It’s summertime and all the recent talk here on Successful Homemakers of creating outdoor spaces and homemade barbecue sauce makes me want to have a cookout!

Pull out the grill and get your meat ready. Have a vegetarian guest coming over too? We have several! And we sure don’t want to leave them out of our cookouts.

Our family has come up with some simple and delicious meatless options to make your next cookout vegetarian-friendly. Today I will share a recipe for The Best Open-Faced BBQ Sandwich as well as some ideas for meatless side dishes.

My aunt makes the most amazing BBQ Beef sandwiches. She cooks pulled BBQ beef in a crock pot and has brought it to many family gatherings with mini poboy buns as a self-serve dish. Incredible! I have created a vegetarian version of her dish that is just as incredible! And what’s better than that? It’s so, so EASY!

This dish is absolutely incredible. Your vegetarian guests are sure to love it! Guests who are watching calories may also opt for this dish. This vegetable dish is much more low-cal and dieter friendly than the meat dishes usually served at cookouts. I am a meat lover, but I will opt for this over a burger any day!

Want this to be self-serve? Simply put it into your crock pot on the lowest setting to keep it warm.

If you love this recipe as much as my family does, you will be glad to know that it freezes well. We make a very large batch of The Best Open-Faced BBQ Sandwich and freeze it in small bags for individual ready meals.

Now that you have the most incredible Open-Faced BBQ Sandwich, you will need some sides to delight your vegetarian guests as well. Baked beans and potato salad are usually hits at cookouts. But I have some other ideas too.

One of our favorite sides for this sandwich is a cob of corn right off the grill. Baste with butter and sprinkle just a touch of fresh cracked black pepper on top. 

If you want to get a little fancier, vegetable kabobs are also great on the grill. Fill a skewer with 2-3 inch chunks of your favorites. We use mushrooms, cherry tomatoes, purple onions, peppers, squash, and zucchini.

A fruit kabob is sure to be a hit! We alternate chunks of pineapples and figs when they are in season. Yummy!

And, it usually piques interest because not many people have tried grilled figs . . .unless you have frequented my cookouts! We use pineapples and cherries when figs are not in season. And that’s great too!

There you have it, folks! The Best Open-Faced BBQ Sandwich with ideas for dishes to serve on the side. Your vegetarian guests will be begging for you to have another cookout soon. And with this dish, the meat lovers in your group may just opt to try meatless!