Six tips for a healthy BBQ

Published: 5 December 2025

With warmer weather and longer evenings, BBQs are back! It’s time for fresh, exciting salads, outdoor dining and catching up with friends and family. We share our top tips for great tasting, heart-healthy barbecuing this summer.

You can’t get much more Kiwi than a summer BBQ.

Unfortunately, not all barbies are the best for your heart health – but the good news is they don’t have to be that way. With a few simple changes, you can have your BBQ and eat it too!

From more vegetables on the hot plate to interesting salads, there are many ways to make the barbecue delicious, good for your heart, and not too pricey for the wallet.

Here are our six top tips for barbecuing this summer.

1. Use seasonal vegetables on the grill or hot plate

There are plenty of great vegetable options at this time of the year, such as courgette, eggplant, corn, capsicum and asparagus, that all taste amazing when cooked on the barbecue! The great thing about these vegetables is that they are often more abundant from late spring into summer, making them both delicious and more affordable.

You can try the following:

• Courgettes cut lengthways, seasoned, or flavoured with garlic, herbs or interesting spice rubs like harissa.
• Eggplant, courgettes and capsicum barbecued and mixed through a lettuce or couscous salad, in a pita with tzatziki (yoghurt dressing), or mixed with lemon and chilli for that classic Mediterranean flavour.
• Fresh corn, seasoned with salt, pepper and chilli, drizzled with olive oil, then wrapped in tinfoil.

2. Try some exciting salads

Salads provide freshness, different textures and a burst of colour and flavour to any barbecue table. They also offer a fantastic platform for lots of different vegetables, herbs and other ingredients.

Here are a few examples that won’t cost a fortune:

• Thai Style broccoli and peanut salad
• Asparagus panzanella (crouton) salad
• Grated beetroot carrot and apple salad
• Crunchy summer coleslaw

With some of the more basic salads, some toasted nuts and seeds or adding a dressing can make a big difference to its appeal and lift it to the next level. Making salad dressings at home also means you have control over the ingredients and can tailor them to your tastes.

Here are some basic ideas for dressings to which you can add your own variations.

Easy vinaigrette dressings

3. Choose meat options that are less processed

Processed meats can have very high levels of salt (sodium) and saturated fat, so switching pre-packaged sausages and burgers for fresh meat is a great way to be kind to your heart.

Enhance fresh meat with herbs and spices, or with homemade condiments.

If you still have a hankering for sausages and burgers, choose less-processed ones and read labels for healthier options. Better still, make your own!

Here are a few heart-healthy BBQ recipes to try:

• Quick BBQ chicken salad with pita chips and yoghurt
• BBQ lamb leg with bean puree
• BBQ corn and chicken
• Traditional burger recipe

4. Enhance the flavour with herbs and spices

Herbs and chillies can be grown in pots at home and partner barbecue food very well.

Rosemary and thyme are great for seasoning meat or vegetables before cooking. Other herbs like mint and parsley are ideal for salads, condiments, or dressings.

If you’re keen to make your own condiments, try our home-made healthy tomato sauce recipe.

Another great condiment to make at home is Chimichurri. Chimichurri combines roughly chopped parsley, oregano, garlic and chilli mixed with olive oil, red wine vinegar, salt and pepper. It can be made with fresh or dried herbs and is excellent with meat, roast vegetables and fish.

5. Get creative with leftovers

With entertaining and extra people staying over the summer months, you can often have more leftovers than usual. Repurposing leftover meat and vegetables is a great way to avoid food waste and make your meals go further for the cost.

Try the following:

• Use leftover roasted or barbecued vegetables like asparagus, broccoli, courgette, carrot, capsicum, kumara or pumpkin in a salad or frittata.
• Use the corn kernels from leftover corn cobs in a bean or corn salad, or make it into salsa with red onion, coriander, chilli and vinegar.
• Leftover barbecue meat can be used in sandwiches, salads or wraps. Or visit www.lovefoodhatewaste.com for some clever and creative ideas for using leftover barbecued meat.
• Leftover bread (such as rolls and baguettes) can be cut into cubes, lightly seasoned and roasted to make croutons. Croutons give a delicious crunch and texture to salads. Leftover bread can also be made into garlic bread by wrapping it in tinfoil and reheating directly on the barbecue.

6. Make the meat go further

While meat is often the mainstay of most Kiwi barbecues, it can dominate the table. This can increase our risk of heart disease, as shown by the Heart Foundation's evidence on red meat, poultry and the heart.

If you are serving meat, consider these tips to make your barbie better for your heart and your wallet.

• Serve the meat on the same plate as barbecued vegetables, alongside salads and bread, to encourage people to take a variety of things – not just the meat!
• Thinly slice meat cuts (e.g. steak, pork and even chicken thighs) to make it go further rather than serving whole individual portions.
• Kebabs are a great way to serve more vegetables alongside the meat. Alternately thread meat and vegetables, such as courgette, onion, capsicum and mushrooms, onto a metal skewer and barbecue.

By following a few of these simple tips, you still can enjoy the Kiwi tradition of a BBQ with family or friends.

So what are you waiting for? Get out there and have some fun.

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Useful links

Storing food safely

www.mpi.govt.nz/safe-barbecuing-of-food

Love food, hate waste

www.lovefoodhatewaste.com

Fire safety while barbecuing

fireandemergency.nz/outdoor-gas-bbq