This Grilled Vegetable Salad recipe features tender, perfectly charred vegetables dressed with a sunny, herby lemon vinaigrette. Bites of creamy, salty blue cheese (or nutty Parmesan) are the finishing touch!
This Grilled Vegetable Salad recipe has become a beloved summertime staple on our backyard table. Blake chars the veggies (perfectly, I might add) over the hot grill grates, and then they’re chopped and tossed with the sunshine-iest herby Lemon Vinaigrette. The grand finale is a sprinkling of blue cheese crumbles over the top (or shaved Parmesan, if you prefer). We often enjoy it with ultra tender and flavorful Beer Can Chicken, this easy Grilled Turkey Tenderloin, or Sweet & Smoky Grilled Salmon for a meal that’s entirely from the grill!
What Makes This Grilled Vegetable Salad So Darn Good
This is definitely one of my favorite salad recipes, a surefire way to get everybody eating their veggies! If your family isn’t the type to get excited about salads, this one promises to be a game-changer.
- Tender grilled veggies. Except for the tomatoes, every veggie in this salad is grilled. This makes them tender and adds an incredible amount of flavor.
- A bright, sassy vinaigrette. The lemon vinaigrette makes the flavors in this salad pop. It’s bright and acidic, with a gentle touch of honey and fresh herbs. So many people LOVE this salad dressing!
- So many layers of flavor. You’ve got the charred, caramelized vegetables, that lemony vinaigrette, and deeply savory, piquant blue cheese (or nutty Parm!). It all comes together in the most delightful way!
“I stumbled upon this salad about 4 years ago and have been making it (multiple times ) every summer since. Sometimes I change up the cheese with parm or bocconcini but mostly always use smoked blue cheese! Also sometimes add toasted walnuts or pumpkin seeds. Either way, it’s absolutely delicious and a huge hit with everyone! Thanks for sharing this recipe.”
Alayna
What You’ll Need
Grab an armful of fresh vegetables and a few other items, and let’s make this salad – here’s what you’ll need! Scroll down to the printable recipe card to find the exact ingredient quantities and recipe instructions.
- Fresh vegetables – You can use whatever’s ready to harvest in your backyard garden or what looks good at the farmers’ market. My go-to combination is what you see in the photo above: sweet corn, yellow squash, zucchini, red bell peppers, red onion, asparagus, and tomatoes.
- Olive oil – This coats the vegetables to give them flavor, help the salt & pepper adhere, and eliminate sticking to the grill grates.
- Salt & pepper – This is all you need for super simple Grilled Vegetables. Trust me. The flavor is fabulous.
- Tomatoes – Use grape or cherry tomatoes, whatever small tomato variety you prefer.
- Lemon Vinaigrette – You’ll want to add it to ALL your salads from now on!
- Blue cheese – Blue cheese is my favorite cheese for this salad – a sprinkling of these salty, creamy, pungent bites is absolutely amazing! But I totally get that not everyone likes blue cheese. In which case, I recommend that you grab a block of your favorite Parmesan. With a vegetable peeler, shave off some big, wide pieces and substitute it for the blue cheese. The Parmesan definitely gives this vegetable salad a little different vibe, but it’s still a very, VERY good vibe!
How to Make This Grilled Vegetable Salad
You’ll usually find our whole family in the kitchen and out by the grill, prepping this salad together. Here’s how we make it:
- Prep the vegetables. Wash the vegetables, then cut into grill-friendly size portions that won’t fall through the grates. Snap off any tough ends on the asparagus. Core and then cut the red pepper into quarters. Slice the red onion into thick rings. Cut the zucchini and yellow squash lengthwise into long quarters.
- Toss with oil, salt & pepper. Place the prepared vegetables on a large rimmed pan. Then drizzle with olive oil, and sprinkle with salt & black pepper.
- Grill the vegetables. Grill the veggies until they’re beautifully charred and nicely softened.
- Chop the vegetables. Once the grilled veggies are cool enough to handle, chop them into bite-size pieces, about 1″ to 1.5″ chunks. Also slice the little tomatoes.
- Make the lemon vinaigrette. Shake up the sunny lemon vinaigrette – I like to use a jar.
- Fold together. Place the chopped vegetables in a serving bowl and drizzle the lemon vinaigrette over the top. Fold gently to combine.
- Finish with cheese. Sprinkle the blue cheese or Parmesan over the vegetables and dig in!
Tips & Variations
I’ve got a few additional pointers, plus ways to change up this grilled vegetable salad.
- Clean the grill well. You want to taste those beautiful veggies, not the last meal you cooked on the grill. So get the grates clean first.
- Grill in batches if you have to. Give all the vegetables space for air circulation, otherwise they’ll steam and get mushy on the grill. If you have a smaller grill, space out the veggies – and if you run out of room, do grill them in batches.
- Swap in another dressing. I have a couple delicious options for you. I’d suggest this delicious Balsamic Vinaigrette. Or how about a Creamy Buttermilk Ranch. Or this super zesty Italian Vinaigrette. If using the balsamic, I’d suggest using goat cheese, feta, blue cheese, or Parmesan. I’d probably skip the cheese with the ranch dressing – or possibly try some good shredded cheddar. And I’d add some shaved Parmesan if using the Italian vinaigrette.
- Add nuts. If you like a little crunch to your salad, add some toasted, chopped walnuts or some some pumpkin seeds.
Make-Ahead Instructions
This is a GREAT salad to prep ahead of time!
Same day prep: You can definitely clean and cut all the vegetables earlier in the day, or even the night before. Same goes for the lemon vinaigrette – go ahead and make that up to a couple days in advance.
When we’re serving this to guests during the summer, Blake usually grills up all the vegetables an hour or so before guests arrive. Once they’ve cooled a bit, I cut them into bite-size pieces and place them in a serving bowl; and set aside. After our guests arrive, all that’s left to do is toss the vegetables with the vinaigrette and sprinkle with blue cheese. Easy peasy!
Day before prep: As I said, you can make the lemon vinaigrette up to a couple days prior. You could also grill and chop the vegetables, and then place the cooled vegetables in an airtight container in the fridge overnight. Let the vegetables and vinaigrette come to room temperature before assembling and serving.
Serving Suggestions
When I make this grilled vegetable salad, it’s almost always as a side for a grilled protein like Easy Grilled Pork Chops, Sugar Grilled Steak, or Grilled Shrimp Sausage Kabobs. It’s nice being able to cook everything on the grill while we’re outside!
How to Store and Reheat Leftovers
- Refrigerator: Transfer leftovers to an airtight container and refrigerate for up to 3 days. It’s best to store this grilled vegetable salad without the dressing and cheese, but I know most of the time, you’ve likely tossed everything together and that’s okay too.
- To reheat: You actually don’t have to reheat this salad; it’s fantastic served chilled or simply at room temperature. But if you do want to heat it, you can do so in the microwave or in a nonstick skillet set over medium heat. (Tasty Tip for you: I like to use leftovers to make an open-faced sandwich on a crusty baguette – delicious!)
More Summertime Salads
Grilled Vegetable Salad
Ingredients
- 4 ears sweet corn, husk and silk removed
- 2 medium yellow summer squash, ends trimmed, quartered lengthwise
- 2 medium green zucchini, ends trimmed, quartered lengthwise
- 2 large red bell peppers, stems, seeds and any large ribs removed, and cut into 3 to 4 pieces each
- 1 large red onion, ends and skin removed, sliced into 3 to 4 large intact-rings
- 1 pound asparagus, tough ends snapped off
- 2-3 tablespoons olive oil
- kosher salt
- freshly ground black pepper
- 1 pound cherry or grape tomatoes, sliced in half
- Lemon Vinaigrette
- 4 ounces your favorite blue cheese, crumbled – if you don't like blue cheese, use large, wide shavings of Parmesan!
Instructions
- Preheat grill to 400° F. Scrub grates clean and oil them well. (See Notes)
- Place corn, yellow squash, zucchini, bell pepper, onion, and asparagus on a large rimmed pan – the pan will be very full. Drizzle olive oil over all vegetables. With your hands, gently fold the vegetables until they are all evenly coated with oil, careful to keep the sliced rings of red onion intact. Sprinkle vegetables fairly generously with salt & pepper, and lightly fold again using your hands. Sprinkle one more time lightly with salt & pepper.
- Add vegetables to the hot grill, over direct heat, in a single layer. Depending on the size of your grill, you may need to grill in batches. Set the corn on the hottest part of the grill to get some quick char.
- Close grill lid and cook for about 2 minutes.
- Open the grill and use a long tongs to flip and rotate vegetables as needed. Cooking times will vary with each vegetable, so it's just a matter of checking on them regularly and turning as needed. The asparagus usually cooks the fastest, but cook time will depend on how thick it is. Aim for the corn to have some char, but to not be completely cooked (we like some fresh, crunchy texture!). We like the onion to get nicely softened, so that always takes the longest. Once the vegetables have distinct grill marks and are cooked/softened to your liking, remove them from the grill, back to the rimmed pan.
- To assemble the salad: Once the vegetables have cooled enough to handle, cut the kernels from the corn cob and chop the rest of the vegetables into bite-size pieces, about one inch or so in size. Place everything in a large-ish serving bowl – I like to use a low, wide bowl. Add the tomatoes and fold everything together. Drizzle with a bit of the herby lemon vinaigrette, and then fold. Add more vinaigrette if needed. Sprinkle with blue cheese. Serve just slightly warm or at room temperature.
Notes
Nutrition Information:
This post was first published in 2018, then updated in 2025.
Love this salad! Loved that you could grill ahead. Dressing is fantastic. I think you could make this salad the day before even (don’t add the cheese until serving). I felt like you could taste the dressing better the next day. Just be sure to not overcook the veggies and let them cool completely, on day of serving pull out of fridge a little early to get to a cool room temp. Only sharing because we do a lot of entertaining and anything I can do ahead is nice. Thank you for this wonderful recipe!
Hi Michele – I LOVE to hear ALL of this! Thank you for coming back here to let me know + rate the recipe! ENJOY!!! :)
Oh my goodness! This was so good. Definitely a new go-to for our summer bbqs! I used balsamic vinaigrette and traded feta for the blue cheese crumbles.
SO HAPPY you liked this recipe, Becky! Thank you for coming back here to let me know. :)
I stumbled upon this salad about 4 years ago and have been making it (multiple times ) every summer since. Sometimes I change up the cheese with parm or bocconcini but mostly always use smoked blue cheese! Also sometimes add toasted walnuts or pumpkin seeds. Either way, it’s absolutely delicious and a huge hit with everyone! Thanks for sharing this recipe
SO HAPPY to hear this, Alayna! Thank you for coming back here to let me know, it means a lot! -Brenda
This was delicious! This will be part of my regular rotation. I always love your recipes.
So glad you liked this, Laura! In my regular rotation, too! :)
Absolutely love salads and this is such a great recipe for something different! Will be making it again!!
HI :)
Have you had leftovers of this? I am cooking for one – not sure if I should split the recipe or if it will hold up well for a second meal?
Looks so delivious!
Thank you!
Hi Shawna – This does keep well for leftovers. But I might recommend just grilling enough veggies for just 2 or 3 meals, and add some of the vinaigrette as you eat each meal. The vinaigrette will keep well for at least a week or more – and is also good on greens, etc.
Absolutely amazing salad.
Yay! Thank you so much! :)
This is quite possibly the most delicious way to eat vegetables. Plus you get to clear out your produce drawer of all the unused veggies, AND it’s so easy. I used a store bought Meyer LeMon vinaigrette and it was still impossibly good.
This tasted exquisite, this will be my go-to salad for the grill season. So yummy!
Go to your local farmers stand, or you garden, and taste great ingredients combined together. Yummy.
This salad is fantastic. Thank you so much for the recipe. I’m new to your site but if your other recipes are as good, I’m here to stay. Turned out amazing. Thank you!
This is hands down the best veggie recipe/dish I’ve ever tried. I shared to my Facebook page today for all my friends and family to try. As another reviewer wrote “it’s stupid good.” Thanks so much for the recipe. This will absolutely be on repeat this summer.
This recipe is to die for! Absolutely delicious.
Hi Sharon – I’m so glad you think so. I love it, too!! :)
Oh Man this was the first time I have ever grilled veggies and this dish is AMAZING! Love it! Thank you so much for sharing!
This is STUPID good! Game changer.
Ha! We love it too. :)