Food and Recipes Quick and Easy Dinners Easy 30-Minute Meals To Make This Summer By Jenna Sims Jenna Sims Jenna is a Digital Editor for Southern Living and joined the team in 2014. She writes, produces, and assigns content with a focus on email growth and commerce content. She covers a range of topics in the lifestyle space from holiday gift guides to new product launches to tips for cooking with your air fryer. Southern Living's editorial guidelines Published on May 25, 2023 Share Tweet Pin Email Trending Videos Photo: Photographer Victor Protasio, Food Stylist Ruth Blackburn, Prop Stylist Christine Keely From start to finish you can get these fresh summer meals on the table in 30 minutes. Whether you're looking for a quick lunch or an easy dinner, there's sure to be a recipe on this list that your family will love. Plus, some of these easy meals don't even require you to turn on your oven or stovetop, which we consider a win during the warm summer months.Read on for plenty of delicious summer meals that you can whip up in just 30 minutes. 01 of 18 Garlic Shrimp and Herbed Couscous Salad Hector Manuel Sanchez; Prop Styling: Heather Chadduck Hillegas; Food Styling: Torie Cox Not only does this dish come together in under 30 minutes (27 to be exact), it's also fresh and healthy. 02 of 18 Open-Faced Tomato Sandwiches with Creamy Cucumber Spread Alison Miksch Even though this recipe requires no cooking, anyone will be delighted when you serve up these open-faced tomato sandwiches. 03 of 18 Shrimp and Burst Cherry Tomato Pasta Photographer Victor Protasio, Food Stylist Ruth Blackburn, Prop Stylist Christine Keely This dish combines two summer favorites, shrimp and tomatoes, with a handful of other ingredients that you probably already have on hand to create a crowd-pleasing meal. 04 of 18 Chicken Salad-Stuffed Tomatoes Antonis Achilleos; Prop Styling: Kathleen Varner; Food Styling: Torie Cox The chicken salad filling for these stuffed tomatoes can be made ahead and stored in the refrigerator for up to 5 days. 05 of 18 Sheet Pan Shrimp and Vegetables with Rice Photo: Victor Protasio; Prop Styling: Mary Clayton Carl; Food Styling: Emily Nabors Hall Microwavable rice is an easy base for this one-pan supper. 06 of 18 Barbecue Mac and Cheese Hector Sanchez; Styling: Heather Chadduck Hillegas Pick up a pound of pork from your favorite local barbecue joint to turn mac and cheese into a filling meal. 07 of 18 Chicken Caesar Salad Sandwiches Jennifer Causey; Prop Styling: Christine Keely; Food Styling: Torie Cox Rotisserie chicken is the convenient trick to serving up this summertime meal without having to turn on the oven. 08 of 18 Goat Cheese-and-Summer Squash Pizza Victor Protasio; Food Styling: Ruth Blackburn; Prop Styling: Audrey Davis Not only does this recipe call for fresh summer squash, but it cooks directly on the grates of your grill. 09 of 18 Pasta with Shrimp and Tomato Cream Sauce Caitlin Bensel; Prop Styling: Claire Spollen; Food Styling: Anna Hampton Fresh shrimp will work best in this 25-minute pasta dish. 10 of 18 Shrimp-Okra-and-Sausage Kebabs Antonis Achilleos; Prop Styling: Mindi Shapiro Levine; Food Styling: Tina Stamos Our Test Kitchen recommends choosing okra pods that are smaller in size so they'll fit on the skewer. 11 of 18 Tropical Chicken Lettuce Wraps Photo: Jennifer Causey; Prop Styling: Christine Keely; Food Styling: Torie Cox This tropical dish comes together in just 15 minutes with no cooking required. 12 of 18 Shrimp and Peas with Farfalle Alison Miksch; Styling: Caroline M. Cunningham Before draining your pasta after cooking, make sure to reserve one cup to use later in the recipe. 13 of 18 Grilled Grouper Photographer and Prop stylist: Jennifer Causey Food Stylist: Melissa Gray Taking grouper to the grill is the secret to restaurant-quality fish at home. 14 of 18 Sweet Pepper Pasta with Sausage Alison Miksch; Prop Styling: Kay E. Clarke; Food Styling: Torie Cox Whether you have a bounty of peppers from your garden or pick them up at your local farmers' market, fresh peppers are key to this colorful dish. 15 of 18 Pasta with Burst Tomatoes and Mascarpone Hector Sanchez Frozen ravioli helps this dish come together in just 15 minutes. 16 of 18 Grilled Cajun Shrimp Kabobs with Sausage Antonis Achilleos; Prop Styling: Lydia Pursell; Food Styling: Chelsea Zimmer If you have flat metal skewers on hand, they'll work best for this kabob recipe to keep the shrimp and vegetables from moving around when they're flipped. 17 of 18 Chicken Caprese Pasta Linda Pugliese; Prop Styling: Kay E. Clarke; Food Styling: Torie Cox Make the most of the fresh herbs and tomatoes from your garden with this pasta recipe that comes together in just 20 minutes thanks to a rotisserie chicken. 18 of 18 Creamy Pesto-and-Shrimp Penne with Peas Antonis Achilleos; Prop Styling: Kathleen Varner; Food Styling: Torie Cox Convenience items including pre-peeled shrimp, frozen peas, and store-bought pesto help this impressive dish come together in just 25 minutes. Was this page helpful? Thanks for your feedback! Tell us why! Other Submit