Italian Grilled Vegetables are easy to make and pair perfectly with so many grilled meats! They’re a flavorful, smokey, and tender topped with plenty of freshly grated parmesan cheese. They are always a hit at backyard barbecues.
Keep the grill fired up for more of my favorite recipes like Grilled Corn on the Cob and Herbed Grilled Potatoes!
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I love these Italian grilled vegetables because I jump at any chance to add some Parmesan cheese! But really, the flavors of the marinade and cheese on the vegetables is fantastic and all it’s finished with a hint of smokiness from the grill. This side dish is so good, you won’t even need the meats next to it, but you can always serve it next to grilled steaks, salmon, chicken, or shrimp.
The marinade has an olive oil base and is all dressed up with lemon juice, white balsamic vinegar, garlic, crushed red pepper flakes and herbaceous Italian seasoning. All of those flavorful ingredients make the vegetables anything but bland! However, the overall flavor that’s created is still neutral enough to compliment whatever the veggies are served with.
These grilled veggies also make the perfect side dish because they’re so quick and easy to make! While the marinating step may take a while, actually prepping and grilling the veggies is a real breeze. It’s as simple as tossing them all on a skewer (or in a grill basket) and grilling until you get that beautiful char!
Ingredient Notes
Vegetables – I like to use a medley of zucchini, yellow squash, red onions, red bell peppers and mushrooms. Feel free to play around with these vegetables to best fit your tastes.
Olive Oil – Try to use a good quality olive oil because it can affect the flavor of the vegetables. If your olive oil has bitterness to it, the vegetables will too.
Lemon Juice – Of course, freshly squeezed is the best. Pick out a ripe lemon so that you get the best flavor and the most lemon juice out of it.
White Balsamic Vinegar – White balsamic vinegar is the best because or its milder, fruitier flavor. If you need to substitute, use white wine vinegar instead.
Garlic – Press garlic into the marinade to release all of those aromatic oils.
Crushed Red Pepper Flakes – Adds a touch of spiciness to the vegetables. You can easily adjust how spicy it is by adding more or less crushed red pepper flakes.
Italian Seasoning – If you don’t have Italian seasoning on hand, you can substitute with herbs you most likely have in the pantry already. The most important ones are basil and oregano.
See the recipe card below for the full list of ingredients and instructions.
How to Make Italian Grilled Vegetables
Prep the veggies. Cut the vegetables into even pieces so everything will cook evenly. Place the veggies into a mixing bowl.
Make the marinade. In a separate bowl, combine all of the ingredients for the marinade. Whisk together until combined.
Marinate the vegetables. Pour the marinade all over the veggies and mix to coat the veggies evenly (1). Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 1 hour. Mix veggies from time to time.
Skewer the veggies. Skewer vegetables onto metal skewers, alternating the veggies evenly so each skewer gets an even amount of different veggies (2).
PRO TIP: If you’re using wooden skewers, make sure to soak them first.
Prepare the grill. Use some cooking spray to spray the grill with oil and place vegetable skewers on the grill (3).
Grill the vegetables. Cook the vegetables, turning 1/4 of the way around every 4-5 minutes. The cook time depends on the size of your vegetables and how soft you want them to be.
Serve and enjoy! Take the cooked vegetables off the grill and grate some Parmesan cheese over the top right away.
Recipe FAQs
Most Italian seasonings on the market have the same general mix of basil, oregano, rosemary, marjoram, and sage. I also like to add parsley and thyme. Grab as many of these herbs as you have in your pantry and mix them about 1/2 TSP each. Although, I find rosemary a bit overwhelming so I add less rosemary than others. Increase the amount of each if you don’t have them all.
You can definitely prep vegetables ahead, it is actually recommended that you do. I would not grill veggies ahead of time because the outside will get soggy. Reheated grilled vegetables are not as good as they are fresh off the grill.
Prepping veggies in the marinade will save you a lot of time. All you will need to do is skewer vegetables and cook them on the grill when ready.
Yes! However, I prefer to grill vegetables on skewers because every piece gets cooked evenly and you get a little char on the outside from direct contact with the grill.
If using a grilling basket, make sure that it is big enough so that the vegetables are not too packed in there and stir it every 5 minutes or so.
How to Reheat Italian Grilled Vegetables
First of all, before we get into how to reheat vegetables, I would like to point out that they don’t necessarily need to be reheated. Cold leftover grilled vegetables will be divine when mixed into salads and wraps. You can mix grilled veggies into leaf salads for dinner of mix it into a pasta salad to create another side dish.
To reheat grilled vegetables, you can simply do so in a pan over medium heat just until heated through. Reheating it in the pan as opposed to a microwave will help keep vegetables from getting soggy.
More Vegetable Side Dish Recipes We Love
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Italian Grilled Vegetables Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 medium zucchini
- 1 medium yellow squash
- 1 red onion
- 1 large red bell pepper
- 8 oz baby bella mushrooms
- 4 garlic cloves
- 1/4 cup olive oil
- 1 lemon juice only
- 2 tbsp white Balsamic vinegar can substitute white wine vinegar
- 1 tsp crushed red pepper flakes more can be used to make it more spicy
- 2 tbsp Italian seasoning**
- salt
- 1/4 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese to top grilled vegetables
Instructions
- Note: leave yourself time to marinate the vegetables. Marinating can be as fast as 1 hour or as slow as overnight.
- Cut vegetables into even pieces so that it cooks easily. Place cut vegetables into a mixing bowl.
- In a small bowl, combine pressed garlic, lemon juice, vinegar, oil, salt, crushed red pepper flakes, and Italian seasoning. Whisk together until thoroughly combined.
- Pour the marinade mixture all over the veggies and mix to coat the veggies evenly.
- Cover the mixing bowl with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least an hour. (You can also marinate the vegetables overnight.) Try to mix veggies from time to time.
- Skewer vegetables onto metal skewers, alternating the veggies evenly so each skewer gets even amount of different veggies. (If using wooden skewers, make sure to soak them first.)
- Use some cooking spray to spay the grill with oil and place vegetable skewers on the grill.
- Cook vegetables, turning 1/4 of the way around every 4-5 minutes. Cook time highly depends on the size of vegetables cuts and how soft you like the vegetables.
- Take cooked vegetables off the grill and grate some Parmesan cheese over the top right away.
Notes
- Wooden Skewers: If you’re using wooden skewers, make sure to soak them first for at least 30 minutes.
- Substituting Italian seasoning: Most Italian seasonings on the market have the same general mix of basil, oregano, rosemary, marjoram, and sage. I also like to add parsley and thyme. Grab as many of these herbs as you have in your pantry and mix them about 1/2 TSP each. Although, I find rosemary a bit overwhelming so I add less rosemary than others. Increase the amount of each if you don’t have them all.
- Using a grilling basket: If using a vegetable grilling basket, make sure that it is big enough so that the vegetables are not too packed in there. Remember to grease the basket and stir it every 5 minutes or so while cooking.
Terry LaPorte says
Awesome! Great flavor. It’s a keeper!
LyubaB says
Thank you, Terry!
LINDA says
I DID THIS VERY DISH WITH A BURGER. IT WAS THE FIRST GRILLED MEAL OF THE SUMMER. DELISH!