If you've got an abundance of summer squash, such as zucchini and yellow squash, you've got to make this Balsamic Grilled Vegetable Salad! It will wow your taste buds and make you think about grilled vegetables in a whole new light.
Seasoned with a tasty balsamic vinegar dressing and creamy goat cheese, this easy grilled zucchini salad is a must try!
I wanted to share with you one grilled vegetable recipe before we unofficially say goodbye to summer after Labor Day. We make this grilled vegetable salad regularly in the summer—pretty much anytime we grill!
Oh, and if you have lots of zucchini to use up, you can also making this zucchini carpaccio salad. It's raw so it doesn't require any cooking!
Related recipe: Best Marinade for Grilled Chicken
Easy, forgiving, customize-able grilled vegetable salad
This grilled vegetable salad is super easy to make because you really don't need to measure out many ingredients.
We typically make it with 1-2 zucchini, 1-2 yellow squash, and 1-2 sweet bell peppers.
But there have been times when this turned into a simpler grilled zucchini salad or grilled yellow squash salad just because we didn't have the other veggies on hand.
Related recipe: Grilled Shrimp and Vegetable Skewers
How to make grilled vegetable salad
To make this salad, simply clean your veggies, and slice the zucchini and yellow squash into ⅓ inch thick pieces, slightly on the diagonal (I like long ovals for this salad, see the picture below). The exact width does not matter - if they're thicker they will take longer to cook, but it's no biggie! But do try to make them all the same width so they cook evenly.
Slice the bell pepper in half, remove the seeds, then slice it into smaller wedges - depending on the size of your bell pepper, this can be anywhere between 4-8 wedges.
Toss the veggies in a bowl with olive oil, salt, and pepper.
Preheat the grill to a high temperature (whatever you need for whatever else you're grilling works fine - this grilled veggie salad is super flexible!)
Grill the veggies for about 15-20 minutes, flipping once halfway through.
Bell peppers might take longer to cook than the zucchini and yellow squash. That's fine. Just remove the summer squash from the grill, leave the bell peppers on until they are grilled to smoky, charred perfection.
This is the grill we have out on our balcony and it's perfect. It's compact but still holds quite a lot of food. It was inexpensive, and we use it all the time. It's not always available, but there are similar options out there too!
Related recipe: Pork and Vegetable Kebabs
No outdoor grill? No problem
Here's how to make grilled vegetable salad if you don't have an outdoor grill: Use an indoor grill! These small appliances are getting super popular now because of how easy it is to grill food in your kitchen without having to bring everything you own outside.
This is a great stand-along indoor grill that has a window to look inside so you can see what's happening without opening the grill. ALL grills should have that, right??
This is another great option if you don't want a one-purpose-only appliance. It has a smaller grilling area, but it has soo many other features and functions. It's an awesome gadget for people who LOVE to cook.
The Ninja brand of cookware just makes really high quality products, plain and simple. Everyone I know who has a Ninja pressure cooker, multicooker, or grill LOVE theirs.
And of course, you can always go the simple way with a grill pan or grill griddle. In this case, I would go with the grill griddle (such as this one) because they're reversible (helloooo pancakes and eggs on the smooth side!), and have a much larger cooking area.
Related recipe: Grilled Asparagus Salad with White Beans
Balsamic dressing
Now that we know exactly how to grill summer squash and other veggies for this salad, let's talk about what makes this salad SUPER FLAVORFUL AND TASTY:
The Honey Balsamic Dressing.
This dressing is super quick to mix up in a small bowl or jar: just combine balsamic vinegar, honey, and minced garlic and mix together with a fork or a small whisk.
If you want, you can add a quarter teaspoon of Italian seasoning, but I choose to finish this salad off with a generous sprinkle of freshly minced parsley. Fresh basil would be fantastic too. (By the way, if you love basil and balsamic, check out this Balsamic Orzo Salad!)
If you're feeling lazy, you can just get a bottle of this Garlic Balsamic Glaze and drizzle it on the salad instead of messing around with mincing garlic and making your own dressing. This glaze is AMAAAZINGG and essentially the same thing as making the dressing: you've got your balsamic vinegar, sugar (instead of honey), and garlic. Get it here.
Related recipe: Green Beans Side Dish
Almonds and goat cheese
I always like to be a little extra with my food, so I add toasted slivered almonds and creamy goat cheese to this salad to take it to the next level. They add a little crunch, and a little salty creaminess that goes so PERFECTLY with this grilled vegetable salad.
Without these two additions, you still have perfectly delicious grilled veggie salad, but, you know, you don't have much variety in texture. The almonds and goat cheese keep you coming back for more and more bites.
The creamy goat cheese also balances out the tangy balsamic dressing.
You can also use crumbled feta cheese instead of goat cheese, if you want. Or make this salad vegan with this vegan feta cheese!
Whatever cheese you decide to use (or not use), I hope you get to try my amazing balsamic grilled vegetable salad! It's a summer favorite on our house, I hope you will say the same thing.
Related recipe: Summer Chickpea Salad
If you do get around to making it, please take a picture and tag me on Instagram or Facebook. You can find me at @babaganoshblog on both. I love seeing your creations!
Looking for more summer squash recipes?
If you need more yellow squash recipes and zucchini recipes, try some of these reader favorites:
- Yellow squash tots
- Zucchini fritters
- Spiralized zucchini and squash salad with sesame ginger dressing
- Spiralized zucchini and yellow squash salad with feta
- Zucchini Cookies with Cream Cheese Icing
Looking for more easy grilling recipes?
- Shrimp and vegetable skewers with chimichurri sauce
- Pork and vegetable kebabs
- Best chicken marinade for grilled chicken
- Venison burgers
- Pork burgers
If you enjoyed this recipe, let me know with a comment and a star rating below. And don't forget to share it on Facebook and save it on Pinterest for later!
Grilled Balsamic Vegetable Salad
Ingredients
- 2 medium zucchini - (about 10 inches each)
- 2 medium yellow squash
- 2 bell peppers
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
- 1 tablespoon honey
- 1 tablespoon lemon juice
- 1 small garlic clove - minced
- ¼ teaspoon Italian seasoning - (optional)
- 2 tablespoons sliced or slivered almonds - (see notes for substitution ideas)
- 2 tablespoons crumbled goat cheese - (or use feta)
- 1 tablespoon finely minced parsley
Special equipment
Instructions
- Preheat grill to a high temperature.
- Thinly slice the zucchini and yellow squash on the diagonal (into ovals). Clean the bell peppers and slice into 6-8 slices. Toss the sliced vegetables with 1 tablespoon olive oil and salt in a large bowl.
- Place the sliced vegetables on the grill, cover, and let cook undisturbed for 15 minutes. After 15 minutes, the zucchini and squash might be fully cooked, or you can choose to flip them and cook for another 5 minutes. Flip the peppers, and grill for another 5 minutes, or until desired done-ness.
- While the vegetables are grilling, combine the 2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar, 1 tablespoon honey, 1 tablespoon lemon juice, and minced garlic. Stir in Italian seasoning, if using.
- Toast the sliced almonds in a dry skillet for 5 minutes, or until golden brown.
- Toss the grilled vegetables with the balsamic dressing. Top with toasted almonds and goat cheese or feta to serve.
Notes
- Make it vegan with this vegan feta cheese
- Try using pine nuts, crushed walnuts, pecans, or hazelnuts in place of the almonds
- Add a pinch of red pepper flakes to the dressing if you want some spice in the salad
- Try grilling sliced red onion to add to the salad
- Try freshly grated Parmesan or Asiago cheese instead of the goat cheese
- Try it with small balls of mozzarella instead of goat cheese and fresh basil instead of parsley
- Try this garlic balsamic glaze instead of making your own dressing
Nutrition
The nutritional information displayed is an estimate and not to be used as dietary or nutritional advice. Consult a nutritionist or dietician for nutritional info based on the exact ingredients you use.