Grilling is a big thing in Texas, so a lot of my favorite summer recipes never go near an oven. I did not always run the grill myself, the men in the house did, and then I learned, and now I would not give it back: the kitchen stays cool, dinner tastes better and there is nothing to scrub afterward. You can even grill romaine. That is the spirit of these 30 best recipes for summer, pulled together for the weeks when turning on the oven feels like a personal insult. There are cold salads that take fifteen minutes, no churn ice cream, two ingredient jello pops, fruit kabobs kids actually eat, shrimp and chicken skewers for the grill and a watermelon float that looks like a state fair invented it. Some are poolside finger food, some are a real dinner, and most of them can be made ahead and pulled out cold.
1. Fruit Kabobs
Twelve little skewers, each one carrying a raspberry, a clementine segment, a chunk of pineapple, a piece of kiwi and a fat purple grape, with vanilla yogurt and rainbow sprinkles waiting alongside for dipping. Prep runs about five minutes, which is roughly how long they last once children spot them. The sprinkles are the reason kids eat the kiwi, so do not skip them. Cut the kiwi into shapes if you want to show off a little.
Get the full tutorial at Dinner at the Zoo.
2. Grilled Shrimp Skewers With Mango Salsa
Two pounds of shrimp sit in a garlic and lime oil for two to six hours, then hit a hot grill for about three minutes a side and turn pink and firm. The mango salsa is raw and takes minutes: mango, jalapeno, green onion, cilantro and a spoonful of lime juice. Make the salsa first and let it sit in the refrigerator while the shrimp marinate. Dinner that heats nothing indoors.
Get the full tutorial at Yummy Healthy Easy.
3. Grilled Hawaiian Pork Chops
Thin cut pork chops soak in soy sauce, brown sugar, ginger, garlic, ketchup and reserved pineapple juice, then go on a medium high grill with the pineapple rings for three or four minutes a side. Pull them at 140 degrees and let them rest four minutes tented in foil, which is the step that keeps a thin chop from going dry. Thirty minutes start to finish, and you can freeze them right in the marinade.
Get the full tutorial at The Life Jolie.
4. Fresh Fruit Spring Rolls
Rice paper wrappers soften in hot water for two or three minutes, then get rolled around apple and mango matchsticks, rounds of strawberry and kiwi, thin peach wedges, whole raspberries, pomegranate arils and a couple of mint leaves. A honey and lime dip goes on the side. Twenty minutes, no heat, and they are genuinely beautiful, which matters when the payoff is handing a plate to somebody. Roll one at a time.
Get the full tutorial at Super Healthy Kids.
5. Avocado Toast Bruschetta
Rustic bread sliced half an inch thick, brushed with olive oil, broiled to golden and then rubbed with a cut garlic clove while it is still warm. That rub is the part most people skip and it is the whole flavor. On top goes diced avocado, roma tomato, white balsamic, sea salt and sliced basil. Eight minutes, and the topping keeps in the refrigerator for a day, so you can mix it in the morning and toast at six.
Get the full tutorial at Yummy Mummy Kitchen.
6. Turkey Cheddar Ranch Pinwheels
Cream cheese is beaten with garlic powder, parsley, dill and onion powder, spread on flour tortillas, layered with cheddar and thin sliced deli turkey and rolled tight. Here is the part that makes them: wrap each roll in plastic and chill it for a few hours before slicing, or the pinwheels unravel on the platter. About 25 slices per batch. Make them the night before a pool day and cut them cold.
Get the full tutorial at Mother Thyme.
7. Low Carb Jello Pops
Two ingredients. A box of sugar free gelatin dissolves in half a cup of hot water in the blender, then a cup of cold heavy cream goes in on the lowest setting for a few seconds and the whole thing pours into molds. Six hours in the freezer and you have creamsicle pops at about one carb each. Use the lowest blender speed or you whip the cream and the texture turns grainy.
Get the full tutorial at My Life Cookbook.
8. Mediterranean Tuna Lettuce Wraps
A big glass bowl of tuna salad shot through with chickpeas, cherry tomatoes, feta and olives, spooned into romaine leaves and eaten with your hands. Mediterranean tuna salad is the sort of lunch that improves in the refrigerator, so mix a bowl on Sunday and it carries you through three hot afternoons. Chickpeas stretch the tuna and add enough bulk that a lettuce leaf actually fills you up.
Get the full tutorial at Becky's Best Bites.
9. Caprese Pasta Salad
Cheese tortellini boiled just three minutes to al dente, rinsed cool, then tossed with baby spinach, halved cherry tomatoes, mozzarella pearls and ribbons of basil. The dressing is olive oil, balsamic, half a teaspoon of honey, salt and pepper, whisked in a measuring cup. Fifteen minutes for four servings. The honey is small and it is doing real work, rounding the vinegar so the salad does not taste sharp cold.
Get the full tutorial at Well Plated.
10. Tomato Cucumber Feta Salad
Three large cucumbers, six roma tomatoes, a red onion and eight ounces of feta cut into squares, dressed with olive oil, red wine vinegar, oregano, garlic and a little dijon shaken together in a jar. Fifteen minutes and it feeds ten to twelve, which is why it turns up at every cookout. Cut the feta into cubes rather than crumbling it, so it holds its shape instead of vanishing into the dressing.
Get the full tutorial at Lemon Tree Dwelling.
11. Strawberry Caprese Stuffed Avocados
Caprese salad, except the tomato is strawberry and the bowl is an avocado half. Sweet strawberries, fresh mozzarella pearls, torn basil and white balsamic get piled into the avocado, and the creamy fruit under it all does the job the mozzarella usually does alone. Nothing is cooked. It works as an appetizer, a light lunch or the thing you carry to a picnic that quietly upstages the pasta salad.
Get the full tutorial at DIY Joy.
12. Crispy Baked Avocado Chips
One ripe avocado and grated parmesan, mashed with lemon juice, garlic powder and Italian seasoning, then spooned into small mounds on parchment and flattened thin. Bake at 325 for fifteen to eighteen minutes until the edges are well browned, and they crisp further as they cool on the pan. The parmesan is what crisps them, so do not go light on it, and do not crowd the tray. Low carb, keto friendly, and gone first.
Get the full tutorial at DIY Joy.
13. Watermelon Lime Sherbet Float
Three cups of watermelon and two tablespoons of fresh mint go in the blender, then get poured into a pitcher and topped slowly with a liter of lemon lime soda. Scoop lime sherbet into half pint mason jars and pour the watermelon soda over. Twelve floats, ten minutes, no stove. Add the soda slowly or the foam climbs straight out of the pitcher, which I promise you it will.
Get the full tutorial at Whitney Bond.
14. Mexican Coleslaw
A bag of coleslaw mix, diced red pepper, black beans, charred corn, chopped cilantro and a minced jalapeno, bound with mayo, sour cream, taco seasoning and lime juice. Fifteen minutes for twelve servings. Use grilled or skillet charred corn rather than plain, because the smoke is the difference between this and every other slaw on the table. It sits well, so make it before the meat goes on.
Get the full tutorial at Lemon Tree Dwelling.
15. Thai Coconut Chicken Skewers With Rice
Chicken thighs cut into long strips sit in light coconut milk with cumin, coriander, curry powder, brown sugar, soy, ginger and lime for an hour or two, then go on skewers over medium high heat. The rice is the good trick: cook it in coconut milk instead of water. Thighs rather than breast is deliberate, because they survive a grill that runs hotter than you planned. Brush with the reserved marinade as they turn.
Get the full tutorial at Yummy Healthy Easy.
16. Fresh Blackberry Ice Cream
No churn, six ingredients. Twenty four ounces of blackberries get pureed, pushed through a sieve and cooked down with sugar and lemon juice until the liquid halves, then chilled. Heavy cream whips to stiff peaks with condensed milk and vanilla, and the cold puree folds through in swirls. Fold gently and stop early, because overmixing turns those beautiful swirls into one flat, uniform purple with no marbling left in it at all.
Get the full tutorial at Baked by an Introvert.
17. Healthy Cookie Dough Blizzard
Vegan, and it genuinely tastes like the drive through version. The cookie dough bites are cashew or almond meal with melted coconut oil, maple syrup, vanilla and dairy free chocolate chips, rolled and frozen. The shake is two frozen bananas, almond milk, a spoon of peanut butter and four ice cubes blended to soft serve. Freeze the dough bites while you blend, or they melt into the glass instead of sitting in it.
Get the full tutorial at NeuroticMommy.
18. Watermelon Fudge
Three ingredients and a microwave, and it looks exactly like a slice of watermelon. Green funfetti frosting melts with twelve ounces of white chips, gets spread in a lined pan and goes in the freezer while you melt the pink layer the same way. Mini chocolate chips on top are the seeds. Chill about an hour until firm enough to cut, and keep it in the refrigerator, because frosting fudge softens fast in a warm room.
Get the full tutorial at Something Swanky.
19. Coconut Pineapple Shrimp Skewers
Shrimp marinate one to two hours in coconut milk, Tabasco, soy sauce and freshly squeezed orange and lime juice, then thread onto skewers alternating with inch cut pineapple. Three minutes on the grill, brush with marinade, turn, another two or three. Reserve some marinade for brushing before the shrimp ever touch it. Shrimp go from perfect to rubbery in about ninety seconds, so stand there and watch them.
Get the full tutorial at Well Plated.
20. Key Lime Bars
A thick shortbread crust of flour, powdered sugar and softened butter presses into an eight inch pan and bakes 25 minutes at 350. The filling gets blended, not whisked: sugar, flour, salt, half a cup of key lime juice, two tablespoons of zest and two eggs, pulsed until frothy and poured over the hot crust. Another 25 to 30 minutes, cool completely, then cut into sixteen. The green comes from a little gel coloring.
Get the full tutorial at Inside BruCrew Life.
21. Cilantro Lime Black Bean Quinoa Tacos
Quinoa simmers in vegetable broth and lime juice for twelve to fifteen minutes, cools, then gets lime zest and half a cup of cilantro stirred through. Avocado mashed with red onion, lime and more cilantro stands in for the sour cream. Build on corn tortillas with black beans and sliced red cabbage. Twenty five minutes, five servings, all plant based, and the quinoa keeps three days for meal prep.
Get the full tutorial at Simply Quinoa.
22. Balsamic Berry Vegan Grilled Cheese
Blueberries and sliced strawberries simmer with coconut sugar and balsamic until you can smash them with a spoon, then drain through a strainer over a bowl. Keep that juice, it makes a salad dressing. The berries go into a sandwich with spinach and vegan mozzarella shreds and get grilled on both sides. Ten minutes, makes two, and it is sweet and savory at once without being weird about it.
Get the full tutorial at NeuroticMommy.
23. Honey Lime Rainbow Fruit Salad
One pound of strawberries, a pound of pineapple, twelve ounces each of blueberries and halved red grapes, four kiwis, three mandarins and optional banana, all dressed with a quarter cup of honey, the zest of two limes and a tablespoon and a half of lime juice. Twenty minutes, serves ten. Add the banana last and serve it right away, because honey and lime will hold the color for a while but not all afternoon.
Get the full tutorial at Cooking Classy.
24. Strawberry Balsamic Baked Brie
A whole wheel of brie bakes at 350 for about ten minutes, until it is soft and warm but not yet runny. Meanwhile strawberry jam and two and a half teaspoons of balsamic heat together until thick and bubbly. Pour it over, add fresh sliced strawberries and sliced almonds, serve with crackers. One real warning from the source, and it is worth having: run your vent, because warming vinegar is pungent.
Get the full tutorial at Forks and Folly.
25. Grilled Turkey Mini Meatloaves
A pound of ground turkey mixed with finely diced onion and red pepper, corn, crushed tortilla chips, an egg white, parsley, chipotle chili powder, roasted cumin and cayenne, divided into sixteen or eighteen little loaves about three quarters of an inch thick and grilled four or five minutes a side. Crushed tortilla chips replace breadcrumbs and they are better. The sauce is avocado blended with Greek yogurt, garlic and parsley.
Get the full tutorial at Watch What U Eat.
26. Lemon Curd Chia Pudding
Lemon zest, the juice of two large lemons, a can of full fat coconut milk, sweetener, a pinch of salt and a quarter teaspoon of turmeric blend together, then three tablespoons of chia seeds get pulsed in just enough to distribute. Chill overnight and stir once after an hour so the seeds do not all sink. Five or six tablespoons of chia if you want it properly set. The turmeric is there for the color.
Get the full tutorial at Vegan Richa.
27. Grilled Tequila Lime Chicken With Mango Salsa
A quarter cup of tequila, lime juice and zest, garlic, cumin, smoked paprika, chili powder and olive oil make the marinade for chicken breasts flattened to half an inch. Twenty to thirty minutes at room temperature is enough, or an hour in the refrigerator. A honey and lime glaze brushes on at the grill. The salsa is mango, tomato, avocado, red onion, jalapeno and cilantro. Thirty minutes, four servings.
Get the full tutorial at Jessica Gavin.
28. Marinated Seared Ahi
Soy sauce, toasted sesame oil, garlic powder, sugar, salt, cracked pepper and lemon juice, poured over dried ahi steaks about an inch and a half thick and chilled several hours or overnight, turning once. Then oil heated until it smokes and a sear of ninety seconds a side, a ten minute rest and thin slices cut across the grain with a serrated knife. Serve it chilled or at room temperature, which is the point in August.
Get the full tutorial at Chew Out Loud.
29. Frozen Caramel Crunch Torte
A graham crust in a nine inch springform, a butter brickle crunch of brown sugar, oats and chopped pecans baked fifteen minutes and crumbled hot with two forks, then a filling of cream cheese beaten with sweetened condensed milk and folded into sweetened whipped cream. Layer, crumb, caramel, repeat, freeze several hours. Twelve servings, and it lives in the freezer, which is exactly where dessert belongs in July.
Get the full tutorial at Creations by Kara.
30. Palm Tree Cupcakes
Cupcakes frosted with vanilla and rolled in crushed graham crackers so the tops look like sand, with pretzel rod trunks piped with green candy melts and dusted with green sprinkles for fronds. A strip of Fruit by the Foot makes the beach towel and a Teddy Graham lies on it. Pipe the melts over parchment for easy cleanup and let them set five to ten minutes before you plant the tree in the cupcake.
Get the full tutorial at Your Cup of Cake.
