What do you think about grilling fruits and vegetables?

Grilling usually involves various types of meat, such as hotdogs, hamburgers, and steaks. But now it’s time to grill some fruits and vegetables too. Griddling fruits brings out their natural sweetness and lightly charring vegetables enhances their flavor.

We have a wide selection of fresh produce and marinades, spice rubs, and sauces galore for you to enjoy as part of your grilling repertoire at your patio table.

Grilling Fruits

Grilling fruit makes it even better. Caramelized sugars intensify the flavors, juicy fruits become even juicier, and the smoke from the grill imparts a woodsy, camping-campfire flavor. Oh, and the grill marks – just gorgeous! Before you start grilling fruit, here are eight tips to help you get the best results.

1. Almost any fruit can be grilled as long as it is firm and not overripe. There are many fresh fruits that will hold their shape over the coals, including peaches, pineapple, bananas, melons, pears, avocado, tomatoes, and figs.
2. Oranges, lemons, limes, and grapefruit are best cooked with granulated sugar on the cut side before being grilled on oiled grill to prevent the rinds from sticking and to give the fruit a lovely caramelized finish. For garnishing cocktails and desserts, grilled lemon and lime wheels are especially useful.
3. To help fruit maintain its structure as it breaks down, cut it into large chunks, slices, or wheels. Depending on the distance between the grill grates, larger pieces are less likely to fall between the grates. Strawberries and other small fruits can be placed on skewers to prevent them from burning.
4. Oiling the fruit isn’t always necessary. To avoid an unwanted oil slick on your fruit used for cocktails and desserts, follow this tip. For savory recipes like fruit salsa or fruit kebabs, oiling the fruit won’t be an issue. It’s also possible to get better grill marks without oiling fruit. Of course, your result may vary from mine.
5. In comparison to peaches and citrus fruit, pineapples require more time to cook. If you want dense fruits to heat through completely, you can cover the grill for a few minutes at a time and check for doneness every 5 minutes or so. Exactly when do you know it is done? You can test a piece by slicing it and seeing if it is hot in the middle. Sometimes, grill marks will be enough for some recipes.
6. For best results, heat the grill for at least 10 minutes before laying down the fruit. Clean the grate and oil it before placing the fruit. Use a high-heat-resistant oil that has a neutral taste, like safflower oil.
7. During grilling, some fruits release a lot of juice. Naturally, some of that will drip through. After it comes off the grill, place the grilled fruit on a rimmed baking sheet to hold all that juicy goodness.
8. Let the fruit sit on the hot grill for a few minutes before checking for grill marks; the surface of the fruit needs time to sear so it won’t stick. However, you should know that some sticking will still occur. There is no big deal and the fruit will taste great anyway.

Grilling Vegetables

Having a grilled vegetable slightly charred and oozing with smoky flavor makes me incredibly happy. I grill a lot of vegetables every week and we add them to our meals. They’re delicious! That is why I wanted to give you a guide on the best grilled vegetables!

Vegetables good for grilling are mushrooms, cauliflower, broccoli, bell peppers, eggplant, onion, squash, asparagus, corn, tomatoes, and romaine. When grilling vegetables, you will get a slight hint of smoke that makes them so delicious. Here are some tips to make sure your grilled vegetables turn out perfectly.

1. The way you cut your vegetables determines how quickly they will cook. You can cook your vegetables faster by cutting them into smaller pieces. Slice round vegetables like onions or eggplant into thin rounds, and you’ll get more surface area, which makes the outside crispier, and because they’re thin, the inside will cook quickly. Squash and eggplants can be cut into long strips for fast cooking, or in half for slow grilling over medium heat.
2. Without a little oil, vegetables dry out when they’re cooked. Before grilling the vegetables, toss them in a light coating of oil. It is best not to use too much oil-it is not only calorie-dense but can also cause flare-ups and greasy taste. Additionally, seasoning sticks to them better when tossed in oil.
3. Do you not want to watch over your vegetables while they grill? Put them in packets instead. For vegetables such as sweet potatoes, potatoes, or other roots, this method works well. Place a 24-inch-long piece of foil on the counter and lightly spray the foil with nonstick cooking spray. Lay thinly-sliced vegetables on a sheet of foil in a single layer with slight overlaps. Create a 2-inch border around the sheet of foil. Bring both ends of the foil together to create a packet. Put the foil packet on the grill. Grill the vegetables until they are tender (about 12-15 minutes for potatoes).
4. While some vegetables take a few minutes to cook, others take much longer. Those vegetables that are denser, like potatoes, will require the longest cooking time. Overheating them for too long will cause them to turn black on the outside and remain raw on the inside.
5. It’s great to grill cherry tomatoes, zucchini rounds, and mushrooms, but they’re a bit difficult to handle. To prevent smaller vegetables and fruit from falling through the grate, pierce them on a skewer or use a grill basket. If you don’t have a grill basket, fold an 18-inch-long strip of heavy-duty foil in half and crimp up the edges. With this “basket,” the food won’t fall out while still retaining plenty of smoke flavor.
6. Sear vegetables over high heat, then move them to a cooler area of the grill so they do not burn. Alternatively, you can precook them and grill them for a few minutes to get color on the outside.