Summers are here and that means it is the best time to throw a BBQ party! And now, while you know that you can find the best quality meat, chicken and seafood at Waangoo, you still want to make sure that your party is not typical by any means. More importantly, you want to bring a healthy twist to your barbecue.

There is no reason why taste and fun have to be at two ends of the spectrum – as long you pay attention to a few tips, even your barbecue can be healthy!

10 tips on how to throw a healthy barbecue party!

The success of a barbecue party (or any party for that matter) lies in how well you are prepared – this means that you need to have a proper space, where all your guests can be accommodated, you need to have your menu planned out and of course, you need to ensure that all your shopping is done, well in time. Of course, when you have Waangoo by your side, you can be sure that your online grocery shopping in Singapore is done without any effort.

So, here are some tips on how you can plan your barbecue party, but add a touch of good health:

1. Start with the protein – What is a barbecue without the meats and when you are looking for meats, whether it is chicken, mutton or seafood, you know that you can find the best quality and most premium grade of cuts at Waangoo. Make sure that you pick the right meats and if you are looking for healthy food for bbq party, then you might want to go with fish, chicken breast without the skin and lean meats. In general, white meat is considered healthier than red, but you can choose a mix of meats.
2. Keep it simple – When you are looking to make your barbecue healthy, you will want to keep things simple; rather than drenching the meats in heavy sauces and spice mixes, you can choose simpler options. You can create your own marinades rather than considering those which might be heavy in salt and sugar. You can mix and match spices and create your own spice rubs or you can even consider brining in salt and lemon water. You can try yoghurt-based marinades like tandoori or even mint-coriander chutney-based options, which go great with meat and seafood and are light on oil and extra fats.
3. Grill it right – How you use your grill also has a role to play in how healthy your food is. When you cook on a barbecue or on an open grill, then you are creating a lot of smoke because of the fats that drip into the open flames. Simple tricks such as ensuring that the meat or seafood is defrosted in advance, marinated well enough and all excess fat is trimmed away are good ways to make your food healthier.
4. Bid the fat farewell – While a little bit of fat is needed to ensure that the meat or chicken remains juicy and tender, you need to make sure that you trim away the excess. You can always look at picking lean meats, such as chicken thighs and breast or cuts of mutton that have minimal fat. When you are doing the actually grilling, you can brush the meats with a healthy cooking oil, and whatever excess fats are present, can drip away!
5. Add some colour – When you are planning a healthy barbecue party, you need to make sure that you add plenty of colour to your plates! How do you do that? Simple, pick plenty of veggies – red bell peppers, yellow zucchini, green broccoli, purple eggplant and so on – these are all produce that can be grilled really well and when you are marinating your meats, add some on these veggies and well and grill these up too! When you add vegetables to your party, you are bringing an extra dose of health, without really compromising on the taste.
6. Change up the sides – Traditionally, the side dishes that are served at barbecues include potato salad or macaroni salad and coleslaw. Rather than going with the readymade versions, you can actually create healthier versions of most of these at home. For instance, consider a roasted sweet potato salad with yoghurt, rather than mayo. Instead of a macaroni or pasta salad, how about a green salad with zucchini noodles and the coleslaw can have a vinaigrette rather than mayo dressing. You could even go for healthier salads such as one made with green leaves or mixed beans.
7. Go for grains – Now, if you are planning to serve breads and buns, rather than refined flour, consider whole grain breads. You can find whole grain or multigrain burger and hot dog buns easily these days and they are the better option. Now, let’s say, you are planning a pasta salad, think about using whole wheat pasta or you can switch it with millet or barley. And in case you are really watching your calories, you can have lettuce wraps and open burgers!
8. Plant proteins, perhaps? – Just because it’s a barbecue, doesn’t mean that you need to focus only on meats. You can consider plant proteins and other ingredients too. For instance, paneer or Indian cottage cheese, tofu, tempeh and even portobello mushrooms work really well on the grill and as long as you get your marinades on point, these will taste great and be healthy too!
9. Invite the fruits too! – In general, when you think of bbq party food, you think only of meats, chicken and seafood, but did you know that fruits are great on the grill too! Fleshy fruits like pineapples, pears, apples, nectarines and peaches will all work really well on the grill and you can even try marinating them with some salt, chilli powder and lemon juice! How about creating a dessert with grilled mangoes and coconut milk or maybe a fruit kebab stick?
10. Hydrate right – Rather than loading up on those carbonated drinks, you can opt for healthier drinks to up the health factor at your party. A smoothie station with plenty of fresh fruits and plant-based milks, fresh coconut water, fresh fruit juices, flavoured lemon waters are all good ideas. Indian drinks such as jal-jeera, kokum sherbat, rose milk are all good ideas to consider too. And make sure that you have plenty of regular water too.

With these tips, tricks and hacks, planning your menu of healthy BBQ party foods should be a lot easier and for your actual shopping, you have Waangoo!