The first sunny weekend of the year, every garden on the street fires up a grill. If you are cooking for family, a halal barbecue is easy. The tricky part is everything around the meat: the marinades, the buns, the sauces and the shared grill at someone else's house.
Sausages and burgers
Buy from a halal butcher, or look for a halal logo on supermarket packs. Two things catch people out:
- Casings. Sausage casings can be made from pig intestine or from collagen, so check the ingredients, and see our sausages page.
- Fillers and flavourings. Burgers can list flavourings and other ingredients without saying what they are made from. A halal logo on the pack means a certifier has checked them.
Marinades and rubs
Dry rubs are usually just spices, salt and sugar. Bottled marinades are where it gets interesting:
- Beer, wine, bourbon or whiskey appear in a lot of "smoky" and "BBQ" marinades. Read the label.
- Smoke flavouring is normally fine. See smoke flavouring.
- Worcestershire sauce usually contains anchovies. Our answer on Worcestershire sauce covers it.
Buns and bread
Most UK burger buns are fine, but some contain L-cysteine (E920) or emulsifiers such as E471 without saying where they come from. Our bread guide goes through it.
Cheese slices
Cheese slices may be made with animal or microbial rennet, and the pack does not always say which. "Suitable for vegetarians" on the pack settles it. See is cheese halal?
Marshmallows and desserts
Toasted marshmallows are a barbecue classic, and standard marshmallows are set with gelatine. In our data the supermarket own-brand packs name pork or beef gelatine, and the one gelatine-free pack was a vegan brand set with carrageenan; the details are in gelatine-free sweets. See also marshmallows.
At someone else's barbecue
If a friend is cooking pork alongside everything else, you have a few options:
- Bring your own halal meat and ask for a corner of the grill, or a sheet of foil.
- Ask them to cook yours first, on a clean grill.
- Stick to the salads, corn and grilled veg.
Most hosts are happy to help if you mention it before the day. Our guide to eating at a non-halal restaurant covers the different views on shared cooking surfaces.
A quick checklist
- Halal logo on the meat
- No beer, wine or spirits in marinades
- Vegetarian-labelled cheese
- Halal or vegan marshmallows
- A clean grill, or foil
Common questions
Is charcoal or lighter fluid a halal issue? They are not ingredients, and we have not found a view that treats them as affecting the food.
Are veggie burgers halal? They contain no meat, but read the label for cheese and flavourings, and cook them on a clean part of the grill if you do not want them touching pork.
