Whether it is to celebrate a team win, as a season break up event, weekly canteen dinner offering, or fundraiser, healthy barbecues are a great way to make some money and fuel club members right.
What to include
There are many ways to make the common sausage sizzle or barbecue healthier and in line with the A Better Choice Strategy for Sport and Recreation1. Start with healthier ingredients and balance the meal by offering healthy sides and drinks.
Healthier ingredients
- Wholemeal, wholegrain, and/or high fibre bread
- Salads and barbecued vegetables (i.e., onion, mushrooms, zucchini, capsicum, eggplant, corn on the cob, and jacket potatoes)
- Lean meats (such as, lean mince burger patties, skinless chicken breast, or lean steaks)
- If using sausages, use reduced fat and salt varieties
- Low fat cheese
- Fruit, including whole fruit, fruit salad, frozen fruit or grilled fruit.
Healthier meal ideas
- Loaded burgers- use lean burger patties or steak on wholegrain rolls, with tomato, lettuce, carrot, beetroot, pineapple, and cheese.
- Skewers- use lean meat and vegetables such as mushrooms, capsicum, red onion, eggplant and/or zucchini. Remove the lean meat to easily make these vegetarian.
- Souvlaki or wraps- use lean meat or falafel served in a wholemeal wrap/pita with salad and hummus or tzatziki.
- BBQ toasties- use high fibre bread with cheese, ham, tomato, spinach OR baked beans and cheese, OR grilled chicken breast, cheese, spinach and tomato.
- Tip: Use reduced-salt and low sugar marinades, herbs and spices to add flavour to lean meats and vegetables.
Healthier drinks
- Water, plain still or sparkling and flavoured water with no added sugar
- Reduced fat milk varieties
- 99% fruit juice, with no added sugar
- Sugar-free beverages
Money saving tips
Save time and money by following these tips when running a barbecue:
- Don’t butter buns or bread
- Choose in season vegetables and fruit
- Add grated vegetables to burger patties to make them go further
Health and Wellbeing Queensland acknowledges the work of Queensland Health in developing content included in this resource.