Each year in summer Brits flock to the supermarkets to stock up on their barbecue essentials. As soon as the temperature hits twenty degrees the smell of barbecues in the air lures us into firing up another. They are no longer just a chance for meat eaters to show off their cooking skills with plant based grills becoming more popular year on year.

Here is our vegan barbecue checklist which is sure to impress at any summer gathering.

Save on the washing up!

To paraphrase P.J. O'Rourke "Everybody wants to save the Earth, nobody wants to do the dishes." If you plan on picking up some paper plates and disposable knives and forks, a quick search online could make your barbecue much more environmentally friendly. For example FOOGO Green disposable wooden cutlery is biodegradable, compostable and made from sustainable sources at £10.99 for 150 pieces, they also sell 250 bamboo skewers for £7.99. It's also easy to find compostable paper plates such as these ones from Ask Packaging on Amazon in 7, 9 or 10 inches starting at £8.99.

The main event

Onto the main event, the burgers! Burgers, hotdogs and vegan 'wings' take center stage at any of our barbecues. Beyond Meat Burgers are a very popular plant based alternative, they're even used in restaurants such as Honest Burgers, their juicy flavour is a great burger substitute at £4 for two at Tesco. For £2.50 you can get two Linda McCartney Quarter Pounder Burgers and when fried or grilled they are delicious! Taifun Organic Tofu Frankfurters are available from Ocado for £3.95 and if you're a keen cook, for vegan barbecue food ideas you can follow Maya and find her recipe for Seitan Vegan Chick'n Wings.

Bit on the side

Every barbecue needs some traditional sides, on our hunt for vegan barbecue recipes we came across Peng Vegan Munch and Johnny Meatless’s Creamy Greeny Salad with vegan chick'n, Vegan Food and Places quick and easy Mac n' Cheeze recipe and you can pick up some Plant Kitchen potato salad and coleslaw from Marks and Spencer, you can find vegan coleslaw at most supermarkets.

Cheers!

No garden party is complete without the perfect summer tipple. We love to drink a fruity cider in the sun, some options include Old Mout, Inch's Cider and Kopparberg cider is now vegan-friendly too!

For a refreshing, alcohol free drink check out PerfectTed Matcha. If you've used this checklist to host the perfect barbecue but you aren't ready for the alfresco dining to end, check out our list of vegan picnic essentials.