This list of 31 quick dinner ideas will have you in and out of the kitchen (or manning the grill) with plenty of time left to chill out on any hot summer night of the week.
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Hello August = Hello end of summer. Please! Say it isn’t so!
There’s no time in what’s left of the quickly dissipating summer schedule for cooking all day in the kitchen. Suntans still need to be worked on. Outdoor activities must be conquered. So with summer readying to sing it’s swan song, laid back summer eats are what’s called for now.
But what should you make for dinner on a hot summer night? Make it real, make it good, and make it happen fast.
This list of 31 favorite summer dinner recipe ideas will put the savor in your last days of summer. So sit back, relax, and chill out with these easy seasonal summer eats.
1. The Best Greek Chicken Marinade
FoodieCrush
This easy marinade has a dollop of yogurt that adds moisture to the bird so it’s tender and juicy come grilling time, every time.
2. 20-Minute Summer Squash Pasta with Brown Butter and Goat Cheese
How Sweet Eats
The only thing better than a bowl of tender-cooked summer zucchini is when it’s drizzled in creamy goat cheese, brown butter and nestled in pasta.
3. Chipotle Chicken Tacos with Pineapple Salsa
Joyful Healthy Eats
Smoky chicken breast made with fresh ingredients and spices from the pantry, these tacos take just about 30 minutes to make. Arriba!
4. Grilled Thai Beef Salad
Food Faith Fitness
This salad IS the meal. Piled high with protein-packed edamame beans, tender black beans, chewy red rice and crispy sesame seeds, and topped with chunks of creamy avo, you’ll never want to eat steak any other way.
5. Zucchini Involtini with Almond Ricotta
The First Mess
Think of these ricotta stuffed zucchini as pillows from heaven that make quick and healthy dinner dreams come true.
6. Classic Gazpacho
FoodieCrush
Served with a side salad and totally cool on a hot day, this no-cook gazpacho is a mix of fresh veggies and a secret ingredient: Store-bought tomato based vegetable juice for the extra veggie win.
7. Pan Roasted Halibut with Creamed Corn
Cooking for Keeps
The perfect crust on the perfect cut of fish with perfectly cooked creamed corn makes the perfect dinner.
8. Fresh Tomato with Ricotta Whole Wheat Pasta
FoodieCrush
When dinner needs to be on the table fast, a quick toss of fresh tomatoes in garlic is all you need for a healthy meal in minutes.
9. Instant Pot Crispy Carnitas
Gimme Some Oven
Cooked first in the Instant Pot, then crisped in the oven, these carnitas are ready to fill any shell coming their way.
10. Grilled Scallops with Cilantro Yogurt Dip
Foodness Gracious
With a quick toss in olive oil, sea salt and black pepper, these grilled scallops are totally simple to make and ready to dip in 1-2-3.
11. Sweet Corn Fritters
Shutterbean
With crisped edges and creamy centers, these corn fritters make the perfect light summer dinner, and their made in minutes.
12. Thai Red Curry Sloppy Joes
Reluctant Entertainer
The only thing that could make my fave sloppy joe even better is when you spice it up, reeeeeaaaallll good, like these Thai-infused flavor bombs.
13. Linguine with Clams
FoodieCrush
Talk about a dinner that comes together fast! The clams and sauce cook just as quick as the pasta for a light but filling summer dinner with flare.
14. Roasted Peppers Stuffed with Corn, Zucchini, Quinoa, & Tomatoes
Alexandra’s Kitchen
Loaded with healthy veg and power-packed quinoa, this vegetarian meal will fill up everyone at the table.
15. Taco Lettuce Wraps
Chelsea’s Messy Apron
For anyone on the no-carb kick, these tacos fill your bill. Or, throw caution to the wind and load up a tortilla or taco shell. It’s all in how you crunch it.
16. Greek Turkey Burgers with Tzatziki Sauce
FoodieCrush
These are tops on my list of favorite summertime burgers. Juicy. Flavorful. Delicious. And above all, healthy.
17. Mango “Burrito” Bowls with Crispy Tofu and Peanut Sauce
Cookie and Kate
Bowl me over. This healthy dinner features my favorite veg protein: crispy tofu. Love.
18. Farmer’s Market Pasta with Walnut Pesto
Pinch of Yum
Step 1: Head to the farmers market and load up. Step 2: Make this pasta. Step 3: Bask in happiness.
19. New Orleans Shrimp Po’ Boy with Creole Remoulade Sauce
Grandbaby Cakes
More napkins please. Nothing says summer eats like an authentic Po’ Boy ‘s creamy sauce slopping down the chin. Love this.
20. Ramen Noodles with Marinated Steak and Broccoli
FoodieCrush
Nobody at the table will deny these quick to make ramen noodles made healthier.
21. Taco Zucchini Boats
Platings + Pairings
Now is the time to take advantage of fall’s fountain of zucchini and switch up the traditional taco shell for something even more healthy.
22. Sweet and Sour Grilled Salmon With Pineapple Salsa
A Spicy Perspective
Sweetened with fresh fruit and pineapple juice, this salsa takes Alaskan salmon where it’s never been: to the tropics!
23. Monterey Steak and Peppers Kebabs
FoodieCrush
Tender and totally juiced in flavor, these kebabs are easy to skewer and even easier to eat.
24. Chicken Caprese Quinoa Bake
Rachel Cooks
Packing in all the healthy flavors, quinoa is the secret addition they’ll never realize is healthy when it’s covered with cheesy chicken.
25. Buffalo Shrimp Lettuce Wraps
Skinnytaste
Another light and easy dinner is in the cards without the carbs with these easy buffalo shrimp lettuce wraps.
26. Easy Baked Sausage and Zucchini Casserole
The Movement Menu
Low-carb but full of flavor, this dinner recipe is a lasagna and pizza lover’s recipe mash-up.
27. Instant Pot BBQ Baby Back Ribs
FoodieCrush
The Instant Pot does all the work while keeping things cook, making these ribs fall off the bone tender before a quick blitz on the grill for everyone’s favorite char.
28. Grilled Haloumi Tacos with Mango Salsa
Two Peas and Their Pod
Vegetarian but you’d never know it thanks to grilled haloumi cheese that adds a cheesy bulk to these taco babies.
29. Mediterranean Salmon Sheetpan Dinner
Insprialized
A healthy dinner is easy when you toss it on a sheet pan, drizzle with oil, and let the oven do the work.
30. Italian Baked Chicken Meatballs
The Modern Proper
Roast them on a sheetpan, or fry them in a skillet, these chicken meatballs are made for dinner.
31. Pesto Pizza with Balsamic Chicken and Peaches
FoodieCrush
A simple balsamic marinade brings this grilled chicken loads of flavor that pairs perfectly with pizza’d peaches. Manjia!
So tell me, what are your fave summer eats? Email me at [email protected] or leave a comment below.
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