of creaminess. It’s the mouthwatering foundation that lets bright flavors like lemon, basil, and garlic shine.
Crave Brothers Farmstead Classics Fresh Mozzarella: Fresh mozzarella can be found in a variety of sizes ranging from that of a pearl to an egg! We recommend using the bocconcini size, which is about the size of an egg, and then tearing it into pieces before stuffing your tomato.
Get the recipe for our Grilled Stuffed Tomatoes.
Grilled Juustoleipa and Vegetable Antipasto Platter
Our antipasto platter is filled with grilled summer vegetables and juustoleipa, or “bread cheese.” This unsung hero of the cheese world is ready to up your grilling game one bite at a time.
If you’ve never heard of juustoleipa (hoo-stah-lee-pa), you’re not alone. While incredibly popular in Finland and Sweden as part of a balanced breakfast, bread cheese is still fairly unknown in the States.
In fact, we love it so much that we wrote a whole blog about it here. When eaten cold, it’s squeaky like cheese curds and has a springy texture, which is delicious in its own right. When grilled, though, this cheese transforms, becoming warm, silky, and smooth while still maintaining its shape. Each bite tastes a little bit like grilled cheese without the bread.
In our Grilled Juustoleipa and Vegetable Antipasto Platter, this unique cheese adds some heartiness and body to the dish alongside some caramelized sweetness.
Throw it on the grill just until it gets gooey and smoky, then enjoy it with freshly grilled vegetables and a balsamic vinaigrette. Smoky, savory, sweet, and acidic, this beautifully balanced dish is ideal as an alfresco entrée or a side.
Featured cheese
Pasture Pride Juusto™ Traditional Baked Cheese: Pasture Pride’s award-winning cheese is grilled as it’s made, creating a beautifully toasted outer crust that adds a slight sweetness to the buttery, fresh taste. Similar to halloumi, it doesn’t fully melt when warm, so it’s the best cheese to toss on a grill. While we love it in this savory recipe, it can also be enjoyed with honey, jam, or even maple syrup for a sweet treat!
Recipe Tip: To make this a low-carb recipe, simply omit the honey from the balsamic vinaigrette. It’ll still taste amazing and boasts only 6g carbs per serving.
Get the recipe for our Grilled Juustoleipa and Vegetable Antipasto Platter.
Zucchini and Potato Rosemary Pizza
Paired with potatoes and sliced zucchini and topped with melty, flavorful fontina and blue cheese, this twist on a classic pizza is bound to be a hit.
Want to jazz up Pizza Night? Bring it outside to the grill! Grilling pizza might sound a little unorthodox, but it’s a great way to get a crispy, crunchy crust.
A grill can get hotter than a typical oven and get you closer to the style of a traditional wood-fired oven we all crave. Our Zucchini and Potato Rosemary Pizza has it all: earthy vegetables, aromatic rosemary, creamy, ultra-melty fontina cheese, and salty, savory blue cheese. Is it traditional? Maybe not by Neapolitan standards, but we guarantee it’s fantastic.
Featured cheeses
Carr Valley Fontina: This buttery cheese has a mild flavor with hints of fruitiness, earthiness, and nuttiness. Fontina also melts like a dream, creating a velvety texture that’s a perfect juxtaposition to a crisp pizza crust. Prepare for an Instagram-worthy cheese pull.
Carr Valley Glacier Point Blue™: It’s not often you find blue cheese on a pizza, but we’re very into it. This award-winning blue from Carr Valley is on the milder end of blue cheeses but packed with flavor and a clean finish. If you’re not a brieliever in blue cheese, this is a gouda place to start.
Get our Zucchini and Potato Rosemary Pizza recipe.
Grilled Veggie and Juustoleipa Burgers
When you take a classic burger and replace that burger entirely with cheese, you know you’re in for a treat. There are loads of meatless alternatives to burgers out there, but this one is special.
This elevated twist on a veggie burger is sure to make any guest happy—and impressed. When juustoleipa, or “bread cheese,” is grilled, it keeps its shape enough to stack high on a pretzel bun but transforms into a warm, caramelized delicacy that shines in every bite.
In this recipe, herbaceous juustoleipa takes center stage, paired with pesto and grilled eggplant and loaded onto a pretzel bun. Together, each bite is creamy, rich, and heavenly for a warm summer day. It’s a wonderful way to mix up the usual BBQ fare in an easy, unique, and cheese-packed way.
Featured Cheese
Pasture Pride Juusto Italiano™ Baked Cheese: Juustoleipa—juusto for short—is a Scandinavian-style firm, buttery cheese. This Pasture Pride specialty is a global flavor mashup, filled with Italian herbs like oregano, marjoram, and basil. While you need 12 ounces in this recipe, we recommend getting a little extra for snacking along the way.
Get our Grilled Veggie and Juustoleipa Burger recipe.
Grill it up!
Meatless grill recipes don’t have to be boring. These vegetable grill recipes are packed full of flavor and Wisconsin Cheese. Whether you’re a vegetarian or not, we guarantee you’ll love these tasty, summery dishes.
Don’t forget to share your grilled creations with us on Facebook and Instagram. Ready to grill something else? Start with our guides to grilling burgers or our foil packet grilling guide, or pick from our selection of over 400 recipes featuring Wisconsin Cheese.