This Grilled Vegetable Salad recipe has perfectly charred vegetables dressed with a sunny, herby lemon vinaigrette. Bites of creamy, salty blue cheese (or substitute Parmesan) are the finishing touch!
Grilled Vegetable Salad is a Summertime Favorite!
Every summer, we seem to grasp onto a new-to-us salad or salad dressing. And this has been the summer of the Grilled Vegetable Salad!
We char the veggies over hot grill grates and then toss them with an herby lemon vinaigrette. The grand finale is a sprinkling of blue cheese crumbles over the top (or shaved Parmesan, if you prefer!).
This is definitely one of my favorite vegetable salad recipes, a surefire way to get everybody eating their veggies. Serve it with this ultra tender and flavorful Beer Can Chicken, easy Grilled Turkey Tenderloin, or this Sweet and Smoky Grilled Salmon for a meal entirely from the grill!
Other fresh summertime salad hits include this crazy good Italian Chopped Salad that’s dressed with the zippiest Italian Vinaigrette, Grilled Romaine with the BEST Homemade Buttermilk Ranch Dressing, and my grandma’s Fresh Ginger Dressing.
“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!
- fresh vegetables – see my list of favorites below!
- olive oil
- salt & pepper
- herby lemon vinaigrette
- blue cheese crumbles – or substitute shaved Parmesan if you’re not a blue cheese fan!
What are the best grilled vegetables?
I could eat grilled vegetables every single day, all year long. There is nothing like the char from a hot grill!
These are our favorites, the best veggies to grill for this salad:
- asparagus
- red onion
- sweet corn
- red bell peppers
- yellow squash
- zucchini
I also toss in some fresh grape or cherry tomatoes when dressing the finished salad, but we don’t grill them.
How to Make This Grilled Vegetable Salad
You’ll usually find our whole family in the kitchen, prepping this salad together. This is how we prepare the vegetables for the grill:
- Prep the vegetables: Wash the vegetables, then cut into grill-friendly portions. 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 quarters. My favorite large cutting board (affiliate link) gives us plenty of space to cut and slice like champs!
- Toss with oil, salt & pepper: Place the prepared vegetables on a large rimmed pan (affiliate link). 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 veggies are cool enough to handle, chop them into bite-size pieces, about 1″ to 1.5″ chunks.
- Toss with lemon vinaigrette: Place the chopped vegetables in a serving bowl and drizzle this bright and sunny herby lemon vinaigrette over the top. Fold gently to combine.
This citrusy vinaigrette has tons of versatility. So I like to dress a variety of salads with it, and even use it as a marinade for grilling!
- Finish with cheese: Blue cheese is my favorite 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 also recommend grabbing 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!
Can I Make This Ahead of Time?
This is a GREAT salad to prep ahead of time!
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!
Can I Use a Different Dressing?
If you’d like to use something other than the lemon vinaigrette, 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, blue cheese, or Parmesan. I’d probably skip the cheese with the ranch dressing. And I’d add some shaved Parmesan if using the Italian vinaigrette.
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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
- herby 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:
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. :)