50+ Summer Dinner Ideas for Hot Days

The Mediterranean flavors really shine in this simple spring salad and the roasted chickpeas add a lovely crunch.

Top it with a scoop of carnitas, some black beans, and a handful of crushed tortilla chips for crunch, and you have a fabulous warm salad or dinner bowl that gives you vegetables first.

It’s a super fast meal bursting with garlicky, spicy flavor, and packed with greens.

This is a crazy-pungent yet crazy-good dressing. When you taste it by itself you may fall out of your chair, but it blends perfectly once tossed with all of the other components of the salad.

Gone are the days of cheesy casseroles and braised meats or stews — summer’s all about celebrating fresh, colorful produce. And this salad does just that.

Zucchini noodles pair perfectly with all of summer’s bounty, especially this zesty pistachio-parsley pesto — you’ll want to put it on anything and everything

The result of using brown butter instead of bacon fat is a salad that’s worth making again and again.

This spicy carnitas number tells that tale five times over with a bold and crisp base and toppings ranging from slow-cooker carnitas to pickled avocado.

It’s one of those salads that works well as a one-dish meal — a great lunch or dinner that comes together in just a few minutes.

This chickpea salad is a special one, full of tender beans, chewy barley, and crunchy zucchini, all held together with a bright, refreshing vinaigrette.

This simple chickpea Waldorf salad takes a lighter approach with flavors that take you from the warmer weather into fall and winter.

This salad, whether to dole out for lunches throughout the week or as a healthy contribution to a summer cookout.

This can be a summertime go-to salad.

Cubes of sweet watermelon, chunks of crunchy celery, and savory feta cheese — this hybrid between fruit salad and savory salad has lazy lunch written all over it.

This hearty grain salad is a celebration of spring radishes and all their flavors, textures, and forms.

This version is particularly suited for lazy vacations because it takes advantage of flavorful ingredients found at most grocery stores and brings them together in one crowd-pleasing salad.

You could try to split the difference between sandwich and no-sandwich by making it open-faced, one piece of toast with the ingredients on top, eaten with a knife and fork.

t’s hard to go wrong with the combination of crisp lettuce, salty bacon, ripe tomato and avocado. But this homemade version is much better, if only for the addition of a bright basil mayonnaise that makes every bite taste like a mouthful of summer.

In the spirit of celebrating ripe summer produce, this version gets its inspiration from one of my favorite fresh salads.

It’s utterly simple and yet captures the best of summer.

Each bite is a delightful combination of savory and sweet flavors, creaminess from the feta, and the fiery tang of pickled Peppadew peppers.

These naan wraps are a mid-week family favorite. They’re filled to the brim with cumin-spiced lamb, shredded iceberg lettuce, and a quick homemade cucumber raita.

This recipe takes sirloin steak, one of the best cuts of meat for your budget, and transforms it into the hearty filling for this dinner-ready sandwich.

Paired with a crisp glass of rosé, it’s guaranteed to be your new favorite way to eat caprese in summer.

This sandwich, a classic of southern France, is perfect picnic fare.

hese bowls, which are ideal for a weeknight meal, are inspired by the ease and versatility of noodle bowls, with the tangy lemon and Parmesan flavor combo you get from a bold Caesar dressing.

If you’re looking for a quick, cheap lunch and want new ways to fancy-up canned tuna, this recipe is for you

This is one of those recipes that originated as an off-the-cuff concept while speedily scanning the grocery store aisles a mere hour before dinner.

Smoked sausages are perfect for any backyard barbecue, whether you are grilling at home or packing it up to cook on the road.

This recipe has a tendency to sputter a bit as it cooks.

You can prepare them in advance, and they’re practically a meal unto themselves when served along with couscous, potato salad, or a grain-based dish. And what a great way to showcase summer’s bounty of vegetables!

This dish of pan-seared shrimp served over a saucy mix of beans, spinach, and tomatoes is perfect for those nights when you crave a grown-up meal, but lack the energy for anything elaborate.

Scallops sear in mere seconds, and while whipping up a beurre blanc (a.k.a. white butter sauce) may seem intimidating to the uninitiated, it’s actually one of the easiest and tastiest classic sauces to know.

It takes no more than five or 10 minutes, and can be done while the piperade is cooking; it adds such a wonderful, deep-charred flavor that you just can’t get from a jar.

Stuffed into quesadillas, adding a much-needed dose of green vegetables to a normally cheese- and meat-heavy dish.

making tacos in 10 minutes is absolutely possible. In less time than it will take you to wait for delivery (it feels like it takes forever when you’re hungry), these hearty vegetarian tacos can be on your plate.