For many people across the Southeast U.S., the fall is a season for enjoying the outside. The cooler weather means that it’s time to enjoy the outside without sweating profusely. Although summertime is the season when BBQ reigns supreme, the fall brings cooler temps, college football and relaxing weekends indulging in steaks, burgers, and hot dogs. If you want to enjoy the fall festivities, but you also want to stay healthy and trim, what can you do?
Luckily, BBQ is a very flexible way of preparing food that lends itself well to healthier versions of your favorite foods. If you are ready to break out the grill, here are 10 healthy BBQ recipes that you can use this fall.
1. BBQ Kabobs
Kabobs are the ultimate healthy BBQ food, and there are dozens of ways to make this tasty finger food dish healthy for you. Load them up with vegetables, including mushrooms, peppers, onions, and artichokes, and add some chicken for protein. Toss on pineapple or tomatoes for a juicy addition, and brush the entire thing with your favorite low-sugar sauce. Kabobs are a great way to sneak some veggies onto kids’ plates, and are an easy way to control portions – a plateful of kabobs looks and feels like a lot of food, but may only represent half a chicken breast and a couple servings of vegetables. Here’s a great way to prepare a healthy chicken kebob:
1 pound boneless, skinless chicken breast
2 medium or 1 large red bell pepper
1 medium white onion
Half a cup of pineapple chunks, fresh or canned
Half a cup of low-sugar BBQ sauce (or check out a few sauce recipes below!)
3-4 TBSP of reduced-sugar frozen orange juice concentrate, thawed
Cut all ingredients into 1½-inch chunks. Soak eight wooden skewers in water while you are chopping or for about 15 minutes. Meanwhile, be sure your grill is heating to a medium-high heat. Thread each skewer with pieces of the chicken, pineapple, pepper, and onion.
Mix the BBQ sauce and the orange juice concentrate in a bowl, and brush half of the sauce onto the skewers. Grill for about 10 minutes, or until your chicken chunks are fully cooked, coating with the rest of the sauce as you cook. Be sure to turn the skewers occasionally so that all the ingredients cook evenly.
If the ingredients are evenly threaded and coated with a low-calorie BBQ sauce, each skewer will only be about 100 calories, with roughly 15 to 20 calories from fat. You’ll get about 12 grams of protein and only about 10 grams of carbohydrates per skewer.
2. Asian BBQ Chicken Skewers
Yes, this is another kabob recipe; however, these Asian BBQ Chicken Skewers are so low in fat, they are practically unrecognizable as an indulgent summertime food. But your taste buds won’t know the difference!
2 tablespoons soy sauce
3 tablespoons brown sugar
2 teaspoons ground ginger
2 minced garlic cloves
1 pound of chicken breast, cut into 1 ½ inch strips
2 tablespoons maple syrup
5 tablespoons Ah-So sauce, divided
Mix three tablespoons of the Ah-So sauce with the soy sauce, brown sugar, ginger, garlic, and one tablespoon of water. Pour this marinade into a resealable plastic bag along with the chicken. Refrigerate for at least one hour, or up to 24.
Soak the wooden skewers for at least 20 minutes before using. Mix the remaining Ah-So sauce with the maple syrup, and set aside. With your grill heating to a medium-high heat, thread chicken strips onto the skewers lengthwise. Cook for about five minutes per side, until the chicken is done. After the chicken is done, coat with the maple syrup glaze, and serve right away.
This recipe contains 250 calories per serving, but only three grams of fat per serving!
3. Turkey Burgers
Burgers are a quintessential summer BBQ food, but all that red meat can take a toll on your health faster than you’d like. Slim down your favorite burger recipe by substituting turkey. If you find that the turkey is too dry to stick together, try mixing half beef and half turkey, or half pork and half turkey, for a delicious (but still healthy!) version of your favorite summer food.
4. BBQ Shrimp
Seafood is a great way to break up the monotony of burgers and hot dogs, but some cooks are intimidated by what they believe is more complicated than their regular chicken or beef dish. But the truth is that anyone who can grill a piece of chicken, or handle a simple kabob recipe, can cook great shrimp.
Shrimp can be cooked on skewers and coated with your favorite low-sugar BBQ sauce, or coated with this low-fat Italian-style BBQ sauce:
½ cup sun-dried tomatoes
3 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
4 teaspoons lemon juice
1 teaspoon salt
3 cloves garlic
2 jalapeño peppers
1 teaspoon minced ginger
2 teaspoon chili powder
¼ pound unsalted butter
Blend the tomatoes, Worcestershire, lemon juice, and salt and pepper to taste. Heat a small amount of cooking oil over low heat, and cook the garlic, jalapeño, and ginger for three minutes. Add the chili powder for another 30 seconds. Then add the butter and cook until melted. Stir in the tomato mixture, and remove the mixture from heat. Use to coat grilled shrimp.
5. Simple BBQ Chicken
A BBQ doesn’t always have to feature overnight marinades and complex sauces. In fact, you can make a great healthy BBQ chicken with just three ingredients: soy sauce, honey, and garlic. That’s it! Mix equal parts of each ingredient with some water until the mixture has the consistency that you want. Then brush it onto chicken, as it grills. You could also use this sauce for pork, fish, shrimp, or veggie kabobs. Using low-sodium soy sauce can make this BBQ recipe even healthier.
For a ¼-pound serving of chicken grilled with this sauce, you can expect to consume about 200 calories, which includes only three grams of fat, and less than 20 total grams of carbohydrates. Chicken is a great source of lean protein to add to your healthy summer meals.
6. BBQ Pulled Pork
If you live in the Midwest, you know that pulled pork is a staple of any good BBQ get-together. This is one of the few BBQ recipes that doesn’t use a grill to achieve a wonderfully juicy, sauce-covered pork. Instead, a pork loin roast is cooked in a crock pot or Dutch oven until it is easily pulled apart. While most people eat pulled pork on hamburger buns, there are many other ways that you can consume this delicious BBQ that is a little healthier.
Let’s start with a great pulled pork recipe that is easy to throw together midday for dinner:
2-3 pounds of pork loin roast (trim the fat before cooking to reduce the amount of grease in the mixture)
3 whole garlic cloves, peeled
15oz tomato sauce, or more if you prefer a thinner sauce
½ cup balsamic or apple cider vinegar
1 teaspoon paprika
½ teaspoon salt
Optional: 5 dried apricots
Combine all ingredients in a crock pot or Dutch oven, and cook on high for four to five hours. Instead of serving on a bun, try creating an appetizer or finger food meal with pulled pork piled onto baked sweet potato chips, or simply eat over rice or on its own. For a traditional Midwestern meal, add coleslaw made with low-fat, low-sugar mayo on the side.
7. No-Sugar BBQ Sauce
Any master griller knows that BBQ is all about the sauce, but bottled BBQ sauce is almost always full of sugar. Here’s a great recipe for a tasty no-sugar BBQ sauce that even the most refined taste buds will love:
4 medium tomatoes, diced
1 crisp, sweet apple (like the Fuji), diced
1 onion, diced
3 cloves of garlic, diced
1 teaspoon chili powder
½ teaspoon paprika (smoked paprika will give your sauce a smoky flavor)
¼ teaspoon cayenne
1 teaspoon coriander
½ teaspoon salt
1 bay leaf
2 tablespoons plus ½ teaspoon balsamic or apple cider vinegar
3 tablespoons honey
Add all ingredients to a pot, cover, and let simmer on medium-low heat for about 40 minutes. When the sauce is broken down, allow it to cool, and then blend in a food processor or blender. Use this sauce for ribs, chicken, or any other cut of meat that you would typically BBQ.
8. Sweet and Spicy BBQ Sauce
If your style of BBQ leans more towards the sweet, thick sauce found on Kansas City BBQ plates, then you may have found it difficult to find a great healthy alternative to bottled sauces. With just a few tweaks to a basic homemade BBQ sauce, you can create your own sweet and spicy BBQ sauce that is still healthy and light on calories.
½ onion, minced
4 cloves garlic, grated
¾ cup bourbon – it will be cooked down, so it doesn’t have to be top shelf
½ teaspoon black pepper
½ teaspoon salt
2 cups ketchup – use a low-sugar version, or make your own
4 ounces of tomato paste
½ cup honey
2 tablespoons hot chili paste or you could substitute diced hot peppers to reduce overall sodium; choose a pepper and amount that fits your spice preferences.
1/3 cup apple cider vinegar
Mix the onion, garlic, and bourbon, and simmer for 10 minutes over low heat until the onion is translucent. (If you substituted peppers for the chili paste, add those with this first step as well.) Add the rest of the ingredients, and keep the heat on medium-low. Stirring frequently, cook for about 20 minutes. If you prefer a smoother sauce, blend well after cooling. This sauce can be used on anything that you would barbecue but, works especially well on ribs and baked beans.
9. Peach BBQ Sauce
If you want to try something new with your BBQ this year, but still want a healthy BBQ meal, the slightly fruity flavor of this peach BBQ sauce is a great way to spruce up ribs or pork chops.
1 pound of ripe peaches, skinned and diced
½ cup water
3-4 ounces of tomato paste
½ medium onion peeled and diced
2 tablespoons molasses
¼ cup apple cider vinegar
Salt and pepper to taste
Optional: 3-4 slices of bacon
If using the bacon, place in a saucepan over medium heat, and cook just until the fat softens. Add the rest of the ingredients, and simmer over low for at least three hours. Throughout the cooking time, mash and stir the ingredients as they soften. After the sauce has reached a cooked, sauce-like consistency, you can blend if you prefer a smoother sauce.Don’t forget the veggies!
10. Don’t forget the veggies!
Vegetables are incredibly easy to toss on the BBQ grill while you are cooking the main dish. Many vegetables, such as eggplants, squash, corn, and tomatoes, can be grilled directly on the grill; if you are cooking a more delicate or smaller vegetable, like Brussels sprouts or green beans, simply wrap them up in foil with healthy coconut oil and a few spices, and place the foil pack on the grill. You’ll get an easy and healthy side dish to go with your BBQ that takes no time or attention at all.
Add fruit like pineapple, apple, or peaches to create a well-rounded meal with plenty of healthy, nutritious options. The next time you want to keep your kitchen cool and enjoy your yard, invite your friends or neighbors over for a meal that will satisfy any BBQ craving – without worrying about the effect on your waistline after.
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