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32 Reliable Summer Dinners to make when you can’t figure out what to make! This list includes a burger, easy to throw on the grill protein, and fresh summer produce like corn, cherry tomatoes, and cucumber!
If your goal is to keep the kitchen time to a minimum this summer, I’ve got the recipe list for you!
There’s 32 recipes on this list, so technically, with taking the weekends off, you have enough recipes to make everything just twice during the summer holiday!
And not having to think about dinner for 3 months?
YES PLEASE.
32 Summer Dinners Your Family will Love
Jalapeno Peach Chicken
Sweet, sticky and spicy Jalapeno Peach Chicken. A delicious recipe for tender chicken pieces tossed in a flavorful sauce made with peach preserves and thinly sliced jalapeno peppers. It's such a yummy and easy skillet chicken recipe!
Sweet and Sticky Honey Sesame Chicken! A classic sesame chicken recipe made easy and no frying required! It's one of our favorite ways to eat chicken on weeknights and such an easy recipe!
Mediterranean shrimp orzo salad is fresh and easy to make for boxed lunches or light dinners. It’s ultra-simple — the vinaigrette doubles as the marinade for the shrimp. Toss the orzo, tomatoes, cucumbers, feta, and everything else, and serve warm or cold!
Saucy Burst Tomato Basil Chicken comes together in one pan! You start by seasoning the chicken and searing it in a pan. Then, we’ll cook fresh tomatoes down to make a delicious pan sauce that you can use over pasta, rice, or serve alongside crusty bread.
Sides needed: prepared rice or spaghettini or other pasta
Easy Weeknight Pasta Puttanesca
Pasta Puttanesca is a spicy tomato-based Italian dish made with aromatic garlic, olive oil, anchovies, olives, and capers. This classic Italian dish has so many beautiful flavors and it's easy to make for a quick dinner!
A staple pantry meal loaded with capers, black olives, and anchovies.
Total Time: 35 Mins
Serves: 5
Sides needed: none
Saucy Lemon Cilantro Chicken
This is Lemon Chicken Cilantro! Tender seasoned chicken breasts in the most delicious creamy lemon cilantro sauce! Season the chicken generously, then saute it in a pan with mushrooms and make a quick and easy pan sauce! So good for weeknights!
A simple weeknight-friendly Burger Bowl recipe with homemade Mac Sauce, minus the bun. We elevate the house fries with a smoked paprika seasoning. Top with whatever you like on your burger! A family winner dinner!
A simple spicy shrimp pasta that's perfect for the summertime! Similar to the shrimp fra Diavolo you get at Italian restaurants, this recipe is made with lots of garlic and cherry tomatoes bursting with summer goodness. A simple pasta dinner that's sure to please everyone!
A quick and easy garlic-filled spicy shrimp pasta dish that’s perfect topped with parmesan cheese.
Total Time: 45 Mins
Serves: 4
Sides needed: none
Cheesy Baked BBQ Chicken
The easiest baked BBQ chicken. This is basically tender cooked chicken breast doused in bbq sauce and topped with melty cheese, sliced red onions and pickled jalapeños. This takes 30 minutes to throw together, making it ideal for weeknight dinners!
Want all the fab flavor of grilled chicken, but don’t want to step outside? May this topped with red onion, and pickled jalapenos. Leftovers are great on pizza!
Vietnamese Banh Mi Smash Tacos are the best way to make smash tacos! Start with a ground chicken mixture, load it up with flavor, then smashed it into tortillas and cook it on the griddle. Serve them topped with pickled veggies, thinly sliced cucumbers, cilantro, and a squeeze of sriracha mayo!
Use keto tortillas to make this summer friendly. Loaded with crunch from the pickled veggies and the spicy mayo is perfection!
Total Time: 35 Mins
Serves: 4
Sides needed: none
Summer Blackened Chicken Salad with Feta and Watermelon
This Blackened Chicken Salad is summer in a bowl! Start with chicken seasoned in blackening spices that's seared in a cast iron skillet. Then, toss it with the salad ingredients: think watermelon, cucumbers, feta and everything else we love about summer. Top it off with a lime balsamic vinaigrette!
Feta cheese and watermelon in a salad topped with a balsamic lime dressing? Yes!
Total Time: 25 Mins
Serves: 4
Sides needed: none
White Cheddar Chicken Burgers with Caramelized Onions
Caramelized Onions White Cheddar Chicken Burgers will be a hit at your next cookout or on a weeknight for the family! The chicken patties are loaded with caramelized onions, lots of cubed cheddar cheese, and a few pantry staple seasonings. You can even swap the ground chicken for turkey and watch how quickly this becomes your favorite burger recipe!
Shredded cheese loaded right into the burger. Top with smashed avocados.
Total Time: 30 Mins
Serves: 4
Sides needed: fries or a side salad
Mediterranean Tuna Orzo Summer Salad
A mediterranean inspired tuna orzo summer salad! This salad has tons of capers, kalamata olives, roasted red peppers, and fresh parsley. It's super fresh yet filling enough for both lunch or dinner!
A great way to use tuna for dinner without it being a casserole.
Total Time: 25 Mins
Serves: 5
Sides needed: none
Thai Sweet Chili Salmon Bowls
Sweet Chili Salmon Bowls are a family-friendly weeknight recipe everyone will love! Start by tossing salmon pieces in soy sauce, lime juice, and minced garlic. Pan fry, then toss with Thai sweet chili sauce, serve on top of rice with sliced cucumbers, diced mangos, avocados, with homemade boom boom sauce!
A clean the fridge kind of recipe. Use different textures to make it interesting
Total Time: 25 Mins
Serves: 4
Sides needed: prepared rice, cauliflower rice
Crispy Chicken Salad with Sriracha Honey BBQ Dressing
Learn how to make a crispy chicken salad that's drizzled with sriracha honey bbq dressing! The chicken tenders are perfectly juicy and tender on the inside with that crispy panko crust on the outside. You'll love this easy crispy chicken salad!
A great way to get in those greens. Use protein pasta to make this a full meal. Leftover pesto is great on eggs!
Total Time: 25 Mins
Serves: 4
Sides needed: grilled chicken, salmon or steak.
Spicy California Sushi Nachos (aka Wonton Nachos!)
Spicy California Sushi Nachos are the perfect poolside snack! Crispy wonton chips topped with sushi grade salmon or ahi tuna and loaded with avocados, cucumbers, and drizzled with sriracha mayo and wasabi cream sauce. These loaded sushi nachos are sure to become a fave!
When you can’t fathom cooking… go the sushi nachos route! Tons of savory flavor.
Total Time: 30 Mins
Serves: 5
Sides needed: none
Sticky Garlic Gochujang Chicken
Sweet and Sticky Gochujang Chicken! Crispy chicken pieces tossed in the most delicious sweet, sticky and delicious gochujang sauce! It's one of our favorite ways to eat chicken and vegetables on weekdays and it's such an easy recipe!
Gochujang is made with Korean chile flakes and provides a complex flavor along with soy sauce that is sure to be a hit!
Total Time: 30 Mins
Serves: 4
Sides needed: prepared rice from a rice cooker, or garlic noodles
Shrimp Gnocchi in Pomodoro Sauce
One filling and hearty meal! Shrimp gnocchi in Pomodoro sauce is made with a homemade sauce, fresh zucchini, cherry tomatoes, pillowy gnocchi, and tender shrimp. It’s sure to be a hit with the fam!
An easy lemon rosemary chicken recipe that requires just 10 simple ingredients! The chicken is seasoned with lemon pepper seasoning, seared and then cooked in a simple lemon rosemary butter sauce.
Quick and creamy peanut noodles with toasted sesame and chili sauce! These noodles are quick enough to throw together on a weeknight, are made with chewy noodles, tender chicken, and smooth toasted sesame peanut sauce!
Swap tofu for chicken if you want to make this vegan friendly.
Total Time: 30 Mins
Serves: 4
Sides needed: none
Crispy Rice Salad with Thai Chili Dressing
The most delicious Crispy Rice Salad! Start with shredded veggies, and toss them with a sweet heat Thai chili dressing. Load this salad up with mangoes, cucumbers, peppers, onions, and fresh cilantro! The crunchy rice, and sweet and spicy dressing pair beautifully together!
The sweetness from the mangoes pairs so well with the spices.
Total Time: 25 Mins
Serves: 4
Sides needed: none
Mexican Shrimp Cocktail (+ Stuffed Avocados)
Mexican Shrimp Cocktail stuffed into avocados with tons of veggies in a spicy sauce. Serve Mexican Shrimp Cocktail with tortilla chips or stuff into avocados – sure to become a summer dinner favorite! Just 7 grams of net carbs in this dinner recipe!
The perfect excuse to eat tortilla chips for dinner!
Total Time: 15 Mins
Serves: 4
Sides needed: tortilla chips, avocado halves
Garlic Butter Tomato Baked Chicken with Mozzarella
The easiest garlic butter tomato baked chicken with mozzarella. It's a one pan recipe that comes complete with roasted sweet balsamic tomatoes, cooked chicken with melty mozzarella and the most fantastic sauce for your quinoa, rice, pasta, or veggies!
Creamy Spinach Artichoke Stuffed Salmon with Lemon Butter Sauce
Creamy spinach artichoke stuffed salmon doused in a homemade lemon butter sauce! This summer food that’s fancy enough to serve dinner guests but takes no time at all to whip up!
The best way to use leftover spinach artichoke dip after a party!
Total Time: 30 Mins
Serves: 4
Sides needed: pasta for the sauce, or rice
Fiesta Creamy Corn Chicken
Fiesta-inspired Creamy Corn Chicken! The chicken is seasoned with lots of seasonings and pan-seared. Then we'll make the creamed corn with peppers, onions, shredded cheese, cotija cheese, a splash of heavy cream, and lots of lime juice! The creamed corn sauce is perfect for this one-pan chicken dinner!
Blackened Hot Honey Salmon is my favorite salmon recipe right now! It's so quick and easy to make with just 7 ingredients! This is the perfect quick and easy salmon dinner for when you want something gourmet without having to put in a ton of work! Make it on the stovetop or the oven!
Avocado shrimp salad topped with homemade citrus miso dressing is what summer is all about! This salad is loaded with peppery arugula, tons of avocado slices, juicy mandarin oranges, and garlic butter sauteed shrimp!
Crunchy Asparagus Orzo Salad with lemon Shallot Dressing
Crunchy asparagus orzo salad topped with lemon garlic toasted breadcrumbs! We'll cook the pasta and asparagus together then toss with lots of fresh herbs, and a lemon shallot dressing. Top it all off with crumbled feta cheese and lots of toasty breadcrumbs for the most amazing flavor!
A mash up of two salad! This grilled romaine chicken Caesar Cobb salad has all the things you love about caesar salad and a Cobb salad! Complete with quick garlic grilled chicken, this salad is sure to make bagged lunches a little more pleasant!
This Ponzu and Chili Crisp Zucchini Stir Fry with Chicken is sure to become a weekly staple! The chicken is tender, the zucchini is crisp, and the stir fry sauce on the onions and zucchini is out of this world!
One Pan Sun-dried Tomato Baked Salmon Orzo Recipe that's ready in around 35 minutes! Cook the orzo in broth, stir in baby spinach, and top with the salmon filets. Bake until the orzo is creamy and the salmon is tender!
All of these recipes are incredibly flavorful and most take under 45 minutes to make!
Hi, I'm Marzia!
A wife, mother, nutritionist, certified foodie, and a coffee lover. My husband Anees, our daughter, and I live near Houston. I love reading books, bingeing reality shows, and a good salted brown butter chocolate chip cookie!
